Poisonous Woman

The night was as dark as ink, and the wind and snow raged fiercely.

Using the natural cover, Chu Fan moved along the wall like a ghost and silently reached the last Earthen House.

The snow fell even harder.

The voices of a man and a woman came from inside.

Chu Fan was just about to strike when he suddenly heard a woman's moan from within.

These two shameless dogs were actually engaging in such sordid acts at a time like this.

Ten breaths later...

The woman's furious voice exploded: "Useless!"

"You're becoming more and more worthless!"

"You can't scrape together even a few coins outside, and you can't satisfy me once you're back in the house. What use are you?"

"It would be one thing if you couldn't compare with Liu the Elder, but in bed, you're even worse than Third Brother and Fourth Brother..."

"I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to end up with you!"

"..." Chu Fan's brows twitched slightly as he listened from the Corner of the wall.

He had never expected that Liu Da and his gang were actually "of the same kind."

Then he heard the Man inside say timidly, "Once we get the House Deed to the Chu Family Ancestral Mansion, Young Master Huang will naturally reward us with several taels of silver..."

"Several taels of silver?" the woman sneered. "I've seen fools before, but never fools as stupid as you!"

"The Chu Family Old House is worth at least thirty taels. You're snatching it and handing it over to the Huang Family, yet you're only taking a few taels?"

"Can't you even do the math?"

"I told you to act two years ago. While that kid was fishing in Blackwater River, you could have killed him and thrown him in the river. No one would have known..."

"How easy would that have been!"

Chu Fan's heart tightened.

That Poisonous Woman was even more ruthless than Liu Da and the others.

Two years ago, she had already wanted him dead!

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"What else could we do?" the Man muttered. "The Chu Family Old House is terrifyingly strange. So many people have tried to seize it before, and every one of them either died or went mad."

"Even Young Master Huang only dared to set his sights on that house now..."

"But it's fine. Once we finish this task for Young Master Huang, we'll have a backer. There's nothing like enjoying the shade beneath a great tree!"

"Young Master Huang is a Minor Leader of the Blood Saber Sect!"

"My ancestral house is strange? Anyone who sets their sights on it either dies or goes mad?" Chu Fan searched through his memories, but found not the slightest clue.

He listened for a while longer.

The two people inside went back and forth, eventually circling around to matters between men and women again.

The man seemed to be preparing to smear the woman all over with saliva...

Chu Fan raised the Cleaving Knife, kicked the door open, and charged straight inside. His hand rose and the knife fell, killing the busy man on the spot!

The Poisonous Woman on the bed showed a bit of courage.

Though she watched Chu Fan kill her lover, with Fresh Blood splattered across her face, she still managed to force herself to remain calm.

She shrank back and said, "Big Brother, my money is hidden under the bed. I'll give it all to you. Please don't kill me!"

Chu Fan extended his left hand. "Hand it over."

The woman threw off the quilt and climbed out of bed naked, even shooting Chu Fan a flirtatious glance.

But it was bitterly cold in the winter night. With not a thread on her body, she trembled violently from the cold, and with blood splattered across her face, that flirtatious glance held not the slightest charm. Instead, she looked like a vengeful ghost!

The fingers gripping the knife tightened, and Chu Fan nearly brought it down.

The woman put on a seductive act, bent down, moved a brick aside from beneath the bed, and took out a small box.

"There are three taels of silver here. It's all yours..." She plastered a fawning smile across her face and handed him the box. "The silver is yours, and so am I! As long as you spare me, I'll be sure to serve you until you're completely satisfied!"

As she handed over the box, she slowly edged toward Chu Fan.

Chu Fan watched her movements closely. The moment she came near, he raised his hand and slashed.

The Cleaving Knife flashed with cold light as it swept across the woman's neck.

The woman's eyes flew wide. She clutched her neck with both hands, and the box in her right hand fell to the ground.

Clack!

Chu Fan reached out and caught the box, then turned and walked out.

Behind him, despair filled the woman's eyes as she slowly collapsed.

Until her death, she never knew that the man who had killed her was the very Chu Family kid she had insisted must be eliminated.

What went around came around, and retribution never failed to arrive.

Chu Fan tossed the bloodstained Cleaving Knife into the latrine and was just about to vanish into the darkness.

Suddenly, a strange ringing sound drifted over.

"People from the Moon Worshipping Sect?"

Chu Fan furrowed his brows slightly and retreated into the room where he had just killed the two people.

"Break through the illusion and follow the path; cast off fate and gain true freedom!"

The dull chanting and eerie ringing blended with the sound of wind and snow, making Chu Fan feel as though he had fallen into a nightmare from which he could not escape.

Those lunatics from the Moon Worshipping Sect were truly impossible to figure out.

In the dead of night, with heavy snow flying, they were actually still wandering through the streets.

What exactly were they doing?

Through a hole in the window paper, Chu Fan saw a White-robed person leading a group of people past the alley ahead.

Suddenly.

The White-robed person ringing the bell actually looked toward the window where Chu Fan was hiding!

"What!"

Chu Fan's heart jolted, and he shifted one step to the left of the window.

At such a distance, with the wind and snow so fierce, could the White-robed person from the Moon Worshipping Sect still sense him?

Chu Fan reached into his clothes and took out another Cleaving Knife.

The one he had thrown into the latrine earlier was the one he usually carried, and it was already stained with blood.

The one in his clothes had been taken from the Seven Star Gang.

He gripped the knife tightly, closed his eyes, and silently sensed his surroundings.

The people from the Moon Worshipping Sect did not come over.

The two sides had no conflict to begin with.

Nor did they have any entanglement of interests.

Though the White-robed person had sensed something unusual, he seemed unwilling to meddle in other people's affairs.

The ringing and chanting gradually faded into the distance.

After quite some time had passed.

Chu Fan observed through the window hole again. Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he rush into the wind and snow and hurry home.

Once home, he emptied the silver money from several money pouches and counted it carefully.

There were nine taels and four qian of silver, along with three hundred and fifty Copper coins.

In his memories, he had never seen so much silver.

Now, as he gazed at the pile of silver, his Eyes Shining unconsciously.

This sum was enough to buy more than a dozen Blood Refining Pills, and enough to eat meat for a long time.

Even after fishing arduously for ten years, he might not have been able to save this much.

After killing a few local ruffians, he had instead become rich overnight.

Chu Fan tucked the three hundred and fifty Copper coins into his clothes, put all the silver into a money pouch, and walked to the southwestern corner of the courtyard.

He listened carefully and, after confirming that no one was nearby, felt around on the courtyard wall for a moment before prying loose half a brick.

A small hole was revealed beneath the brick. His family's House Deed was hidden inside.

The House Deed was wrapped in Oiled paper.

The Oiled paper had been treated by soaking it in tung oil, forming a waterproof layer across its surface. Water would neither seep through nor break it, and it would not fear getting soaked even in a heavy rain.

Liu Da and the others had turned the house upside down, so how could they have known that the House Deed was hidden here?

Chu Fan hid the pouch of silver inside as well, then set the half-brick back in place.

After finishing all this, Chu Fan turned around to return to the house.

Suddenly, he heard knocking at the door, accompanied by Zhao Hu's voice. "Xiao Fan, are you home?"

"Uncle Zhao?" Chu Fan walked over and pushed open the Courtyard Gate.

He saw Zhao Hu and his wife standing outside, carrying a bedroll and a large bundle of dry grass in their arms.

Zhao Hu said, "The bedding in your house was all torn apart by Liu Da and those people... I brought you a bedroll."

"The bedding is a little worn-out, and it's rather thin too. Don't complain about it."

"Add this dry grass, and it should at least keep you warmer at night."

As he spoke, he and his wife entered Chu Fan's room and spread out the dry grass and bedding one by one.

They even picked up the cotton stuffing and dry grass scattered across the floor and put it back beneath the bedding on the bed.

Chu Fan's crude dwelling finally looked a little more like a home.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhao. Thank you, Auntie."

Warmth surged through Chu Fan's heart, and his eyes grew slightly hot.