Zhang Gouzi's legs went weak with fright. Forcing down his fear, he smiled and said,
"M-Miss Yun, let's talk this out. That thing really can kill someone. Put it down first."
Why did such a pretty girl carry a knife around? It was downright frightening.
Cold sneers curled Yun Manman's lips as her icy gaze swept over the three members of the Yun Family.
"Didn't these beasts from the old Yun Family tell you where I got this knife?"
Zhang Gouzi asked, "Where did you get it?"
"I killed six people from Beilin and took it from them. Do you think I know how to kill?"
Terror filled Zhang Gouzi's face. He had heard that when people from Beilin came to Red Star Village, a young girl had killed them and saved the villagers.
At that thought, Zhang Gouzi's expression turned as dark as ink. He might love young girls, but only if his life wasn't on the line!
He glared furiously at Old Man Yun and the others and roared,
"Are you fucking playing me? You didn't say a word about something this big? Fuck!"
The moment Old Man Yun saw Yun Manman's knife, fear made his legs go weak. It felt as though the axe hanging over his head that day had happened only moments ago.
Zhang Gouzi turned toward Yun Manman, dropped straight to both knees, and kowtowed.
"Miss Yun, I never meant to offend you! These bastards from the old Yun Family came to me and said they would give me their granddaughter in marriage. I really didn't know!"
Seeing the silver already in his grasp about to slip away again, Yun Wang pointed at Yun Manman and snapped,
"Yun Manman, who are you trying to intimidate? Father and Mother have already sold you. You're going whether you like it or not."
Old Madam Yun stepped forward to chime in. "Exactly! If you don't want to go, pay Zhang Gouzi back his ten taels of silver."
Yun Manman walked straight toward them with her knife in hand, and Old Man Yun immediately wet his pants again in fright.
Pointing at Old Man Yun in disgust, Yun Manman told Zhang Gouzi, "You, hurry up and throw this old man out. He's revolting."
Zhang Gouzi scrambled to his feet. "I'll throw him out right away. I won't let him offend your eyes."
These people from the Yun Family were going to get him killed. He had no desire to die before he finished spending his money.
Watching the other two retreat, Yun Manman asked mildly, "Which fingers did you use to stamp your fingerprints?"
The two hastily hid their hands behind their backs. Zhang Gouzi ran over like a lackey.
"Miss Yun, here's the contract of sale. I know which fingers they used."
Zhang Gouzi handed the contract to Yun Manman, then ran over and called to his four underlings,
"Get over here. Hold their fingers down properly so Miss Yun can take a look."
A flash of satisfaction crossed Yun Manman's eyes as she looked at the fingers Zhang Gouzi had laid out.
Terror filled Old Madam Yun's eyes as she screeched, "You little bitch! You can't touch me!"
Yun Wang only had one good hand to begin with. Unable to struggle free of the two men, he begged Yun Manman for mercy.
"Manman, I'm your own uncle! You can't treat me like this!"
Yun Manman's gaze was icy. "I'm only collecting a little interest today."
With that, she sealed their mute acupoints so their racket wouldn't frighten her parents and younger brothers.
The timing wasn't right yet. These three couldn't die just yet. The knife in Yun Manman's hand flashed, and two severed fingers fell together.
The two lay on the ground in terror, clutching their hands, unable to make a sound.
Yun Manman looked at Zhang Gouzi. "They took your ten taels of silver to sell their granddaughter. Their granddaughter is in their courtyard."
Yun Wang's eldest daughter was sixteen now. Since he enjoyed scheming against her so much, he could use his own daughter to settle the debt.
Zhang Gouzi's eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands toward Yun Manman. "Thank you for your generosity, Miss Yun. If you ever need anything, just come to me. I'll walk through boiling water and fire without hesitation."
Yun Manman nodded without answering. This man was clearly clever. She would let the dogs bite each other.
When Zhang Gouzi left, he took the two of them and their severed fingers, along with Old Man Yun at the entrance.
Yun Manman soothed her family and made sure there were no further problems before heading into the depths of the mountains again.
The mountain behind the village was rocky. After crossing its peak, Yun Manman looked at the lush spring scenery before her.
Her gaze swept over the mountain forest stretching beyond sight, and she couldn't help thinking that a natural forest like this ought to have plenty of rare medicinal herbs.
Failing that, fierce wild beasts worth some money would do!
She wasn't picky anyway. Anything would do!
"Master, Master, take your knife and hack out a path. Let's go!"
Yun Manman looked at the knife that appeared in her hand. Fortunately, she hadn't sold the knives last time.
All seven knives were stored in her space. Stocking up on more of these in the future was the right way to go!
Guagua got to work as soon as they entered the forest. "Master, there are wild mushrooms on your right."
"Master, there's alfalfa three meters ahead. It's safe for humans to eat and isn't poisonous."
Yun Manman pressed her lips together as she looked at the alfalfa. "Sigh."
At last, she sighed in resignation, crouched down, and began cutting. She used to feed this stuff to the horses at her ranch. Now she was going to eat it herself!
Following Guagua's directions, Yun Manman dug up quite a few wild vegetables along the way, but none of the ginseng or lingzhi that were standard equipment for transmigrated women.
In the end, Yun Manman gave up. She wasn't the Heavenly Dao's darling daughter. She was its chives, grown specifically for it to harvest!
Suddenly, several grunts rang out.
Yun Manman instantly shed her relaxed air and swiftly hid behind a tree.
Two beasts, one large and one small, approached. They had short, dark brown fur and looked like pigs, with a body length of roughly a meter and a half.
Looking at that piglike head, Yun Manman wondered if this could be the legendary wild boar.
Yun Manman quickly and silently climbed the tree, concealing her presence.
Watching the wild boars draw closer, she sharply scanned the boar's entire body before finally choosing its neck as the place to cut.
Tightening her grip on her knife, Yun Manman leaped straight down and viciously slashed twice at the wild boar's neck.
Blood instantly spurted from its neck. With shrill squeals and grunts, the boar collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The little wild boar beside it looked utterly bewildered, then nudged the dead boar with its head, grunting incessantly.
It turned and lunged at Yun Manman. One stroke of her knife, and the little wild boar also fell dead.
Yun Manman looked at the two wild boars at her feet. One boar probably wouldn't fetch much silver.
It seemed she needed to keep lying in wait and get more game in one go.
Yun Manman wiped the blood from her knife onto a wild boar, then dragged the boar around to scatter its blood over the weeds.
The smell of blood would attract other wild animals. She put the boars into her space after draining their blood.
Looking at the blood she had scattered on the ground,
Yun Manman couldn't help frowning. She felt a faint discomfort in her stomach.
But the discomfort seemed like her imagination, so Yun Manman paid it no mind and quickened her pace toward the large tree ahead.
She would hide in her space first, then wait by the tree for beasts to come to her!
Only after Yun Manman finished her eighth Returning Lotus Fruit did rustling finally sound outside.
Yun Manman turned her head and froze at the sight of several wild animals strolling along leisurely.
"Are those horses and sheep?"
Yun Manman quietly watched the animals, her gaze examining the two in the lead.
The horse was roughly two meters long, with an enormous head and a very short neck that made it look like a complete doofus. Its light brown coat had no sheen and looked prickly.
Yun Manman lightly touched her thigh. She really didn't dare slap it, afraid she would scare away the prey.
"These are actually endangered large wild animals-Przewalski's horses!!!"
At that thought, wild joy burst from Yun Manman's violet eyes. This was practically Heaven's gift to her for harvesting chives, and it would even save her the money needed to buy horses!
Przewalski's horses ran as fast as lightning. Neither scorching summer heat nor extreme cold reaching forty degrees below zero affected their intelligence or speed. They were the kings of horses.
Yun Manman looked at the wild horses nearby, her eyes filled with determination to claim them.
"I'll definitely tame it and make it obediently become my mount."