"Why hasn't Brother Junyi returned yet? If everything went smoothly, he should have arrived by now... I... should I go notify the village chief and the others...?"
This thought kept rising and falling in her heart, turning over and over, making every breath feel unbearably long.
By this point, she was growing more and more afraid, her heart pounding ever harder.
Guan Man already felt that she could not stay here any longer. She thought it would be better to go take a look at the village entrance, even if it might draw questions from others.
But as long as the village chief and the others were not the ones asking, she would not have to answer.
Very quickly, Guan Man left the house and hurried along, soon nearing the village entrance.
"Xiaoman, where are you going?"
"Oh, I have something to do at the village entrance..."
"Xiaoman, didn't you go to the market with Junyi? When did you get back? How did things go today?"
"I've been back for a while. I'm about to tell the village chief. You'll know then!"
"Then why are you heading toward the village entrance...?"
A few people who saw her still showed some liveliness in their eyes and asked questions much like those they had asked when she first entered the village.
Guan Man answered absentmindedly. Amid several puzzled gazes, she arrived beside a well at the village entrance.
"Hmph! You dared to pull tricks in the dark, so don't blame us for showing no mercy. Think carefully about how you will settle this matter today!"
Suddenly, an icy voice rang out abruptly in midair. Like rolling thunder, it spread through the entire village in an instant.
That single voice made many villagers feel as though they had been struck by lightning, their