Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

Jiang Xing turned on the system screen.

Current balance: 1400 points.

She redeemed a healing potion for 100 points. She applied it to the calf, then applied another layer to Zhang's wound, and helped Zhang lean against the calf.

Then she stood up, walked to the stove, and looked around at the messy house.

There was a silence of about ten seconds.

Then she stood up.

Jiang Xing remained expressionless. Seeing her like that only made Zhang Shi more frightened; her calmness was frightening.

"Da Ya... what are you going to do?" Zhang's voice trembled.

Jiang Xing didn't answer. She took out the chipped kitchen knife from under the stove and rubbed it on the whetstone a couple of times.

"No...you can't go! There are so many of them, and you're just a girl..." Zhang rushed over and hugged her arm.

Jiang Xing looked down at his grandmother's hand, where the veins were bulging, and he was gripping her arm tightly.

"Grandma." Her voice was still soft, but her tone left no room for argument: "My father is dead, my mother has run away, and in this world, I only have you and Xiao Niu. If they harm you, they are harming my life."

She gently pried Zhang's hands apart.

"This matter won't just end like this. You stay home and keep a close eye on the calf."

She tucked the kitchen knife behind her waist, pushed open the door, and stepped into the twilight.

Jiang Dazhu's courtyard is at the east end of the village. It consists of three mud-brick houses, and the courtyard wall is made of stone and is about half a person high.

When Jiang woke up, it was just getting dark.

The courtyard gate was closed, but voices could be heard coming from inside. Zhou's voice was high-pitched and loud, and could be heard clearly even through the door.

"That brat, she thinks she's so capable! Today I'll teach her a lesson—who's in charge here in Jiangjia Village!"

Liu's voice was lower: "Sister-in-law... Xiao Niu's head is bleeding a lot... Will he be in trouble?"

"Something happened? What happened? A little girl, an old woman, and a boy, what trouble could they possibly cause? Besides, our Qingshan is studying in town, and his teacher praises him for his potential. The clan chief even said that Qingshan is the hope of our Jiang clan. Even if something happens, would the clan chief side with them?"

Upon hearing the name "Qingshan," Jiang Xing searched through the original owner's memories and found that Jiang Qingshan was the son of Jiang Dazhu and Zhou Shi. He studied in the town and was the only educated person in Jiangjia Village. He also had a daughter named Jiang Qingyue who worked in the embroidery workshop.

Jiang Caimao, the clan leader, doted on this grandnephew the most, and would praise him to everyone he met, saying, "Qingshan will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future."

Jiang Xing curled his lips into a cold smile and swaggered into the courtyard.

Zhou was sitting in the yard gnawing on a rabbit leg, the very rabbit she had snatched from Jiang Xing's house earlier that day.

Liu was sitting next to him, holding a rabbit leg in her hand. Jiang Dazhu and Jiang Erzhu were not there; no one knew where they had gone.

Seeing Jiang Xing enter, Zhou paused for a moment, but quickly took another bite of rabbit meat and mumbled, "Oh, the good-for-nothing's here? What are you doing here? Here to kowtow and apologize to your old mother?"

Jiang Xing walked to the middle of the courtyard and stood still, his gaze icy as if he were looking at a corpse.

Zhou felt a little uneasy under her gaze, but refused to back down: "What are you looking at? Let me tell you, I took your things and that's it. Go ahead and sue me, let's see if the magistrate believes you or me..."

Jiang Xing flashed away, her speed so fast that neither of them could react.

He kicked Zhou in the face, sending her sprawling onto her back, her rabbit leg flying off and landing in the mud.

Before Zhou could even cry out, Jiang Xing had already stepped on her chest, squatted down, grabbed her chin with his left hand, and pulled out the chipped kitchen knife from behind his waist with his right.

The back of the knife was pressed against Zhou's face, and then pressed down.

Zhou's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and her mouth was agape, but she couldn't make a sound.

She smelled the rust on the knife and the blood on Jiang Xing's hands.

"Which hand did you use?" Jiang Xing asked calmly, his hand movements showing no sign of loosening.

Zhou's lips were trembling, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Xing slashed at Zhou's arm with the back of his blade, and the sound of bones cracking could be faintly heard: "I'm asking you, which hand did you use?"

Zhou let out a bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered. Her pants were already uncontrollably wet.

Liu screamed and turned to run away.

Jiang Xing didn't even turn his head. He swung the kitchen knife and accurately slashed Liu's calf with the back of the blade. Liu fell to her knees with a thud, her knees hitting the stone slab, and blood streamed down her calf.

"I'm not a very patient person."

Zhou finally managed to choke out, "You...you dare...my son Qingshan is a scholar...the clan chief will not let you get away with this..."

Jiang Xing lowered his head and looked into Zhou's eyes.

"Your son is an educated man. What does that have to do with you hitting my brother?"

She continued to lift her hand and dislocate Zhou's other hand, her expression unchanged, even carrying a faint smile.

"I'll ask you one more time, which hand did you use?"

Tears and snot streamed down Zhou's face; she was in so much pain she didn't even have the strength to scream: "Right...right hand..."

Jiang Xing nodded, then stepped on Zhou's broken arm, stomping hard with his toe. Zhou fainted from the pain and couldn't even struggle free.

Liu lay on the ground, looking at everything before her. At that moment, she felt as if the sky had darkened, and she was terrified. She wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"And you? Which hand do you use?"

Liu shook her head, crying, "It wasn't me...it wasn't me...it was my sister-in-law who made me do it..."

"Which hand am I asking about?"

Liu stretched out her left hand, then pulled it back, and finally hid both hands behind her back, like a child who had done something wrong.

Jiang Xing bent down, grabbed Liu's left wrist, and twisted it.

It was the sound of bones dislocating again.

Liu screamed and fell to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

Jiang Xing stood up, tucked the kitchen knife back into his belt, glanced at the mess in the yard, and then rummaged through the kitchen, finding a bag of brown rice, a pot, and a land deed.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly turned around and looked coldly at Liu, her face expressionless.

"By tomorrow, those who took my things must return them to me in full." She said this bluntly, her eyes fixed on Zhou, who had already fainted.

"If anything is missing, I will visit again."

She turned around, kicked the Jiang family's front door in two, and left.

Jiang Xing did not go straight home; instead, she went to the village chief Shen Dehou's house.

The village chief's surname was Shen, and his name was Shen Dehou. He was in his fifties and his words carried weight in the village. He wasn't surnamed Jiang; he was from another family and had married into Jiangjia Village. However, he had served as village chief for over ten years, and he was fair in his dealings, so everyone in the village respected him.

He was different from the clan chief, who was in charge of the clan genealogy and seniority; Shen Dehou was in charge of taxes, lawsuits, and dealings with other villages.

When Jiang woke up, Shen Dehou was chopping firewood in the yard.

"village head."

Shen Dehou looked up and saw Jiang Xing's appearance; the blood on his clothes hadn't been washed off yet, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Da Ya? What brings you here?"

Jiang Xing recounted what had just happened, and Shen Dehou remained silent for a long time after listening.

Then he asked, "How's the calf?"

Jiang Xing was slightly taken aback. She thought the village chief would first criticize her for "using violence to suppress violence."

"I've wanted to deal with Zhou Shi for a long time." Shen Dehou planted the axe into the wooden stump. "But I'm an outsider, I can't interfere in the Jiang family's internal affairs. As for severing ties, you'll have to talk to the clan head. What did the clan head say?"

"I haven't met with the clan chief yet," Jiang Xing said. "I'd like to ask the village chief to come with me."

Shen Dehou glanced at her and nodded: "Alright, I'll speak up for you. But let me make this clear from the start: Jiang Caimao, the clan leader, knows that Shen Qingshan is studying in town. He's counting on Jiang Qingshan to pass the imperial examinations, so he's naturally biased towards Jiang Dazhu's family. If you go, he might not side with you."

"I know," Jiang Xing said. "That's why I came to find the village chief."

Shen Dehou smiled, a smile that held both admiration and helplessness: "You're better than your father, girl."

"You go back first." Shen Dehou stood up. "I'll go see the clan chief at the ancestral hall first thing tomorrow morning."

Jiang Xing nodded, then turned and left.