Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Lin Yin had just finished her report when a mournful cry drifted through the air.

The sound was faint, like a woman sobbing in the distance, or like the whistling of the wind, sometimes near, sometimes far, drifting back and forth in the vicinity.

"My son... my son!"

The two sentences were drawn out and thin, inexplicably creating a slightly eerie atmosphere in the surroundings.

Hearing the crying, Yue Laosan, who was lying on the ground, twitched at the corner of his mouth, but could only sigh slightly.

Zhou Feng kicked him, saying, "Yue Laosan, your mother is looking for you."

Although his tone was teasing, Zhou Feng's expression was extremely cold.

There are several versions of the character Ye Erniang in the original novel. In the older version, she would kill each child she captured after playing with them. In the earliest serialized version, there was even a description of her drinking the children's blood.

Perhaps Jin Yong got older and felt that this was not good, so he changed it to kidnapping other people's children and sending them to other people's homes.

But whether it's the old version or the new version, this behavior is more than 100 times worse than those who later engaged in flower-picking, child abduction, and human trafficking!

Over the years, how many families have been torn apart and destroyed because of Ye Erniang's evil deeds?

Not to mention Zhou Feng, even Tie Jianguo and the others had grim expressions.

"Qin Ming, get ready."

"yes!"

If it were any other martial arts practitioner, Zhou Feng might have chosen to first render the opponent incapable of resistance, and then kill them after absorbing their internal energy.

However, Zhou Feng couldn't use any of Ye Erniang's internal energy. He could even feel nauseous just by placing his hand on her acupoints.

Yue Laosan, who was lying on the ground, was barely breathing and had no energy to deal with Zhou Feng's witty remarks and wicked humor.

Instead, Zhong Ling poked her head out of the carriage, propping her neck up and looking left and right.

The somewhat frightening sound seemed to be nearby, but she couldn't spot anyone.

Left with no other choice, she could only turn to Zhou Feng, her large eyes filled with confusion: "Brother Zhou, how old is this wicked person's mother? How can she still be out here committing evil deeds?"

Zhou Feng's lips curled into a smile at Zhong Ling's earnestly confused expression. Before he could speak, Yue Laosan, lying on the ground, retorted, "That...that's the wicked Ye Erniang! Her evil is second, but I'll get her sooner or later..."

Yue Laosan stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

Given his state of having his internal energy drained, what's the worst that could happen?

He could never compare to Ye Erniang in this lifetime. He's lost all his internal energy. He'd be lucky to even survive in the martial arts world. What's the point of competing for rankings?

Hearing Yue Laosan's words, Zhong Ling became even more curious. She jumped down from the carriage and started counting on her fingers: "Her name is 'utterly wicked,' so she's second. What are the other three names? They must all be in different positions."

Yue Laosan rolled his eyes while lying on the ground, completely ignoring the young girl.

If he still had his martial arts skills, he would have ripped the head off that annoying girl long ago!

Just as Zhong Ling finished speaking, the female voice that had been whimpering suddenly rang out from nearby: "The eldest is called Heinous, the third is called Fierce and Evil, and the fourth is called Extremely Vicious..."

This startled Zhong Ling, who quickly hid behind Zhou Feng, peeking out with half her face.

Sometime during the night, a person was already sitting on a horizontal branch of a crooked old locust tree in front of them.

She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, wearing a light blue long gown, with her long hair loosely tied up, and her appearance was quite delicate.

However, there were three dark red bloodstains on each of her cheeks, making her look quite ferocious.

In the woman's arms was a two- or three-year-old boy, chubby and fair-skinned.

Zhou Feng's gaze lingered on the child's face for a moment, then slowly moved to Ye Erniang's face, and he instinctively frowned.

Although this woman looked very pretty, what she did was disgusting, even arousing a pure physical aversion in Zhou Feng.

Ye Erniang completely ignored Zhou Feng's gaze and gently floated down from the tree, like a withered leaf, landing without making a sound.

She glanced down at Yue Laosan, who was still sprawled on the ground, and suddenly chuckled, "Laosan, what kind of deity did you offend? You got such a bad beating. Do you want your sister to help you get revenge?"

Yue Laosan lay on the ground, his face filled with resentment, and turned away.

He was in such a disheveled state that he least wanted to be seen by Ye Erniang, but now he had been caught red-handed!

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the child in Ye Erniang's arms suddenly started crying.

The little boy had a very loud voice. He pushed hard against Ye Erniang's arms, which were holding him, and shouted, "Mommy—I want to find my mommy—"

Ye Erniang quickly tightened her grip on him, gently rocking him while softly coaxing, "Good boy, don't cry, Mommy's here..."

But the child wouldn't listen at all, crying louder and louder, struggling with his little hands and feet, kicking Ye Erniang's light blue long gown until it was all wrinkled.

Upon seeing this, Ye Erniang's smile faded for a moment, but quickly returned.

She turned the child around so that his back was to everyone, and while rocking him, she hummed an off-key nursery rhyme.

The child cried even harder, his little face turning bright red.

Seeing this scene before him, Zhou Feng felt an overwhelming surge of anger rising within him.

He silently took a few steps forward, his voice low and deep: "Where did you bring this child from?"

Ye Erniang glanced at Zhou Feng out of the corner of her eye, but ignored him completely, continuing to soothe the child in her arms. It was Yue Laosan who spoke weakly: "She...she snatches a baby every day, plays with it for half a day...if she doesn't kill it, she sends it to another family...making the child's parents search all over the world...and can't find it..."

Yue Laosan knew very well that he had no internal energy left and was essentially useless.

Given Zhou Feng's and others' strength, Duan Yanqing might not be willing to fight to the death with the other party for the sake of a cripple like him.

So now he can only hope that Zhou Feng and the others will find out about Ye Erniang's actions and fight her to the death.

That way, once Duan Yanqing arrives, they will join the battle to avenge him!

Otherwise, once Zhou Feng and the others show their troublesome side, Duan Yanqing might just withdraw and abandon him.

With Yue Laosan explaining things from the side, Ye Erniang saved herself from saying too much, but her movements to coax the child became slightly more exaggerated than before.

Inside the carriage, Qin Ming's finger rested on the trigger, but he hesitated to make a move.

The reason is simple: if the QBU-201 anti-material sniper rifle were to hit Ye Erniang at this distance, the bullets would be too powerful!

Even if he could blow her head off with a single shot, the shockwave could still injure the child in Ye Erniang's arms, which made him hesitant to act rashly.

Just then, Lin Yin whispered into her Bluetooth headset, "Boss, there are two more figures hiding in the woods about 200 meters away, observing us."

Zhou Feng nodded casually, indicating that he understood.

Those two people are none other than Duan Yanqing and Yun Zhonghe.

The former's martial arts skills were too high; even if Zhou Feng absorbed them all, he might not be able to digest them.

The latter is too skilled in agility, so catching him is no easy task; even ordinary guns might not be able to hit him.

Finally, the child in Ye Erniang's arms seemed to have cried enough and quieted down.

She continued to gently rock the child in her arms, her gaze lingering on Zhao Pan'er's face for a while, but she still narrowed her eyes and looked away.

By this time, the four villains had already joined the Western Xia First-Class Hall and had naturally met with its higher-ups.

Although Li Qiushui was wearing a veil at the time, her eyebrows and eyes still bore some resemblance to Zhao Pan'er, which was why Ye Erniang hesitated just now.

"Young man, although the third of our Four Villains is a reckless fellow, he's still one of us. You've beaten him up like this; when our boss, Duan Yanqing, arrives, he won't be as easy to talk to as I am..."

Zhou Feng ignored Ye Erniang's slightly teasing tone and instead focused his attention on the child.

"Put the child down, and you can get out."

Ye Erniang's smile slowly faded. Although she was just a woman, she was definitely a ruthless person to have earned the title of one of the Four Evils in the martial arts world.

Now Zhou Feng has first demanded the child from her, and then started cursing at her. He's really crossed all her taboos. This guy is doomed today!

Just as Ye Erniang was still putting on airs and getting angry, Zhou Feng had already used his Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to directly close the distance between him and Ye Erniang.

His hand reached directly towards Ye Erniang's chest.

Of course, it wasn't to take advantage of the other party, but to pull the child out of Ye Erniang's arms.

Unfortunately, Ye Erniang's reaction was much faster than she appeared.

When Zhou Feng's palm was less than a foot away from the child, she had already stepped aside half a step, and at the same time, her right hand formed a claw and grabbed at Zhou Feng's wrist.

Zhou Feng's footwork changed instantly. The Lingbo Weibu technique was faster than any other light-body technique in terms of changing direction over short distances. He leaned to the left and avoided the grab.

But just as his body was about to touch the ground, Zhou Feng moved with incredible speed, defying the laws of physics, and stood up again, his hand still reaching for the child.

Ye Erniang frowned and took a step back. The child in her arms cried out in fear again because of their movement.

Startled by the child's cries, Ye Erniang suddenly sensed a force that seemed to tear through the air and quickly dodged again.

The one who fired the shot was Qin Ming, who had equipped the high-precision sniper rifle with a silencer. Since the anti-materiel weapon couldn't be used, he decided to switch to another one.

He also aimed at Ye Erniang's legs, hoping to use this attack to help Zhou Feng restrict her movements.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the gun was fired, Ye Erniang seemed to have foreseen it and dodged it.

"You utterly disgrace yourselves to call yourselves a righteous sect! You've resorted to such despicable tactics as hidden weapons!"

Ye Erniang was furious as she barely dodged the bullets. The hidden weapons were too fast. If they kept attacking her, she would eventually lose control, and she might not be able to dodge them all!

"Who told you we're a reputable sect? We don't care what methods we use to get rid of you!"

Zhou Feng looked at Ye Erniang's expression and felt conflicted.

He suddenly remembered the world-famous ethical thought experiment, the trolley problem.

Now they are facing the same problem: should they hesitate to act because of this one child?

If Ye Erniang escapes, she will continue to capture a child every day, which will only cause more casualties!

But this child is also innocent. Recklessly attacking him will definitely hurt him, and human life cannot be measured by value!

A few seconds later, Zhou Feng suddenly sighed, and his gaze toward Ye Erniang gradually sharpened.

Ye Erniang, who was not far away, immediately sensed the change in Zhou Feng's attitude. As an old hand, she could easily detect killing intent.

Seeing that Zhou Feng and the others were about to make their move, Ye Erniang looked down at the child in her arms, then at Zhou Feng not far away, and suddenly smiled: "Young man, since you want this child so much, how about I give it to you?"

With that, Ye Erniang suddenly flung the child into the woods to the side!

At the same time, she leaped up and used her lightness skill to quickly escape into the distance.

She knew in her heart that her eldest and fourth brothers must have arrived long ago, but they were just hiding to the side and hadn't shown up.

They all saw Yue Laosan's miserable state and wanted Ye Erniang to investigate his abilities, but the young man's lightness skill and the power of the hidden weapons he used were somewhat beyond Ye Erniang's imagination.

If we accidentally get caught in a trap and get ripped off by these people, we'll suffer a huge loss!

Since the third child has already perished inside, the second child can't possibly fall into the same trap, can she?

Upon seeing her movements, Zhou Feng immediately chased after her into the woods.

She used her Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to its fullest extent, managing to pull the child down before he crashed into the tree trunk.

Ye Erniang, who was fleeing into the distance, suddenly felt a chill run through her body, and her hair stood on end, as if she had encountered some kind of life-or-death crisis!

"Second Aunt, have you found out who those people are?"

Just as Ye Erniang was about to escape further away, Duan Yanqing appeared in front of her.

"Boss, they..."

Suddenly, Ye Erniang's body exploded right in front of Duan Yanqing, spraying blood all over his face and body!

The trunk of a small tree directly in front of Ye Erniang also exploded with a bang, and then he heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the young people.

Did they do it?

Duan Yanqing's expression changed drastically. He used his lightness skill to flee into the distance.

Ahead of him, Yun Zhonghe's figure was even faster than his!

Who are those guys?

How could someone so far away still manage to beat Ye Erniang into this state?

This can no longer be explained by martial arts, can it?