Chapter 55 A Dagger Named Xieya!

“You despicable Ye Zhang, you worthless cur, you’ve squandered away your family’s savings with your gluttony and gambling, drove your own father to his grave, and left your mother with nothing but illness. She scraped together a little money for you with great difficulty, and what did you do? As soon as you got the money, you abandoned her. Your mother made the arduous journey from the village all the way to the provincial capital to see how you were doing, and what did you do? You threw her out, refused to acknowledge her, left her to wander the streets! If it hadn’t been for Sui Yi helping out all these years, your mother would have been gone long ago! And now you have the nerve to say such things? Aren’t you afraid of being struck down by lightning for your wickedness?”

The village chief was furious, jabbing his finger at Ye Zhang’s head, itching to drive him into the ground.

The other villagers joined in to rebuke him. They weren’t saints themselves, but even they weren’t this vile.

Such lack of filial piety—he must be the vilest person alive!

Monkey and the others were dumbfounded. Damn, who’s the real scoundrel here? Ye Zhang was rotten to the core!

Being denounced like that in front of Monkey and his group, Ye Zhang grew enraged and spat out, “That woman doesn’t count as a mother. She gave the money my father left me to that useless brat, and she’s nothing but trouble herself, always sick and spending a fortune every day—she should have died long ago!”

“Useless brat? That’s your sister, your own flesh and blood!” Several elderly villagers shook their heads in despair.

Damn it, how could their village produce such a monster?

“My own sister? Hah!” Ye Zhang sneered, unwilling to argue further. He turned to Monkey and his men. “Gentlemen, sorry you had to see this. These ignorant peasants are all the same, haven’t seen the world. Once I get that old hag to hand over the goods, you’ll see I wasn’t lying—there really is something valuable in our ancestral tomb. Dig it up and you’ll know. As for that wretched girl, I’ll take care of her myself. Don’t worry about her messing things up.”

Wang Yu hurried to echo his words.

Everyone present was stunned into silence.

Dear heavens, is this even a person?

Zhang Yang and the others were equally shocked. Were they in a movie? Do such people really exist in this world?

A-A twisted his wrists, ready to step forward and put an end to this nonsense.

But someone had already come out from inside the house.

Without a word, she reached out and grabbed Wang Yu’s wrist just as Wang Yu turned and was about to slap her. With a sharp pull—

Crack!

The wrist was dislocated!

Wang Yu’s eyes bulged in pain, about to scream, but Sui Yi quickly snatched a rag from the table and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Mmmph! Mmmph!” Wang Yu writhed in agony, face contorted.

Sui Yi remained calm.

A series of sharp pops sounded—Wang Yu’s right arm was completely dislocated, hanging limp. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in a dead faint.

It happened in an instant.

Ye Zhang’s own wife was down!

Ye Zhang froze for a moment.

Sui Yi tossed Wang Yu’s limp body aside, letting the rag fall over her ugly face.

Ye Zhang snapped out of it, cursing as he swung a fist at Sui Yi’s head.

Sui Yi simply tilted her head to evade, sidestepped, and caught his arm in a precise grip, then swept her foot at his leg.

In a swift motion, she flipped him over her shoulder.

With a beautiful throw, she sent him crashing to the ground.

Ye Zhang, over one meter seventy tall, thudded against the earth, his body bouncing from the impact.

He too was down in a single move.

Monkey and his crew shuddered, forcing polite smiles at Sui Yi.

“Uh, Miss Sui, this… really has nothing to do with us…”

Without a gun, they knew full well they wouldn’t stand a chance against someone this skilled.

“Heh, now I really believe Miss Sui has no affection left for those two,” the young man beside them laughed. He held up his phone and said, “My young lady’s instructions are clear: either return the three million, or honor the deal. If Miss Sui wishes, you may call the authorities right now…”

Such confidence—it was clear his background was far beyond anything Sui Yi had imagined.

She glanced at him, then at Ye Zhang, who was struggling to his feet, and sighed inwardly. Recover three million from someone like Ye Zhang? That was pure fantasy.

In truth, she wanted no part of the matter. The ancestral tomb wasn’t even hers… but she knew the old woman would be heartbroken.

The villagers were furious, closing in on Ye Zhang, demanding he return the three million. The scoundrel just shouted that he’d already spent it all—on a house, on this or that—and even threatened to call the police and have Sui Yi arrested for hitting him.

His ignorance of the law was astonishing, as if he didn’t realize he’d committed far worse crimes.

But when Sui Yi’s gaze swept coldly over him, he fell silent, his bluster fading.

Just then—

“Sui Yi! Sui Yi! Something’s wrong—something’s terribly wrong!” came the panicked voice of Aunt Wang from inside. A woman rushed out, breathless. “Sui Yi, Granny Ye… your grandmother is coughing up blood! So much blood—it’s everywhere! She’s drenched in cold sweat…”

Sui Yi didn’t wait for her to finish. She charged inside.

A-A followed at once.

Inside, the old woman was clearly gravely ill, struggling for breath, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

Sui Yi steadied herself against the wall, took a deep breath, and pulled out her phone.

“Doctor Jiang, are you available now?”

“I need your help.”

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By the time Jiang Yunxiu arrived, dusk had already fallen. He parked his SUV at the edge of the village. Thankfully, he’d been wise enough to bring an off-road vehicle, knowing the mountain roads would be rough—otherwise, they’d have been stranded halfway.

But as he gazed at the small village bathed in the last golden light, he was momentarily at a loss. His female assistant was even more astonished—is this really Doctor Jiang’s friend’s home?

This was… just too much…

“Don’t say anything unnecessary,” Jiang Yunxiu whispered, his mind clear as a mirror.

His assistant nodded quickly, suppressing her feelings of disdain.

Clearly, Doctor Jiang valued this friend highly.

They hadn’t gone far when, beneath the fading glow, a slender figure appeared ahead.

She was on the phone but turned immediately at the sound of the car.

“Sui Yi…” Jiang Yunxiu approached her.

“Sorry to trouble you both,” Sui Yi said, shaking hands with the assistant and masking her weariness.

The assistant was surprised—such a beautiful girl, and with such remarkable poise… How could someone like her have grown up in a place like this?

Jiang Yunxiu was all business. “How is your grandmother?”

Sui Yi led them in, describing the old woman’s condition in detail.

At this point, only A-A and a few village elders remained in the yard, while Aunt Wang and other women were looking after the old lady inside.

As for Ye Zhang—he had already left with Monkey and the others for the township. Word had it they were planning to open the tomb the next day.

With the old woman seriously ill, Sui Yi had no energy to intervene. They’d taken advantage of the situation.

Jiang Yunxiu’s face shifted slightly when he saw A-A in the yard, but he quickly recovered and followed Sui Yi into the house. There was no time to marvel at the stark contrast between the inside and outside of the home. He and his assistant set down their medical kits on the table, instructed hot water to be boiled, and cleared the room of everyone else.

There was nothing more Sui Yi could do to help. After thanking the aunts and urging them to go eat, she waited until the courtyard was nearly empty before she bathed and changed into clean clothes. She noticed the bruises on her ankle and waist had faded considerably, and the old scar on her ankle was already returning to its normal color.

She instinctively touched the scar. She hadn’t lied to A-A earlier—the scars had always been there, one on each leg, ring-shaped and strange-looking. Someone had once remarked, “Sui Yi, those scars on your ankles look as if you were shackled once…”

Shackled? Imprisoned?

Sui Yi’s eyes darkened as she tried to banish old memories. It was strange—her memory had always been poor, yet certain people and things remained vivid…

She didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse.

On the table lay the dagger she’d recently cleaned.

Its design was archaic, seemingly from the Tang dynasty. The sheath was intricately carved with an animal resembling a qilin, its body covered in thick, dark fur, its eyes bright and spirited, and a single horn gracing its brow.

“Xiezhi?” Sui Yi murmured in surprise. The Xiezhi was a legendary beast from ancient justice systems, also known as the Beast of Law. As large as an ox or as small as a sheep, it was said to possess great wisdom and understand human speech. If it detected dishonesty or disloyalty, it would gore the offender with its horn—legend had it that those who felt its touch would die.

In ancient times, ordinary smiths couldn’t forge such weapons, and imperial restrictions forbade the use of sacred beast motifs—only noble houses or the court were permitted.

And, perhaps, some martial artists.

The dagger was exquisitely made. Unsheathing it, she found it to be about nine inches long.

Nine—a number not chosen lightly.

The blade was icy to the touch, chilling as winter itself, and the mirrored steel reflected her eyes with startling clarity.

One look was enough to tell this was no common blade, no product of ordinary manufacture.

With a simple swipe across the table, Sui Yi left a cut a full centimeter deep.

“…”

Heavens, what kind of metal was this?

Astonished, Sui Yi was more certain than ever of the monster’s terror and the strangeness of the pool.

“A dagger this formidable must have a name… let’s see…”

Examining the dagger, she spotted two small characters etched on the blade near the hilt.

“Xieya? So this is the Xieya Dagger…”

She weighed it in her hand, squinting, and when she probed with her magnetic sense, she immediately saw a deep green magnetic aura!

Far stronger than anything she’d seen on the blue-and-white porcelain before!

This was the deepest magnetic energy she’d ever encountered.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian to vote or support with monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.reading.)