Chapter 38: Who Is the Master?
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“Over here.” Madam Huo rolled her eyes and wasted no time mocking them. “I must say, you people have some nerve. The whole family rushed off together to fight, leaving such a tiny baby off to the side. Did you really think hiding her in a basket would keep her safe?”
Old Madam Su was unusually unable to argue back. Seeing that her little granddaughter was safe and sound in the woman’s arms, she finally let out the breath she had been holding. “You’re right, Madam Huo. We were all frantic and out of our minds just now. Good heavens, thinking back on it now, I’m truly terrified!”
There had been more than a dozen vicious, overbearing thugs. If a real fight had broken out, the Su family would never have been their match. At the time, there had been no opportunity to think things through. They had only thought that one more person meant one more pair of hands, and so they had charged forward together.
Now that she thought about it, Old Madam Su was genuinely frightened. Her little granddaughter had not truly been safe hiding in that basket.
What if something had happened to Sweetie…? Old Madam Su dared not imagine it. She reached out both arms, eager to take the child back. “My little Sweetie, were you frightened?”
Madam Huo sidestepped.
Old Madam Su embraced empty air, her face once again filled with bewilderment and confusion.
Doctor Su and his wife, Second Brother Su and his wife, and even Old Master Su had all hurried over to check on the child. Seeing this, they too froze, staring at Madam Huo in bafflement.
The corner of Madam Huo’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
“Cough. What are you all staring at? Do you think I’m going to steal your child?”
She hastily salvaged her dignity, placed the baby in the old woman’s arms, and walked away as though nothing had happened.
The baby was so light and soft when held, a tiny bundle nestled against her, carrying the sweet scent of milk. To her surprise, Madam Huo found herself reluctant to let go.
What was wrong with her?
Meanwhile, the Su family, suspecting nothing, gathered around the little darling.
The moment Su the Elder saw his daughter’s calm, obedient, utterly composed expression, he burst into laughter. “Mother, my girl is brave! The last time we were in Windcloud City, she was chased through several streets, and she was just as well-behaved then—not a single cry.”
Liu Yuelan immediately jabbed him with her elbow. “Must you bring that up? And you sound proud of it!”
Su the Elder held it in for a moment, then chuckled again. “Wife, this is the first time I’ve seen you fight so fiercely. Now that the troublemakers have been driven off, why don’t you, Daxiang, and Xiuer go inside and tidy yourselves up?”
Had he not mentioned it, the others might not have noticed. After such a vicious battle, no one in the Su family—apart from the youngest baby—looked clean or presentable.
Some had their hair hanging loose, while others had crooked collars and disheveled clothes. At first glance, they looked like lunatics.
Three little rascals also squeezed into the crowd, pointing at their mouths and complaining that their teeth hurt.
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The Su family exchanged glances. A moment later, all of them burst into laughter while holding Sweetie.
Their laughter was filled with the exhilaration and satisfaction of having resisted and struck back.
“I’ll say this much: while we were fighting, we had no time to be afraid. But afterward, it really did feel good. All the frustration we’ve been swallowing these days has finally dispersed!”
“We mustn’t celebrate too soon. Those people certainly won’t let this go. They’ll come back.”
“That’s a matter for later. We’ll deal with it when the time comes! This time, I’ve finally understood something. We may be poor, and we may suffer, but we absolutely cannot live like cowards!”
“That’s right! Poverty must not diminish our spirit. We cannot let others push us around! Otherwise…” Su the Elder glanced outside. The onlookers gathered beyond the gate had already begun to disperse. “Otherwise, even if we’re alive, we’ll be nothing but walking corpses.”
If they kept bowing their heads, yielding, and living in cowardice and abasement, they would eventually become like those people outside: dim, numb, and no more than walking shells without souls.
“Come to think of it, those people suddenly slunk away just now. I noticed that every one of them had blood running from their hands! Someone must have helped us from the shadows. Otherwise, there’s no way things would have ended so easily!” Second Brother Su’s eyes shone as he spoke excitedly. “That person must be an extraordinary martial artist! It’s just a shame we don’t know who they are, so we can’t thank them in person.”
Old Master Su pondered for a moment before speaking. “The true greats often remain hidden among ordinary people. Regardless, we must remember this kindness. Our family has encountered the help of benefactors many times along this journey, and that is a great blessing. As the saying goes, a family that does good deeds will surely be blessed in generations to come. Once we have the ability, whenever we encounter someone suffering, we should lend them a hand. In doing so, we will be storing up blessings both for our benefactor and for our own children and grandchildren.”
The others nodded one after another, and no one disagreed.
The Su family had only been able to make it this far because of all the kindness they had received along the way.
Whether it was the noblewoman at the border station who had spoken up to defuse a crisis, the masked expert who had escorted them along the road, Madam Huo and her husband who had come to their aid, or the unknown person who had helped them from behind the scenes today, the Su family would remember every one of them in their hearts.
Evil must be suppressed; goodness must be spread.
The Su family closed the courtyard gate again, and the women began cleaning up the wreckage scattered across the ground.
The three little rascals eagerly volunteered to help.
“The extraordinary martial artist,” Sweetie thought as she nestled in Old Madam Su’s arms with her eyes closed in feigned sleep.
She sank into her inner space and carefully washed each pear needle stained with blood, moving slowly and methodically, her little face expressionless.
Grandfather and Grandmother had said those people would come back. The pear needles would have to be used again and again.
As for good and evil, Sweetie did not understand them.
She had only one thought: frighten those people so thoroughly that they would never dare come knocking again.
Sweetie was annoyed that someone kept coming to bother her family.
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Today, because they had been fighting at home, she had refrained from targeting the men’s hearts and the points between their brows. In the fragmentary memories she possessed, she had heard old people say that having someone die inside the house brought terrible bad luck.
Those men had merely gotten lucky.
In the Huo family courtyard, only a dozen or so yards from the Su residence, Madam Huo returned home and began telling her husband about the strange incident.
“I was right there in the courtyard, yet with my eyesight, I couldn’t tell when the other person had struck or even from which direction. Their skill must be above mine.” She sat on a low stool and poked a finger at the thin man reclining beside her. “We’ve lived here for more than ten years. When did an expert come to this place without us knowing? Who do you think that person was, and why would they help the Su family?”
Huo Ziheng had been lying there perfectly peacefully, but the hand constantly poking him refused to leave him alone. He opened his eyes helplessly. “Ah Xian, if even you couldn’t detect it, how could I possibly know? I’m merely a weak scholar who couldn’t even fight off a chicken.”
“Tsk! You always seem so capable, producing one scheme after another, but when it matters, you’re completely useless!” Madam Huo was thoroughly scornful. “Just look at the Su family. Those two women are younger than I am, yet each has already had two children! Who knows when my belly will finally grow? It’s nowhere in sight!”
“…”
“I just held their little one over there. She was so light and soft. If we had a daughter, and she inherited your eyes and features, she would certainly be prettier and more lovable than the Su family’s little brat!”
“…”
“Just tell me, when are you finally going to consummate our marriage? I’m warning you, Huo—don’t you dare get any crooked ideas. Since I abducted you and made you my husband, you belong to me for the rest of your life. You’re not getting away!”
Huo Ziheng’s temple began to twitch. At last, unable to bear it any longer, he said, “It’s fortunate that I’m useless. If I weren’t, you might want to see who would be the one running away in the end.”
Madam Huo had been in high spirits, thoroughly enjoying her scolding, when the man suddenly made such a brazen remark. Her mouth fell open, and her weathered face flushed bright red.
What was this? In the past, the man had always watched her gently from the side, listening as she chattered and complained.
How had he suddenly found the courage to talk back today?
Was he rebelling?
She was the head of the household!
“You—you—what exactly are you saying? I was only rambling! If I really disliked you, I would have run away eight hundred years ago. Would I have stayed with you for more than ten years? And now you’re talking back to me too? Have you gone mad?” The woman was furious with embarrassment, her ears burning red.
The man was silent for a moment, then let out a low laugh.
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