Chapter 40: Everyone Is Watching the Comedy Unfold

The approaching figures were equally ruthless. Their synchronized, momentum-driven advance betrayed a high level of training. A bloody confrontation was clearly imminent.

Inside the courtyard, Old Mrs. Su, eyes reddened, placed Tianbao into a wicker basket. She urgently ordered the three children to watch over their sister, then rose to join the others, grabbing whatever weapons they could find as they rushed toward the door.

Tucked into the basket, Tianbao could only see a patch of roof the size of the basket's opening, along with three teary-eyed heads peering over the rim.

*Ugh! How annoying! Just die already!*

She closed her eyes, her thoughts following her will.

The entrance to the space, visible only to her, suddenly swirled into existence outside the courtyard gate. Aimed directly at the five men, pear-blossom needles shot out mercilessly, piercing their foreheads and passing straight through.

The space belonged to Tianbao. As long as she wished, every blade of grass, every leaf within it could be imbued with massive force. Those needles could pierce stone without the slightest effort, let alone mere flesh and blood.

Su Da and Su Er crossed the threshold, still roaring, "Ah, come on then!"

The next moment, both men jerked to a halt, their eyes bulging in disbelief at what lay before them. Because they had stopped so abruptly, their momentum forced them to stagger twice before they could steady themselves.

The rest of the Su family, rushing out behind them to help, arrived in succession. Upon seeing the scene, they all stopped in their tracks, nearly collapsing into a heap.

Ten paces before them, all five men lay on the ground, their breaths extinguished. A single red mark remained on each of their foreheads; the blood was slowly staining outward, only to congeal within a few heartbeats.

They had died cleanly and efficiently.

The seven members of the Su family stood stunned, their hearts pounding wildly, their pupils dilating in shock.

People were dead... and their family had won without a fight again...

In the neighboring Huo courtyard, Mistress Huo had rushed to scale the wall. When she heard the commotion outside, she immediately thought of the little baby she had once held. The sharp-tongued woman, who never cared for others' affairs, was so anxious that she bypassed the gate, desperate to save the little one.

Caught off guard, she nearly landed face-first as she hopped over.

"By all that's holy!" Mistress Huo swore, her face twitching as she stared at the five corpses with their eyes still wide open in death.

Her martial arts were not the best, but they were certainly far from poor. Yet, how had these five died? She hadn't sensed a thing. Looking at the needle-sized, fatal wounds on their brows, she felt a chill creep up her spine.

*Good heavens.* A top-tier expert had truly come to Tu Bei Mountain.

And it seemed the person was genuinely protecting the Su family—not out of a fleeting whim or a random act of chivalry.

Realizing this, Mistress Huo looked away, dusted herself off, and flew back into her own courtyard. "Nothing to see here. I thought there’d be a show. Tsk, weak as paper!"

The Su family finally came to their senses at those words. They turned back, rushed inside, and slammed the courtyard gate shut. The kitchen knives, hoes, and wooden sticks clattered to the ground as the family collapsed in the yard. Their silence was a mix of lingering terror and joy—a deeply complicated feeling.

Su Da’s lips trembled, his eyes shifting slowly. "Father, Mother, did we survive again?"

Su Er wasn't much better. "Those men had blades, they knew martial arts... and they just... died? They didn't even have time to scream before they... they were gone?"

Su Xiu’er whispered, "The expert helped us again..."

Liu Yuelan added, "Will they come back? Will the next ones be even stronger?"

He Daxiang fretted, "If they come back, will the expert still help us? What if they arrive while he’s off eating or relieving himself? What will happen to us—"

Old Mrs. Su and Old Mr. Su looked at their family, then toward the unknown direction outside the walls. Trembling, they knelt and pressed their palms together in prayer. "Our family has received two great mercies. It is our fortune that the expert is willing to help. If he cannot, we have no right to complain; this is our own affair, unrelated to him."

Old Mr. Su added, "Since our benefactor does not wish to reveal himself, we shall offer our thanks with kowtows right here in the yard!"

Tianbao, having dealt with the nuisances, was feeling drowsy. Just as she was drifting off, a sudden clap of thunder startled her.

The voices outside reached her ears: "I, Su Xiang, along with my wife Su Lan, my sons, and daughters-in-law, offer our gratitude for your intervention!"

"First kowtow, second kowtow, third kowtow—"

Tianbao: "..."

The little baby blinked, raising her tiny hands to cover her face. Her skin twitched. *Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Auntie... Stop kowtowing! If you keep doing that, your benefactor is going to be struck by lightning!*

The Su children, hearing their grandparents, lit up and ran outside. "Grandpa! Grandma! Are we safe again? Did our great benefactor save us again? We want to thank him too!"

Tianbao: "..."

*Sigh.* Being a baby is so difficult. When will she ever grow up?

News of the event outside the Su courtyard spread rapidly to the various factions, and Tu Bei Mountain was once again in an uproar.

"The Su family made it through again! The Twelve Wharves lost another five men!"

"Someone really is helping them! If they can make it through this, no one will dare ruin their vegetable patch again, right?"

"Such a powerful expert, killing the Twelve Wharves' men without even showing his face... He’s here on Tu Bei Mountain! If he doesn't leave, do we... do we have hope too?"

The bodies outside the gate were eventually cleared away by unknown hands.

At Wan Family Manor on Tu Nan Mountain, Master Wan Fu sat in the main hall, his face dark and gloomy. The steward knelt before him, not daring to look up, his fat trembling as he stammered, "Master, I specifically chose the five best guards, and... they were all wiped out! It seems the person behind the Su family is determined to oppose our Twelve Wharves; they have no regard for us at all! Master, what should we do next? If we resort to force, I fear the experts in our manor won't be enough—"

"Shut up!" Wan Fu slammed his hand against the armrest, the solid wood creaking under his force. His eyes were cold. "The Twelve Wharves will not be slighted by those low-born peasants! I will report this to our superiors. We have countless experts in our ranks; those people won't be smug for long!"

Every faction was currently watching the Twelve Wharves, waiting for a joke. For years, the Twelve Wharves had dominated the land of exile, sharing power with other factions. But if they couldn't even handle the tiny Su family, they would become a laughingstock.

In this land, where the strong prey on the weak, the struggle for power was fierce. If the Twelve Wharves showed even a hint of weakness, other factions would swarm them and tear them apart!

They could not retreat. This matter would not end here.

Deep in the night, Tu Bei Mountain was shrouded in silence. The residents had long since fallen asleep, with only the night breeze whispering through the woods, carrying eerie, faint sounds.

Exhausted by the emotional rollercoaster of the day, the Su family had also fallen into a deep slumber. Only Old Mrs. Su, a light sleeper, woke up to a dull thud in the middle of the night. She shivered, but finding nothing amiss, drifted back to sleep.