Chapter 100: Danger Strikes
Wen Nuan Nuan jolted awake!
Her mind raced—it was refugees scaling the wall and breaking in.
She rolled out of bed, not even slipping on her cloth shoes before she heard steady footsteps rushing toward the main hall, pulling open the front door and charging outside. Immediately, the dull thud of a wooden club striking flesh echoed through the air.
Nuan Nuan dared not delay. Her body, honed by months of diligent training, moved with light agility. Following the scenario she had rehearsed countless times in her mind, she dashed to the main hall door, grabbed two cloth bags, and rushed into the courtyard.
The moonlight was dim, shrouding the entire courtyard in deep, inky darkness.
In the yard, a scrawny, monkey-like middle-aged man had already been knocked unconscious by Leng Tian’s strike. The soles of his straw sandals were pierced by sharp wooden stakes embedded upside-down in the ground, blood dripping profusely.
Outside the courtyard gate, the sound of axes madly hacking at the wooden door had already begun!
Unable to wait for their companions inside, the refugees gathered outside the courtyard resorted to violently breaking down the door!
“Charge!” After a dozen or so violent blows, the wooden latch and barricading planks loosened, teetering on the verge of collapse before being forcefully pushed open. Several strong, middle-aged men wielding axes and choppers charged in first.
On this side, Leng Yun had already seized the moment. He rushed forward, swinging a full bag of lime powder in a preemptive strike, scattering it into the air!
A thick cloud of potent quicklime powder filled the air, unavoidably entering the eyes, mouths, noses, hair, and skin of the intruders. Coughs and sneezes erupted chaotically.
Leng Tian, armed with a long wooden club, followed closely behind. With precise strikes, the club in his hands moved like a living thing—hooking, flicking, and delivering heavy blows. The axes and choppers in the hands of the refugees at the front were knocked loose in the chaos, falling with just the right force into the sharp wooden stakes beside the courtyard wall.
Refugees armed with weapons were vastly more dangerous than those empty-handed. He couldn’t allow the refugees pouring in behind them to continuously replenish their weapons!
The sturdy wooden club, crafted from carefully selected timber from the mountains, struck without fail, hitting the Fengchi acupoint on the heads of the swarming refugees.
The martial arts master had taught orthodox techniques—skills for sparring, the methods of a gentleman. But what he used was not that. He spared no effort, aiming each blow precisely at the Fengchi acupoint on the refugees’ heads. Those struck fell without exception, knocked unconscious.
This was what his second brother had taught him—watching him practice over and over on a wooden post the height of a grown man. In situations with many opponents, it could secure a quick victory. Though not a killing blow, it was more effective than one!
Behind him were his sister-in-law and Little Brother. If these refugees succeeded, the fate awaiting the three of them would be nothing short of a living hell.
He had to win. Even if he died, he had to take down these intruders before his last breath!
In the blink of an eye, the first four or five men fell quickly, knocked unconscious.
All of this happened seamlessly, in the span of a single moment—so fast that the other side hadn’t even reacted before losing several of their key fighters.
Those at the back had already retreated the moment the lime powder was scattered, guarding the courtyard gate and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Under the dim moonlight, the refugees’ eyes gleamed with anger, hatred, and the green light of hunger.
Leng Tian gritted his teeth and also stepped back, holding his club protectively in front of his elder sister-in-law and younger brother.
In the deep darkness of the night, no one could see the blood trickling down Leng Tian’s left hand.
Wen Nuan Nuan called out uneasily, “Eldest Brother?”
“I’m fine, sister-in-law,” Leng Tian replied swiftly, his dark eyes fixed intently on the refugees across from him.
Including the scout who had been injured and knocked unconscious earlier, there were now six strong refugees lying on the ground in the courtyard. Yet at least seven or eight more still guarded the courtyard gate!
There were men and women among them, all without exception in their prime. Even the women were tall and robust, with fierce faces full of hostility and eyes gleaming with malice.
The drought had already begun. Most people had long been conserving food, eating only one meal a day, and were so thin they were almost skeletal. Yet, apart from the scrawny middle-aged man who had scouted earlier, not a single one of these people was thin!
From the courtyard, the cries for help, screams, and wails of other households in the village could now be heard clearly, each sound dripping with blood.
These people were organized and scheming. They had not a shred of kindness in them, nor were they ordinary farmers.
There were still seven or eight of them, each strong and sturdy.
They had only managed to take down five of them by exploiting the visual blind spot and underestimation when the intruders charged through the gate, succeeding through a surprise attack.
Now that the enemy was on high alert, with such a disparity in numbers and strength, how could they possibly win?
The hearts of the three sank simultaneously.
Leng Xiao was right. When the gap in height, strength, and build was too great, wielding a knife could easily lead to it being snatched away, making it even more dangerous.
Even if their knives weren’t taken by the enemy, how could the three of them possibly fight off five opponents armed with knives and three with clubs?
Even if Leng Tian alone held off five of them, could she and Leng Yun really defeat the remaining three strong and sturdy refugees when both sides had knives? Besides, they couldn’t let Leng Tian face five alone.
Wen Nuan Nuan bit her lower lip hard, her mind made up.
They were outnumbered and outmatched. No matter what, conventional tactics wouldn’t work. They had to act unpredictably.
Injuries were unavoidable. In this situation, getting injured was already the best possible outcome. As long as they didn’t lose their lives, as long as the three of them could survive, that was enough.
“Eldest Brother, later, Little Brother and I will scatter the medicinal powder together,” Wen Nuan Nuan whispered in the faintest breath, audible only to the three of them huddled closely together.
Scattering the medicinal powder wouldn’t just reduce the enemy’s ability to attack; more importantly, it would impair their vision.
Only by making the refugees unable to see clearly, losing their sense of direction, could they seize a sliver of hope for survival.
“No, we agreed before. I’m agile and fast. I’ll charge forward alone. Sister-in-law, you stay behind with the knife. With us blocking the front, they won’t get past,” Leng Yun protested anxiously. The enemy still had knives. What if Sister-in-law got hurt while scattering the powder and couldn’t retreat in time?!
“No! The enemy still has knives,” Leng Tian blurted out in opposition.
“There are eight of them. Little Brother alone can’t handle them all. Don’t worry about whether I’ll get hurt or not. In this situation, as long as we survive, that’s all that matters.” Even if they didn’t survive, they couldn’t be wiped out entirely.
They had no choice but to fight.
In the past, Wen Nuan Nuan would tremble at the thought of such scenes, but now that she was truly in the midst of it, her only thought was to take down as many as possible. Only by taking down more could the three of them have a chance to survive.
Wen Nuan Nuan whispered, “Little Brother, later, you take care of the right side, and I’ll handle the left.”
Leng Yun wanted to protest further, but Wen Nuan Nuan silenced him with a look.
The situation was on the brink of erupting. Both sides were intent on killing the other. There was no time for objections.
The refugees began to move, advancing slowly and spreading out, preparing to surround the three.
Leng Tian and the other two retreated slowly.
As the refugees gradually closed in, Leng Yun and Wen Nuan Nuan braced themselves.
Suddenly, a roar that seemed to shake the heavens echoed from outside the courtyard gate!
The two horses in the stable trembled so violently that their front legs buckled.
Everyone, startled, turned their gaze toward the courtyard gate.