Chapter 120 Terrified

Chapter 120 Terrified

Aunt Ge didn't sense that the man was about to die of fright; instead, she felt that he was getting more and more excited as he talked.

Moreover, the blood didn't spread throughout the entire courtyard; it was mostly concentrated at the entrance of Uncle Atai's main house.

Judging from the blood on Aunt Atai's foot, it's likely that the woman stepped into the blood pit as soon as she opened the door.

This explains why she couldn't help but scream.

Moreover, she scared herself silly. Well, to be precise, she was so scared that she wet herself. Looking at her disheveled appearance, I wonder if she will be too embarrassed to act like a bully in the village again after she recovers.

Aunt Ge wasn't flustered at all, after all, she had already guessed what was going on.

The clan leader, who had been hastily summoned, was now staring intently at the four large characters next to the pool of blood.

The bloodstains on the four characters had dried, but they were still easily recognizable as "Big Brother" and "I hate."

The clan chief pointed at those four words, his face as black as ink, and questioned Uncle Atai, "What exactly did you do? Why did Atai's father come looking for you?"

Uncle Atai shuddered. He still had two bloody handprints on his face. The fact that he hadn't been scared out of his wits like his wife and urinated on himself was his last act of courage and stubbornness.

His two sons were also standing frozen, their faces covered in bloody handprints, though the handprints didn't look as big as their father's.

But precisely because of this, the villagers watching became even more convinced that Atai's parents had come to their door.

In just a few words, the villagers achieved a logical consistency: the bloody handprints on Atai's two cousins' faces must have been left by Atai's mother, while the words and the bloody handprints on Atai's uncle's face must have been left by Atai's father.

"...This is bullying the two kids too much! They're so angry that their parents have crawled out of the underworld to come after them."

With this statement as their concluding remark, the villagers directly condemned Uncle Atai and his family.

Whether the clan chief believed the villagers' words or, even if he didn't believe them, wanted to take this opportunity to deal with Uncle Atai's family, he went straight for Uncle Atai.

Uncle Atai no longer dared to pretend everything was alright. He had a guilty conscience and was terrified. He was afraid that if he continued to act recklessly, Atai's parents would kill his entire family that night.

"My wife arranged a marriage for Xiaomei."

After hesitatingly uttering the first sentence, the rest was not so difficult to say.

Uncle Atai vaguely explained the man's situation, but didn't forget to defend his family at the end, "We're doing this for Xiaomei's own good. Although the man is a bit old, he's rich. Xiaomei can just wait to enjoy a life of luxury after marrying him."

The clan chief glared at Uncle Atai, "Where are those two siblings?"

Uncle Atai glanced at the woodshed.

The woodshed looked exactly the same as yesterday, with the door bolted from the outside.

What's strange is that despite the chaos outside, Atai and Xiaomei inside didn't make a sound at all, which is quite unusual.

Uncle Atai wasn't thinking about these things at the moment, but the clan chief and the others were still functioning normally.

"Release them now!" the clan chief roared. Immediately, some enthusiastic villagers ran over and removed the bolt from the door.

The door to the woodshed was opened, and the brother and sister, sitting blankly in a pile of weeds, were immediately spotted by those nearby.

"Oh dear, what a tragedy!" The villagers had seen the brother and sister's living conditions and their new and old injuries. Some people were so indignant that they slapped their thighs and exclaimed, "No wonder their parents came to settle accounts with them!"

The children had lost weight and were dressed in even more tattered clothes, but no one seemed to think much of it. After all, they were now being cared for by their uncle and aunt, who could never treat them with the same heartfelt devotion as their own parents.

People can understand the occasional beatings and scoldings, after all, even they, their own children, have been beaten and scolded by them quite often.

It's outrageous that they make the two children live in the woodshed without even providing them decent bedding. Now, they've even torn Xiaomei's clothes to shreds, forcing her to cling to the tattered quilt covering her body with her thin, scarred arms.

"Since you've been locked up, why aren't you two saying anything?" The clan chief asked Atai and Xiaomei somewhat guiltily.

Atai lowered his head and looked down, not wanting others to see the mockery and hatred in his eyes. "We dare not. We said it before, but it was not only useless, but we would also suffer more hunger and more beatings. Now... my uncle told us last night that if we don't behave, he will beat us to death."

After hearing Atai's words, not only the clan leader of the Lü clan, but also the other members of the Lü clan felt uneasy, especially those who had sided with Atai's uncle and advised him and Xiaomei to move to his uncle's house and live with them.

After a brief, awkward silence, the clan chief coughed and said, "No one will beat you anymore. I will also have your uncle's family return your house and land to you."

Before Atai could say anything, Xie Wanniang interrupted with a curious look, "Just the house and land? Don't they have to return anything else? They suffered so many beatings and hunger for so long, and Xiaomei was almost sold to an old bachelor for a dowry. Did they suffer all that for nothing?"

The clan chief frowned and glared at the talkative Xie Wanniang with some displeasure.

Xie Wanniang smiled innocently and looked back at her, her expression as sincere as could be. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? If so, please tell me."

What could the clan chief say? That Atai and Xiaomei deserved it? Or that their uncle's family took their other belongings and didn't need to return them?

No, what you said makes a lot of sense.

After bluntly uttering this sentence, the clan chief turned his head and continued to stare at Uncle Atai with an unfriendly expression.

“Whatever you took from Atai’s house, return it all to him now! And those two children have suffered in your house for the past six months. You either give them two taels of silver as compensation, or I will ask the clan elders to come and expel your family from the clan and drive you out of the village.”

What else could Uncle Atai say? He was afraid that his younger brother would come to settle scores with him, and he was also afraid that the clan chief would really expel their family from the clan.

He seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant. "I will listen to the clan chief. I will return everything to them and give them an extra two taels of silver."

In the past, his wife and daughter-in-law, who had always worked well with him, would have jumped out to cause trouble and make trouble to prevent their own interests from being harmed.

But now, both his wife and his daughter-in-law, who rushed over upon hearing the news, were terrified.