Chapter 126 The Thief

Upon hearing this, the short man's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands excitedly, saying, "My goodness, I never imagined that gathering medicinal herbs could be so profitable! Why don't we go up the mountain tomorrow and try our luck? Maybe we can make a small fortune!"

"What nonsense! How would we know anything about those medicinal herbs?"

"Besides, these medicinal herbs have all been carefully processed. How could we possibly do this job?" Qiangzi said, deliberately lowering his voice.

The man seemed a little embarrassed after hearing this. He scratched his head and replied with an awkward expression, "I really don't know it, and I know absolutely nothing about how to prepare it."

And so, the two chatted for quite a while, one saying to the other.

Then, the two of them stealthily and tiptoed slowly toward the door.

Upon reaching the door, one of them carefully took out a thin wire from his pocket and began to slowly and methodically manipulate it.

As time passed, the wire moved in and out of the keyhole, making a slight friction sound.

Just then, a very faint creaking sound was heard – the door had been successfully opened!

However, this tiny, insignificant sound was enough to wake Shen Xiaochuan, who was fast asleep inside the house.

Shen Xiaochuan tiptoed out of bed, afraid of making the slightest noise.

He was barefoot, and like a cautious cat, he tiptoed toward the door.

Reaching the door, he gently grasped the doorknob and turned it extremely slowly, opening the door only a narrow crack.

Through the gap, he saw two relatively thin men sneaking into the house.

The two men looked around, seemingly surveying the room. After confirming that no one was around, they headed straight for the younger sister's room.

Shen Xiaochuan's eyes instantly darkened as he silently watched the two men's every move.

When he saw them stop in front of his younger sister's door and start fiddling with the lock, Shen Xiaochuan took a deep breath, slowly pushed the door open again, and quietly walked out.

The two men were so engrossed in picking the lock that they didn't even notice that Shen Xiaochuan had silently appeared behind them like a ghost.

"Brother Qiang, can you hurry up?" one of them urged in a low voice.

"What's the rush? Do you think I don't want to hurry up?" the man called Brother Qiang replied irritably, but his hands didn't dare to stop moving at all.

Just then, a soft voice suddenly sounded behind them: "Do you need my help?"

Upon hearing this, the two almost instinctively replied in unison, "Okay!" However, as soon as they finished speaking, they realized something was wrong—who was speaking?

Filled with doubt and fear, they slowly turned their heads away.

In that instant, they finally saw clearly that the person standing behind them was Shen Xiaochuan. This sudden scene filled the two of them with fear, and their whole bodies trembled involuntarily.

Immediately afterwards, two muffled thuds were heard, and the two men's legs seemed to have lost all support, bending limply and then collapsing straight onto the hard, cold ground.

Although they were terrified and nearly lost their lives, their survival instincts prompted them to react as quickly as possible.

They struggled to their feet with astonishing speed, not even bothering to brush off the dust and grass clippings, and turned to run towards the door.

Unfortunately, their little tricks couldn't escape Shen Xiaochuan's keen eyes. You see, Shen Xiaochuan has never neglected his training over the years.

His skills had long since become incredibly agile and nimble.

With a swift movement, he moved like a ghost, rapidly closing in on the two men. At the same time, he reached out with both hands and executed a sharp grappling move, accurately grabbing their arm joints.

With a slight twist of Shen Xiaochuan's hand, a crisp "crack" was heard, and the two immediately let out a series of pig-like screams, tears and snot streaming down their faces from the pain. Their original thought of escaping vanished completely at that moment.

At that moment, the two people's extremely miserable screams echoed in the courtyard, the sound piercing the night sky and carrying far away.

The couple, Shen Zishan and his wife, who were fast asleep inside the house, were abruptly awakened by the sudden scream.

They sat up in a panic, and without even putting on their shoes, rushed out barefoot to find out what had happened.

"What happened? Xiao Chuan? What's wrong?" Shen Zishan shouted as he hurried toward the center of the courtyard. His voice was filled with anxiety and concern.

"Dad, Mom, it's nothing serious, just two clueless little thieves broke in."

Shen Xiaochuan answered calmly, still holding the two unlucky guys in his hands as if they were two little chicks.

"Hey you two little rascals, why aren't you sleeping peacefully in the middle of the night? What are you doing causing trouble here?" Shen Zishan glared angrily at the two thieves and scolded them.

"Grandpa, uncle, please have mercy and let us go! We were just confused for a moment, we'll never do it again! Please, have mercy and let us go..."

The two thieves had completely lost their previous arrogance, replaced by expressions of fear and pleading, constantly begging for mercy.

"Speak! Why did you walk straight into this room as soon as you entered?"

Shen Xiaochuan stared intently at the two uninvited guests before him; he was not so easily fooled.

Just then, Shen Xiaoxiao appeared before everyone. She was already dressed and slowly walked out of the room.

"We really just randomly picked a room, we definitely didn't come here on purpose."

As Qiangzi spoke, he unconsciously avoided Shen Xiaochuan's sharp gaze, his eyes darting around as if he were feeling somewhat guilty.

"Hmph! That's utter nonsense! My room is clearly the closest to the door, but when you came in, you didn't go to my room or my parents' room. Instead, you went straight to my sister's room without hesitation."

"Now that things have come to this, how dare you shamelessly claim that it was a random choice?" Shen Xiaochuan became increasingly angry as he spoke, and the force in his hand increased even more.

Two cries of pain rang out as the two people whose wrists were being gripped by Shen Xiaochuan screamed in agony.

Thank you, Chu Liuying from the Sword Forging Pavilion, for your loving support.