Chapter Ten: Saving Lives Is the Heroine’s Duty

"Ah! It wasn't me. It wasn't my idea to escape. It was someone else who opened the cellar. That girl opened the wooden gate... I was just curious, I was just worried~"

"Curious about how you’d die? Worried you wouldn't die fast enough?"

In a foul mood and forced to deal with a vicious, dim-witted person, Bai Mianmian snapped back without a second thought.

The girl jerked her head up, but froze the moment she saw Bai Mianmian’s appearance. She clearly hadn't expected the figure who had acted so domineering and greedy in the cellar to be so thin and emaciated. In her view, clothes could lie, and words could deceive, but one's physical state could not. No one who was barely scraping by could be cruel enough to starve themselves to the point of being skin and bone!

"Are you really here to save us?"

"Who said that?"

"You—"

"If you agree to pay a reward of thirty taels, then I am certainly here to save you."

The girl clearly had more to say, but Bai Mianmian didn't want to waste any more time. With a sharp gaze, she silenced the girl and headed toward the main gate. By now, the area around the door was covered in blood, a startling and gruesome sight.

"It’s right here."

Compared to the bad luck of a villainess, the good fortune of the female lead was truly enviable. Bai Mianmian stepped into the circle of government bailiffs and locked eyes with Zhang Huilan, who was leading them. The chubby girl rushed forward eagerly and grabbed her. Bai Mianmian cursed internally—she had actually gone to fetch reinforcements!

"Inside, it's inside~"

Before the female lead could speak again, Bai Mianmian shook her off and dashed into the middle of the crowd of bailiffs. The shock and relief on her face were perfectly deceptive. "Inside! Hurry, you must hurry!"

Perhaps her luck wasn't great, but her acting was superb, and her wits were sharp. Her frantic words made the crowd nervous, and they swarmed toward the gate. The sight of the blood inside drew a chorus of gasps. The moment all the bailiffs had stepped into the courtyard, she bolted, running until she was not far from the city gate before she finally stopped.

"A bowl of water."

She put down a copper coin before she even called out. The old woman at the tea stall glanced at her and silently scooped some water. The small bowl handed to her had a blackened fingernail soaking in it.

"Another bowl, I'll scoop it myself." She reached into her clothes and effortlessly produced another copper coin. The old woman was stunned, but Bai Mianmian simply helped herself. Out of sight, out of mind—she had to drink this water.

Since last night, she had only had half a bowl of egg soup, and that had been sickeningly salty. Bai Mianmian hadn't expected to encounter salt again, but luckily, the water was only faintly saline. She paused, then downed it in one go.

"Splash." The bewildered old woman poured the remaining water into a bucket. Bai Mianmian’s cheeks twitched; she dared not linger, fearing she would vomit if she looked at it any longer.

"Cheap and showy—two coppers for a bowl of water, as if coins fall from the sky? Truly, those who don't run a household don't know the price of fuel and rice. Can showing off fill your belly? Does people looking at you put meat on your bones..."

She quickly moved out of earshot of the old woman’s grumbling. Once out of the city, she pulled out a steamed bun and began to chew. In the afternoon, the world suddenly felt a bit more leisurely. Without realizing it, she entered the village and inadvertently drew close to the crowd gathered in front of the Zhang family home.

"Auntie, what’s going on?" She tugged at a young woman who was on her tiptoes, trying hard to peer inside. The young woman turned around and snapped, "What else? Something happened, that's what."

"What happened?"

"The Zhangs have been possessed by evil spirits."

"Ah?!" Her surprise was genuine. The jump from taking medicine to being possessed was quite a leap.

"What 'ah' is there to 'ah'? Didn't Mother Jinhua just come by a while ago to take away a 'night-crying ghost'? Let me tell you, you have to be careful these days. Trouble broke out at the Bai family early this morning, and not long after, the Zhang family suffered the same fate!"

"Compared to the Zhangs, the Bais had it worse," an old woman beside the young one chimed in. "At the Bai house, not only were they beaten, but their money was stolen, too."

"I’m telling you, this isn't simple. Look, the Zhang family are honest folk, so when they encountered something unclean, they just fell into a coma. But the Bai family? What kind of people are they? When they encounter something unclean, it knows exactly how to deal with them!"

"You don't know how shocked I was when I saw Old Mother Bai earlier. Not only was her hair a mess, but she hadn't even dressed properly. I suspect—and this is just my suspicion, don't tell anyone else—I suspect she was violated by that unclean thing~"

The old woman was clearly enjoying herself, rattling off one sentence after another. Finally, she even dragged out the story of Old Mother Bai stealing eggs at age three.

She ended with, "That Zhou Caoya was never a decent woman. If it weren't for my old man’s strong willpower, he might have been ruined by her too!"

"I never imagined Uncle Xu had once considered courting Auntie Bai!" the young woman exclaimed in disbelief.

"Oh, absolutely~" Old Mother Xu boasted, "It's a pity, but my old man has good taste!"

"No wonder your life is so comfortable, Auntie. Uncle has a good eye for people."

"How a life turns out depends on the household. You need a pair of hands to grasp wealth outside, and a manager of wealth inside..."

Their conversation began to drift into absurdity. Bai Mianmian, having heard every word, felt her facial muscles twitch. In the novel, the Zhang family woke up on their own, not until late afternoon toward dusk. They were known for being hardworking; even their twelve-year-old son earned half a wage at the Chen family estate. When all the men of the family suddenly disappeared, the estate manager even helped look for them. By the time the family woke up, the Wang brothers were still sound asleep, clearing the Zhangs of suspicion. It wasn't until the female lead escaped home that everything was revealed.

Now, the plot had been fast-tracked. The Wang brothers' good days would soon be over. There was nothing to look forward to there. What she was curious about was how the Zhang family would handle this situation now—they had been "woken up" by the spirit-water the shaman had supposedly used.

"You, you, you, you..."

After a machine-gun-like stuttering, Old Mother Xu finally realized who had caused her such panic. The granddaughter of her romantic rival—it was only natural that she would recognize her.

Bai Mianmian raised a hand and gave a cute, friendly wave. "Hello, Grandma Xu."

"Grandma Xu?" the young woman asked, confused. She wasn't familiar with the Bai family and scanned them, failing to see the issue.

"Great Immortal, have mercy! Great Immortal, have mercy!"

With a dramatic shove from the young woman, Old Mother Xu collapsed to her knees. The scene was already attracting attention, but these cries drew even more.

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"Did she get possessed too?"

"This isn't possession—she must have seen something, right?"

What had Old Mother Xu seen? The crowd followed her gaze toward Bai Mianmian.

Bai Mianmian slowly raised her hand and smiled kindly. "I am the second girl of the Bai family."

"So it's the Bai family's second girl! I was wondering why she looked so familiar, that little face... White! White! White!" The middle-aged woman mid-sentence widened her eyes in terror. Just like Old Mother Xu before her, she was so frightened she dropped to her knees.