Su Yu's heart skipped a beat as cold sweat broke out on his back.
'Don't tell me I'm this unlucky? I just went out for a bath and ran into a murder scene?'
Not wanting to get involved, he quickly dried himself, threw on his dried outer clothes, and quietly headed back.
"Ah——" A sharp but not-too-loud scream pierced his ears, startling Su Yu so badly he almost jumped.
Fuck! A ghost?
The sound seemed to come from behind the bushes ahead. After a moment's hesitation, he crept over, parted the leaves, and took one look—
He immediately slammed his eyes shut and retreated several steps.
At the same time, rage surged inside him.
'Damn it! What murder scene? That sound, that scene… they're clearly doing that kind of thing!'
If they're not killing each other, why scream like someone's dying?
And why the hell would anyone run into the mountains at the crack of dawn to do something so private—in broad daylight where anyone could see? Are they sick in the head?
Su Yu rolled his eyes dramatically, completely speechless.
The blinding white scene he had just witnessed flashed through his mind again—two naked bodies entangled, exaggerated movements paired with over-the-top moans. It burned his eyes.
He frantically shook the disgusting images out of his head and left with a dark face.
These Red Leaf Village people aren't just assholes—they're straight-up perverts!
After flipping his eyes for who knows how long, Su Yu finally calmed down. With nothing better to do after eating, he began strolling leisurely around the village, observing the terrain.
The village wasn't small—there were twenty to thirty households.
Whenever someone greeted him, Su Yu remained silent and ignored them. The villagers would click their tongues and stop trying.
"Hey, Chen Kui, why did your wife-lord go up the mountain so early to hunt?"
A man's voice reached Su Yu's ears as he turned the corner.
In the courtyard, a young man was talking to another man who was sitting and sewing with needle and thread. The second man had bruises all over his face and scars on his exposed wrists—clearly the result of brutal abuse.
Hearing the question, the man paused his sewing, looked up, and forced a smile. "I don't know either. Maybe wild game is easier to catch in the morning."
"Oh." The first man nodded, then glanced around to make sure no one was listening before lowering his voice. "I heard that Cui Miao, Chen Shuang's husband, also loves washing clothes by the river behind the mountain early in the morning."
"You know how he is—relies on that pretty face and loves showing off. You better keep a close eye on yours. Don't let him steal your wife-lord's soul and give away all the good stuff."
As he spoke, the man looked disgusted, clearly hating this Cui Miao person.
Chen Kui nodded woodenly and said nothing more.
Seeing him act like a block of wood after talking so much, the other man rolled his eyes and lost interest in continuing.
Hmph. Flirting for benefits was one thing, but if he actually did something shameful and got caught, it would be over.
The man snorted coldly. When he looked up and saw Su Yu, his expression froze for a second. Then he pursed his lips and went back inside without greeting him—clearly disliking Su Yu as well.
Why?
Because Su Yu was the most beautiful man in the entire Red Leaf Village. Life was already hard for the men here. Wives with bad tempers didn't care, but those who were decent and treated their husbands well naturally wanted their wife-lords to stay far away from Su Yu, afraid that pretty face would tempt them and destroy their families.
Although Su Yu never gave anyone a good attitude and had never done anything outrageous, beauty was tempting, and women were willing.
If Yu Jia hadn't been the one who picked him up—and if she wasn't known for her explosive temper—Su Yu would probably have been fought over by all the unmarried women in the village.
Su Yu didn't understand the man's attitude, but he didn't care either. He continued wandering.
If nothing went wrong, the two people fighting fiercely in the back mountain were exactly the ones those men had been talking about.
But… it had nothing to do with him. Su Yu quickly tossed it out of his mind.
When he finished strolling and returned to the thatched hut, the yard was deathly quiet.
Had that Yu Jia woman still not woken up? Or had she really been beaten to death?
Su Yu frowned slightly and walked slowly toward the door. The next second, he suddenly stopped.
He clearly remembered that when he left, all the windows in the room had been closed. Now one of them was open wide.
His eyes narrowed. Su Yu quietly picked up a stone from the corner, hid it behind his back, and kicked the wooden door open with one foot.
The moment he stepped through the doorway, Yu Jia suddenly jumped out from behind the door. The wooden stick in her hand swung down viciously toward Su Yu's head.
"You slut! You're finally back!" Yu Jia's face was twisted with rage, her eyes bloodshot.
Thinking of how she had woken up lying on the cold ground, aching all over—especially her head, which hurt so badly she nearly fainted again—she wanted to kill this cheap bitch right now.
"You cheap whore! This old lady was teaching you a lesson and you actually dared to fight back? You've really turned the sky upside down!" Yu Jia's swollen face looked terrifying, her eyes filled with venom. "Want to die? This old lady will grant your wish!"
Cursing viciously, she didn't stop swinging. Seeing that her first strike missed because Su Yu dodged nimbly, she became even more furious. Her eyes grew fiercer as she wildly brandished the stick with pure brute force, like a crazed beast, smashing at him without mercy, clearly intending to beat him to death.
But Su Yu was no pushover. With years of fighting experience, he agilely dodged every strike and seized the right moment to smash the stone in his hand hard against the woman's head.
"Bang!" A loud thud rang out. Yu Jia, who relied only on brute strength and no skill, let out a miserable scream. Fresh blood instantly flowed down her cheek, making her glare at Su Yu even more viciously.
Yet that one glance shocked her to the core.
The man in front of her was no longer the arrogant, sharp-tongued person he had been when she first picked him up two months ago. Nor was he the terrified, trembling rabbit he became after being beaten several times.
Instead, on that extremely beautiful face, his once clear eyes now shone with ruthless light. His entire body radiated intense murderous intent. The knuckles gripping the blood-stained stone were white from force.
He leaned forward slightly, looking exactly like a ferocious beast about to pounce on its prey—making even her shiver involuntarily.
In the blink of an eye.
Yu Jia immediately thought of the only possible reason for his behavior: he must have found someone more powerful to cheat with, which was why he was no longer afraid of her.
Her face instantly turned iron-blue, her eyes bulging with rage. "You shameless adulterous husband! You dared to cheat behind my back yesterday, and now you even have the guts to fight back? Fuck your father! This old lady is going to beat you to death today, you worn-out slut!"