Chapter 67: Take Life and Death Lightly, Fight If You Disagree

Liu Chunfeng let out a wail of pain.

"Let go of me! My dad will make you pay for this!"

Liu Tian, who was standing nearby, got to his feet. Just as he was about to spit a threat, Yun Jiao used the large snake like a whip, swinging its tail and lashing out at him.

Liu Tian, who had only just stood up, screamed and tumbled back to the ground.

Yun Xiaowu and the others also charged forward, ignoring the pain from their stings to fight the other kids.

The scene descended into chaos. Despite her tiny size, Yun Jiao was the strongest fighter of them all.

In the end, the other group was beaten until they were howling in pain, and they ran off with their tails between their legs.

Of course, they didn’t forget to shout threats as they fled.

"You just wait! My dad will definitely come settle the score with you!"

Shen Xiuyuan shot back, "Fine, we’ll wait! A bunch of thieves running to tell on us. If you’ve got the guts, bring your parents to our village! We can have a nice little chat about what kind of shameless people could raise a pack of robbers and thieves like you!"

After the other kids had run off, well, that was just great. Not a single one of them was left unscathed.

Her heart aching, Yun Jiao picked up the two small rabbits.

Thankfully, they weren’t dead.

"How could they just steal our stuff like that!"

Yun Xiaowu was furious. Even though his sister had won the fight, she still looked a bit of a mess.

"Are those kids from your village?"

"Of course not!"

The group of kids shouted in unison.

"They’re that shameless bunch from the next village over. The people there fight with us over water every year when it’s time to irrigate the fields. We have different branches of the stream, but to get more water and finish their fields earlier, they always block our tributary. Every year, our villagers have to go over there and fight them."

Since the adults fought, it was only natural that the children didn’t get along either.

To make matters worse, the two villages weren’t far apart, so they often ran into each other on the mountain, leading to constant friction and conflict.

’How dare they try to steal our rabbits!’

They had won the fight, so despite looking disheveled, everyone was happy.

The group of friends now saw Yun Jiao in a whole new light.

"Yun Jiao, you’re so incredible! How did you even lift that huge log? Wasn’t it heavy?"

Hugging the two small rabbits, Yun Jiao put on a pitiful expression. "It was heavy."

’My arms hurt...’

The same Yun Jiao who had just been so imposing, dominating the fight, now looked incredibly pitiful, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Fifth Brother, my arms hurt."

Yun Xiaowu’s heart immediately ached for her, and he started muttering curses about the kids who had run off.

Yun Jiao’s strength had been increasing as she got older, and she was now definitely the strongest among the children.

But lifting such a heavy log and throwing it that far was a burst of strength born purely from her anger.

Now that the fight was over, she was completely drained of energy.

Yun Xiaowu gently rubbed her arms.

"Should we head back?"

Yun Jiao replied, "No. We’re eating roasted rabbit."

’I haven’t eaten my roasted rabbit yet!’

Sniffling, Yun Jiao felt it would be a real shame not to eat the roasted rabbit.

"Alright, we’ll start roasting it now."

They returned to their spot, where everything was already prepared. They slathered the two rabbits with seasonings and honey and started roasting them over the fire.

Yun Jiao sat limply to one side, the two small, live rabbits at her feet, as Yun Xiaojiu held a piece of honeycomb to her lips.

All Little Yun Jiao had to do was open her mouth and eat.

"Does it still hurt?"

Yun Jiao hummed in affirmation. "I’m all out of energy."

Now, even lifting her hands made them tremble.

At this, Yun Jiao’s brothers started cursing out the other kids all over again.

Once the rabbit was cooked, they gave Yun Jiao the biggest roasted leg.

Shen Xiuyuan said proudly, "I’m an expert when it comes to roasting, so dig in!"

The roasted rabbit was quite fragrant, with a hint of honeyed sweetness.

Yun Xiaowu said, "Jiaojiao, I’ll feed you."

Yun Xiao Liu’s hands were full. He was gnawing on a piece of rabbit meat with one hand and holding a roasted ear of corn in the other.

"Jiaojiao, have some roasted corn."

Yun Xiaojiu added, "There are sweet potatoes, too."

Both the roasted corn and sweet potatoes were charred black.

Yun Jiao sampled a bit of everything, and by the time she was done, her fair little face was smudged with soot.

Even her teeth were black.

It only made her big eyes seem all the brighter in contrast.

"BURP~"

Having eaten and drunk her fill, she let out a satisfied burp. She was content.

The cattle and sheep had grazed enough, so the big group of children began their grand procession back down the mountain toward home.

Not a single one of them was unscathed.

As they neared home, it belatedly dawned on Shen Xiuyuan. He glanced at Yun Jiao, then looked down with a grim expression at his own and his cousins’ torn clothes. Looking at their faces, bruised and swollen like pigs’ heads, he swallowed nervously.

"I think," he said, "we’re going to get a beating when we get home."

Yun Xiaowu and the other boys had the same sinking feeling.

But... they couldn’t just not go home because they were afraid of a beating, could they?

With heavy hearts, they clung to the desperate hope that their parents wouldn’t be home yet.

’At least long enough for us to change our clothes and wash our faces,’ they thought.

But their luck had run out.

The adults were home early today.

Shen Yunlian, who was out feeding the chickens, spotted the group of kids creeping stealthily toward the gate.

The smile on her face vanished the moment she got a clear look at them.

"Yun Xiaowu!!!"

「A few minutes later...」

The little rascals, now a sorry sight, were lined up in the courtyard. Shen Yunlian and Aunt Shen each held a stick, so furious with their children they looked like they might have a stroke.

"You’ve all gotten some real nerve! Taking Jiaojiao to raid a beehive, and getting into a fight! Are you trying to tear the whole sky down?!"

Looking at her little Tang Yuan, who was usually fair-skinned and squishy but was now a little soot-covered coal ball, Shen Yunlian had to keep patting her chest to calm herself down.

"Mom, Aunt Shen, don’t be angry yet," Yun Xiaowu said. "Jiaojiao got so mad at those bastards that she overexerted herself. She lifted that huge log and threw it at them, and now it seems like she can’t use her arm."

"What?!"

Everyone immediately crowded around Yun Jiao to check on her.

Seeing that her arm was indeed weak and useless, they forgot all about being angry and immediately rushed her to the village’s barefoot doctor.

The moment they were gone, Shen Yunlian and Aunt Shen snatched up their sticks and unleashed their fury on their own little rascals.

"OW, OW, OW... I was wrong, Mom! I was wrong! Stop hitting me!"

"It was all those guys from Big Valley! If they hadn’t tried to steal our rabbits, none of this would’ve happened!"

"OW! That kills! Mom, are you trying to beat your own son to death? Go a little easier!"

Yun Jiao had no idea that after she left, her brothers all received a good, solid beating.

The barefoot doctor took one look at her arm and said,

"It’s nothing serious, just muscle exhaustion. Go home and rub some medicinal liniment on it, and she’ll be fine."

Hearing this, Yun Linhai and Grandma Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

"All this over a snake and some rabbits! You got yourself into this state!" Yun Linhai scolded.

’This time, I have to teach this little girl a proper lesson,’ he thought.

Yun Jiao just huffed, looking quite stubborn.

"They tried to steal my prize. Not allowed!"

She might choose to give something away, but no one was allowed to take it from her by force.

’What was the difference between stealing her prize and challenging her authority?’

Merfolk never feared a fight. They viewed life and death with indifference—if someone didn’t submit, you fought!

Yun Linhai was so angry he was left speechless. "You..."

Grandma Shen jumped to her defense. "What did Jiaojiao do wrong? It’s all the fault of those shameless kids."

Yun Jiao nodded in wholehearted agreement. "Exactly!"