A Dark and Gusty Night 2

Qi Qingyao had always been a light sleeper, so she woke up immediately. She glanced at the man at the window under the faint moonlight and then sat up, listening carefully for two seconds. After that, she jumped off the bed, waking Erniu up in the process. 

Qi Qingyao said softly, "Don't make a sound."

Erniu, "???"

Hmm?

Qi Qingyao quickly put on her clothes and grabbed an axe from a corner of the house. By then, someone had already sawed through the door handle with a knife. Qi Qingyao stood behind the door carefully without saying a word.

Finally, the door was forced open.

When the two men in black rushed into the hut stealthily, Qi Qingyao raised her axe and brought it down above one of their necks.

The cold northern gale blew into the house, clearing Qi Qingyao's mind even further. She said snidely,

"Cursed thieves, how dare you sneak into my house in the middle of the night! Are you tired of living?"

The axe was now right above Qi Yuancheng's neck, scaring the wits out of him. He instantly screamed, "Gah!!"

Without a moment's delay, he told her who he was. "It's me, it's me! Your older brother!"

Qi Qingyao said, "The other guy over there, put your knife down or my axe comes down!"

Qi Yuancheng and Qi Yuanxiu exchanged a glance and had no choice but to put down their weapons. 

After that, they helplessly pulled the black cloths over their faces down.

Qi Qingyao had never thought her host's blood-related older brothers would try to kill her in the dead of the night. She used a second to gather her thoughts and then feigned ignorance, asking with a smile, "Shouldn't you be sleeping at this time of the night? Why are you here in my house instead?"

Qi Yuancheng realized that the axe was not moving an inch from his neck, and a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead. With an awkward laugh, he said, "We're your brothers! Of course we're here to visit our dear sister!"

"You came to visit me in the middle of the night, with masks over your faces?" Qi Qingyao's smile did not reach her eyes. "Are you sure you're not here to kill me and bury my corpse while the sun is out?!"

"Ah, hahaha! You have such a sense of humor, Big Sis." Qi Yuanxiu's laugh was extremely forced. 

Qi Yuancheng looked at the axe, the cogs in his brain turning. With a flash of inspiration, he said, "We heard that someone's out for you and your three kids, so we came to prevent such a tragedy."

"Oh, is that so?" Qi Qingyao said nonchalantly. 

Qi Yuancheng nodded furiously. "Yeah, of course. But now that we've seen you standing here, all safe and sound, we know you must have taken down the bad guys, Lil Sis."

Qi Yuanxiu could see that Qi Qingyao was not moving that axe at all, so he pulled Qi Yuancheng two steps back. They finally escaped the threat of the axe, and he told Qi Yuancheng, who was so scared his knees were weak, "Big Brother, Big Sis looks perfectly fine and more than capable of protecting herself. Her life doesn't seem to be in trouble, either. In that case, let's just go back for now."

Qi Yuancheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as Qi Yuanxiu forcefully dragged him away.

Qi Qingyao watched the two of them stumble away and then closed the door behind them. When she threw down her axe and returned to the bed, Jiang Yeqian asked, "Aren't you going after them?"

"I might not lose if we really fought! But those two are Qi Qingyao's blood-related brothers. If I killed them, Old Man Qi will sue me in court, then I'll be the one in trouble," Qi Qingyao said calmly after she lay down.

Jiang Yeqian, "??"

Those two were "Qi Qingyao's" blood-related brothers?

Not "my" brothers?

For the first time, Jiang Yeqian found himself ever so slightly curious about this woman. 

Qi Qingyao seemed to be worried he would ask more questions, so she said, "Go to sleep."

With that, she hugged Erniu and promptly went back to sleep.