Chapter 1 (2)

Beneath the vast frozen sky, she saw the warm embrace of death smiling at her. She closed her eyes and had an incredibly sweet dream.

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Guo Laosan furrowed his brow and looked around, not seeing Guo Nan's figure. Losing patience, he raised his hand to strike A Shui's face again. Just then, a scream suddenly rang out beside him.

His movement halted, and he turned towards the sound. There, he saw Li Qingyou clutching his neck with both hands, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. He staggered backward, falling to the ground on his back. His body convulsed as if in spasms, and a few traces of foam appeared at the corner of his mouth, his eyes rolling upward.

"Dad!" a young man rushed forward, trembling hands shaking Li Qingyou's shoulders. He cried hoarsely, "Dad! What's wrong with you?! Dad!!"

It was Li Qingyou's son, Li Zhu.

Li Qingyou's eyes rolled, his complexion gradually turning purple. His feet kicked about for a moment, then he finally went limp, falling back and lying motionless on the ground.

"Dad!" Li Zhu practically screamed, tears streaming down his face. He forcefully opened Li Qingyou's mouth and hastily wiped away the foam, then turned him over and propped him on his legs. He pounded his back with force, but Li Qingyou's body felt boneless, unresponsive.

"There's... something wrong with the food!"

Someone shouted, and the deathly silence only lasted an instant. The next moment, everyone began moving simultaneously. They screamed as they fell off their chairs, using one hand to brace themselves on the ground and the other to forcefully press down on their tongues. Saliva mixed with undigested food gushed from their stomachs. Tears clouded their vision, but they continued to retch.

A Shui narrowed her eyes, illuminated by the last vestiges of the setting sun. She glanced over the people, and amidst the screams, retches, and cries, her lips curved into a smile. Suddenly, she burst into laughter, the sound echoing loudly. Tears streamed from her eyes as she laughed heartily. After a long while, she gradually stopped, her gaze landing on Guo Laosan's astonished face.

Guo Laosan stared at her face in astonishment, his heart turning cold. Just then, another scream echoed from not far away.

Guo Laosan froze for a moment, recognizing the voice as that of his wife, Old Lady Guo. He turned to see Old Lady Guo stumbling out from the courtyard gate, blood staining her ten fingers. Her hair was disheveled, and she ran toward them in a frenzied manner, looking like a madwoman.

Startled, Guo Laosan hurriedly rushed forward, grabbing Old Lady Guo's wrist and exclaimed, "What... what's happening?!"

Old Lady Guo's entire body trembled. She looked at Guo Laosan, her face as pale as paper. Her voice quivered as she said, "A... Anan... he..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her gaze suddenly shifted, looking past Guo Laosan's shoulder, her eyes widening abruptly. A cold glint flashed through her eyes.

Guo Laosan's expression changed, and he swiftly pulled Old Lady Guo behind him. The blade narrowly missed his neck, instead slashing into Old Lady Guo's throat. In an instant, blood sprayed out like a fountain, splattering across A Shui's face. She wiped it away with a swift motion, leaving a crimson streak on her cheek. She coldly watched as Old Lady Guo's body fell limp, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.

"Murder!"

Another scream rang out, and chaos erupted as people scattered in fear. Guo Laosan's pupils contracted, and he turned to flee. A Shui stepped over Old Lady Guo's body, ready to pursue, but suddenly, she was gripped by a sharp pain in her abdomen. Her vision blurred momentarily, and she covered her stomach, retching.

In the midst of her daze, a hand reached out from behind, swiftly seizing her wrist. Li Zhu's hoarse voice sounded, "Quick! Get help!"

A change came over A Shui's eyes. She delivered a powerful elbow strike to the person behind her. Li Zhu emitted a muffled groan, nearly having his intestines knocked out, but he clenched his teeth, enduring the pain, and held onto her wrist.

A Shui raised her leg, aiming a kick at Li Zhu's shin, attempting to break free. However, Li Zhu tightly held the kitchen knife, and even as A Shui's kick landed, he didn't let go. Blood flowed down his forearm, dropping onto the ground with a soft patter. Ignoring the pain, he continued to stare intently at A Shui, panting, and demanded, "Did... did you, this despicable woman, do it? Tell me!"

A Shui stared at his face and chuckled coldly, "It's a pity, that wine wasn't meant for him."

Li Zhu's expression changed dramatically, his anger igniting like a blaze. His eyes turned bloodshot as he shouted, "Witch! I'll kill you!"

As he spoke, he swung a fist towards A Shui's abdomen. A Shui retched and bent over, clutching her stomach, and fell to the ground. The knife ended up in Li Zhu's hand.

Seeing the situation change, the crowd that had been hiding started surging toward them like a tide. Their expressions were a mix of shock and anger as they craned their necks to look at A Shui, then turned their heads to gaze at the stunned Guo Laosan.

Li Zhu held A Shui down with one hand, his chest heaving. He lifted the kitchen knife, ready to strike, but his wrist was suddenly held back. He turned his head and saw that Feng Bao Nan had appeared behind him.

"Get the hell out of here!" Li Zhu's eyes widened, and he glared at Feng Bao Nan with a venomous look, his hand straining against the grip.

Feng Bao Nan clenched Li Zhu's wrist, wrestling the knife from his hand. Several men rushed in and surrounded A Shui, holding her down.

"Get lost! All of you, get the hell out!" Li Zhu struggled furiously, yelling with all his might, "She killed my father! She killed my father!!"

Feng Bao Nan could hardly restrain him. Guo Laosan finally managed to dash over and helped subdue Li Zhu. He urgently said, "No! We can't kill her yet!"

With A Shui held firmly by the group, she slowly raised her head, smiling as she locked eyes with Feng Bao Nan, "Was the soup delicious?"

Feng Bao Nan was taken aback. An ominous feeling welled up within him. He rushed forward and grabbed A Shui's collar, demanding urgently, "What soup? Explain yourself!"

A Shui looked at him, her smile deepening. Her gaze landed on his greasy lips, and she spoke each word deliberately, "Human... bone... soup."

As Feng Bao Nan's face turned pale, a terrible realization dawned on him. He rushed forward, seized A Shui by the shoulders, and shouted, "You... what did you do?!"

A Shui's laughter filled the air. "I used the leftovers. Those who mistreated me, who wronged me, they've all become ingredients."

Feng Bao Nan's grip slackened, and he staggered back, his expression one of horror and disbelief. People around him recoiled as well, staring at A Shui as if she were a monster.

A Shui continued to smile, her voice cold and detached, "You see, the human bone soup is finally complete."

Drool hung from Feng Bao Nan's lips as he pointed at A Shui, his voice trembling, "Her man! She stewed her man into soup!"

As his words fell, the men's expressions changed drastically.

At first, although they had seen blood, the knives hadn't slashed their own bodies, so they didn't feel pain. Even if there was some anger, their curiosity to watch the spectacle overshadowed it. Moreover, most of the men in the village were single, and they couldn't help but take pleasure in the misfortune of women's families.

But the matter of a woman killing her husband was different. It went against societal norms and was truly condemnable!

A woman whose husband provided for her, how could she dare to do this?!

A surge of anger filled the hearts of the men. They grabbed brooms, shovels, hammers, and some even used their bare hands as weapons, charging straight towards A Shui.

"Wretched woman!"

"Ingrate!"

A Shui lay on the ground as if her bones had been stripped away. Blood trickled down her forehead, slowly covering her eyes.

The men's fierce expressions seemed to darken a small piece of the sky, as a blood-red moon trembled eerily over the black mountains. It felt as if by closing their eyes, they could suddenly leap onto that moon and peer to the other side of the mountains.

The sky grew darker, and darkness enveloped her shattered body like a tide. Under the boundless frozen sky, she saw the warm embrace of death, smiling gently at her.

She closed her eyes and drifted into an incredibly sweet dream.