Chapter 16: Kill! Kill! Kill!

Qin Tao fell hard on her buttocks. She stared dumbfounded at the dead man before her, completely paralyzed.

"Dazhu!"

The refugee, whose head had been pierced by Li Shiyue's wood-chopping knife, crashed to the ground, leaving behind nothing but wide, unblinking, dead fish eyes.

It was unclear how this refugee named Dazhu was related to the other three, but as soon as he died, one of the remaining three charged forward like a madman, brandishing a kitchen knife.

"I'll kill you! Kill you all! Kill every last one of you!"

Qin Tao suddenly became quite agile. Scrambling on all fours, she rushed toward Li Chunli, who had come to her rescue. Upon reaching her, she grabbed Li Chunli's hand and pulled Li Shigui, who was standing nearby.

In a few quick strides, the three of them reached Mother Li. Qin Tao had been pushed out from the side by Father Li just moments ago, with her back facing the refugees; thus, she had seen from the front that it was Li Shiyue's thrown knife that had saved her life.

Qin Tao had no time to dwell on how selfishly Father Li had pushed her out to act as a shield; her only thought now was to keep the children alive!

"Sister-in-law Chun, save me! Save us, please!"

Mother Li had no capacity to worry about Qin Tao's family. Li Shiyue was already feeling a hint of regret; she had thrown the wood-chopping knife instinctively, and now she was unarmed!

Li Qiutian, naturally sensing Li Shiyue's remorse, snatched the kitchen knife directly from Li Wangming's hand. She used the knife to hack through the branch Li Shiyue had given her, and in just two or three breaths, she had whittled the ends of two branches into sharp points.

"I have great strength, so I'll hold the kitchen knife. Second Uncle Li and Shiyue, take these branches and stand behind me. I'll hack at them in the front, and you two stab them from behind!"

"Sister, whittle a sharp point for me too!"

Just as Li Xiaotian gripped the branch Li Qiutian had sharpened, the three refugees closed in!

Whether they thought the three young girls would be easy prey, or whether they had realized that Li Shiyue's thrown knife had just killed the refugee with the long blade, a red-eyed refugee—the one who had been screaming "Dazhu, kill them all"—charged at Li Qiutian, Li Shiyue, and Li Xiaotian with a knife raised.

The refugee was tall; Li Qiutian, standing in front of Li Shiyue and Li Xiaotian, only reached his chest.

Meanwhile, the other two refugees charged toward Mother Li and the others. Li Wangming's hand gripped the sharpened branch so hard that the veins on the back of his hand bulged. He hated himself once again; to his left was his biological mother, and to his right was his niece, whom he loved like a sister. He hated his own inability to protect everyone.

Ultimately, Grandmother Li was a bit further away, so he ran toward the refugee facing Li Qiutian with his sharpened branch.

However, Li Qiutian, Li Shiyue, and Li Xiaotian gave Li Wangming no chance to help. Li Qiutian might have been short, but being short had its advantages.

The human body has vulnerable spots; the upper body consists of the eyes and throat, but the lower body—especially the flesh between a man's legs—is also incredibly vulnerable.

Li Qiutian ducked low and, without hesitation, swung the kitchen knife toward the refugee's crotch. When she said she had great strength, she wasn't boasting; she had truly inherited the immense power of Butcher Zheng.

Despite her small stature, Zheng Meiniang had inherited her butchering skills from Butcher Zheng, and Li Qiutian had naturally inherited her knife skills from Zheng Meiniang.

Because Zheng Meiniang had been strong since childhood and came from a family of butchers, she had inevitably faced social scrutiny.

The world praised men for their strength, but if a girl possessed strength comparable to a man, people were different; they would mostly disparage her, claiming she lacked the grace and softness of a woman.

This was one of the reasons why Butcher Zheng had insisted on seeking a matrilocal marriage for Zheng Meiniang—to find a man who would not mind her innate strength as a son-in-law.

Consequently, when Li Qiutian was young and Zheng Meiniang discovered she had inherited the Zheng family's strength, she forbade Li Qiutian from displaying this ability in public.

In Zheng Meiniang's words: "Few men in this world are like your father, who never thinks it is shameful for a woman to be stronger than a man. One day you will marry, and you must never let people think you lack the manner of a lady. Do not show it before outsiders; let it be known only to our family."

Thus, the fact that Li Qiutian possessed the strength of a grown man at such a young age was known only to the Zheng family and Mother Li; Li Shiyue and the others were unaware.

Therefore, at this moment, Li Shiyue watched in shock as the man stopped. He looked down at his crotch in disbelief. The excruciating pain caused him to drop his knife, and he fell to his knees, wailing while clutching his groin.

Strike while he is in agony!

It was a matter of life or death!

Seeing the opportunity, Li Shiyue lunged forward with the sharpened branch. Aiming for the refugee's eye, she thrust it in with all her might.

The branch pierced through the eye socket and into the brain. The refugee died instantly—completely and utterly dead.

Everything happened so fast that before Li Wangming could reach them, the refugee was no longer even able to wail.

Meanwhile, the two refugees approaching Mother Li were now gripped by fear. They had thought they could easily slaughter the men in this group and leave the women, children, and food for their enjoyment.

They never expected that even the young girls in this group would be this ferocious!

The two refugees exchanged a glance, looked at Zheng Meiniang—who stood before Mother Li wielding a butcher's knife—and then at Shitou, a sturdy man holding a long, thick shoulder pole, and they both turned to flee at the same time.

"Don't let them get away!"

Li Shiyue shouted this as she scrambled on the ground to find the kitchen knife the refugee had dropped. Once she had it, she hurled the knife at the fleeing pair.

This time, the knife did not perform a miracle like the wood-chopping knife; it fell to the ground halfway through its flight.

To Li Shiyue's surprise, Shitou bypassed Mother Li and chased after them with his shoulder pole. He actually caught up, raising the pole to strike one of them on the head.

Li Wangming rushed to follow. As the refugee was knocked to the ground by Shitou's pole, he mimicked Li Shiyue's earlier action, using all his strength to drive the sharpened branch into the refugee's eye socket, straight into the brain.

As for the other fleeing refugee, he had already been knocked down by Shitou's pole. Shitou sat directly on the man's back, leaving the refugee too terrified to move a muscle.

"Don't kill me! Ah! Don't kill me!"

Li Shiyue walked over and signaled Shitou to strike him on the head again to knock him unconscious. Only after the refugee had completely lost the ability to move did she feel at ease.

Having dealt with these men, Li Shiyue finally had the presence of mind to check on Mother Li and the others.

To her surprise, when she looked back, she saw that Father Li had shamelessly hidden behind Grandmother Li, and Qin Tao was equally remarkable—she had tucked herself, Li Shigui, and Li Chunli behind Mother Li and Zheng Meiniang!