Chapter 12: 012 小心，下一个就是你

Xia Yulin smiled, stopped in her tracks, and eyed the newcomer.

See? The person who wanted to make her suffer, but would definitely suffer more than her, had indeed arrived.

The newcomer was Xia Mulan, the Fifth Young Lady. As a legitimate daughter, she was quite favored by the family's high masters and was somewhat arrogant. Her favorite pastime was bullying Xia Luokui. Now, she had brought several allies and had been waiting at the intersection for a long time, ready to kick her while she was down.

"I've come back so you can destroy your own kin in the name of justice!" Xia Yulin said unhurriedly. "Don't let the fertile water flow into someone else's field; a good reputation like this should, of course, be left for your own dear sisters to enjoy."

Xia Mulan hadn't expected her to fire back with a smile. After a moment of stunned silence, she shouted loudly, "Heavens! Sisters, she really did escape from prison! We are law-abiding citizens; we must report this to the officials immediately!"

"That's right, that's right! Escaping prison is a capital crime! If we don't report it in time, it will implicate our entire families!"

"Sisters, stay away from her! Don't let her foul aura touch you..."

Xia Yulin nodded very enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, yes! Fifth Sister is absolutely right! Hurry and send someone to report this to the officials and have the Prefect come arrest me! This is a wonderful opportunity for you to become famous. The Prefect will surely reward you, the family will surely commend you, and the citizens of the entire city will surely erect a statue in your honor! Scholars and poets will write poems about you, guaranteeing your name will go down in history and you'll marry into a good family! Go, go quickly! Our family has many sisters; if someone else snatches this opportunity, you won't get your chance to shine!"

Xia Mulan: "..."

The sisters: "..."

Xia Luokui had already been released due to insufficient evidence; how could they possibly go to the officials now?

They were only saying these things to see her make a fool of herself for their amusement. They hadn't expected her not to take the bait.

The servants said that she had suddenly become like a completely different person in the courtroom. It seemed to be true, but this change was far too strange.

Seeing that she had become sharp-tongued, Xia Mulan suppressed her smile and said coldly, "Xia Luokui, I think you've been possessed. You ought to be exorcised."

Xia Yulin smiled with narrowed eyes, her teeth bright and white. "Fifth Sister, you are truly clever to see through my 'possession' at a glance. But since Eighth Sister just died, can you please direct your intelligence toward avenging her? The murderer who killed Eighth Sister must still be lurking in our home. Why don't you go find the killer first? Otherwise, just think—"

As she spoke, more of the memories stored in this body surged forward.

The Xia family was large and prosperous, but it was by no means a blessed land.

For the past three years, a person had mysteriously died in the Xia family every single month. Those who died were either Xia family young ladies, or their maids and servants.

Note: This specifically referred to "mysterious" deaths, not just any death. For instance, suicides, natural deaths from illness, or confirmed accidents where the truth could be uncovered were not counted.

Some of these mysterious deaths appeared to be accidents, while others were clearly man-made, but regardless of the method, they were all unsolved cases with no discernible cause.

Throughout the entire Xia estate, panic gripped everyone every month; no one knew if they would be the next to die.

Everyone said the Xia family was cursed, and that the beautiful young ladies of the Xia family would eventually all die out.

Xia Laixiang's murder seemed to be a continuation of this "curse." After all, this month was a "murderous month," and it was even the end of the month. Furthermore, no one knew who the true culprit was.

Thinking of this, Xia Yulin gave an eerie smile. "Since I was framed this time but escaped death, I estimate the killer won't come for me for a while. So, perhaps the next one will be you."

"Or," she looked toward the other sisters, "it might be you all, for all I know."

As soon as she said this, the expressions of everyone present changed.

Xia Mulan steadied her nerves and sneered, "A thief crying 'stop thief'! You are clearly the murderer! Once you are brought to justice, we will naturally be safe."

The other sisters chimed in one after another.

"If I were the murderer," Xia Yulin smiled somewhat sinisterly, "after you treated me like this, aren't you afraid that I'll hold a grudge and come for you first?"

Xia Mulan felt a surge of terror in her heart, but she responded forcefully, "I'm not afraid of you! If you dare come for me, I will surely send you to the underworld!"

Xia Yulin smiled. "Alright then. If I truly die next time, then you must be the murderer, since there will be so many witnesses!"

Xia Mulan sneered, "If you hadn't tried to kill me, why would I want to kill you? Sisters, you all heard that, right? Xia Luokui said she wants to kill me!"

Xia Yulin said leisurely, "Fifth Sister, as long as you are still living well, there can be no evidence to prove I killed you. By the time you have evidence to prove I killed you, you will surely be dead. Do you really wish for that day to come?"

Xia Mulan: "..."

Another sister cried out, "Xia Luokui, you're the one who's going to die next! You'd better worry about yourself first!"

Among so many young ladies in the Xia family, this one—the stupidest and weakest—happened to have the best marriage prospects. How could they possibly accept this?