Chapter 166: Caught

Everyone thought Feng Chunhua wouldn’t be able to escape.

But to everyone’s surprise, Feng Chunhua rolled aside and deftly dodged the horse’s hooves.

Mu Chenze was shocked, though he kept his face blank as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

That roll just now—without professional training, it would’ve been impossible.

Mu Chenze suspected Feng Chunhua might know martial arts, or at the very least, she was trained in some professional escape techniques.

His train of thought was interrupted by Feng Er, the village fool.

“Feng Chunhua, I’m going to have my horse trample you to death!”

Feng Er spurred his horse toward Feng Chunhua.

Feng Chunhua rolled again, escaping into a nearby grove.

Once inside, the horse couldn’t run fast.

Feng Chunhua seized the chance to slip away.

While Feng Er wasn’t paying attention, she ran home and bolted the courtyard gate.

But Feng Er had already found out where she lived.

In no time, he arrived on horseback.

Mu Chenze followed to watch the commotion.

Outside the courtyard gate, Feng Er shouted, “Open up! Open the door for me!”

He started banging on the door with all his might.

Feng Chunhua, seeing that her gate was sturdy enough, finally relaxed. She dragged out a chair and sat in the yard.

She shouted back, “Why do you want your horse to trample me? What did I ever do to you?”

Feng Er answered honestly, “My parents said it wasn’t Chu Xuan who killed my big brother, it was that Sheng guy. You almost made me kill the wrong person. You’re up to no good, so my horse is going to do justice and trample you, you wicked woman!”

A crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle.

Hearing this, they all started criticizing Feng Chunhua for being shady, saying she deserved to be chased by the fool.

Only now did Feng Chunhua realize what was going on. Peeking through a crack in the door, she saw a bunch of villagers outside. “Whoever goes to the next village to fetch this fool’s parents, I’ll pay two yuan for the errand.”

The villagers looked at each other, but no one volunteered.

Just then, Wang Depin, the village chief, arrived.

No matter how bad Feng Chunhua’s reputation was, as village chief, Wang Depin couldn’t just stand by and watch someone get killed.

He told Xun Ren, who was with him, “Take the tractor to the next village and bring over Feng Er’s parents.”

Aside from those two, no one else could persuade Feng Er.

Xun Ren immediately agreed.

He shouted into Feng Chunhua’s yard, “It’s me, Xun Ren, helping you call for help, old woman. Don’t forget my two yuan!”

Feng Chunhua quickly replied, “I won’t forget! Thank you! Once you bring them, I’ll pay you on the spot.”

Only then did Xun Ren leave.

Feng Er wasn’t idle—he ordered his horse to kick the gate.

The banging echoed through the yard.

Feng Chunhua, worried about her gate, had to soften her tone. “Feng Er, I have candy. I’ll give it all to you, just don’t let your horse kick the door…”

Before she could finish, a handful of candy was thrown over the wall.

Feng Er shouted angrily, “I don’t want your candy! Take it back! I won’t eat anything from a bad person!”

“I’ll give you money. Go buy some meat, okay?”

“Pah! I don’t want your money either. It’s dirty.”

Feng Chunhua was out of options. All she could do was hope Feng Er’s parents arrived before her gate was kicked down.

Messing with this fool, she’d really shot herself in the foot.

Mu Chenze watched the drama for a while, then left.

He rode his bike to Chu Xuan’s house.

Once there, he explained the detailed plan to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan memorized everything.

She reminded Mu Chenze to wear his cut-resistant clothing tomorrow and to be careful.

Mu Chenze gave her a few reminders as well, then left, looking relaxed.

Around 7 p.m., Hua Daling came by Chu Xuan’s house and told her about Feng Chunhua being chased by Feng Er’s horse.

Only then did Chu Xuan realize Feng Chunhua had tried to use Feng Er to kill her.

Feng Chunhua had tried to poison her through Zhao Di, and now she’d incited Feng Er—just how badly did she want Chu Xuan dead? She was even hedging her bets with two plans.

If she didn’t use the opportunity of catching Liang Shi to drag Feng Chunhua down too, she’d be letting herself down…

The next afternoon at 1 p.m., Chu Xuan rode her bike to town, left it in the backyard of Uncle Long’s shop, asked for Liang Shi’s current whereabouts, then took the bus to the county seat.

Liang Shi was frequenting the county guesthouse and the nearby park.

Chu Xuan decided to stroll through the park.

At 2:30 p.m., Chu Xuan entered the park.

Usually after 2:30, Liang Shi would be out for a walk.

Chu Xuan wanted to “run into” him and see if he’d try to make a move.

If he did, it would be the perfect chance to catch him.

If not, the opportunity would be wasted.

At that moment, Liang Shi had just heard about Feng Chunhua’s fiasco the day before and was throwing a fit in his guesthouse room.

He cursed Feng Chunhua for being useless.

His informant had told him: Feng Chunhua had hired Liu Zhaodi to poison Chu Xuan, but Liu Zhaodi never found the chance; then she tried to get Feng Er to kill Chu Xuan, but not only did Feng Er fail, he almost killed Feng Chunhua instead.

Why didn’t she just grab a knife and stab Chu Xuan when she wasn’t looking?

All Liang Shi could do was punch the bed and throw pillows to vent, not daring to make too much noise lest he attract attention.

After his tantrum, he left the room to clear his head in the park.

Near a pond, he saw Chu Xuan feeding the fish.

His first instinct was to push her into the water and drown her.

He quickly scanned the area—there were too many people in the park. He couldn’t make a move.

Otherwise, he’d never get away clean.

Chu Xuan had her back to him, tossing bread crumbs into the pond, but she was subtly watching the trash can to her left.

Uncle Long’s people were supposed to throw a willow branch into the trash can when Liang Shi showed up.

Soon enough, someone tossed a willow branch in.

Chu Xuan moved to the next step.

She left the park and went shopping on the street.

She bought some bananas and apples from a stall, carrying them in a net bag.

She walked through the busy street and turned into a quiet alley.

She needed to give Liang Shi a chance to make a move.

She hadn’t gone far when she sensed someone behind her.

She turned to see a man in a mask lunging at her with a knife.

Just as she was about to scream, she caught a strange scent—dizziness washed over her, and she dropped her bag, fruit scattering everywhere.

At that moment, Mu Chenze appeared.

“Stop!”

Chu Xuan heard his voice and passed out completely.

The masked man hadn’t expected anyone else. He turned the knife toward Mu Chenze.

Mu Chenze tried to dodge, but the man was faster.

The knife tore through his shirt.

Luckily, he was wearing the cut-resistant shirt Chu Xuan had made, so he wasn’t seriously hurt.

The man realized something was off and aimed for Mu Chenze’s eyes instead.

But he stepped on a banana peel, slipped (though didn’t fall), and his attack missed. Mu Chenze narrowly dodged.

By the time the man regained his balance and tried to attack again, Min Yi and two colleagues arrived—delayed by an emergency that had held them up for ten minutes.

The four of them subdued the attacker together.

Once he was securely tied up, Min Yi pulled off his mask—it was indeed Liang Shi.

Just then, Feng Chunhua appeared, brandishing a knife and trying to rescue Liang Shi by attacking Min Yi.

She was stopped by Min Yi’s colleagues, and her knife was knocked to the ground.

Feng Chunhua was tied up as well.

Min Yi had a car ready.

He and his colleagues took Liang Shi and Feng Chunhua back to the city for questioning.

Mu Chenze carried the unconscious Chu Xuan to the county hospital for an examination.

He was worried she’d been poisoned.

In the ER, Dr. Zhang personally checked Chu Xuan’s pulse and confirmed she was just asleep, not poisoned.

He gave her acupuncture.

Soon, Chu Xuan woke up.

Her first words were, “Is Mu Chenze hurt?”

Only then did Mu Chenze realize his ribs hurt."