Chapter 7: The Dizziness Array

Second Sister-in-law Shi understood just how serious the situation was.

There was no need for Shi Yuebai to spell it out.

Still, hearing Yuebai say those words made her feel a surge of happiness.

It proved that even though all the men of the Shi family were dead, Yuebai had grown up—she knew how to think things through now.

Without hesitation, Second Sister-in-law followed through with her swing, bringing the stick down on the man’s head again and again.

She didn’t stop until she was sure he was no longer breathing.

“Yuebai, what do we do now?”

Second Sister-in-law’s hearing was exceptionally sharp.

She knew that not far from the Shi family’s tarp, Chen Lao’er and his gang were still lurking.

Now that she’d killed one of Chen Lao’er’s men, Second Sister-in-law had no idea what to do next.

She had a kind of instinctive trust in Shi Yuebai, though she couldn’t say where it came from.

Shi Yuebai closed her eyes for a moment. “We don’t do anything. We wait.”

Letting a blind woman like Second Sister-in-law go out with a stick to kill people was a last resort.

Chen Lao’er’s group, taking advantage of most of the team being out scavenging, would definitely come into the Shi family’s tarp sooner or later.

It was just a matter of time.

Second Sister-in-law’s face was full of anxiety. “That won’t do, Yuebai. We need to think of something.”

Ideally, they could stall—hold out until nightfall, when the main group returned.

Shi Yuebai’s expression turned cold.

“Second Sister-in-law, come here. Pick up some small stones.”

“Then, follow my instructions and arrange them.”

Second Sister-in-law opened her mouth. At a time like this, arranging stones?

Wouldn’t it be better to look for help, or at least find some more lethal weapons, rather than picking up pebbles?

She hesitated, but Shi Yuebai’s little niece, Shi Yaoyao, moved.

A child with the mind of a two-year-old suddenly seemed to understand Yuebai’s gestures.

She picked up a pebble the size of a fingertip.

“Auntie, is this… okay?”

“Yes, Yaoyao, that’s perfect.”

Yuebai’s praise made Yaoyao blush and smile, innocent and shy.

She turned around, dragging her weak, skinny legs, and brought back more stones of different sizes.

Hearing her daughter helping, Second Sister-in-law steeled herself and began feeling around on the ground, helping Yaoyao collect pebbles.

She arranged the fingertip-sized stones in different positions as Yuebai instructed.

She still had no idea what it was for.

Once the small dizziness array was set up, Shi Yuebai began to channel the fat energy in her body, infusing it into the array.

Second Sister-in-law was sweating profusely. “Yuebai, let me find you something to eat.”

“You’re hungry?”

Shi Yuebai’s thick, chubby fingers formed a hand seal, feeling the slow, turtle-paced conversion of her fat.

Second Sister-in-law’s face was full of worry. “I’m not that hungry myself.”

“I’m worried about you and Yaoyao.”

It had been over twenty-four hours since they’d last eaten.

Normally, Yuebai would have been making a fuss by now.

Yaoyao would be screaming her head off.

Because the two of them could kick up a ruckus anytime, anywhere, the others had made them live far from the main group, under this pile of rocks.

Shi Yuebai spread her hands, indicating she was fine for now.

Then, remembering Second Sister-in-law was blind, she said,

“I’m not hungry, and Yaoyao hasn’t cried.”

“Don’t go out right now.”

Second Sister-in-law was about to say something when her ears twitched.

She lowered her voice,

“Chen Lao’er and his men are coming.”

Her face went pale. She could hear three men’s footsteps outside the tarp.

The three men were making all sorts of filthy jokes,

discussing who would get to go first once they got inside.

Tears welled up in Second Sister-in-law’s empty eyes as she choked out to Yuebai,

“I can’t leave you and Yaoyao behind.”

Otherwise, she would have killed herself long ago.

Now, she could only hope Chen Lao’er’s men would spare her life, so she could keep scraping by in this wasteland.

Just like most women here, alone and helpless.

If she could use her body to trade for a little food for Yaoyao and Yuebai, that would be enough.

Shi Yuebai frowned, looking at Second Sister-in-law with a complicated expression.

In all her years, no one had ever been willing to go this far for her.

Especially since Second Sister-in-law wasn’t even related to her by blood.

If Second Sister-in-law was sacrificing herself for her own daughter, Yaoyao, Yuebai could understand.

But for her? Why?

Shi Yuebai couldn’t help but snap,

“You’re healthy. Just worry about yourself. I’ve never treated you well before.”

“There’s no need for you to do this for me.”

Tears fell from Second Sister-in-law’s empty eyes. She faced Yuebai’s direction, unfocused.

“But… your Second Brother loved you most…”

It wasn’t just Second Brother.

The whole Shi family had doted on Yuebai, cherished her like the moon in the sky.

Second Sister-in-law had truly loved her husband.

Now that he was gone, if anything happened to Yuebai, she didn’t know how she could face him in the afterlife.

Besides, if she survived Chen Lao’er’s men, her fate would be the same as any other woman in the wasteland—passed around by all.

Whether it was for Yuebai or not, her fate wouldn’t change.

Shi Yuebai lowered her gaze and muttered, “Honestly… you’re so stupid.”

She’d never met such a foolish woman.

It made her heart ache, and she didn’t know what to say.

“Are you done yet?”

Chen Lao’er’s impatient voice rang out, and then the flimsy, filthy tarp was lifted.

Chen Lao’er and his two men stepped right into the dizziness array.

Sensing danger, Yaoyao let out a piercing scream.

Chen Lao’er shook his head, feeling dizzy the moment he entered the tarp.

The two men behind him felt the same.

One of them, weaker than the others, couldn’t even stand straight and staggered.

“I feel awful.”

Maybe it was because the tarp was too close to the rubble pile.

The stuffy, closed space made their heads spin.

One man even turned around and vomited, clutching his stomach.

The air filled with a sour stench.

Shi Yuebai frowned. “Second Sister-in-law, hit them with the stick.”

“Hit them as hard as you can!”

Second Sister-in-law, terrified, snapped to attention.

She gripped the stick tightly and swung it with all her might at the three men making noise.

Normally, even with her sharp hearing, she’d never be able to take on three men at once.

But Chen Lao’er and his men were dizzy and completely off guard.

In no time, Second Sister-in-law struck Chen Lao’er on the head, knocking him out cold.

Looking at the four men collapsed on the ground, Shi Yuebai instructed,

“Second Sister-in-law, search them for food, and then get rid of the bodies.”"