Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Looking at his daughter covered in blood, he sighed inwardly. If word got out that she looked like this, how would he ever find her a husband?

"Xiaxia, go back and change your clothes first. Leave everything else to your father," Zhang Youtie said to his daughter.

"Alright, then I'll head back now, Dad. Also, be careful when you're searching the village, in case any hidden bandits suddenly attack and hurt someone." Xia Yu reminded her father, a little worried about his safety.

"Alright, Father knows. You should go back now," Zhang Youtie urged.

Xia Yu glanced at his father strangely, wondering what was wrong with him today? Why was he constantly urging him to go home?

"Big Girl, Nineteen, let's go home." With that, Xia Yu took the lead and walked towards home, and everyone made way for her wherever she went.

"Oh, right, Dad, there's something I forgot to mention..."

Xia Yu was walking ahead when she suddenly turned around and spoke to Zhang Youtie. However, her movement was so sudden that Nineteen, who was following behind, didn't have time to stop and ended up face-to-face with Xia Yu.

"Ah...! Nineteen, did you wash your face with human blood? Why is your face and head covered in blood?" Xia Yu exclaimed.

Nineteen glanced at her mistress, who looked exactly like her, and wanted to say that she was the same, but her lips twitched, and in the end she just forced a smile without saying a word. She wanted to see her mistress's reaction when she looked in the mirror later.

Startled by Nineteen's words, Xia Yu completely forgot what she wanted to say. After thinking for a while, she realized she really couldn't remember, so she scratched her sticky hair and decided to go home first.

As expected, Xia Yu was horrified by her reflection in the mirror. The bloodstains on her face had dried, leaving only her eyes visible. Fortunately, a little bit of the whites of her eyes could still be seen, otherwise, her eyeballs would have been completely obscured.

Xia Yu quickly took a shower in her room. Although it wasn't as comfortable as a soak, the injured people in the village were still waiting for her to treat them. Besides, she didn't want to take a bath until she washed off the blood and grime on her body; the thought of it made her feel filthy.

As the injured were carried to the Zhang family's house one by one, Xia Yu decided how much fruit peel to give each person based on the severity of their injuries. After the last person was carried out, Xia Yu had used up twelve more fruits that night. However, according to the villagers who had carried the injured people there, eight people in the village had died: six elderly people and two children under five years old.

Hearing their words, Xia Yu felt a pang of sadness. Suddenly, she remembered the bandit who looked somewhat familiar, yet she couldn't quite place where she'd seen him before. She had a premonition that the bandits' killing spree in the village might be related to her.

After treating the injured in the village, Xia Yu didn't have time to sleep and went to the woodshed where the robbers were being held.

An hour later, Xia Yu came out of the woodshed, her steps unsteady.

Without using any methods, the robbers who surrendered with their heads in their hands confessed everything like beans spilling from a bamboo tube. But their confessions did not contain the answers they were looking for.

According to them, they were just a band of highway robbers who only asked for money and never took lives. When the man suddenly came seeking refuge, the bandit leader, seeing some skill in him, took him in. After becoming familiar with the village, he told the leader that Zhangjia Village in An County was extremely wealthy, with an inexhaustible supply of grain and over a dozen cartloads of gold and silver bestowed by the emperor. Moreover, the village was inhabited by ordinary people, and many strong men had been conscripted earlier. Therefore, robbing the village of grain and gold and silver would be a piece of cake.

The village chief was swayed by his words and tempted by gold and silver, and actually agreed, so he sent them to rob the village.

After they mentioned that they were highway robbers, Xia Yu suddenly realized why the man looked familiar. In fact, she had never seen that man before, but she had seen a woman who looked like him.

That's the woman Xia Yu rescued in Huojia Village back in Qi'an County. The man today looks remarkably like her; judging by their age, they're probably siblings. It's just a mystery how he escaped that night; he's likely come to Zhangjia Village for revenge.

Arriving at the woodshed where the man was imprisoned, Xia Yu sat down in a grand chair. Looking at the man, bound tightly to the ground, writhing on the floor, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked at Xia Yu.

"Are you here to avenge your father and sister?" Xia Yu asked as her first question.

Xia Yu's words stunned the man for a moment, followed by an even more intense struggle.

"You don't need to struggle anymore, you can't break free," Xia Yu whispered, leaning closer to him.

After saying a few words, he removed the rag stuffed in his mouth.

"Pah! You filthy woman! It's my fault for not killing you today; my plans were flawed. Now you've fallen into the hands of a female demon like me. I'll haunt you even as a ghost, you filthy woman!" As soon as the rag gag was removed, the man spat at Xia Yu. Luckily, Xia Yu dodged quickly and successfully avoided the phlegm.

"Tsk tsk, your mouth is pretty foul. You can't do anything to me as a person, and you still want to come back as a ghost to take revenge?" Xia Yu looked at him with disdain. Then she uttered another sentence that could infuriate him.

"Your father and sister were beheaded by the authorities? Oh, no, your father died that night when I slit his throat with my sword. I saved your sister, but she was later handed over to the authorities, so she should be dead by now!" Xia Yu's words were like a knife to the heart.

Hearing her casual comment about the deaths of his father and sister, and seeing himself now tightly bound and unable to avenge his family, the man on the ground was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.