Chapter 159: Chapter 159: A Retribution
Sun Daniu confessed some other things he had done. However, he was quite quick-witted.
If he were to spill everything he knew in one go, he would immediately be executed once they deemed him no longer useful. Even if his chance at living was incredibly small, he still wanted to try it.
After all, in his current condition, he had nothing more to lose.
The yamen officials, Han Tingxun, and others left after they finished interrogating Sun Daniu for the day. Zhou Wenzhi’s high blood pressure made him leave early with Xiao Jingran.
They already obtained the information they needed to know.
Zhou Wenzhi sighed as Xiao Jingran helped him to sit on the chair. He patted Xiao Jingran’s shoulder, his tone remorseful. "I have really failed your family."
He had promised them that Chen Huayun and the main family wouldn’t disturb Zhou Anran and her children again, but the promise always ended up broken.
"Go back to your room and rest," Zhou Wenzhi finally let out a breath. "We will go back to Hejia Village tomorrow."
Last time, he had told Chen Huayun if they made trouble again, he would divorce her. It wasn’t just an empty promise. He didn’t want his grandchildren to suffer under such a ruthless grandmother anymore.
Because of Sun Daniu’s confession, the yamen also intended to detain Chen Huayun for colluding with a human trafficker.
It was already quite late.
Zhou Wenzhi watched as his grandson’s figure disappeared behind the door. He motioned for his daughter to come inside.
Xiao Jingran had obediently followed his words so quickly; he must have sensed Zhou Shuran’s presence, intending to give the pair of father and daughter a room to talk with each other.
"What’s the matter?" Zhou Wenzhi rubbed his temples. "Why haven’t you rested yet? It’s already so late at night."
"What’s the hurry to rest?" Zhou Shuran bit her lip. "How is Elder Sister, Hao’er and Xi’er?"
She received the news yesterday only after Zhou Wenzhi had returned. Today, she wanted to visit Hejia Village to accompany her elder sister, but Zhou Wenzhi actually forbade her.
"The whole family must have been exhausted. Give them some time to rest first," Zhou Wenzhi had told her.
However, she keenly sensed that it must have something to do with her mother, Chen Huayun. Her father just didn’t want to tell the reason outright.
She could only obediently follow his words.
"They are recovering well." Zhou Wenzhi took a cup of tea, finding it helpful to make him relax a little. "Jing’er has made sure that the toxin in Hao’er body will only have a paralyzing effect left. It will wear off in a few days."
"That’s good. That’s good." Zhou Shuran heaved a sigh of relief, gripping her garment tightly.
Seeing Zhou Wenzhi put down his tea cup again, Zhou Shuran finally opened her mouth after a moment of hesitation. "Father, can I go to my Elder Sister’s house tomorrow?"
Zhou Wenzhi quickly nodded, much to Zhou Shuran’s surprise. "If you want to go tomorrow, get some rest so that you can wake up quickly."
"Of course, Father! I will rest now." Zhou Shuran was quite excited. She got up and headed to her room.
Zhou Wenzhi watched his daughter disappearing into the room with mixed feelings. He ended up sighing again, rubbing his temples.
He decided not to tell Zhou Shuran about what her mother had done—secretly putting drugs into the milk she had brought for Xiao Qingya.
Judging from his daughter’s personality, the guilt would probably eat her away. It wasn’t even her fault.
Meanwhile, in Sun Daniu’s prison, the temperature suddenly dropped low. He shivered, abruptly opening his eyes and looked around.
His limbs were chained to the wall, so he couldn’t move much. He could only use his head to scan the surroundings. As a gust of wind passed by, he shivered.
The wounds on the whip marks felt extremely painful, as if someone was pressing on them and making them reopen.
"Husband..."
A faint whisper sounded in his ears.
The disheveled man jolted.
"Who?" He shouted in alarm.
They had placed him in a solitary cell room, so he had no cellmates. The surroundings were mostly dark except for the light from the oil lamp flickering quite far from his current position.
His heart grew more fearful. He still didn’t think that it was his wife’s ghost haunting him at this moment.
He thought it was someone from the Deputy Magistrate’s side who had come to rescue him for fear of him spilling everything he knew...
Or, was it someone who was sent to kill him instead?
Sun Daniu’s body trembled at the thought. He knew he was nothing but a pawn in this game.
At first, he joined because he was greedy for money. By the time he wanted to back out, it was already too late. He could only grit his teeth and continue what he was doing.
Alas, one mistake leads to another. He was so blinded in his attempt to take revenge on the Xiao family that he fell into a trap. Zhou Anran escaped unscathed while he was sent to prison.
"... husband... it’s me..." a low voice akin to whisper grazed his ears again.
Sun Daniu’s breath hitched. He could feel someone breathing down his neck, a female voice.
"... why... why... did you..."
He turned his head to the side.
A pale face was so close to him, her neck slightly red. Her eyes were full of whites, obviously not a human.
Sun Daniu stopped breathing.
A familiar yet unfamiliar face, smirking full of vengeance. Qiu Mu’s long hair flew up toward him, gripping his limbs and head to keep looking at her.
Qiu Mu’s figure gradually became close to him, who was already frozen in fear. The horror in his heart caused his scream to remain at the tip of his tongue.
In the dark night, a moment later, a shrill scream filled with infinite horror shook the yamen awake.
"Don’t, don’t get close!" Sun Daniu yelled, his body trembling.
His scream startled a certain man who was trying to sneak inside his prison cell.
