Ye Yingfeng rode his horse back with Ye Zhinan. On the way, she couldn't shake off a sense of unease.
The truth of the matter was gradually coming to light, and Wu Yangping seemed to be on a path of no return.
It felt like she had missed some crucial detail.
"Something's wrong. Turn back!"
Ye Yingfeng didn't dare to waste a moment. He immediately turned the horse around and headed back to the Ji Mansion.
Ye Zhinan didn't bother to knock on the door. She simply pushed it open and rushed in.
"Stop!"
Ji Yuqing turned around, but the fire starter in her hand was already lit.
In an instant, the air was filled with the roar of flames. The magnificent beams and painted rafters were engulfed in the inferno.
Without hesitation, Ye Zhinan wrapped herself in a wet robe and dashed into the fire. She pulled Ji Yuqing out by force.
"Thank goodness I came in time. Thank goodness you're okay."
The anxiety that had been weighing on Ye Zhinan's heart finally lifted, and most of her unease vanished.
She knew that Wu Yangping would never let his mother off.
"I heard from the villagers that when Wu Yangping went to buy coal, his purse was always bulging. But when he came back, it was either flat or gone."
Ye Zhinan had initially overlooked this clue. She had simply assumed that Wu Yangping was just buying supplies.
And after learning that he could make gunpowder, she was even more convinced that he was just buying raw materials.
But what could be so valuable that it cost so much money?
Most likely, he was bribing people.
"Just now, when I was at the gate, I saw someone pushing something in. I thought it was garbage at first. But then I realized that what was dripping on the ground was oil."
They had been chatting at the gate for quite a while. If you thought about it carefully, it was enough time for them to prepare.
They had doused the house with oil. The curtains and decorations were all soaked. All it took was an open flame to set the whole place ablaze.
"The yellow talisman hanging in your room has been there for a while, right?"
Ji Yuqing nodded. After a moment of thought, she began to speak.
"The talisman was given to me by an old Taoist priest on the mountain. I've been having a lot of nightmares lately, so I had no choice but to turn to this superstition. But the talisman is so long that it sometimes gets in my way."
That was it. Wu Yangping had laid out a huge scheme.
The talisman was hanging on the curtain. Ji Yuqing often burned incense to worship the Buddha. As long as there was an open flame, it was very likely to brush against the talisman.
He had calculated everything so precisely, even taking into account everyone's weaknesses and habits.
It seemed that everyone was just a pawn on his chessboard, to be manipulated at will.
"Did the old steward find anything when he cleaned up?"
The old steward frowned and stepped forward quickly. He took out a paper packet from his pocket.
His hands trembling, he opened it. Inside were black gunpowder.
"Master, he wants to blow up our whole family!"
The old steward's weathered face showed a look of desolation. Tears welled up in his eyes, filled with both fear and disappointment.
"Even if our young lady owes him, our master was very kind to him. No matter what his background was, he was treated like a grandson. How could he be so cruel?"
Ye Zhinan pursed her lips and said nothing. Perhaps this was what he had been planning all along.
"If you have relatives, go and take shelter for a while. I still have things to take care of in the village. I have to go there first."
Now that the "mine" that was Ji Yuqing had been detonated, they would be safe for the time being.
From this, Ye Zhinan could see Wu Yangping's methods. Like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, he would never leave himself with only one way out.
When Ye Zhinan got up from the ground, she felt a dull pain in her lower back.
The clothes on her lower back had been burned, leaving only a thin layer of undergarment.
Although she wasn't burned, the skin on her waist was very red.
"Maybe I should get you a change of clothes."
Ye Zhinan waved her hand. "Just get me an outer robe. I just need something to cover myself on the way."
She felt that time was running out. They had already wasted too much time. Wu Yangping must have already reached the village.
She urged Ye Yingfeng to hurry up, to go even faster.
Finally, they made it back to the village before lunch.
"It's done. Let's go and check Uncle Li's house. Maybe there's something else hidden there."
Ye Zhinan admitted that she was being overly cautious.
After all, there were dozens of households in the village. It would definitely take a lot of time to set up traps in every house.
Moreover, every household had someone guarding it. Even if he wanted to do something, it wouldn't be that easy.
"It's too late! He told us to go to the brick kiln. He said the lives of everyone in the village are in our hands."
Chen Zhenhai stumbled in, sweating profusely on his forehead and gasping for breath.
Ye Zhinan suddenly stood up from the chair. The chair toppled over, making a loud noise on the ground.
Qin Yihuai's fists tightened, and then suddenly relaxed.
"Let's go. I'll protect you all."
Qin Yihuai sat in his wheelchair, and the group walked up the mountain side by side.
Ye Zhinan suddenly had a sense of fatalism. She even thought about her last words.
It was a pity about the supplies in her space. There were still crops that hadn't grown yet. She was afraid she would never see them again.
From a distance, they could see a figure. It was vaguely Wu Yangping.
Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around. His eyes were bloodshot.
"We're all in this together, but we've never really had a chance to be honest with each other. How about we have a heart-to-heart today?"
Wu Yangping took out a few wine cups from behind him and handed them to everyone. He filled the cups with wine and drank it all in one gulp.
"This cup of wine is my sincerity."
The corner of his mouth twitched, and then he laughed wildly. He staggered and finally collapsed on the ground. He wiped the corner of his eye forcefully.
"I've known my background for a long time. I don't blame her for treating me badly. After all, it was a life for a life. It's only natural that she's angry."
Wu Yangping's eyes were empty. He didn't seem to be looking at anything, but he kept muttering, telling everything.
He had been suppressing his emotions for too long, and he had been planning for too long. But in the end, just like his father, he couldn't take anyone with him.
"But she reported my father. It was her! It was her who made me lose my father! I'm going to make all of you, her, and those scumbags down the mountain pay with their lives."
Wu Yangping suddenly grabbed a stick from somewhere and rushed forward, trying to hit Qin Yihuai.
Ye Zhinan reacted quickly and jumped in front of Qin Yihuai to protect him.
It hurt...
It really hurt...
Ye Zhinan gasped in pain. It felt like her internal organs were about to be shattered. She was on the verge of coughing up blood.
She struggled to get up and looked at Wu Yangping.
"But have you ever thought about it? Your father also caused the deaths of everyone in the village. Have you ever asked him if he was afraid in the dead of night?"
Wu Yangping's eyes were about to pop out. He stared at Ye Zhinan with hatred.
He hated Ye Zhinan's self-righteousness the most. She thought she was a savior, planning for everyone. But in the end, it was all for nothing.
He wanted everyone to know that he was the ruler, not a good-for-nothing!