How could someone be unhappy living in a matriarchal society?

Chapter 69: Taking the Kill

Hu Quan has been on the run for the past few days and hasn't slept for three days straight.

Now that she has finally found a relatively safe place, all she wants to do is get some rest.

Chu Ci stood at a distance, silently watching Hu Quan who was resting with his eyes closed, without rushing forward.

Once she confirmed that the other person's features matched the portrait, she did not hesitate to raise her longbow, aim at Hu Quan's throat, and quickly draw the bow and shoot.

With a sharp whooshing sound, the arrow flew past like lightning, carrying powerful internal force as it hurtled straight toward Hu Quan.

Hu Quan was startled awake by the sound and tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Due to Hu Quan's movement, the arrow deviated slightly from its target, but still struck her neck, causing her fatal injury.

Before he died, Hu Quan stared wide-eyed at Chu Ci, his eyes filled with resentment and anger, as if he were extremely shocked by the sudden attack.

After she breathed her last, Chu Ci slowly walked forward, holding a sharp long knife in his hand, and without hesitation, cut off Hu Quan's neck.

Just as she was about to take Hu Quan's head away, a cool breeze suddenly swept past her.

With years of combat experience and keen intuition, Chu Ci immediately realized that danger was approaching. Without hesitation, he dodged to the side and avoided the attack from an unknown source.

"Hiss..." A chilling sound rang out, and a huge venomous snake darted out from the shadows, flicking its scarlet tongue. Having failed to launch a sneak attack, it continued to provoke Chu Ci.

Chu Ci frowned, secretly wondering, "When did this thing get here? Could it have been here all along?"

She cautiously took several steps back, creating some distance between herself and the venomous snake. At the same time, she swiftly drew a sharp arrow from behind her back, aimed at the snake's vital point, and decisively released her grip.

The arrow shot out like lightning, striking the venomous snake precisely at its vital spot and pinning it firmly to the ground.

After waiting a while and confirming that there were no other threats around, Chu Ci cautiously stepped forward and picked up Hu Quan's head.

Stepping out of the cave, she looked up at the sky. The sun was already beginning to set, but it wasn't too late yet. She was satisfied with her speed and thought she should be able to make it to dinner with Shi An.

Upon arriving at the yamen, Chu Ci found the constable in charge of handling the bounty for the knife-wielding man.

She handed Hu Quan's head to her. After some verification, the constable scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and apologized: "I'm sorry, Miss Chu, this head is worth seventy taels of silver. We need to prepare for a while."

Chu Ci didn't mind and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll wait for you."

"Okay." The constable, named Hu Ji, looked at Chu Ci with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

To be honest, Lianhua Town is located in a remote area and there aren't many people who can work as swordsmiths.

Generally speaking, the reward money that a ghostwriter can get is only one or two taels, or even just a few dozen coins.

Moreover, most of the cases here are petty thefts or minor cases like flower thieves.

Cases as big as this are very rare.

Unexpectedly, she had just communicated with Lady Chu that morning, and before it even got dark, Lady Chu had already successfully secured the kill.

Huggies had originally thought it would take several days, but the problem was solved so quickly.

This female knight-errant from Chu is truly an amazing person.

After finishing her reflections, she hurried off to work.

Seventy taels is no small sum. Hu Ji had to report it through all the levels of government and wait for approval before taking the reward money out of the treasury.

This process will take some time.

Chu Ci casually found a clean spot to lie down, preparing to take a short nap.

However, when she was gently shaken awake again, the sky had already turned pitch black.

She sat up abruptly, thinking, "Oh no!!"

My husband is definitely going to be worried!!

When Shi An arrived at the clinic, he was in a particularly good mood, since he hadn't seen Song He for a while.

"Brother Shi An!" Song He jumped into Shi An's arms like a puppy, her face beaming with a bright smile. "Long time no see!"

Shi An patted Song He on the back and said gently, "Are you alright?"

"Great!" Song He said excitedly, her eyes sparkling with joy.

He looked around and, seeing that there was nothing for him to do, he eagerly pulled Shi An aside.

"I have something to tell you. My dad has agreed to let me be an apprentice at the clinic. I started living here yesterday. I used to have to go home often, but now I don't have to."

Upon hearing this, Shi An felt a surge of joy. "What happened? Why would Uncle agree?"

Song He's voice was a little softer, "I... I said I'm trying to pursue He Baobao. There's a saying that goes, 'Those who are near the water get the moon first,' so my dad agreed to let me come."

Shi An frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

He was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "You don't actually like her, do you?"

Song He quickly shook her head and denied it, saying, "No, I just want to learn medicine."

Shi An stared at her, as if trying to see through his true thoughts.

"Really?" he pressed.

Song He patted her chest and guaranteed, "Absolutely genuine, I'm just purely passionate about medicine."

Shi An smiled and nodded in agreement, "Well, it's ultimately your own business, as long as you understand it. Congratulations on taking such an important step."

Hearing this, Song He was overjoyed. "Thank you, Brother Shi An! I knew you would support my decision."

Shi An tapped his forehead, "You... be careful you don't end up causing a huge disaster."

Song He didn't seem to care much. "No, my dad won't know."

At noon, the clinic provided lunch, and Shi An enjoyed some food with Song He and He Baobao.

In the afternoon, a young man came in with abdominal pain to get medicine. Shi An helped Song He with his work for a while, but the rest of the time he focused on reading medical books and was completely absorbed in them.

Time passed quietly, night fell, and An had long since finished dinner, but Chu Ci had not returned.

He began to feel worried and sat quietly at the entrance of the clinic, waiting.

Seeing that he was waiting alone, Song He was worried and joined the waiting line.

Later, feeling a bit bored, Song He took out several medicinal herbs and began to grind them carefully, trying to prepare the medicine herself, and then boiled them in water for later use.

On the other side, after receiving the silver, Chu Ci rushed back to the clinic without stopping.

She was in a hurry and almost bumped into a black cat on the way.

When she arrived at the clinic, she found the door closed, but not locked.

Chu Ci gently pushed open the door and entered the clinic, where she saw Shi An and Song He sleeping soundly on the table.

She watched for a while, then, without disturbing them, picked up the kettle on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

She hadn't drunk a drop of water all day and was now really thirsty.

Chu Ci drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, but his brows furrowed slightly as a question arose in his mind: why was the tea so bitter?

Upon closer tasting, a faint astringent and salty flavor lingers in the mouth.

But Chu Ci didn't think much of it, figuring the tea leaves might have been steeped for too long.

She reached out and gently nudged Song He, who was fast asleep beside her, trying to wake him.

After Song He slowly woke up, Chu Ci pointed towards the backyard, indicating that he should go back to his room to rest.

Song He nodded sleepily and staggered away.

Afterwards, Chu Ci carefully picked up Shi An, as if protecting a precious treasure, and returned home with light steps.

Their home was not far from the clinic, and they arrived at their destination in no time.

She gently placed Shi An on the bed, carefully removed his shoes, socks, and coat, tenderly kissed his cheek, and then turned and went into the bathroom to shower and wash up.

Once everything was in order, she climbed into bed and hugged Shi An tightly as she fell asleep.

The next morning, Shi An slowly opened his eyes, his gaze somewhat dazed. After a moment, he gradually came to his senses and realized that he had returned home.

He turned his head and his gaze fell on Chu Ci, who was lying quietly beside him, fast asleep.

Shi An smiled, reached out and touched Chu Ci's cheek, kissed her lips, then carefully got out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

After breakfast was prepared, Chu Ci was still immersed in a dream and had not yet woken up.

Shi An frowned, his face full of doubt. Normally, Chu Ci would get up earlier than him every day, but today he hadn't woken up yet. If he didn't get up soon, he would probably be late for school.

Shi An walked to the bedside and sat down, gently shaking Chu Ci's shoulder and whispering, "My lady, wake up, it's time to get up and go to the master's house."

However, Chu Ci still did not awaken.

Shi An shook her a few more times, while raising her voice: "My lady, wake up, my lady."

After this happened three times, Chu Ci finally woke up slowly, but she still seemed dazed.

She murmured a name: "Shi An".

Shi An quickly replied, "My lady, I'm here. Hurry up and get up for breakfast, we're running out of time and we still have to go to school."

Chu Ci responded, then rubbed her eyes, her voice tinged with drowsiness and confusion: "Why is it so dark? Is it already morning?"

Upon hearing this, Shi An froze on the spot. He looked up at the sun in the sky, then turned to look at Chu Ci.

After a moment, he came to his senses and said, "My lady, it's already dawn."

Chu Ci did not respond, but slowly turned her head, then raised her hand to touch her eyes, and then called out again, "Shi An".

Shi An hurriedly stepped forward and took her hand, "My lady, I'm here."

"I think I can't see anymore. Go tell the teacher first, then go and call He Baobao over." Chu Ci spoke in a calm voice, his face expressionless, revealing little emotion.

Shi An was so frightened that her hands started trembling. She stood up abruptly, extremely flustered, "How could this be? How could I not see?"

He raised his hand and touched Chu Ci's eyes, looking at them anxiously. "There are no external injuries, so how could this happen?"

Chu Ci groped for Shi An's hand and grasped it, soothingly saying, "Don't rush, just do as I say and go."

"Okay...okay, my wife, don't move, wait for me to come back."

"it is good."

After receiving a positive answer, Shi An left, looking back several times. Following Chu Ci's advice, he first went to Master Li's house to explain the situation.

When Master Li found out, he was also startled and went to find Chu Ci without even finishing his meal.

"Your husband says you can't see anymore, what happened?"

Chu Ci was somewhat surprised, "The Master has arrived."

Master Li looked anxious, pounding his cane on the ground with a series of thuds: "Stop with the nonsense, tell me what happened, did you hurt your eye?"

Chu Ci gently shook her head, indicating that she was not injured, but that she suddenly lost her sight after waking up.

Master Li stared wide-eyed, exclaiming incredulously, "What? How could this be?"

She hurriedly leaned on her cane and approached Chu Ci to carefully observe her eyes.

After confirming there were no external injuries, Master Li frowned and muttered to himself, "Without external injuries, how could he suddenly go blind?"

Chu Ci shook his head helplessly and said, "I don't know either."

Master Li stamped his foot and sighed, "What a tragedy! How could a perfectly healthy person suddenly go blind?"

As she spoke, she looked at Chu Ci with heartache, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

This was the most talented student she had ever taught. It would be such a pity if he lost his sight and ruined his future.

Chu Ci said a few words to comfort Master Li, seemingly in a very stable state of mind, but in fact, she was still full of worries and confusion deep down.

To be honest, she herself was quite puzzled.

Everything was normal last night, so why did I suddenly lose my sight this morning?

She tried hard to recall yesterday's events, noting that besides attending classes as usual, she also went to the back mountain in the afternoon.

Although a venomous snake was encountered, the person was not bitten, so the blindness should not have been caused by snake venom.

So, what exactly caused her to suddenly lose her sight?

She seemed to be... yesterday.

Wait a minute, Chu Ci suddenly remembered that he seemed to have drunk some very bitter tea at the clinic last night. Could it be because of that tea?

She still remembers it because the taste was very strange, bitter, salty and astringent.

If she hadn't drunk so fast, she wouldn't have finished the whole pot.

Could it be that she drank some kind of poisonous water?

Before she could figure it out, Shi An had already brought He Baobao over, with Song He following behind.

After taking Chu Ci's pulse, He Baobao breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Did you drink the water that Song He boiled with the 'Fallen Burial Root'?"

"Is it that bitter and astringent thing that's in the kettle?" Chu Ci's voice was a little weak.

Song He nodded, then, remembering that Chu Ci was blind, she quickly spoke up, "Yes, that's it. I saw this morning that the soup in the kettle was gone, and I was wondering if I had poured it out. I didn't expect it was you who drank it."

Upon hearing this, Shi An quickly looked at He Baobao and asked, "Will my wife's eyes be alright?" His voice was filled with worry and unease.