Dongfang Xu, unaware of the situation, looked at the two people with a strange atmosphere and reminded them cluelessly, "Sister, you're hurting Sister Rong'er."
"Hurting?"
Yan Jiaojiao's hand tightened, pinching Rong'er's arm until it went numb with pain. With a clang, a shining dagger fell from her sleeve!
"Ah!" Dongfang Xu exclaimed and immediately hugged the little black dog beside him tightly.
"When did you realize I wasn't Rong'er?" Rong'er asked through the pain, but her voice had completely changed, thin and sharp, laced with anger and fear.
"From the moment you walked in."
When the fake Rong'er entered, her face was full of surprise. However, the reason for her surprise was seeing Dongfang Xu, not because Yan Jiaojiao had packed her bags and was ready to leave.
Although she concealed it quickly, Yan Jiaojiao had noticed.
That's why she had deliberately tested her earlier. After all, having missed the real Rong'er's tenth birthday, the original owner had held a make-up celebration for Rong'er the next day. Rong'er had happily declared she would never forget it and often brought it up.
The fake Rong'er wouldn't know any of this, and a single question would naturally reveal her.
As they spoke, Yan Jiaojiao exerted a decisive force. With two cracks, she dislocated both of the fake Rong'er's shoulder joints!
"Yan Jiaojiao!" the fake Rong'er screamed in pain, shouting with hatred.
Yan Jiaojiao casually threw the now incapacitated fake Rong'er onto the ground and said coldly, "You'd better confess honestly, where are Rong'er and her brother?"
The fake Rong'er fell to the ground, and due to the pain, could no longer maintain her disguise. Her face contorted, gradually revealing a flat, featureless countenance, although this face was now filled with anger towards Yan Jiaojiao.
This excellent disguise technique was not easily mastered. Yan Jiaojiao was certain that this fake Rong'er was Yan Zhengfeng's confidante.
"Have you thought it through?" Yan Jiaojiao raised her hand, beckoning the dagger on the ground, and it flew into her palm.
The fake Rong'er was even more startled, "Your inner core was destroyed! How can you still use cultivation techniques!"
"I can do much more, such as peeling the flesh from your body piece by piece." Yan Jiaojiao approached with the dagger, its cold gleam filling the fake Rong'er with fear.
"I, I don't know!"
Seeing the fake Rong'er still defiant, Yan Jiaojiao called out to Dongfang Xu, "Xu'er, turn around and close your eyes."
Dongfang Xu obediently turned away, no longer looking. Yan Jiaojiao's hand moved swiftly, the dagger piercing directly into the fake Rong'er's thigh, and blood gushed out instantly.
"Stop!" the fake Rong'er cried out in pain. "Can't you guess? That maid was captured by Yan Zhengfeng and locked up in the Yan family! Her brother fortunately escaped, but fell off a cliff!"
Just as she suspected, Yan Jiaojiao confirmed the answer. She knew Yan Zhengfeng wouldn't let them go so easily, but she hadn't expected Yan Zhengfeng, who considered himself righteous, to resort to kidnapping a maid and using a double.
If she hadn't been careful and brought the fake Rong'er along, she would have been trapped like a turtle in a jar.
And Zhao Qi… Thinking of that lean, cheerful young man, Yan Jiaojiao felt a pang of pain. Falling off a cliff was likely a near-certain death. Her own carelessness had led to their plight...
A thought flashed through Yan Jiaojiao's mind. A pill appeared in her hand and was thrust into the fake Rong'er's mouth with lightning speed.
"Cough cough! What did you give me?" the fake Rong'er asked hatefully, unable to spit it out in time.
Yan Jiaojiao said, "Go release my people, otherwise, you will die of poison within a day, dying in agony."
"How can you, a young girl, be so wicked!" the fake Rong'er choked with anger.
Yan Jiaojiao found it amusing. Did villains have the right to judge others? She said coldly, "Weren't you here to kill me as well? If I had been soft-hearted, I'm afraid my body would have already turned cold."
The fake Rong'er was speechless. After meeting Yan Jiaojiao's gaze for a good while, she reluctantly conceded, "I can't. Yan Zhengfeng won't let me release them."
"You can have Rong'er's face, go and exchange her," Yan Jiaojiao said coldly, pulling out the dagger with force.
The fake Rong'er's face contorted with pain. She wanted to cover her wound, but her arm was immobile, making her extremely uncomfortable.
"You can do it." Yan Jiaojiao's voice was devoid of emotion. She raised the dagger again. If the fake Rong'er dared to say "no," the dagger would pierce her body once more.
"I can!" The fake Rong'er, desperate and in pain, agreed unhappily.
Only then did Yan Jiaojiao lower the dagger and throw it at the fake Rong'er. She then pressed a few acupoints on her body. The bleeding wound on the fake Rong'er stopped. She then lifted her two arms and "cracked" them back into place.
Yan Jiaojiao then stood up and said to the fake Rong'er, "The poison you just took has a temporary pain-relieving effect. After a while, you won't feel the pain from your wound. But you must be quick, or the poisonous sores will appear, and tomorrow you will be in unbearable pain."
The fake Rong'er got up in a sorry state and truly found her pain rapidly disappearing. This made her believe Yan Jiaojiao's words were true. Thinking of dying from the poison within a day, she dared not delay. She tore off a strip of cloth from her hem to bandage her thigh wound and immediately walked towards the door.
As the fake Rong'er was about to step out, Yan Jiaojiao's voice reminded her, "Be careful not to let Yan Zhengfeng notice, or your life will surely be forfeit."
The fake Rong'er turned back and gave Yan Jiaojiao a fierce look. Her face began to change again, revealing the appearance of the Yan family's head guard!
Then, the fake Rong'er disappeared from Yan Jiaojiao's sight in a few leaps.
Dongfang Xu finally opened his eyes and asked Yan Jiaojiao worriedly, "Sister, will Sister Rong'er come back?"
"She will." Yan Jiaojiao stroked Dongfang Xu's little head, her gaze resolute. "Xu'er, can you play with Xiao Hei at home for a while? I'll be back soon."
Dongfang Xu nodded obediently, hugging the little black dog tighter in his arms.
Yan Jiaojiao smiled reassuringly at Dongfang Xu, then looked at the little black dog, "Xiao Hei, I'm leaving it to you here."
The little black dog merely closed its eyes slightly, appearing indifferent. However, Yan Jiaojiao knew this was its assent.
With no more reservations, Yan Jiaojiao turned and pursued in the direction the fake Rong'er had gone.
She had deliberately let the fake Rong'er leave, and had already placed a colorless and odorless tracking scent on her. As long as she followed the trail of the tracking scent, Yan Jiaojiao was confident she would find Rong'er.
The little black dog reopened its dark, round eyes and projected a wisp of its divine sense onto Yan Jiaojiao. This woman's talent for getting into trouble was truly endless.
Thus, in Dongfang Xu's eyes, the little black dog sighed with great solemnity, then jumped out of his arms, gazing deeply in the direction Yan Jiaojiao had gone.