All of this was heard clearly by Zhao Ya behind the door, and he involuntarily narrowed his eyes, filled with murderous intent.
Without a doubt, the person these two thugs mentioned is Tang Zui'Er.
In fact, Zhao Ya had long expected such a situation.
After all, Tang Zui'Er had neither background nor family, an orphan who was also very beautiful; in this chaotic world, it was easy for her to attract the covetous eyes of ill-intentioned individuals.
That's why Zhao Ya had previously advised Tang Zui'Er to go out as little as possible unless necessary.
But unexpectedly, after all the precautions, they still didn't manage to prevent it from happening.
Well, it's just as well. I've just had a breakthrough today, so I'll use these two reckless idiots as my sacrifice.
Zhao Ya lightly tapped the ground with his toes and leaped over ten feet high; then with a push on the wall, he flipped over it, landing on the ground like a fallen leaf.
The two thugs were captivated and didn't notice the commotion behind them at all.
At this moment, they had already arrived outside Tang Zui'Er's house, and one of them crouched down and took out a short knife which he inserted into the crack of the door to start fiddling with the latch.
The other stood by keeping watch.
At this moment, all was silent; this slum had no streetlights, and the moonlight in the sky was dim, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
The thug keeping watch casually leaned against the mud wall, humming a tune.
"A twenty-one-year-old widow, what a dampener, oh hey ho…."
But he didn't notice that a dark shadow was slowly approaching him along the wall's base.
"I've been thinking for three days about heading to the grave, bringing a piece of mourning cloth without putting on rouge and powder…."
Singing merrily, the thug couldn't help but burst with joy at the thought of finding a pretty girl later.
But just then, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
This thug thought it was his companion who had succeeded, and just as he turned his head to look, the hand clamped down on his neck fiercely, applying sudden force.
Crack.
The thug's neck was snapped.
His eyes widened instantly, and his remaining consciousness saw a tall, stern-faced man.
But his consciousness quickly sank into boundless darkness.
With a thud, his body fell to the ground.
"Old third, what the hell are you doing? Keep it down," the thug fiddling with the latch cursed without turning his head.
Zhao Ya wasted no words, raising his fist and swinging it towards the thug's back of the head.
But this thug was clearly more alert than the dead one; hearing the ominous wind behind him, he sensed danger, drew a short knife, and rolled away to avoid the punch.
Then he saw a strange man appear before him, while old third lay on the ground, his fate unknown.
The thug was shocked and immediately raised the small knife in his hand.
"Who are you? I'm with the East City Black Snake Gang, you…."
Zhao Ya didn't waste any time talking, lunging at him in a flash.
This thug, though putting on a brave front, was only intimidating to ordinary people with a small knife; he was no match for Zhao Ya.
With a snap, Zhao Ya broke his wrist.
The short knife fell to the ground.
Just as the thug was about to shout, Zhao Ya wouldn't give him the chance and punched his throat.
The thug's throat immediately caved in with a deep pit, his eyes bulging, staring at Zhao Ya before reluctantly falling to the ground.
In just a few dozen seconds, Zhao Ya had dealt with these two thugs.
The process was not only swift and clean but not a bit of blood had stained him.
After killing the two, Zhao Ya felt nothing.
Because he knew very well that if he hadn't intervened, these two thugs would have committed an unimaginable atrocity tonight.
Zhao Ya picked up the short knife from the ground, and after confirming it wasn't poisoned, he tucked it into his clothes.
Nowadays, the price of weapons was skyrocketing with no market availability, and Zhao Ya had been looking for a handy weapon for self-defense but hadn't had the chance.
He didn't expect it to be delivered to him this time.
Although the short knife was unremarkable, even the handle was wrapped with tape, its steel was good, and it appeared to be regularly sharpened, with a sharp edge that Zhao Ya gladly accepted.
Then Zhao Ya searched the two thugs' bodies and found that these two were also dirt poor, with all their possessions totaling only two or three taels of silver.
But besides that, Zhao Ya made an unexpected discovery.
He found two bags from the thugs' sleeves, and upon opening them, he realized they contained finely ground lime.
It turned out these two thugs, often hanging around the streets, weren't skilled but had mastered a trick for brawling and fighting.
If they encountered someone they couldn't beat, they would throw out the lime in the bags.
This move was extremely insidious and hard to defend against, even the most skilled could fall for it if not careful.
Seeing this, Zhao Ya's eyes lit up.
This thing, though lowbrow, was still a good method.
Though hoping to use it against martial experts was wishful thinking, it would be useful to save his life at a critical moment.
After taking all the equipment from the two thugs, Zhao Ya lifted both bodies with one hand each, and under the cover of night, he moved to the city wall, finding a gap to throw them over.
Moments later, he saw many bright spots in the night.
These were the stray dogs wandering the wilds in groups.
These wild dogs had gotten used to eating human corpses, so they were tall, with glossy fur, and especially their eyes were blood-red, which was very terrifying.
Smelling the bodies, the pack of dogs approached and began gnawing voraciously.
Zhao Ya watched quietly until he confirmed that the two thugs were completely devoured by the wild dogs, leaving no trace before quietly leaving.
The next day.
Zhao Ya knocked on Tang Zui'Er's door.
"Have you gone out these past days?" Zhao Ya asked.
"Yes, I went out to find a doctor a few days ago, what's wrong, Ya?" Tang Zui'Er cautiously replied.
"Find a doctor? Is grandma sick?" Zhao Ya immediately asked.
Tang Zui'Er's eyes instantly turned red as she nodded and said softly.
"Yes, she's sick, and quite seriously, so I sneaked to the street a few days ago, trying to find a doctor for her."
"But the doctor's fee is really expensive, I can't afford it…."
At this point, Tang Zui'Er began to cry.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Zhao Ya asked angrily.
"Grandma didn't want me to tell you, she said she's lived long enough, and doesn't want to be a burden…."
Before Tang Zui'Er could finish, Zhao Ya stepped in and walked inside, seeing an elderly woman lying on the bed.
It was Tang Zui'Er's grandmother.
In his past memories, Zhao Ya had seen this old woman many times.
Back then, she was very kind.
But now she was so thin she was almost unrecognizable; if not for the breath she still had, she'd seem no different from a corpse.
Hearing the commotion, the old woman turned her head with difficulty, her vacant eyes looking at Zhao Ya.
"Is it Ya?"
"Yes, grandma!" Zhao Ya responded softly.
"Ya, come here, I have a few words to say to you."