Old Man Han felt a chill crawl up his body and spread all over his limbs down to his extremities. He didn't even know how to describe the feeling; all he could think about was how his body was stiffening up. His fingers weren't even twitching, much less his mouth. He opened and closed it like a goldfish.
Yu Dong watched the old man tremble, enjoying the terror flickering in his eyes. In the post-apocalypse, she was an officer who has used her sword to slash open zombie heads and collected their cores which were buried deep in their brains. If she could dig those cores out and swallow them without cleaning to level up her powers, would she still fear these old bastards?
The only reason she did nothing over the top was that she didn't want to attract too much attention to herself. Yet, they were mistaking her for a soft persimmon. How annoying. She shifted her weight on one leg and crossed the other behind it before roguishly smirking. "Old man Han, you are already so old. It's about time to learn how to accumulate good karma for yourself. Don't go around creating a ruckus and do some good deeds. Who knows when your bad karma might catch up to you?"
Yu Dong lightly said those words like she was just scolding him, but Old Man Han could feel his throat tightening, his vocal cords seemed to shrink, and no matter how much he tried to speak, his voice wouldn't come out. His eyes flashed with worry as he darted his eyes around like a sewer rat. What was happening? Why couldn't he speak?
"What's wrong? Old man, cat got your tongue?" Aunt Wang, who saw him flail his arms, clutching his throat like he was choking on something, frowned and said. "What kind of shitty act are you doing here? If you want to strangle yourself, do it at your home, don't do such a thing here, it's an auspicious occasion for my Dong Dong, I don't want you ruining it."
After scolding Old Man Han, Aunt Wang even made a 'shoo shoo' gesture, like she was chasing a mad dog away.
Old Man Han wanted to scold her back, but his voice wasn't coming out. In the end, he was both terrified and enraged. He stomped his feet on the ground and ran away. He needed to have his throat checked by the village physician in case he caught a chill.
He was in such a hurry that he missed the amused glint in Yu Dong's eyes. Her powers were, of course, used to heal minor injuries. As long as the person wasn't dead, she could bring him back to life, but she could also send a living person to the edge of death as long as she tweaked her powers a little. She has accumulated enough knowledge about the post-apocalypse world, including the genetically modified viruses that spread around the country during the zombie apocalypse. With her powers, she could easily create a secondary weak copy of those viruses. Thus, when he got to the doctor, they confirmed that old man Han only caught a chill. However, if anyone could treat that chill then, Yu Dong would definitely take her hat off for that person.
With this virus alone, Old Man Han would suffer greatly. Did he take her threat as a warning? Sorry, she didn't have a good temper. If someone was to say anything about her, it was alright. She would ignore them, but there was no second chance if someone said anything about her loved ones.
"What's up with him?" Aunt Wang, who didn't link the weird incident with Yu Dong, was confused as she watched Old Man Han fleeing. Did he see them as monsters, causing him to run away like that? If a person didn't know better, they would think that she and Dong Dong did something terrible!
Yu Dong, who did nothing anyone could prove, smiled and turned around to sit on the ox cart. "Maybe he got scared of you, Aunt Wang. You are so domineering sometimes. It's scary."
Aunt Wang's female ego was immediately satisfied. She patted her chest and nodded. "You are right! I have scared him away. Such small guts yet wanting to take me on, humph! It's fitting how he runs like a little scaredy-cat!"
Uncle Fu was amused. He looked at his wife and didn't know what to say. Domineering and bold? Can they use these words for his wife?
Shen Li and Ye Liu exchanged a glance; they didn't see what happened clearly. Still, they understood it rather well that the reason Old Man Han ran away wasn't that he feared Aunt Wang, but their wife must have done something to that gossipy old man. Though they understood it in their hearts, they didn't speak about it. The fewer people that knew about the things their wife could do, the better. They will carry this secret in their hearts and seal their lips forever.
What happened to old man Han? They did not know about it.
The sun had yet to rise, thus when Yu Dong and Aunt Wang lit up the firecrackers, the sky lit up. Bursts of color from the firecrackers illuminated the sky, and the loud sounds enveloped the area. In fact, Yu Dong could have used drums to take the bride price to the Fang house, but she decided not to. Firecrackers were novel and more expensive than hired drummers, and they also attracted more attention.
The sound of the firecrackers attracted the villagers who woke up to collect firewood or make breakfast for their wives. One by one, the doors of the houses opened up, and the villagers came outside to witness the enormous fanfare.
Because Yu Dong brought a lot of things, one gift after another was piling up. Aunt Wang had to drive the ox-cart slower than usual while Yu Dong was walking next to it, lighting up firecrackers together with Lang, who was following beside her.
"Oh, dear! Looks like Yu Dong is really going to take Fang Chi as her bridegroom!" Exclaimed an aunt, her motive wasn't sinister; she was genuinely happy for Fang Chi and Yu Dong.
"Congratulations, Dong Dong! Don't forget to invite my family and me to the wedding!"