Chapter 532: One Against Three: A Complete Victory
Running on pure adrenaline, Rosalind unleashed all the anger she’d suppressed during the day onto the three hooligans. She still had enough sense to use only the back of the blade, hacking away wildly in the dim moonlight.
"OW... Stop chopping... You’re gonna kill us..."
"You damn bitch... I’ll fucking kill you!"
But the three brothers were strong, able-bodied men. Though thrown into a panic by the wood ash, they quickly recovered and began to fight back. In a direct contest of strength, Rosalind couldn’t even take on one of them. But Frank Morgan and Phoebe Huxley had anticipated this, so Phoebe had taught her a trump card.
"Kick the bastards where it hurts!"
This was Phoebe Huxley’s most vicious move, one she wouldn’t use lightly. Rosalind was starting to run out of strength after her frenzied hacking, so she immediately changed tactics. She tossed out a few more handfuls of wood ash, then unleashed a flurry of kicks. She had practiced this move for a week and was now quite proficient. Amidst the gray haze, a series of agonized screams rang out.
"AHH... You goddamn bitch!"
"Big Bro... I think she broke mine... The pain is killing me..."
"Mine too..."
The three brothers’ wails of agony woke Old Master Tate, who rushed outside. He saw the trio in an even more wretched state than last time, doubled over and howling, their bodies covered in injuries. Rosalind, in contrast, stood like a goddess of war, looking down on them with a disdainful gaze and an imposing aura.
"If you dare come to my house again, I’ll chop you into mincemeat and feed you to the pigs!"
Rosalind had borrowed the line directly from Phoebe Huxley. Although her voice was too gentle, the cold glint of the hatchet in her hand was enough to send a chill down the three hooligans’ spines. They could never have imagined that the helpless, weeping girl they once knew had become more terrifying than a she-demon.
’What the hell was going on?’
"Hurry up and get out of here," Old Master Tate said, exaggerating the facts a little. "Two other guys tried to sneak over last time and were nearly hacked to death. How have you not learned your lesson?" The three brothers grew even more terrified, their faces turning pale.
’Why didn’t anyone tell us?’
"Get out!"
Rosalind lifted her hatchet. The moonlight glinted off the blade, flashing across the brothers’ faces. It sent a collective shiver through them, and any lustful thoughts they had were instantly extinguished.
’Our lives are more important. If something happened to the three of us, our family lines would be extinguished.’
The three brothers helped each other scramble to their feet, unable to straighten their backs due to the agonizing pain in their groins. ’We have to find somewhere private to see if they’re broken,’ they thought. ’Why does it hurt so much?’
"Let’s go home... Owww..."
The three brothers limped away, their retreating figures a pathetic sight. They swore they would never come back. ’That she-demon is not someone to be trifled with.’
Rosalind breathed a sigh of relief, all the strength draining from her body. Her earlier courage had been running on pure willpower. She said to Old Master Tate, "Mr. Tate, please tell Kenneth in the morning that he can go to Capria without worrying."
"Alright, I’ll tell Kenneth. You get some rest now."
Old Master Tate nodded in relief. ’In my lifetime, I’ve finally gotten to see Rosalind become strong,’ he thought. ’Now that boy Kenneth won’t have to bear such a heavy burden.’
Rosalind smiled and poured the remaining wood ash from her bag onto the oiled patch of ground so her own family wouldn’t slip. After washing up, she finally went to bed. Utterly exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
On the hillside, Adrian Hawthorne’s expression remained calm, but inside, his heart was surging. His mother’s courage tonight had made him see her in a completely new light. ’I had planned to protect her for the rest of my life,’ he thought. ’But I never expected she wouldn’t need me to.’