Liu Ji vomited violently in the forest for a quarter of an hour.

He vomited everything from the previous night’s meal until there was nothing left in his stomach, finally feeling a bit better.

Leaning against a tree to walk out, he met Song Yu’s equally pale face, and the two couldn’t help but feel a shared sense of desolation as ’fellow sufferers in a distant world.’

Qin Yao, having rested enough, walked over with a knife, disdainfully glancing at their ’depleted’ appearance, and quickly began to organize the chaos in front of her.

Liu Ji and Song Yu gathered the bodies into a pile, while Qin Yao dug a large pit by the roadside with brute force and buried them on the spot.

Only the heads were left, all packed into three large burlap bags and loaded onto the cart.

The three of them rushed to enter the city gates of Kaiyang County just before they closed.

As for the three large bags of heads in the carriage, Qin Yao claimed she encountered bandits on the way, but since the government officers were off-duty, she would deliver them to the county government herself.

The government officers laughed with surprise, thinking that Miss Qin was quite nice.

However, the carriage did not enter the government office but detoured around it to arrive at the Song Mansion gate.

Song Yu stopped the carriage and looked back respectfully at Qin Yao.

If before he looked at the madam with respect and admiration, now there was a trace of fear he thought he had hidden well.

Qin Yao knew that at this moment, in Song Yu’s heart, she might be no different from a female demon.

Fear was all too normal.

If Song Yu did not fear her, she would suspect something was wrong with his head.

However, Qin Yao had no intention of explaining anything to anyone, nodding her head, she signaled Song Yu to knock on the door.

Receiving the signal, Song Yu dismounted, turned around, and knocked on the gate of the Song Mansion.

Before long, a porter peeked out from a small door to inquire.

Song Yu said, "I am the General Manager of the Liu Family Village Stationery Factory, please report to Master that our madam and sir have a gift for the lord and ask the lord to personally come and collect it."

Upon hearing it was from the Liu Family Village Stationery Factory, the porter knew it was Qin Yao, and looked astonished towards the carriage outside the door.

The couple sat in the carriage, with Qin Yao smiling and nodding at him.

The sky was getting dark, and the lantern light in front of the door was dim, unable to illuminate her position, so the porter did not see the dried dark red bloodstains on Qin Yao’s body.

Only a strange and unpleasant smell lingered faintly at the entrance of the mansion.

"Please wait, madam, I will report to my master right away!" the porter said politely to Qin Yao before quickly returning inside to report.

At that moment, it was just dinner time in the mansion. Song Zhang and Lord Imperial Censor, who had returned to the county city two hours earlier, had just finished a relaxing bath after a fragrant incense session, preparing to eat.

Due to the special nature of the Imperial Censor’s visit, Song Zhang only told the family that he was a friend from the Capital City, and the family was unaware of his true identity.

Everyone ate together in the dining room, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

Until the porter entered, loudly reporting, "Master, Miss Qin is outside, saying there’s a gift for you and asking you to go to the gate to fetch it."

With a "clatter," the peanut in Song Zhang’s chopsticks fell onto the table, and he stiffly looked at Lord Imperial Censor at the head of the table.

The other party seemed to have the same thought, his body suddenly tensing up, swallowing a mouthful of chicken soup he had intended to savor.

Mrs. Song immediately sensed something was wrong but was happy and prepared to have someone bring Qin Yao in.

"Add two more sets of tableware..."

Just as Mrs. Song instructed, Song Zhang put down his chopsticks with a snap and said urgently, "No need!"

Then, glancing at Lord Imperial Censor, he said to Mrs. Song, "Wife, please take care of Brother Jin for me, I’ll just go see what’s up."

He added, "Miss Qin must have her reasons for doing this, I’ll know when I go see."

After saying that, he gave Lord Imperial Censor a warning glance, indicating not to come out, signaled the porter to lead the way, lifted the hem of his robe, and left in a hurry.

Initially, Song Zhang walked quickly, but as he neared the gate, he took deep breaths and deliberately slowed his steps.

When he finally reached the door, his heart thundered, standing there breathing in and out for a long time before signaling the porter to open the gate.

Three large burlap bags were the first to capture his attention, the thick bloodstains on them impossible to ignore.

Song Zhang glanced sharply and, unprepared, immediately took a big step back, sucking in a cold breath.

"Have you eaten?" Qin Yao asked with a smile.

Hearing her familiar voice, Song Zhang let out a sigh of relief, "You’re okay..." The word "good" got stuck in his throat at the sight of Qin Yao’s body, drenched in blood, too hard to utter.

The butler’s shocked scream rang out, and Song Zhang finally let out that breath, stepping forward in shock, "Qin Yao, are you alright? Why are you like this?"

"Quick, go call for a doctor!"

Seeing Song Zhang about to call all the servants over, Qin Yao, still expressionless, finally gave a grim smile and waved her hand, "No need to panic, sir, just some bandits who didn’t keep their eyes open on the road."

"Look." She pointed casually at the three terrifying blood-stained bags, "The heads are all in here."

Standing on tiptoe, craning her neck to look behind Song Zhang, without seeing a certain person, Qin Yao disdainfully shook her head, "Wasn’t Wang Jin, the Imperial Censor, with you, sir? Why don’t I see him?"

"You know his real name?" Song Zhang was quite surprised, unable to care about the burlap bags filled with heads in front of him.

Qin Yao pointed at those three burlap bags, "Everyone died by my hand; it’s not hard to find out his real name, is it?"

She found Wang Jin’s information in the pocket of the leader in black; his intelligence network was incredibly detailed.

Not only did she know the real name of this Imperial Censor was Wang Jin, but she also knew who his parents were!

And... he was targeting someone so high, even Song Zhang didn’t dare to touch that person.

She remembered that person had another name, Zhao Ta!

Upon seeing this familiar name, Qin Yao had hardly hesitated, deciding immediately to bring thirty killer’s heads to find Wang Jin.

Song Zhang looked between the thick bloodstains on Qin Yao’s clothing and the three burlap bags filled with heads, suddenly feeling a chill from his soles rushing to the top of his head, barely suppressing a shiver.

Wang Jin really had gone too far in offending Qin Yao this time!

In a low voice, Song Zhang cautiously asked, "Is this gift really meant for me?"

Qin Yao boldly replied, "Of course, it’s not for you."

"Please help deliver this gift to Wang Jin and tell him that he, Wang Jin, owes me, Qin Yao, a big favor! When the time is right, I’ll come to collect it personally!"

Leaving those words, Qin Yao stepped backward, clasped her fists in a salute, turned around, and with a flick of her blood-stained garments, leapt into the carriage and left gracefully.

Song Zhang watched the carriage disappear into the distance before withdrawing his gaze, lowering his eyes to look at the three terrifying burlap bags in front of him.

A team of assassins, whose creation had taken years of time, effort, and money, was completely wiped out!

This was more than just owing a big favor.

This was downright an enormous favor!