Chapter 129

Chapter 129

The Weight of Bloodline

"Bullshit!" A Da, knowing their intentions, scolded angrily. "You heard gunshots and still dared to barge in recklessly? Do you think you're bulletproof?"

In such situations, they should prioritize protecting themselves rather than acting the hero—only to end up dead for nothing.

The group, initially eager, felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on them, each snapping back to reality instantly.

Upon reflection, they broke out in a cold sweat.

If they had actually encountered the danger, they would have been the ones to die.

"We weren’t thinking straight," Lu Ding quickly explained, then looked at the blood-covered Li Zhang and asked, "What happened? How did you cross paths with them?"

"These two tried to go up the mountain to kill me, but they were caught by Commander Zhang’s men." Lin Nannan decided it was best not to claim credit for this. The villagers were already afraid of her; if they found out she was truly capable of killing, they might run at the sight of her.

"Kill you?" Lu Ding’s voice cracked. "Why? Weren’t they sent by the higher-ups? Why would they want to kill you?"

Lin Nannan had already hidden her own gun and was now showing Yu Yuning’s.

"I don’t know. We’ll have to take them back for questioning. This is their gun!" she gestured.

The villagers had never seen a real gun before. At the sight of the dark, gleaming firearm in Lin Nannan’s hand, they went pale.

"Let’s get down first, or this man will bleed to death," A Jian reminded.

At this, no one dared object. They even made way, letting the group pass first.

Lin Nannan stayed calm. Lu Ming followed closely behind and whispered, "Sister-in-law, are you hurt?"

"No, thanks to A Da and A Jian," Lin Nannan replied, her words carrying a hidden meaning.

Lu Ming, usually scatterbrained like a goofy husky, didn’t believe her this time.

He knew exactly how capable his sister-in-law was, but with outsiders present, he didn’t argue. Instead, he decided to grill her once they got home.

The villagers had already heard the gunshots. After seeing the village head and others head up the mountain, they waited anxiously for news—only to witness a large group descending, including the familiar faces of Li Zhang and Yu Yuning, who had fit in well over the past few days. Clueless about what happened, they stared at the injured pair, unsure what had gone wrong.

"These two were up to no good and tried to harm Nan Nan, but Commander Zhang’s men caught and handled them," the village head explained. Then, addressing the crowd, he added, "There are others who came with them. Let’s find them and take them all away."

He wasn’t sure if the others were good or bad, but he didn’t dare leave them unchecked.

The villagers were startled and, fearing they might be implicated, eagerly joined the search. Eventually, all the accomplices were found.

When captured, the group looked bewildered. Upon learning they were implicated by Li Zhang and Yu Yuning, they protested their innocence—but no one listened. They weren’t even given a chance to explain before A Da hauled them away.

As for A Jian, he stayed behind in the village, on guard against retaliation.

Earlier, Lin Nannan had wanted to interrogate Li Zhang, but he resisted stubbornly and was severely injured, so they had to send him away first.

Back home, the Lu family was deeply worried. Only after confirming she was unharmed did they finally relax.

"Those goddamn bastards! What grudge did they have to want Nan Nan dead?" Grandma Lu seethed. Then, struck by a thought, she asked, "Could Han Yan have instigated this, deliberately turning them against us?"

"No!" Lin Nannan wouldn’t pin the blame unfairly. "They were targeting us from the start."

She had kept it to herself earlier to avoid danger, but now that the threat was neutralized, she could explain everything. So, she recounted the events of the past few days in detail—leaving Lin Nannan so shocked she slumped onto a stool, unable to recover for a long while.

"You're really something, keeping us totally clueless." Knowing that even their own sons and husbands were involved, Pan Xiaoping and Zhang Xiaofeng felt a mix of emotions they couldn’t even put into words.

It felt good to be protected, but having done nothing left them deeply disappointed.

"If we'd known earlier, we should've given them a few hard kicks just now," Pan Xiaoping said through gritted teeth.

Lu Hang, seated in his wheelchair, had witnessed firsthand how brutally the two men—who had harbored such murderous intent toward them—were dealt with. Hearing Pan Xiaoping's words, he chuckled dryly, "Auntie, your kicks aren’t just strong—they’d be downright deadly."

Recalling the miserable state of their enemies, Pan Xiaoping scoffed, "They got off way too easy."

Zhang Xiaofeng, having experienced similar situations before, suddenly turned to her son, whose lips curled in a faint but composed smile, and demanded, "Was this about you? Did you put Nan Nan in danger?"

She sounded so protective, you’d think Lin Nannan was her own daughter, leaving Lu Hang momentarily stunned.

Realizing the truth from his expression, Zhang Xiaofeng immediately smacked him several times, furious. "Are you even human? Keeping something this big a secret, letting Nan Nan face it alone—if you weren’t my son, I’d beat you senseless!"

Feeling like he wasn’t her biological child, Lu Hang endured his mother’s blows before sighing helplessly, "I didn’t want her to face it, but I couldn’t stop her."

His wife was the most headstrong woman he knew.

She was stubborn beyond reason.

"If you couldn’t stop her, why keep me and Grandma out of it?" Zhang Xiaofeng, confident in her own persuasive abilities, grew even angrier.

Lu Hang, who’d even tried sweet-talking her with zero luck in changing Lin Nannan’s mind, remained silent.

It was hopeless trying to explain.

Seeing Lu Hang looking completely defeated under his mother’s scolding, Lin Nannan finally softened. "Mom, they were after me. A Hang wanted me to stay home, but I refused. I can’t stand them messing with our lives. Without evidence, we couldn’t do anything, so we had to take matters into our own hands."

"They had guns!" Just thinking about it made her shudder.

"A Da and A Jian had guns too. We had everything covered." Not wanting to explain the gun she’d hidden, she gave a vague response.

A Da didn’t take much pride in the praise. He knew Lin Nannan could’ve handled it even without him and A Jian—she just didn’t want to reveal herself.

"No more taking risks!" Having recovered, Grandma Lu warned sternly, "You two better straighten up. If this happens again, don’t blame me for being harsh."

She never wanted to go through something like this again.

Hearing that Lin Nannan had nearly been shot by Li Zhang and his men in the mountains had nearly stopped her heart.

"Okay," Lin Nannan replied obediently.

She knew better than to argue with Grandma Lu, who had always been good to her.

As for Lu Hang, it was straight-up fear of his grandma—he wasn’t about to argue either.