Chapter 3: Don't Touch My Daddy

The wooden club whistled down, carrying all of Li Daqiang's rage. If that blow landed solid, Tuan Tuan's tiny skull would split open like a watermelon.

Wang Guifen watched from the side, actually cheering with schadenfreude: "Hit her! Beat this ungrateful little brat to death!"

Scarface frowned, about to shout "Don't damage the goods"—but he stopped. Because what he saw next made his eyelid twitch.

Just as the club was centimeters from Tuan Tuan's head—A tiny hand shot up. Tuan Tuan's hand. Covered in frostbite sores, grimy black, not even as thick as the club itself.

But—CRACK!

That tiny hand caught the club. Steadied it. Such a thick club. Such force. And it just stopped in midair. Stopped in the palm of a four-year-old child.

Time seemed to freeze.

Li Daqiang's bull eyes nearly popped out of his skull. It felt like he'd slammed his club into an iron plate. The impact numbed his grip. No matter how hard he pushed down, the club didn't budge a single millimeter.

Tuan Tuan slowly raised her head.

In that moment, she didn't look like a child. Those big eyes, once clear and bright, were now shot through with red veins. That gaze—cold, ferocious, radiating killing intent. Like a tiger cub, not yet grown, defending its territory.

"Don't—" Tuan Tuan's voice was hoarse, carrying a raw, baby-throated snarl. "Don't touch my daddy!!"

That was her final bottom line. Anyone who dared touch Daddy's photo—she'd fight them to the death!

Tuan Tuan's tiny hand clenched.

SNAP!

The club, unable to bear the force, splintered apart. Then Tuan Tuan yanked it toward her. A massive force traveled through the broken club. Li Daqiang didn't even have time to react. His one-hundred-fifty-pound body was yanked forward by that pull—Stumble—Stumble—

THUD!

Li Daqiang ate dirt. Face-planted right at Tuan Tuan's feet.

Tuan Tuan didn't stop. She raised the broken half of the club she'd snatched away, aiming straight for Li Daqiang's skull. She didn't know what "law" meant. She only knew—this bad man wanted to take Daddy. Hit the bad man! Mommy said, when you hit bad men, don't stop!

However. Tuan Tuan was, after all, too small. She was only four. Her fighting was pure instinct, no technique at all. And beside her stood a real demon.

Scarface moved. He was an old hand—a career criminal whose hands had ended more lives than he could count. He could tell this little girl was a rare find, but right now she was too raw.

Just as Tuan Tuan raised the club—a rough ox-hide rope shot out like a striking snake. It looped precisely around Tuan Tuan's raised wrist. Then a violent yank. Tuan Tuan felt her body go weightless—she was ripped clean off the ground.

"Let me go!" Tuan Tuan thrashed with everything she had. But the ox-hide rope only tightened the more she struggled.

Scarface sneered, his technique brutally practiced. Three quick moves and Tuan Tuan's hands and feet were bound together. A special knot—called the "hog-tie." The more you moved, the tighter it bit, cutting into flesh, excruciating pain.

Tuan Tuan crashed to the ground like a trussed-up lamb. She was still running a fever. That last burst had completely drained her. Now she didn't even have the strength to move a finger. Her vision went black at the edges. So dizzy. So sleepy. But she couldn't sleep. If she slept, she'd be sold.

Li Daqiang scrambled up from the ground, humiliated and furious. He'd been thrown by a four-year-old worthless brat? If word got out, how could he show his face in the village again?

"Damn it! I'll kill you!" Li Daqiang charged forward to kick her.

Scarface shot him a cold glare. "Enough. You break her, you pay for it?"

Li Daqiang reluctantly pulled his foot back, muttering curses. "This damn brat is freakish. Get rid of her already!"

Scarface picked up a filthy sack from the ground. A coal sack, black with soot inside. He grabbed Tuan Tuan. Her tiny body was light as a feather.

"Let me go… I want Daddy…" Tuan Tuan cried weakly.

Scarface shoved her into the coal sack. Like stuffing a piece of trash. Instant darkness. Only the choking stench of coal dust and mold. Tuan Tuan was crushed into the tiny space, limbs bound, unable to move. Tears finally broke free.

"Mommy…" "Tuan Tuan's so scared…"

Outside, she could hear Wang Guifen counting money. "Aiyo, this cash is so crisp!" "Daqiang, what about that tin box? The brat was protecting it earlier, right?" "Probably just junk. Throw it in the fire. Looks unlucky." Wang Guifen seemed to be kicking something on the ground.

Tuan Tuan heard every word clearly. Her little heart seized. Don't burn it! That's Daddy's box! She tried to scream, but her throat was too hoarse to make a sound.

But—she'd already hidden the photo and necklace inside her clothes. The box was empty. Burn it if they wanted. As long as Daddy's photo was still there. As long as Daddy was still pressed against Tuan Tuan's heart.

Scarface cinched the sack shut. The last sliver of light vanished. "Let's go."

He slung the sack over his shoulder. Like hauling a sack of potatoes. He strode out of the cowshed, into the blinding blizzard.

Li Daqiang and Wang Guifen stood at the door, watching Scarface's retreating figure. Not a trace of reluctance on their faces. Only the greedy smiles of people counting money.

"Finally got rid of this jinx!" "Come on, let's go home and eat meat!"

They didn't know. What they'd sent away wasn't a jinx. It was a little force of nature about to shake all of China.

They especially didn't know—When those seven men found out what happened today—this village would face an apocalypse.