The reason Elsie and her sister dared not approach the village too closely was because from a young age, they had heard their mother and aunt recount the horrors of the outside world and why they had become targets of extremists. It was for this reason that Elsie and her sister, apart from their curiosity about their biological father, never entertained thoughts of secretly returning to be recognized by him. Through their mother and aunt's descriptions, Elsie and her sister had a comprehensive understanding of their father from a very young age. They knew their mother had lived under their father's tyranny like a demon, worse than an animal. They knew their father had never cared for their mother, viewing her as cheap labor and a necessary means for childbirth. They also knew that if it weren't for their mother and aunt's protection, they would have been handed over to the angry villagers long ago and thrown into the village bonfire to be burnt to ashes.
Elsie silently observed her father's every move, her face devoid of any joy of reunion, only coldness and resentment. It had been over twenty years, yet their aging father still wore a face of arrogance, constantly bullying and beating the female laborers at home. Watching him knock down one young female laborer, her face bloodied and recently humiliated, Elsie swiftly drew her bow and arrow before Gritte could intervene, expertly piercing her father's skull from behind with an arrow used for hunting wild beasts. As their father, in the throes of death, collapsed to the ground, he convulsed briefly before showing no signs of life.
The sudden assassination of their father shocked the other laborers who had been knocked down. However, instead of rejoicing over the killing of their father who had abused them, each staggered to their feet, shouting and running out of the yard to inform the villagers of the attack, calling for help to save their father who was already dead on the spot. Elsie and her sister realized their impulsive act had caused great trouble and dared not linger. They immediately disappeared into the forest, swiftly returning to the concealed cave where they had been hiding.
Although Elsie felt a grim satisfaction at personally killing their evil father, she was furious at her sister's rash behavior. After all, if discovered, not only could it expose their whereabouts but also endanger their mother and aunt. Thankfully, from Gritte's observation, Elsie had launched the attack without drawing attention, and their hiding place was far enough from the village, hidden amid numerous mountains and forests. Even if the villagers searched nearby based on the arrow used, they would never find their trail.
Back at the cave, Gritte scolded Elsie angrily for her reckless actions. Their mother and aunt sat quietly, listening to the sisters explain what had happened, occasionally exchanging glances and hiding a subtle, bitter smile. Oh, these two foolish children! They naively believed they had left no trace of their presence at the scene of their father's death, unaware that the arrow through their father's head would become a fatal clue!
In the small village where they once lived, nestled deep in the mountains, hunting had become a necessary skill for every household to survive. Consequently, each family devised unique designs on their hunting tools to distinguish their prey and decide how to divide the spoils after group hunts.
As their mother and aunt had always been cheap labor for their father's family from an early age, they only knew how to craft hunting tools using their father's exclusive techniques. Even now, their mother and aunt knew only how to make arrows from these learned skills, which they passed on to Elsie and her sister. Therefore, if the villagers removed the arrow from their father's head, they would immediately identify its origin. Now, their mother and aunt could only hope the villagers would not associate the arrow's unique craftsmanship with them, triggering a large-scale search in the mountains once again!
They hoped the villagers wouldn't connect this to them! After all, they had left the village over twenty years ago. Perhaps, the villagers had long forgotten about their mother and aunt's escape. Their mother and aunt prayed silently in their hearts.
Unfortunately, luck was not on Elsie's family's side. Their father's other children soon recognized the arrow that killed him and deduced it was likely linked to their mother's escape years ago. They concluded that the killers of their father were likely hiding in some nearby deep mountain or attempting to flee, seeking revenge for being expelled from their home.
How ridiculous! Elsie's mother and aunt were never expelled from their home. They had fled to save Elsie and her sister! Why distort the truth and hide it? Simply because they were lowly female laborers? Because their actions were not to save two newborn lives but to conceal a pair of twin sisters considered as tainted objects?
Thinking of these things, Hao Yun couldn't help but add a bit more disgust towards the world of Elsie and Dream Jia, and even developed a deeply conflicted emotion because of it. Would purifying such a world, one that consumes and is destined to fall into corruption, truly be a bad thing? However, the act of purifying this world isn't a righteous deed in itself but rather a selfish consideration of refined self-interest, isn't it?! Could it be that solving an evil problem with evil means can still be considered a just act? Perhaps! Unless justice in this world cannot be effectively upheld, it might lead to situations where violence begets violence, right?!
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Under strong advice from his father's descendants, the enraged villagers decided to immediately form a hunting team and, after more than twenty years, once again venture into the mountains in a dragnet search, vowing to uncover the mother and younger aunt who might be hiding in the forests. Then, the villagers would execute the mother and younger aunt in a blood ritual, thereby cleansing them of all the sins they had committed against the village. However, because the mother and younger aunt were very familiar with the surrounding mountains, they had successfully evaded the village's patrol teams and hunting parties for so many years, living peacefully all this time. Therefore, despite the villagers' formidable organizing of the mountain search, they were confident they could successfully evade the villagers' search and resolve this crisis.
However, this time, Elsie's family clearly underestimated the situation. Since this incident involved loss of life and appeared to be a malicious act of females intentionally killing males, news of the father's murder quickly spread through this secluded mountain valley, triggering widespread social attention. It's worth noting that in a society where odd-numbered males are supreme, an incident like this, where females kill males, is enough to cause a significant stir. Because, looking at the whole world, there has never been a case where females have committed such an evil act against males.
Therefore, regardless of the true reason, the leadership of this world views this behavior as a serious challenge to the monosexual system. If this incident is not thoroughly investigated, the leaders fear there will be more dissenters and imitators of this criminal method to disrupt the order of the monosexual world. Faced with this potential threat, the leaders of the monosexual world decided to severely crack down on the masterminds behind this incident, using it as an opportunity to strike a blow against the female group that had recently emerged against the monosexual regime in the major cities, further consolidating their ruling position.
Therefore, after understanding the history of Hao Yun's family, especially the situation of the missing twins, the leaders of the monosexual world immediately identified the mother and younger aunt as the prime suspects in this murder case. Furthermore, the authorities fabricated a rumor claiming that the twins who were taken away by the mother years ago might have grown up and become accomplices in the father's murder. Their aim was to disrupt the order of the world with their abnormal and evil values and to organize an army against the current rulers in order to resist the monosexual regime. Once this information leaked out, it instantly caused an uproar throughout the monosexual world. Many professionals, including those with a background in regular military affairs, spontaneously rushed to this remote village and actively participated in the operation to search for criminals.
Only then did Elsie's family realize the seriousness of this incident and quickly discovered that the size of the search team was far beyond their expectations. Moreover, another concern that worried the mother finally happened. Although Elsie's sisters had hidden their tracks very well when fleeing after shooting their father, because they had rushed too hastily at the time, they still left some subtle traces in the mountains. These traces of action were soon discovered by the hunting teams with better field capabilities, who then concluded that the suspects must be hiding in these vast forests. Thus, the hunting teams simply sealed off all the forests around the small village and sent out hundreds of hunting teams composed of the most radical monosexual believers to conduct a carpet search of these mountains.
Elsie's family understood that if they continued to hide in this cave, they would definitely not be able to escape the carpet hunting of the search teams. So now, they had to find a way to escape from here before the hunting team reached the mountaintop. But even if they could escape from here, what would happen next? Were Elsie's family doomed to a life of eternal escape? Remember, not only were they the most heinous criminals condemned by the whole world, but they had also become important pawns for the monosexual leadership to demonstrate their power to the world. Therefore, this diseased world would not easily let them go. Even if they were hunted to the ends of the earth, those fanatical monosexuals would still capture them and bring them to justice. Whether they were alive or dead, justice would be served.
Since there was no escape, they might as well fight them! After recognizing the reality, the spirited Elsie's sisters immediately prepared to fight the hunting teams to the death with the crossbows in their hands. Although Elsie's sisters knew that the outside world had developed rapidly over the past twenty years and had advanced weapons and equipment, in this situation, their cold weapons had no chance of winning. However, the two sisters were fearless. Already in dire straits, they had long put fear and death out of their minds. What they wanted now was to do everything in their power to fight the enemy, to draw a heroic and complete end to their tragic lives.
Kill one, gain blood; kill two, gain more! In the final moments of their lives, Elsie's sisters only wanted to launch their full anger and the most vicious curses against this extremely distorted world with the crossbows in their hands. This extreme monosexual world, sooner or later, would tumble like a boulder losing its balance from the mountaintop and shatter instantly! Elsie's sisters were just taking the first step. However, they would certainly continue to observe this world from the temple of death, appreciating the magnificent spectacle of its destruction.
The hunting teams were getting closer and closer to where Elsie's family was hiding. With the hunting team's extensive field experience and their advanced hunting equipment, it wouldn't be long before they found the cave where Elsie's family was hiding. Faced with imminent danger, Elsie's family of four sat hand in hand, eyes closed, quietly praying with the weak voice of their mother leading them. Although Elsie's family knew that there would be no gods listening to their prayers, they still did so. Because they didn't expect divine protection, they just wanted to dispel the last bit of fear in their hearts, to confront the coming enemy in the best possible state.