Chapter 26: Li Yaoyao, the Thunder Mage

"You..."

Tears welled up in Li Yaoyao's eyes. There were simply too many people on the other side. Some villagers had heard the commotion and come out, only to be beaten back. Li Yaoyao had even seen Sister Wang and others risking their lives to sneak toward the village committee office, presumably hoping to call the police. But with so many thugs in the pitch-black night, even if they reached the office, they would be no match for that gang.

"What do I do?" Li Yaoyao screamed in her heart, her hand holding the flashlight trembling uncontrollably. She didn't want to lose Ye Fan, but if she were to be defiled by those thugs, she would rather die...

Die?

Li Yaoyao froze, then said excitedly to Yang Haiying, "Come back! I've thought of a way! Quickly, follow me home!"

"What?" Yang Haiying turned, a glimmer of hope appearing on her pale face.

"Hurry!"

Li Yaoyao took a few quick steps to steady Xue Ke'ang and whispered, "Do exactly as I say in a moment..."

Compared to the village committee office, returning to Li Yaoyao's house was much closer. The gang chased them through the alley, but the three of them reached the courtyard quickly.

"Help me set up the rack!" Li Yaoyao gasped for breath as she ran into the house.

Yang Haiying and Xue Ke'ang exchanged a glance and scrambled to the corner, setting up the rack originally used for solar panels and spacing it evenly across the yard. Moments later, Li Yaoyao came out clutching a coil of wire.

Just then, the voice of Pi Liu came from outside the courtyard: "Smash it down!"

They had arrived faster than anticipated!

Yang Haiying hurriedly braced the gate with a wooden pole, while Xue Ke'ang grabbed a manure fork to stand guard in the yard. Pi Liu and his men kicked the gate violently, and some tried to climb over the wall. Xue Ke'ang poked at them with the fork, knocking anyone who climbed up back down. Yang Haiying provided cover, glancing back at Li Yaoyao from time to time.

She saw Li Yaoyao winding the wire around the yard and bringing out several "large bricks," connecting both ends of the wires to them. Sparks flickered during the process.

"Is she setting up a magical formation?" Yang Haiying wondered, unable to fathom what was happening.

"It's ready! Get into the house, quickly!"

At Li Yaoyao's command, Xue Ke'ang and Yang Haiying hurried into the house. As soon as Yang Haiying entered, she saw Li Yaoyao slam down a knife switch the size of a human forearm!

*A knife switch? Is it for chopping? It's so small—maybe it's some kind of magical artifact?* she speculated, recalling a show she had seen about Judge Bao, who possessed a giant guillotine to execute corrupt officials and tyrants. Surely, the switch in Li Yaoyao's hand was something similar.

Meanwhile, Pi Liu and his men finally breached the courtyard.

"Haha, you can't run now, can you?"

"Get them! Those two women are yours tonight!"

Hearing their leader, the thugs surged forward with animalistic greed, crossing the courtyard and lunging toward the door.

*Zzzzt! Crackle!*

A flash of light erupted. The thugs in the lead stiffened instantly, their bodies freezing in place.

*Snap!*

Fearing she might actually kill them, Li Yaoyao quickly flipped the switch off. The electrocuted thugs collapsed to the ground, dazed and groggy.

But several ferocious ones remained in the back, untouched by the surge, including Pi Liu. Thinking the others had just been too reckless and cut themselves on the wire, Pi Liu roared, "Watch out for the wires! Charge!"

He led the way into the wire mesh. Seeing this, Li Yaoyao flipped the switch back on and cranked the voltage to the maximum!

*Sizzle!*

The arc was blinding, like a divine whip from the heavens, sweeping through everyone in the yard. All the thugs began to convulse, dancing uncontrollably as a smell of charred flesh began to permeate the air.

Feeling that they had been "cooked" enough, Li Yaoyao cut the power. The thugs turned into limp ragdolls, collapsing to the ground. The scent of roasted meat mixed with the stench of urine filled the courtyard.

"Ow!" "Ouch!"

The yard was filled with the wails of the thugs; they were finally broken. Pi Liu felt as if he had encountered a ghost; what was happening was beyond his comprehension. A sinking feeling of dread filled his mind: *Is she a Taoist priest who descended from the mountains?*

Thinking this, he scrambled to get up, intending to kneel and beg for mercy. But Li Yaoyao’s nerves were still frayed, and seeing him move, she slammed the switch back on...

*Zzzzt!*

"No!"

The thugs' screams erupted again until one by one, they fell unconscious. Only then did Li Yaoyao dare to cut the power.

The yard fell completely silent. Li Yaoyao let out a sigh of relief, only to hear Yang Haiying’s voice trembling behind her: "Yaoyao! Do you really know the art of thunder?"

Xue Ke'ang stared at her with wide eyes, his blood-stained face full of shock. "When I was a kid, the elders told stories of the Thunder God who could control lightning. You... are you a descendant of the Thunder God?"

"Pfft! Haha!" Li Yaoyao couldn't help but laugh. She quickly explained, "Brother Ke'ang, I'm no Thunder God, and I don't know any magic! This is just scientific use of electricity!"

"Scientific use of electricity? That's so powerful!"

Yang Haiying and her husband didn't understand, still convinced that Li Yaoyao must possess some supernatural skill. They were still marveling when a commotion erupted outside the gate.

"The police are here!" a villager shouted. Wang Hongjun and Chen Yan appeared at the entrance, handguns drawn.

"Officer, please, save us!" Hearing this, the thugs who had just been "unconscious" immediately knelt and wept. Several of them had actually woken up long ago but were playing dead, terrified that the "female devil" would cast another spell.

"Don't move!"

"Hands behind your heads!"

Wang Hongjun and Chen Yan shouted, guns leveled. The thugs complied, squatting on the ground, not daring to move a muscle.

Li Yaoyao finally relaxed and took the initiative to speak up. "Chief Wang! These men were scared stiff by my electricity!"

"What?" Wang Hongjun and his team didn't quite understand. Li Yaoyao turned on her flashlight, revealing the scene in the yard to everyone. Wires were strung haphazardly across the space, and a dozen thugs stood or lay about, their hair frizzed into wild, electrified "afros." Some were squatting with their hands on their heads, while others lay twisted on the ground, still unconscious.

Li Yaoyao carefully stepped around them and walked to Wang Hongjun. "Chief Wang, I used solar panels to charge some batteries. I connected them with wires to make an electric trap. When they tried to rush the yard, I electrocuted them!"

Wang Hongjun and Chen Yan stared at her in shock, as if seeing her for the first time. They couldn't imagine how such a gentle-looking girl could be so ruthless.

Seeing their silence, Li Yaoyao felt awkward. *I explained it to you, say something!*

Just then, the villagers behind the police began to stir. Sister Wang whispered, "Why aren't they moving? Could they be... dead?"

Li Yaoyao shivered at the thought. She turned back to look, and sure enough, several thugs were lying face down, with yellow liquid pooling beneath their pants.

*Oh no! Did I kill them? Murder means prison time!*

The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. Tears welled up in her eyes. "They rushed into my yard and scared me, and I didn't know what I was doing, so I turned the voltage to the max!"

"I didn't mean to kill them!"

"Waaaaah..."