Later, their small party left the Weeping Willow Village before midnight; but they stopped at the nearest cemetery first before leaving. The Su family paid respects to their deceased patriarch and shed a few tears, promising that they would come back once they had a chance.

Lu Xinyi kept silent throughout the ordeal and wondering if her husband had been informed about her disappearance. Was Shen Yi worried? Would he dare to come to the campsite and find her himself?

She was starting to regret giving him a cold treatment before leaving Jiang City. Now, she was missing him terribly. If Shen Yi wasn’t informed yet, her brother Tian Lingyu should know it by now. She was starting to feel angst.

They were traveling slowly, keeping their pace favorable for the children who were shivering from the cold in spite of the thick coats they were wearing. Lu Xinyi couldn’t blame them. Her teeth were also clattering as her body shook from the coldness of the night. Thankfully, tonight there was no rain; and they don’t have to be worried about where to take shelter if it did.

The route they were taking was obviously not the normal one that people would take to travel, which meant that they couldn’t travel at a faster speed.

Qiao Lian paid attention to where they were going, making sure that they were taking the right way. Once in a while, her fitting cough disturbed the silence of the night; but their group continued to walk. Qiao Lian thought it must be good to have a horse at this moment, but she was too poor that she couldn’t rent or buy one for her little family.

The group had been walking for three hours straight when Su Yu told Lu Xinyi that Su Mei was burning with fever. Lu Xinyi was speechless but knew that she could not force them to continue. They had to make a stop somewhere where they could lower the girl’s fever.

Qiao Lian wiped her daughter’s forehead with a damp cloth. Her eyes filled with worry as she watched her child run a fever.

“I’m afraid, Miss Lu, this will slow us down,” she whispered to Lu Xinyi.

Lu Xinyi sighed but shook her head. Even though the weather was terrible, Qiao Lian wasn’t in good health; and Su Mei was also unfit to continue. She wasn’t really expecting that it would be easy for her to reach their destination at this state.

Su Mei’s fever refused to break. Her condition only got worse, and the group was forced to settle for a few hours on the road. The detour that they’d chosen was safer than hiking the mountain anyway, but the distance between the village and Silver Leaf’s campsite was too far.

Right now, it was already late in the afternoon, and Lu Xinyi had just prepared a meal with her companions. With Su Yu’s help, they caught two pheasants which she roasted and cooked on the fire they made.

Su Yu made a temporary shelter for them to stay for the night. They were about to retire for the night when they heard a loud scream from afar. The children trembled and sought their mother’s warmth while Lu Xinyi quickly pulled on her bag, took her dagger, and hid it in her clothes.

The sounds were getting louder and seemed to come their way. Several horses came in her sight. Weren’t they the villagers she had seen the day before? Lu Xinyi thought.

“The village has been attacked by bandits! Run as fast as you can! They’re on the chase!”

Lu Xinyi watched as the group faded at the distance before turning back her attention in the direction of the village. She and the Su family hadn’t walked far enough. With the rising black smoke in the sky, there was a possibility that the villagers were also running for their lives.

Maybe it was luck that they left Weeping Willow Village that night. A sneak attack from the bandits took several lives of the villagers, including the old woman who harmed the Su family.

“Madam Su, we have to leave quickly!” she exclaimed.

“But Mei’er…” Qiao Lian was terribly shaken by fear. It wasn’t the first time that the bandits attacked Weeping Willow Village, but for them to burn the whole village, something must have happened!

“What are you waiting for?! Hurry and let’s leave! Help Su Mei to ride on my back. If the bandits are on the chase, we cannot stay here for any longer!”

Qiao Lian came to her senses and helped her children to get up. She put Su Mei on Lu Xinyi’s back after the latter adjusted her backpack in front of her.

“Lead the way! We cannot take the road anymore!” Lu Xinyi fought hard not to panic, but she could feel the loud beating of her heart against her chest and feel her palm sweat in fear. As much as she wanted to protect the family, she knew her limits. She was nothing but a woman who doesn’t know how to fight or protect herself. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

Staying here would put her and the Sus’ lives in danger. Two women, one boy, and a little girl—how the heck could she protect them if she didn’t know anything else except cooking?!

Lu Xinyi bit her lip and followed the mother and son blindly as they took refuge at the thick forest, hoping that the bandits wouldn’t notice their presence. As they fought hard to catch their breaths, the sun was already setting. Soon, the darkness would consume them, and they’d be in their most vulnerable state.

After spending her whole life in the city—bathing in its never-ending lights, Lu Xinyi wasn’t accustomed to the utter blackness of nighttime in the woods. In her mind, the trees would be black trunks against a bluish charcoal sky, the path would become the deepest brown, and the moonlight would bleach the stones within it.

Hadn’t every painting of woods at night been like that? Even if there was a moon tonight, its silver rays would not penetrate the dense canopy above them. They were in too far in to turn back, for the night had passed them rapidly. They couldn’t go back, and the only choice they have was to move forward.

Stepping into the forest robbed a person of one sense and heightened the others. It was disorientating to be almost blinded but given the ears of a wolf. Even the soft rustling of branches felt heavy to the ears.

They settled under the tall tree to take a rest. Would someone still dare to come after them? Lu Xinyi wasn’t sure. However, the moment her ear picked out sounds of men running towards them, she jolted up from the ground with her ghostly pale face.

Qiao Lian wrapped her arms to her children and swept her eyes around them.

“Miss Lu…” she called under her breath. They’d been running blindly, but who knew where they were at the moment. This trail was unknown to her. There was no map to follow, but even if there was, the perpetual darkness would prevent one from using it.

“Take your children with you! I will hold them back.”

“Miss Lu! You can’t! I will not allow you to stay!”

Lu Xinyi shook her head. She wasn’t sure who was after them, but it would be better if the family continued without her. Letting them stay with her would only become a burden to her. If the three managed to escape safely, maybe they could ask for help to save her.

With no other choice, Qiao Lian followed her mistress’s order. If not for Lu Xinyi’s invitation to leave the village, she and her children might be dead by now. She swore deep in her heart that they would make it safely and find someone to rescue her new mistress deep in the forest. However, at this moment, she could only pray to all deities for Lu Xinyi’s safety.

The three sobbed quietly as they took the opposite direction leading back to the main route. They hadn’t walked for an hour when they encountered a group of men near the main route.

Qiao Lian could tell that these men were from her village with the way they talked to each other and how they dressed. Most likely they were from the city like Lu Xinyi.

Another group came from the village direction but unlike the first group, they were in military uniforms. One of them sought the leader of the first group with uncertainty.

“Yuren, Miss Lu wasn’t in the village. Surviving villagers said they saw her leaving the village with a family last night. The illegal traders couldn’t be found. Only the bandits were led by the nose and caught in the trap.”

Once Qiao Lian heard the man mentioned Lu Xinyi’s name, she threw herself forward and knelt on the ground.

“Respected sirs, are you talking about Lu Xinyi? Please, I beg you. Save my mistress,”

Li Yuren and Long Feng were both stupefied by Qiao Lian’s words. It was Li Yuren who came back to his senses and asked her.

“I’m asking you—where’s Lu Xinyi?!” The cold and deadly glare he gave Qiao Lian made her body shook but not from the coldness of the night.

“Miss Lu, let us escaped and used herself as bait! Sir, please hurry! We left Miss Lu in that direction, but I’m not sure if she’d escaped from our pursuers.”

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