Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

"Would you like some stewed crane breast?" Madam Chen picked up a jade spoon and gently tried to add some food to Lu Chen's plate.

"Mother, I can do it myself."

"Good, good, good, my little Chen has really grown up, becoming more and more capable." Madam Chen smiled and withdrew her hand.

Lu Chen lowered his eyes and scooped up a spoonful of crane meat, a sense of helplessness welling up in his heart.

He couldn't understand why, when he was the child prodigy his parents boasted about to others, he turned back into an ordinary child at this moment, needing his mother to take meticulous care of him.

Halfway through the banquet, Lu Chen had already eaten about 70-80% of his fill.

He looked up and saw his father, Lu Yu, drinking heartily. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head:

If I sneak away now, he probably won't blame me, right?

He wanted to return to his courtyard and continue his meditation practice.

But as he stood up to sneak away, a strange sense of discomfort crept over him, and he suddenly felt weak and sore all over.

Did I eat too much today?

He forced himself to open his eyes and look at everything in the hall, but his eyelids were drooping and felt heavy.

The guests, candlelight, tables and chairs, laughter and chatter before my eyes all became hazy and dreamlike, gradually distorting and blurring.

With a "thump".

His consciousness was suddenly plunged into boundless darkness.

He could vaguely hear strange noises around him, including shouts, collisions, and faint sounds of fighting, but he was too weak to even discern the source of these sounds.

......

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds in his ears seemed to become clearer.

"Lu Chen... Lu Chen... Lu Chen!"

That's...my mother's voice?!

Lu Chen suddenly opened his eyes, only to be met with complete darkness, and the faint scent of dust and vegetation filled his nostrils.

He snapped back to reality, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. His small body tensed slightly, and his gaze swept quickly around him as he analyzed the situation.

He found himself hiding behind a boulder in a corner of a courtyard, his mother, Chen, close beside him. In the distance, the sounds of burning, killing, and screaming rose and fell, with flames reaching the sky.

His mother was looking at him with tears in her eyes, her eyes red and her face covered with tears and anxiety.

"What's wrong, Mother?"

Wasn't I just in the main hall? How did I end up here?

"That's great, I'm glad you're awake..."

Chen hugged Lu Chen tightly, gently stroking his back with her other hand, her voice slightly choked with emotion.

"We just need to stay here quietly and not make a sound."

"Mother..."

Chen took a deep breath, slowly released him, raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face, and her eyes instantly became firm.

"If His Majesty doesn't send anyone over soon, we'll escape on our own. Mother will definitely take you away from here alive."

"Um."

He leaned back against the boulder, countless possibilities flashing through his mind—was the mansion attacked? Was it revenge from an enemy? Or a political rival plotting against him? But what made his heart clench most was what his father was doing. As long as his father was there, none of this mattered.

"Mother...where is Father?" he asked softly.

Upon hearing this, Chen froze, and after a long while, she managed a weak smile. "The situation is a bit complicated now, but he will definitely come back to save us, he definitely will."

Lu nodded silently, without pressing further. He already knew the answer—the man whose expression remained gentle had most likely met with misfortune.

But how is that possible?

His father, at a young age, was already the foremost Confucian scholar in the world, deeply favored by the emperor, and possessed unfathomable cultivation. Few in the world could rival him; who would dare, or have the ability, to attack him?

But now is not the time to think about these things. Whether it is an enemy or a political foe, since my father has met with misfortune, his opponent must be extremely powerful. The most important thing now is how to get my mother out of here.

The Emperor's support that Mother mentioned is probably out of the question.

Since the other party dared to make a move right under the nose of the capital, they must have already made thorough preparations. No matter what methods they used, at this moment they can only rely on themselves!

"Mother...where are we now?"

"In a corner of the East Garden." Madam Chen softened her voice, her tone reassuring. "Don't rush to run. Mother has a magical artifact that can conceal our presence. They... they can't find us for now."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen looked down and saw that his mother had a smooth jade pendant hanging from her waist, which was emitting a soft light. A faint barrier enveloped the two of them, completely isolating them from the surrounding atmosphere.

He felt a little more at ease; the fact that there was no immediate risk of being discovered was undoubtedly good news for him.

Time passed slowly, and after about half an hour, the sounds of burning and killing in the distance gradually became clearer, the firelight grew closer, and the stench of blood and burnt flesh drifted over on the wind, pungent and unpleasant.

Lu Chen, who had been thinking about how to escape this place, suddenly became a little nervous, but at this moment he had no choice but to trust his mother's jade pendant.

"Search carefully! Today, not a single person in the Lu residence can be left alive, understand?!" A loud voice resounded throughout the East Garden.

"Understood!" Several rough, hoarse voices echoed in unison, one after another.

Lu Chen cautiously peeked out and saw several men dressed in coarse cloth clothes searching around in the East Garden.

Their expressions were fierce, and they held sharp long knives in their hands. Their clothes were so ordinary that it was impossible to tell their identities from their attire. They seemed to be just a group of ordinary robbers. But what kind of robbers would dare to plunder at the foot of the imperial city?

"Lu Chen!" Chen suddenly called out in a low but urgent voice.

Lu Chen's heart tightened. He saw a man dressed in coarse cloth suddenly looking in the direction of the boulder where they were hiding.

He quickly turned his head, his body swayed, and he fell to the ground.

His mother whispered instructions to him:

"Don't move around. Just stay here and hide. Your mother is here. She will take you out. Don't be afraid."

The man slowly walked over, his footsteps growing closer. Chen's body trembled slightly, but she still held Lu Chen tightly, her eyes resolute.

In truth, she knew that with the jade pendant as a barrier, even if that person came over, they wouldn't be able to see or touch them. But being in danger, it was only natural to feel fear.

Sure enough, the man walked to the boulder, looked down at it, and then used his long knife to clear away the surrounding weeds. Seemingly finding nothing, he frowned, muttered a curse under his breath, and then turned and left to continue searching in the East Garden.

Just as the mother and daughter breathed a sigh of relief, with a "bang," the screen constructed from spiritual energy suddenly shattered, and the two were suddenly revealed in the original space.

A man holding a talisman radiating an eerie light suddenly appeared beside the boulder, his voice booming:

"Young Master was right after all; there really are such exquisite magical treasures in this world!"

Upon seeing this, Chen immediately stood up and shielded Lu Chen behind her, her body instantly surging with powerful true energy.

Today, she will risk her life to protect her son and help him escape!