The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

"Miss Zhou!"

"Miss Zhou, where are you?"

Zhou Ming'an struggled to escape through the dimly lit woods, drenched in the heavy rain.

She hugged her arms, tears streaming down her face.

Someone was calling her name from afar.

She heard it, but she dared not respond because three or four thieves were chasing her from behind.

An hour ago, she slipped and fell into a ravine, sustaining abrasions and dragging her aching left leg as she searched for a way out.

But she hadn't gone far when she ran into several bandits.

She realized what was happening and immediately turned around and hid in the bushes nearby.

But the bandits seemed to sense her presence, and the next second they started searching through the bushes!

Zhou Ming'an covered his mouth, not daring to make a sound.

But gradually, several bandits started heading straight for her.

Then she remembered something and suddenly lowered her head.

At today's banquet, a young lady gave her a sachet, and to show her appreciation, she immediately put it on her waist.

She was too busy escaping to notice the fragrance emanating from the sachet at her waist!

Zhou Ming'an ripped off the sachet and threw it in the opposite direction with all his might.

The sachet fell into the grass, making a rustling sound, which instantly attracted the attention of several bandits.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhou Ming'an lowered his body and crawled in the opposite direction.

She climbed for an unknown distance before she dared to stand up and start running, limping.

She could no longer distinguish whether what she was vaguely seeing was rain or tears, and could only keep walking and walking.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder sounded, and the shouts of the bandits behind them rang out at the same time as the thunder.

"She's there!"

Zhou Ming'an turned around in horror and saw several men grinning as they chased after her.

She was both frightened and startled, and slipped, falling to the ground.

His already injured left leg was completely immobile.

Zhou Ming'an refused to give up, gritting his teeth and using his hands to dig into the soil, inching forward little by little.

However, within moments, the bandits caught up and surrounded Zhou Ming'an.

The leader of the group chuckled lewdly, "Poor little beauty, I wonder if you can handle us brothers."

Another person cautioned, "Take it easy, the higher-ups need to leave some survivors."

Zhou Ming'an was startled.

above?

It turns out someone deliberately harmed her!

She immediately removed her pearl earring, bowed her head tightly, and offered it with both hands, her voice trembling: "Brother, please spare me! My family has money, lots of money."

"If you let me go, I'll go back and give you several hundred taels... no, several thousand taels of silver as a reward!"

"Besides, I didn't see your faces clearly, so I definitely can't report this to the authorities!"

The group laughed even louder.

"Young lady, do you know that there are rules in our line of work?"

"We can't break the rules of our entire mountain for a little bit of money like you. Otherwise, how will we do business in the future?"

As they spoke, the two men immediately began to tug at Zhou Ming'an's clothes.

Overwhelmed by fear, Zhou Ming'an unleashed astonishing strength, kicking and struggling violently.

The two men were unable to restrain her for a moment.

The scarred leader cursed and drew his dagger: "Sever your tendons first."

Zhou Ming'an suddenly raised his head, his hateful gaze sweeping over each of them.

"They ordered me to be spared, so it seems they don't intend for you to live either!"

"I am the daughter of Marquis Zhongjing! How dare you treat me like this? When my father returns, he will raze your mountain stronghold to the ground!"

With her tendons severed, she's practically a cripple. What's the point of her living?

She wanted to remember what each of them looked like, if she could survive...

She was determined to watch them be torn to pieces!

Zhou Ming'an's emotions were so intense that his hatred almost materialized, and the bandits were stunned for a moment.

Taking advantage of the moment when the others were stunned, Zhou Ming'an slammed his head into one of their chests, and as the other person cried out in pain, he got up and ran away.

As she got up, she also tore off the beaded necklace from another person's neck.

Just as they pounced on her, she bit off the string of beads and threw it backward.

"You little bitch! This is my family's heirloom beaded bracelet!"

The already muddy ground became even more difficult to walk on, forcing the three of them to curse and swear as they went around the muddy area in front of them.

Zhou Ming'an could barely feel the pain in his legs; all he knew was that he couldn't stop.

She didn't know how far she had run, but suddenly she heard someone calling her from ahead.

"An'an! An'an, where are you!"

"Miss Zhou!"

She paused, then quickly recognized the two people.

The first one was her mother.

The second one was Liu Muyuan, the young master of the Liu family, whom she met at the banquet. He was also her sister-in-law's younger brother.

She hesitated for a moment, looking to the left before turning to the right.

A moment later, she gritted her teeth and strode quickly in one of the directions.

.

Upon receiving the news, Lu Mingzhao rushed to the mountain forest where his daughter had gone missing.

She wanted to rush in to find her daughter, but was told that soldiers had already entered the woods to search, and for safety reasons, she could not go in.

But Lu Mingzhao wouldn't listen. She rolled up her sleeves, drew a soldier's sword without a word, and rushed into the woods.

The movement was so fast that even Liu Muqiu, who was closest to her, didn't react in time.

When Zhou Shili and Zhou Shixu rushed over, they only saw their wife unable to stop crying.

Zhou Shili's heart skipped a beat: "Where's Mother?"

Liu Muqiu choked up, "Mother...she went into the woods to look for An'an."

"They just said that there are bandits roaming around here, and they found the clothes the bandits wore when they sneaked in outside the woods..."

Liu Muqiu couldn't continue speaking and covered her face, bursting into tears.

An An's disappearance was already heartbreaking enough, but now her mother-in-law has also been arrested.

She regretted it so much; why hadn't she stopped her mother-in-law earlier!

When Zhou Shixu heard the words "mountain bandits," he couldn't wait to rush into the forest, but was stopped by the soldiers.

Zhou Shili remained silent for a moment before stepping forward to negotiate.

A moment later, he and his brother each took a bow and arrow and a long sword, and after giving Liu Muqiu some instructions, they walked into the woods together.

Lu Mingzhao had been searching in the woods for a long time by then.

The heavy rain washed away most of the traces, but the trampled and broken bushes were enough to guide her.

When she was a child, her parents often took her hunting in the mountains.

At first she was scared, worried that she would get lost and also worried about encountering wild animals.

Her parents then instructed her to carefully identify the paths—which were trails used by wild animals and which were paths trodden by wild boars and horses.

Then teach her to recognize the tracks she leaves when she walks—so that even if she gets separated from her parents, she can find her way home.

She learned how to make a living in the forest, and also learned martial arts on that flat clearing in the mountains.

Her parents said that although they taught her these things, they did not hope that she would ever need them.

I just hope that in critical moments, she will be able to protect the people she wants to protect.

Later, Lu Mingzhao got married and had a child.

She wanted to teach these martial arts skills to her own children so that they would have the ability to protect themselves.

But it wasn't even time yet.

She hated the injustice of fate, and hated herself even more.

She has such abilities, yet she can't even protect her daughter.

"You bitch!"

Suddenly, Lu Mingzhao keenly caught a man's curse amidst the noisy rain.

She immediately gripped the sword in her hand tightly.

Her heart was pounding, and she quickened her pace until she finally spotted three bandits through the gaps in the branches.

In their hands, they held a torn, pale yellow piece of fabric.