Zhang Xu woke Rong Yue up and, while she was still groggy, packed her luggage.

"Rong Yue, are you sure you haven't been anywhere tonight?"

Rong Yue, still half-asleep, asked, "What's wrong? Didn't we go to bed after washing up?"

"You only remember that you fell asleep?"

Rong Yue touched Zhang Xu's forehead: "No, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhang Xu felt a chill in her heart. Ignoring Rong Yue's strange expression, she dropped what she was holding and ran to the next room.

"Hey, Xuxu, what are you doing?"

Zhang Xu pushed open the simple door and found that Yan Chenghuan, who should have been in the house, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Chenghuan?" Rong Yue picked up her clothes and followed, looking at the empty room, she asked strangely, "He's gone. Xuxu, you're acting strangely too, what happened?"

Zhang Xu pulled Rong Yue aside and briefly told her what had happened that evening. To Rong Yue's astonishment, she opened the luggage that had supposedly disappeared: "I don't know if the things are lost or not."

The most valuable item here is undoubtedly the Imperial Seal of the State. When the two of them opened their luggage, they found that everything inside was neatly arranged and nothing was missing. However, Rong Yue had indeed disappeared for a period of time. Surely the dirt on her back couldn't have been from the kang (a heated brick bed)!

The thought of someone silently taking people away and bringing them back without a sound sent chills down Zhang Xu's spine. What was this person up to?

"Yan Chenghuan was injured, so she couldn't have left on her own. She must have been taken away by someone, just like you disappeared."

"We need to go find him quickly, or he might be in danger!"

Seeing her flustered appearance, Rong Yue had no idea what she had gone through that night.

Rong Yue had no choice but to help her pack her things.

When the two finished packing and opened the door, they found the outside brightly lit, the vibrant flames seemingly tearing the night apart. Villagers stood neatly in the center of the courtyard, holding torches.

"Arrest them!" the old man in the lead ordered.

It was Old Man Ran.

"Uncle Ran, what are you doing?" Rong Yue asked, puzzled.

"Hmph, I didn't expect you to be sent back. In that case, I'll hand you all over to the master." Old Man Ran said, directing the burly man beside him to take the rope and step forward.

The two looked at each other, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

"Where did you take our companions?"

The villagers stopped talking and stepped forward to tie the two of them up with rope. Rong Yue moved her fingers, wanting to form a hand seal, but Zhang Xu pressed her hand down and shook his head. Cultivators who harm mortals would incur karma, and they were all ordinary people; they absolutely could not use magic to hurt people.

The villagers gathered here at this moment are a complete mix of men and women, but most of them are elderly people and children; upon closer inspection, there are surprisingly few young people.

Before they could think any further, they were tied up, stuffed into bags, and thrown into a dark place.

The people outside dispersed quietly, and a voice said, "The rooster has already crowed today, so it's not a good time to send anyone in. Let's wait until tomorrow."

"We must keep a close watch on people; if it doesn't rain soon, we'll all starve to death."

Once the person had disappeared, Rong Yue moved her hands and discovered that the ropes binding the two of them were specially made and could not be broken even with magic.

It looks like they came prepared.