The city gates of Fengting County were closed, and the surrounding mountains and forests were bare and offered no cover, so one could only symbolically keep a distance.

Everyone was filled with extreme panic; they had experienced far too much in just a few days.

All they could do was pray to the gods to protect them and prevent the thieves from finding them!

As Qin Ling and Ji Hong were discussing whether to retreat back to the city gate, they heard what sounded like someone chasing after them.

Qin Xian anxiously inquired of Qin Liang

"Sixth cousin, will the people being chased not come back here?"

Everyone was shocked to hear this, and some villagers immediately cursed.

"That damned bastard! He's being chased himself, yet he still comes to harm others! What are we going to do?!"

Qin Luo watched as a luxurious carriage sped towards them, while the rest of them were traveling in donkey carts.

Although Qinling was driving a carriage pulled by only one horse, how could it possibly outrun the four horses pulling it behind him?

Just as the luxurious carriage brushed past Qin Luo, a man carrying a child jumped down from it.

This person is extremely skilled; he jumped off such a fast carriage and landed without making a sound!

Upon seeing Qin Ling and his group, the man took out his waist token and handed it to them.

"I am Mu Xiao, a subordinate of the Marquis of Anding. This is our young marquis. We were attacked by assassins while passing through this area, and the young marquis is unconscious. We beg you, sir, to save him!"

Qin Ling couldn't see the waist token in his hand clearly either; he could only feel for the four characters "Marquis of Anding Mansion" engraved on the pure gold token.

Then he looked at the child in Mu Xiao's arms, who was now motionless, and Mu Xiao herself seemed to have suffered serious injuries.

He shoved the waist token back into Mu Xiao's hand, then pulled him and made him hide behind the donkey cart!

Qin Xian hurriedly took out the linen clothes they had bought and had Mu Xiao put them on, while Qin Yunyuan removed the young marquis's hair ornament.

She ruffled his hair, wrapped it in a coarse cloth, and placed it beside Qin Luo.

Qin Luo reached into her cloth bag, actually taking out some black eyeliner from her spatial storage and smearing it all over the young marquis's face, making it look filthy.

She used her supernatural abilities to examine his body, and as she got closer, she noticed his lips were black, guessing he had been poisoned by some kind of deadly toxin.

Mu Xiao was amazed by the smooth and skillful actions of these people!

What kind of people did I encounter?

Before Doctor You could even take their pulse, a group of assassins in black rushed towards them.

Qin Ling and the others surrounded Mu Xiao and the young marquis behind them, not because they wanted to meddle, but because generations of Marquises of Anding had died protecting Pingzhao and its peace.

The Marquis of Anding, Mu Huaiming, is also seventeen years old and has not yet reached adulthood.

He inherited the title of Marquis of Anding, and on the day of his succession, he went to the frontier with the last wishes of his predecessor.

Less than a month after arriving at the frontier, he first swiftly purged traitors from the army.

Later, he led the personal guards left to him by his father, Mu Yuanshan, into enemy territory and assassinated the eldest prince of Lancang Kingdom.

The day after the successful ambush, he carried the head of Jia Lanyu, the eldest prince of Lan Cang Kingdom.

Leading 20,000 troops, they successively captured the three cities of Fengluo, Juyan, and Luosha in the Lancang Kingdom.

That is, the present-day Pingyang City, Anyue City, and Liyou City of Pingzhao!

A young hero with outstanding military achievements, he has guarded the frontier for ten years and no one has dared to invade!

Marquis Anding is a great hero revered by the people. Every citizen of Pingzhao is grateful to him for pacifying the border and sparing the people from the suffering of war!

Moreover, Qin Yunhe, Qin Yunhan, Jinbao, Shouhou, and the other children from the village were all stationed in Liyou City.

Therefore, Qin Ling, his clansmen, and the villagers would all protect Mu Xiao and the young marquis without hesitation.

Seeing Qin Ling and his companions' tattered clothes, the man in black assumed they were displaced refugees.

He stopped in front of them and asked

"Have you seen a carriage pass by here, and where did it go?"

People from Qinling came with clasped hands.

"Brave warrior! We indeed saw a four-horse carriage speed past us, heading south!"

The men in black immediately sent ten to give chase, while the remaining six did not leave but instead began to examine Qin Ling's group one by one.

Upon seeing Qin Luo and the young marquis, suspicion arose: 'What's wrong with this child?'

Before Qin Liang could answer, the man in black pointed at Qin Luo and said, "You answer!"

Qin Liang and the others were on tenterhooks when they saw Qin Luo blinking her big eyes.

"She's asleep! It's already dark, and my little sister is too young to stay awake!"

The man in black brushed aside the young marquis's hair.

"Why is her face so dirty? Aren't you going to wipe it off?"

Qin Luo sighed, feigning helplessness.

"Sigh! I wiped it clean, and it got dirty again in a little while. Kids will be kids! They all love playing with mud!"

"Really? Then wake her up, I need to question her!"

The man in black knew that the heir of the Marquis of Anding was poisoned and unconscious.

So they deliberately let Qin Luo wake the person up to confirm if it was the person they were looking for.

Mu Xiao couldn't help but rush forward, but Qin Ling and Doctor You held him back tightly, patting his hand to reassure him.

They knew Qin Luo had life-saving pills, and rushing in now would only make things worse.

Qin Luo had previously used his healing power to purify the young marquis's poison. Although a little bit remained, he would definitely be fine when he woke up.

Qin Luo calmly patted the young marquis's face.

"Little sister, wake up! There's a man in black who wants to ask you some questions. Don't be scared!"

Mu Xiuyu opened his eyes and saw a woman winking at him. Behind her were the men in black who had been chasing him.

He was stunned for a moment, and Qin Luo hugged him tightly.

"Little sister, what's wrong? Were you scared? It's okay! Don't cry!"

Although the young marquis was only five years old, he was extremely intelligent. Upon hearing Qin Luo's words, he immediately hugged Qin Luo and burst into tears.

The man in black glanced at the two children embracing each other; they weren't the people they were looking for. He gestured behind him and retreated.

Seeing that they had left, Qinling and his group continued their journey towards Qixia Village.

Qin Ling was about to ask Mu Xiao why they were being chased when Mu Xiao grabbed his arm.

"Grandpa, let me help you into the car!"

As he spoke, he gestured with his eyes that the men in black from Qinling hadn't left.

Qin Ling didn't ask any questions and got into the carriage, while Mu Xiao got into Qin Liang's donkey cart.

Once the donkey cart started moving, everyone chatted idly.

Qin Luo then softly asked Mu Xiuyu, "Little one, what's your name? How old are you?"

Mu Xiuyu knew that these people had saved him, so he replied...

"Sister, my name is Mu Xiuyu. 'Xiu' means self-cultivation, and 'yu' means island. I'm five years old. You can call me Xiaoyu. Sister, what's your name?"

Qin Luo looked at his little face, which was smeared with black ink, and his clear, big eyes.

It's so cute! How can someone with a dirty face be so adorable?

Qin Luo ruffled his hair.

"My name is Qin Luo, Luo as in graceful and generous. You can call me 'elder sister'!"

"Hello, elder sister! Did you heal me? I was in so much pain before, almost dying, but then you woke me up, and the pain stopped!"

Mu Xiuyu's eyes were filled with surprise and gratitude as he looked at Qin Luo!