Liu Eryang seemed not to hear him, his smile growing even more lewd, and he tightened his grip, muttering, "Little beauty, don't struggle, have some fun with me, I guarantee you'll feel good..."

Qiu Mang struggled desperately, waving her hands wildly, trying to break free from Liu Eryang's clamp-like grip. Her face flushed red, she roared, "Liu Eryang, you madman, let me go!"

However, Liu Eryang showed no sign of stopping. He freed one hand, quickly pulled out a handkerchief with a pungent smell from his pocket, and suddenly covered Qiu Mang's mouth and nose.

Qiu Mang stared wide-eyed in terror, desperately twisting her head, but the drug's effects were extremely potent. In just a moment, her gaze began to glaze over, and her limbs gradually lost strength, causing her to collapse limply into Liu Eryang's arms.

Liu Eryang gave a smug sneer and called out to Li Peng, "Old Li! I'm leaving first!"

Then he hoisted Qiu Mang onto his shoulder and hurriedly walked toward the car that was already parked by the roadside.

The car sped through the night. In a daze, Qiu Mang used the last bit of consciousness to take his phone out of his pocket with trembling fingers.

With his remaining memory, he managed to find Zhao Xiaoya's contact information and typed a few words with difficulty: "Xiaoya, come home quickly..." Then, the phone screen went completely dark.

Qiu Mang's hand went limp, and the phone fell from her grasp.

Liu Eryang was driving when he suddenly heard the sound of his phone falling. Startled, he cursed, "Damn it! You bitch! Don't try anything funny!"

When Qiu Mang heard him speak, she slightly opened her eyes to take a look, and then her eyelids became even heavier.

Seeing that Qiu Mang was already delirious and probably wouldn't be able to make a phone call or send a message, Liu Eryang felt relieved.

He thought he was being cautious enough. Liu Eryang was also worried that Qiu Mang would call the police, so he tried to drug her and take her to an unfamiliar place. Even if she wanted to call for help, she wouldn't be able to tell him her exact location.

Moreover, girls from rural areas like this, even if they wake up the next day and find out they have been assaulted, are too ashamed to report it to the police.

The street scenes outside the car window flashed by quickly like a slideshow. Before long, Liu Eryang parked the car in front of a secluded hotel.

He hummed a little tune as he pulled Qiu Mang out of the car and dragged her towards the hotel.

Seeing this, the receptionist was about to ask a question when Liu Eryang glared at her fiercely: "Mind your own business, get a room!"

The waiter was startled and quickly lowered his head to process the paperwork.

At the same time, Lu Yanting had just dropped Xu Jingyan off and was preparing to go home.

As the car passed the hotel, he caught a glimpse of Liu Eryang pulling Qiu Mang out of the corner of his eye. His heart tightened, and a bad premonition welled up inside him.

Without a second thought, Lu Yanting instructed Yan Kai to stop the car, then strode into the hotel.

Upon reaching the front desk, he tried to keep his voice calm and asked, "What room did that man just check in?"

The receptionist hesitated, but Lu Yanting immediately pulled out a wad of banknotes and slammed it on the table: "Tell me, this is yours."

The waiter hesitated for a moment, then whispered the room number.

Without saying a word, Lu Yanting took off running upstairs. After finding the room, he took a deep breath and kicked the door open.

The room was dimly lit and extremely sparsely furnished. Several pieces of wallpaper had peeled off the walls, and the room smelled musty.

Qiu Mang, disheveled and with her hair in disarray, was struggling desperately in the corner, her face filled with terror. Enraged, Liu Eryang raised his hand and slapped her across the face several times, cursing, "You bitch, you dare to resist!"

Upon seeing this, Lu Yanting's anger surged from his feet to his head. He rushed forward, raised his fist, and slammed it hard into Liu Eryang's temple.

Liu Eryang was so struck by the sudden attack that he saw stars and staggered back a few steps.

Lu Yanting pressed his advantage, and with a few punches and kicks, he knocked Liu Eryang to the ground, unable to move.

He turned to look at Qiu Mang, his eyes filled with heartache. He quickly walked to her side, took off his coat, gently draped it over her shoulders, and said softly, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

After saying that, he picked up Qiu Mang gently without hesitation and strode out of the room.

Qiu Mang nestled in Lu Yanting's warm and firm embrace, the man's delicate and unique fragrance lingering in her nostrils.

This familiar scent gave her a strange sense of peace.

Her slender hands gripped the man's neat shirt tightly, her face pressed against Lu Yanting's chest.

At this moment, all the noise and clamor of the outside world gradually faded away, leaving only the powerful and steady heartbeats that entered her ears, striking her heartstrings one by one.

When they reached the car, Yan Kai opened the door, and Lu Yanting carefully placed Qiu Mang in the back seat.

But Qiu Mang's hand seemed rooted to the spot, gripping his shirt tightly and refusing to let go even an inch.

Seeing this, Lu Yanting slightly raised his hand and gently stroked her cheek, his voice low and gentle: "Don't be afraid, it's alright now."

Yan Kai had already gotten into the driver's seat. Through the rearview mirror, he calmly saw Qiu Mang's face and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

Then, with great understanding, the partition inside the car was slowly raised, and in an instant, two quiet, independent spaces were created inside the car.

Qiu Mang trembled uncontrollably like a frightened fawn, cowering in a corner.

She slowly raised her eyes, and the moment her gaze fell upon Lu Yanting, the tears that had been welling up in her eyes could no longer be held back and spilled out.

Qiu Mang felt her mind was in complete chaos. She had to confront her truest thoughts. In that darkest moment of near despair, the first lifeline she instinctively thought of was Lu Yanting!

The moment Lu Yanting kicked the door open, he was like a dazzling ray of dawn, forcefully piercing through the gloom and shining directly into her dark and gloomy world.

But why is that?

She had clearly made up her mind to distance herself from this person in the future, but why did she subconsciously rely on him so much?

Looking at Qiu Mang's pitiful and frail appearance, Lu Yanting felt a mix of pity and love surging within him. Unable to suppress the turbulent emotions surging within him any longer, he slowly leaned down and gently kissed her lips.

Qiu Mang was extremely flustered at this moment, her mind was a mess, and she couldn't tell whether it was because of fear that her heart was racing so fast, or because of some other inexplicable emotion. She was inexplicably not resisting at all.