Upon hearing this voice, Mengmeng trembled involuntarily, her eyes filled with fear.

"That's my mother's voice!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Nian frowned and pushed open the door.

What came into view was a tall, burly soldier pinning a young woman to the table, while two or three men beside him were restraining a man with bloodshot eyes.

The woman was dressed in rags and was about to be defiled; her face showed a look of utter despair.

The man's forehead veins bulged as he struggled desperately, but to no avail.

Xu Nian immediately deduced that these two were probably Mengmeng's parents.

Seeing this scene, Mengmeng was so frightened she almost cried.

But she remembered Xu Nian's words, covered her mouth with her small hands and closed her eyes tightly, trying her best not to make a sound.

Who the hell are you?!

The soldiers were in the middle of a great time when they were suddenly interrupted. Feeling frustrated, they turned around and started cursing.

However, when he saw Xu Nian standing not far away, his eyes almost popped out.

He had only ever seen such a face in the emperor's sketchbook!

Look at that beautiful little face and slender, frail body, as if it would break if blown by the wind.

She is truly an absolute beauty!

Stared at by such filthy eyes, Xu Nian felt nauseous and frowned. "What are you doing?"

The officer scoffed, revealing a lewd smile. "Of course, it was because this girl insisted on serving me that I reluctantly agreed."

Hearing such blatant lies, Mengmeng's father gritted his teeth in anger, "You're talking nonsense!"

"You were the one who forced my wife, and now you're trying to shift the blame!" Chen Yang's eyes were filled with anger.

Their villagers originally lived a happy and fulfilling life. Even when faced with famine, they encouraged each other, gathered wild vegetables to eat when they had no food, and waited for the dawn to arrive.

However, just last night, a large group of soldiers suddenly arrived, saying they wanted to collect taxes.

They didn't have that much money, and when they argued, the leading officer was very dissatisfied.

"I don't care if you have it or not, if you don't, then give me someone to compensate you!"

As they spoke, they began to burn, kill, and loot indiscriminately. Helpless, Chen Yang could only tell the young Mengmeng to run away quickly.

"Heh, so what!"

Seeing Chen Yang's dissatisfaction, the soldiers looked down at him and kicked him.

"What do you mean 'your wife'? If I take a fancy to her, she's mine."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Xu Nian, "And you, you came to ruin my mood so early in the morning, why don't you kowtow and apologize to me right now!"

Xu Nian looked at the self-satisfied soldier with a speechless expression, and sighed inwardly at how terrible the world was nowadays.

The soldiers who should have been helping the people through their difficulties are no different from the bandits who are burning and killing indiscriminately.

Seeing that Xu Nian had not spoken for a long time, the officers and soldiers assumed that she had been intimidated by them and immediately showed a satisfied smile.

He walked up to Xu Nian, looked her up and down, and was quite satisfied.

"However, seeing your outstanding beauty, I will spare your life and ask you to become my concubine."

As they spoke, the officers and soldiers were practically drooling.

Madam Chen, who was tied to the table, immediately showed fear in her eyes. She pursed her lips and said, "This girl is innocent, you..."

"Who gave you the right to interrupt me?"

Before Madam Chen could speak, the soldier impatiently raised his hand to slap her.

Seeing that the slap was about to land on Madam Chen's face, she hurriedly closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to come.

However, the expected pain did not come, and Madam Chen opened her eyes in fear.

She discovered that the seemingly frail girl had actually caught the soldier's arm as he slammed it down with one hand.

"you!"

The officers and soldiers were clearly not prepared for Xu Nian's strength and tried to pull away, but found that they could not move at all.

He stared wide-eyed, straining with all his might, but still couldn't move.

"What kind of sorcery did you use?!"

The officers and soldiers had no choice but to let go, rubbing their wrists hard, their faces showing ferocity.

Xu Nian responded with a faint smile, but her eyes remained devoid of emotion.

"As government officials and soldiers, they burned, killed, looted, and forcibly abducted women."

She pressed closer, looking down at the terrified soldiers, and sneered, "You really know how to do a 'good job'!"

Enraged by such sarcasm, the officer drew his sword and said, "Since you've thwarted my plans, you'd better make amends yourself!"

He charged at Xu Nian like a madman, his face full of rampant laughter.

Looking at the scene before her in a panic, Mengmeng blurted out, "Big sister, run!"

Chen Yang and his wife also looked at Xu Nian with concern, their inner feelings evident in their expressions.

Xu Nian, however, remained calm, flicked out a talisman with her hand, and sneered, "You think you can take me on?"

The soldiers rushed forward with ferocious expressions, only to find to their surprise that they could not move, their legs feeling as heavy as lead.

Seeing this, the subordinates on the side realized what was happening and also drew their swords and rushed over.

Now that he was free, Chen Yang quickly got up and shielded Madam Chen behind him. Then, with his sharp eyes, he spotted Mengmeng huddled to the side.

Xu Nian fought against several people single-handedly, holding her own without being at a disadvantage, and even had a mocking smile on her face.

"With your ugly, deformed appearance, how dare you call yourself 'master'? What gives you the audacity to humiliate a young lady?"

Xu Nian cursed mercilessly, and her hands gradually became more forceful.

"Someone like you is a waste of air when you're alive, a waste of land when you're dead, and a waste of money when you're half-dead!"

As she spoke, Xu Nian flicked her wrist and unleashed another fire talisman, burning his clothes to shreds.

[That was so satisfying! Streamer, give him a good dressing down!]

[That's right, compared to this, the general's army is just so much better, sob sob.]

These people are clearly just bullies; they need to be taught a lesson.

"Ugh, I'm so angry!"

Hearing Xu Nian's insults, the soldiers were filled with rage.

He swatted away the boiling sparks on his body, ripped open his clothes, and charged headlong at Xu Nian with his sword.

"Mengmeng, what's going on?"

Chen Yang and his wife were stunned by the scene and quickly asked Mengmeng in a low voice.

Seeing her parents safe and sound, Mengmeng was overjoyed and explained in detail, "That was Sister Xu Nian, who saved Mengmeng's life and gave me food!"

As Mengmeng finished speaking, the sword in the soldier's hand split in two, transforming into two short swords, which stabbed at Xu Nian from different directions.

The unexpected turn of events occurred suddenly, and Chen Yang hurriedly shouted, "Be careful, benefactor!"

The officers and soldiers, however, wore smug and ferocious smiles.

"You dare ruin my plans? You'd better die!"