Liang Qi and Yun Xingfei found two sets of black clothes at Liang Qi's residence, sneaked into Old Man Ge's house at night, took Ge Erping away, took her to the mountain, and tied her to a tree.

Ge Erping's face turned purple with fright, tears streaming down his face. He was terrified, trembling all over, and kept begging for mercy. Seeing that the time had come, Liang Qi pretended to be a ghost messenger and asked Ge Erping, "What wrong thing have you done?"

Ge Erping recounted the events one by one, and only later did he say, "Ge Erlin told me to get close to Xiaoyue, tell her when Xiaoyue was going to town, and that they would arrange things after that."

On the bus, Ge Erlin heard Liang Qi say he was going to pick up Xiaoyue, so he told my mother and me to hold Liang Qi back.

Upon hearing this, Liang Qi abandoned Ge Erping, who was tied up on the mountain, and took Yun Xingfei to Ge Erlin's house. Ge Erlin's daughter, Sun, had returned to her parents' home after the incident with Hou San and had not yet returned.

Ge Daming always lived with Old Madam Ge, and she wouldn't touch him unless absolutely necessary. However, she was unfazed by Ge Erlin and his companion. Sneaking into the house, they found leftover wine on Ge Erlin's table.

The room reeked of steam. Yun Xingfei went to the outer room, scooped up a basin of water, and splashed it on Ge Erlin, waking him up. The two men then proceeded to beat and kick him.

Seeing that Ge Erlin had regained consciousness and become obedient, Liang Qi held the knife to Ge Erlin's neck, and like a ghostly messenger devouring souls, asked lightly:

“Tell me your accomplices and plans. If you’re lying, I’ll stab you first.”

Ge Erlin began his narration, his voice trembling:

Two days ago, Li Shuanshu brought Fatty Ren to find Ge Erlin. Fatty Ren said he would give Ge Erlin twenty taels of silver to lure Xiaoyue into the woods, along with a big idiot from Guaibo Village.

There are four of them in total. They'll rape Xiaoyue in the woods, but they won't kill her.

But when the three of us went there, we found Da Sha, but Xiao Yue was nowhere to be found. Da Sha had been tied up by Xiao Yue and thrown into the woods. Fatty Ren only gave Da Sha and me one tael of silver each.

I've already said it.

Liang Qi gave Ge Erlin another beating, and Yun Xingfei kicked him in the stomach: "What's wrong with Ge Erping?"

Ge Erlin trembled as he said, "Didn't I hear that Liang Qi drove the oxcart to pick up Xiaoyue? A man like Liang Qi, even the four of us might not be able to beat him, so we sent Erping to hold him off."

Liang Qi plunged the knife into Ge Erlin's arms, one cut on each side. Yun Xingfei took the knife and severed Ge Erlin's genitals with a single stroke.

At Ge Erlin's shout, the two jumped out and went to find Li Shuanshu and Fatty Ren.

When they arrived at Li Shuanshu's house, neither Li Shuanshu nor Fatty Ren were there. The two of them drove to town that very night. They parked their car on the side of the road outside town, and the person delivering night soil was walking towards them. The two of them tied the reins.

They quickly ran into the city. When they arrived at the gambling house, it was still closed. Yun Xingfei took Liang Qi to Xingfei Textile, knocked on the door, and called all the managers and employees, asking them to find out where Fatty Ren was staying.

One of the young men spoke up, “I know Fatty Ren’s house in town. I’ll take you there.”

So the group rushed to Fatty Ren's house, which was near Qingfeng Academy. The house wasn't very big. The two sent the servants back first, and then the two went into the courtyard.

Barely entering the room, they found Fatty Ren fast asleep. Liang Qi kicked him twice, making him howl in pain. Yun Xingfei then tossed Fatty Ren to the ground, jumped onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and...

Stepping on Fatty Ren's stomach, Xuanxuan softly left a large footprint with each step.

Liang Qi put his foot on Fatty Ren's neck and said in a sinister tone, "Where did you hide Xiaoyue?"

"I didn't see her either, how would I know where she went?"

Liang Qi unbuckled his belt and whipped Ren Pangzi repeatedly. Ren Pangzi let out a pig-like howl, and finally knelt down in front of Liang Qi and kowtowed, "Grandpa, spare my life, I really didn't know." He kowtowed desperately until his head bled.

Seeing the situation, Liang Qi confirmed that Xiaoyue was not in their hands, so he beckoned to Yun Xingfei and gestured for them to retreat.

The two left Fatty Ren's house and went to Xingfei Fabric Shop together.

...

There was a special room in the clinic for the injured to rest. After Xiaoyue was arranged to stay there by the staff, the staff went back to sleep. As Xiaoyue felt safe and took a breather, the pain in her body returned.

Xiaoyue lay on the small bed and soon fell asleep despite the pain.

When Manager Tong came in, Xiaoyue was still unconscious. Manager Tong looked at Xiaoyue's injured leg, which was swollen and shiny, and her tattered clothes, which were covered in bloodstains from being hit with a stick.

Shopkeeper Tong took Xiaoyue's pulse and found that they were all superficial injuries. He left Xiaoyue some ointment and prescribed another dose of medicine for the young waiter to decoct and give to Xiaoyue.

After Xiaoyue finished drinking her medicine, she said to Manager Tong, "That man who arrested my men, I tied him up at the local temple. Could you please go to the yamen to inform them?"

After saying that, Xiaoyue went back to sleep. At eight o'clock in the morning, Xiaoyue woke up, paid four hundred coins for the medicine, and left the clinic.

Just then, Liang Qi also left the clinic, but Yun Xingfei was left at the cloth shop.

He ran up to her, called out to Xiaoyue, and the two smiled at each other.

Back in the village, Liang Qi took Xiao Yue home and then went to the front yard to tell Yun Ba and Yun San about Yun Xingfei leaving Yun Xingfei at the cloth shop.

The two men were originally there to protect Yun Xingfei, so they asked Liang Qi to send them to the cloth shop as well.

At night, Yun San and Yun Ba were also placed on the oxcart.

Xiaoyue followed them into town and immediately sent Yun San and Yun Ba to Xingfei Textile Shop. The manager gave Xiaoyue a hundred taels of silver, but Xiaoyue didn't take it; Liang Qi, however, pocketed it.

Xiaoyue glanced at Liang Qi, who smiled and walked out of the cloth shop. In the deep night, a pleasant voice quietly drifted over: "I've given you one hundred taels, which proves that this matter is settled. They don't owe you anything."

Xiaoyue tugged at his sleeve and walked around to Liang Qi's front: "Is this what happened?"

"They are being too petty."

Liang Qi flicked Xiaoyue on the forehead and smiled, "I know you, but they don't. Of course we have to take the money. It's better to settle things evenly."

Xiaoyue retreated and followed Liang Qi, but suddenly noticed that Liang Qi's shadow was very long. Xiaoyue lowered her head and stepped on Liang Qi's shadow in the moonlight. Liang Qi stopped.

Xiaoyue wasn't paying attention and bumped into it headfirst. She rubbed her head and looked up at Liang Qi.

Liang Qi's eyes were full of doting affection.

“I was terrified when you went missing. I didn’t sleep a wink that night, thinking that if I found you, I would propose to you.”

"Propose marriage?" Xiaoyue's eyes widened.

Liang Qi grabbed Xiaoyue's hands and said, "I'm proposing marriage."

Xiaoyue looked at Liang Qi in confusion, "But my indenture isn't in my hands!"

Liang Qi frowned upon hearing Xiaoyue's words: "Where?"

“Ge Sanlin! He won’t give it to me.”

Liang Qi added, "It's alright, I can wait, I'll wait my whole life."