However, Song Zhi did not see the assassin holding a gun to Er Ya's head.

Seeing Mengzi close the door, Song Zhi anxiously looked in Jiang Qiao's direction. By the moonlight and the light coming from the neighbor's house, Song Zhi saw Jiang Qiao make a gesture to him.

He knew all too well what that gesture meant.

Although he didn't know why the little girl wanted him to do this, he still raised his hand and knocked hard on the door.

"Mengzi, Mengzi, open the door quickly—"

The assassin had already led Er Ya into the house, but his arm was a little sore, and he wanted to hurry back inside to get it properly bandaged.

Song Zhi's sudden knock on the door startled the assassin for a moment. Just as he turned to look behind him, Jiang Qiao's gun fired.

Not to mention Er Ya, even the children inside the house were screaming in terror. They didn't know what was happening outside, but their intuition told them that Er Ya had met with misfortune, and the children's cries immediately began.

Er Ya stood there blankly, as if she were in a daze. Meng Zi was also stunned, because he saw the man who had threatened his sister suddenly fall down and crash heavily to the ground.

Jiang Qiao suddenly got up and jumped into the courtyard. She didn't have time to comfort the two terrified people. Instead, she rushed straight towards the assassin.

After making sure the person was dead, she breathed a long sigh of relief, turned around and hugged Er Ya, gently comforting her, "It's alright, the bad guy is dead, Er Ya, don't be afraid, your sister is here, your uncle and sister will protect you."

Upon hearing Jiang Qiao's voice, the little girl suddenly realized what was happening and burst into tears.

Mengzi realized what was happening at that moment, ran over, kicked the assassin twice, and then ran to the gate to open it for Song Zhi.

Upon seeing Song Zhi, Mengzi couldn't contain his panic and hugged Song Zhi, weeping silently.

"Alright, alright, it's alright now. Uncle's here. We know you were in trouble. The bad guys are all dead. Don't be afraid, Mengzi. Uncle's here. We won't let the bad guys hurt you."

Mengzi and Erya witnessed and experienced the test of life and death firsthand, and compared with their friends in Wuli, the two were more shocked.

"Uncle, I'm scared. I'm scared that bad people will hurt my younger brother and sister. I'm really, really scared—"

Although Mengzi is older than Jiang Qiao, he is still a child and has not experienced these things. For a moment, he could not control his emotions.

Er Ya was also crying pitifully while hugging Jiang Qiao. The children in the house rushed out and started wailing while hugging Jiang Qiao.

When Zhao Jian and the neighbors arrived, the courtyard was filled with weeping. Jiang Qiao and Song Zhi had no time to pay attention to the dead killer; they were busy comforting the distraught children.

"Alright, alright, stop crying. Look, so many police officers have come to protect you. The bad guys won't dare to come near again."

With so many people helping to comfort and coax the children, they gradually stopped crying, and Jiang Qiao and her neighbors took the children inside.

Outside, Song Zhi's men questioned Meng Zi about the assassin, while Song Zhi and Zhao Jian searched the area thoroughly and found nothing else wrong, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Jiang Qiao came out at this moment. "Uncle, I'll stay here with them tonight. The children are terrified."

Song Zhi patted Jiang Qiao on the shoulder, "You were scared too, weren't you? But I still have to praise you, you did a great job. Zhao Jian and I will stay here tonight too, you can't handle so many children by yourself."

Jiang Qiao nodded. She knew her own situation well, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid.

Despite her past life's experience of war, this second chance at life is the first time she has truly understood the feeling of being on the brink of life and death. She is still somewhat fearful. If it weren't for that feeling reminding her, she would probably be lying dead in the street by now.

The assassin was dead, and nothing of value could be found on his body, so a confession was out of the question. Song Zhi could only have the body removed, while Zhao Jian used a shovel to clean up the bloodstains left in the yard.

"Uncle, please come in and sit down. I'll go cook. I guess you must be hungry by now."

Zhao Jian smiled and nodded, "Jiang Qiao, then I'll trouble you. Make something simple. It would be a lie to say I'm not hungry. We've been searching for so long, who knew this bastard would hide here. Luckily you thought of this, otherwise, how would these kids get through the night?"

Jiang Qiao went inside to call Er Ya out to help, so that the little girl would have something to do and perhaps she wouldn't think so much.

"Sis, I was really scared just now."

Jiang Qiao patted the little girl's head. "Sister was scared too, but being scared won't solve anything. You don't know, my hands were shaking a little just now. I was afraid that if something went wrong, what would happen to our Er Ya?"

The little girl smiled, her bright eyes filled with envy and admiration.

"Sis, how are you so amazing? You can even shoot a gun! Luckily you know how, otherwise we wouldn't know what to do. I want to learn from you in the future, I want to be a policeman, and catch bad guys."

Jiang Qiao smiled and said, "That's great! You should study hard from now on. Once we've mastered our skills, we can catch more bad guys and prevent them from harming others again. That's a good ambition, and I support you. Do we still have any noodles at home?"

Jiang Qiao wanted to cook some noodles. She remembered that some dried noodles had been sent over before, but she didn't know if the children had finished eating them.

"Yes, but there's not much left. It should be enough to eat."

Jiang Qiao glanced at it and said, "It's enough to eat. It's okay. I'll bring you some more later. Remember, you can save money on everything else, but you absolutely can't skimp on food. You're still young and need nutrition. If you run out of food, just go to me. We have some at home."

Jiang Qiao cooked the noodles, served everyone two plates of spicy cabbage, and brought them over with Er Ya.

The neighbors had already left, the children were fine, and there was no point in them staying any longer. The main problem was that Song Zhi and Zhao Jian, both in uniform, were sitting next to them, which made the locals feel pressured.

Zhao Jian and his companion didn't try to stop them. It was rare for two usually serious people to have the patience to chat and talk with the children.

"The food is here! Come on, everyone help tidy up. Let's eat while it's hot and get rid of the bad luck with these celebratory noodles."

The children must be used to doing these things. As soon as Jiang Qiao spoke, the little ones started moving tables, fetching chairs, and some even ran into the kitchen to help get chopsticks.

"Oh my, this dinner is quite a feast, kids, your uncle is really lucky to have you."

Zhao Jian hadn't expected Jiang Qiao to make this; the food was top-notch, something you might not even get at home.

Jiang Qiao put the bowl down, Er Ya served rice, and everyone sat together and slurped down their noodles.

After the hot soup was consumed, everyone broke out in a sweat. Song Zhi remarked with emotion, "This is the first time we've had an extra meal while on a case. This is a significant improvement in our treatment. Children, eat more. Your uncle and sister will figure out something else later."