Ning Yao glared at him: "If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"

Hua Yan pursed her lips and said nothing.

Xiao Yuanhuai's eyes sparkled as he said, "My kung fu is pretty good, I won't hold you back. If we encounter any difficulties, I can probably come up with some ideas. It won't be a loss to bring me along."

Ning Yao patted Hua Yan on the shoulder: "Did you hear that? That's what you call having a broad perspective. Learn from this!"

"snort!"

"Alright, let's hurry up and set off. There's trouble in Kunlun Ridge, and I'm afraid something might happen if we're too late."

The four men and four horses galloped past, heading towards the Kunlun Mountains, a thousand miles away.

All four were skilled in martial arts, and their horses were carefully selected fine steeds.

The return to Nanjiang City was much faster than their southward journey.

Along the way, Ning Yao once again witnessed devastation and starvation everywhere.

Hua Yan couldn't help but curse God the whole way.

Seeing the people in such a miserable state, Xiao Yuanhuai and his servants couldn't help but feel their eyes redden.

Just when it seemed that after passing Lin'an City was Nanjiang City, and Kunlun Ridge was within reach, an unexpected event occurred.

A group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked Ning Yao and the others' path.

Observing the other party's clothing and appearance, Ning Yao realized that they were not ordinary people, so she asked, "We are just passing by, why are you blocking our way?"

However, the other party attacked without saying a word.

Ning Yao's eyes suddenly turned icy cold: "If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences!"

After a fierce battle, Ning Yao's side suffered no damage whatsoever, except for bloodstained weapons.

However, the opposing army was completely wiped out!

"I feel like I've seen this dress somewhere before?" Hua Yan suddenly said.

As he spoke, he walked up to a corpse, used his sword to lift the corner of the corpse's clothes, and a jade pendant was revealed.

He picked it up and took a look, then instantly realized: "I was wondering where I'd seen this before, it turns out to be those idiots from the Tianyun Sect!"

"Tianyun Sect?" Ning Yao instantly pictured an old man in her mind.

It was at the auction that she hit the person who then took back the nine-petaled lotus.

Xiao Yang asked, "Why are they blocking our way here?"

Xiao Yuanhuai looked up and glanced in the direction of Lin'an City: "This Lin'an City is probably not simple either."

Ning Yao remembered that Liu Yingying came from the Liu family in Lin'an City, and even the missing Chen Sheng was closely related to her.

That day at the auction, she had already formed a grudge against the Tianyun Sect.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

It's not impossible that Chen Sheng colluded with the Tianyun Sect.

Ning Yao hadn't originally planned to go into the city, but now she was starting to think about going in and taking a look.

"Let's go into town!"

Entering the city wasn't easy either; the guards at the gate questioned me for a long time before letting me in.

Ning Yao always felt that those people were on guard against something, but unfortunately they kept their mouths shut and she couldn't find out anything.

——

Lin'an City is bordered by Nanjiang City to the north and Qingzhou City to the south.

It possesses the wealth of Nanjiang City and the uniqueness of Qingzhou City.

The city's architecture is very elegant, but there are hardly any people on the streets of Lin'an nowadays.

It's just a little better than when we went south.

Occasionally, a person would pass by, but most people had left their homes, and the rest were too scared to go out by the scorching sun.

Ning Yao and her three companions rode slowly down the street, but they looked somewhat out of place.

"There's nothing unusual about this; it's pretty much the same as other cities."

"No rush, let's check again. If there's nothing unusual, we'll leave."

A stumbling woman appeared before the crowd, who initially thought something was amiss.

Until her words reached their ears: "Xiao Bao, my Xiao Bao, where did Xiao Bao go? Mommy can't find you. Xiao Bao, come out quickly, stop playing hide-and-seek with Mommy."

"Young master, this woman has probably lost her child and gone mad, hasn't she?" Xiao Yang said thoughtfully.

Xiao Yuanhuai remained silent, but Hua Yan uttered a breathtaking statement.

"These days, who knows what will happen if you lose a child!"

The meaning behind the words is self-evident.

In times of food and drink scarcity, abandoning a child would inevitably lead to a bad end!

"Wait!" Ning Yao suddenly spoke up: "Look at her, she's dressed in fine silks and satins, she doesn't seem to be from an ordinary family, and those who can stay in Lin'an City are all from families with some wealth."

"We have plenty of food and drink at home, and we would never let our children run around outside."

Hua Yan said, "It's also possible that someone went to her house to arrest her."

Before Ning Yao could speak, she spotted a small figure hiding in the corner of the alley.

She immediately dismounted and walked over gracefully.

"Hey, girl, where are you going!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Ning Yao grabbed something from the corner of the alley.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a child!

The other party was very quick-witted; if Ning Yao hadn't acted swiftly, she probably wouldn't have been able to catch her.

Grabbed by Ning Yao, she struggled desperately: "Let me go! My brother is the right-hand man of the governor of Nanjiang City, he will definitely find me!"

Ning Yao was taken aback and blurted out, "Qing Lan?"

The familiar voice reached Lin Qinglan's ears, and she instantly gave up struggling, turning to look at Ning Yao with disbelief in her eyes.

"elder sister?"

Once she confirmed it was really Ning Yao, her eyes instantly welled up with tears, and she threw herself into Ning Yao's arms, bursting into sobs.

"Sister Yao! It really is you! Brother was right, you really would come to save me when I was in danger!"

Lin Qinglan burst into tears, and Ning Yao felt a pang of sadness.

The little girl in front of me had messy hair, was filthy, and smelled bad. Her face was almost unrecognizable.

It seemed to overlap with the scene of her first encounter with Lin Qinglan.

"Qinglan, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Nanjiang City? Where's your brother?"

Lin Qinglan was sobbing uncontrollably and couldn't answer Ning Yao's question at all.

Ning Yao simply picked her up, then mounted her horse and said, "Let's get out of here first!"

Under these circumstances, Lin Qinglan made Ning Yao more wary of Lin'an City.

The group rode quickly out of the city from the other side and stopped at a deserted village.

Lin Qinglan was already asleep in Ning Yao's arms, looking extremely exhausted.

"Is this Qinglan?" Hua Yan was also shocked. "What's she doing here, and in this state? Where is Lin Qingyu?"

Ning Yao shook her head: "I don't know. She has injuries, but they are all fresh. It seems she hasn't been here long."

Xiao Yuanhuai said, "Judging from the woman's condition just now, it seems that there are people in Lin'an City who specialize in kidnapping children, and they have even extended their reach to Nanjiang City."

Ning Yao pursed her lips, a flash of murderous intent disappearing from her eyes.

Anyone who dares to harm the people she protects will have to hand over their lives!

"This place is not safe to stay any longer; we must leave now!"

After resting for a while, the group mounted their horses again and galloped towards Nanjiang City, a hundred miles away.

Meanwhile, in a secluded house in Lin'an City, Chen Sheng was suppressing his anger.

Where are they?

"Reporting to you, sir, that wretched girl is far too cunning; she has escaped several times!"

Chen Sheng asked in a sinister tone, "So you didn't find it?"

"A bunch of useless trash!" Chen Sheng kicked the man away.