A whistling wind arose outside the earthen house, and several figures dressed in black and wearing cloaks came to the window outside the house.
Several men, each holding a dagger, pried open a small crack in the window and blew white smoke inside.
Smoke quickly enveloped the airtight mud house, just as Zhu Haotian and Zhu Wen realized something was wrong.
The two had already inhaled the smoke and were about to warn the others when their legs gave way and they collapsed to the ground.
The others also lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep after inhaling the white smoke.
The dark figure outside, hearing no more movement from inside, tiptoed open the door and entered, covering its mouth and nose.
After Zhu Yanyan burst through the door, she glanced triumphantly at the Zhu family members lying on the ground, her face filled with disdain.
"Kill all the Zhu family members, and then bring Zhu Xixi to me. Zhu Xixi is Zhu Shenghua's daughter. Wang Haocheng will definitely take the initiative to lead us to find the treasure of the ancient city of Loulan for Zhu Xixi's sake."
When the officers heard Zhu Yanyan's order to kill, they all looked at each other in stunned silence. Although they were officers, they rarely saw bloodshed while working in Lujia Town.
Even when they occasionally used knives, it was only to apprehend wanted criminals; they had never killed anyone with a knife. Now, asking them to kill someone immediately put them in a difficult position.
Sensing his brothers' unease, Lin An could only awkwardly step forward to reassure them, "Boss, you've already caught the man. We just want to know the whereabouts of the treasure."
"Don't take lives, after all, the brothers didn't do that!"
When the officials heard that Lin An had stepped forward to help the group, they immediately chimed in to support him.
"That's right! We're just trying to make a living, there's no need for us to kill people."
"That's right, murder is punishable by death."
Zhu Yanyan was surprised to find that this group of people were cowards and afraid of trouble. She angrily snatched the broadsword from Lin An's hand.
"If we don't kill them, will they let us go when we're caught in the future?"
Without hesitation, she went up to Old Lady Zhu and slashed at her neck with her knife.
Xixi, who had just returned from carrying bricks outside the space, witnessed this scene and hurriedly threw the weapon in her hand out of the frame.
Crazy Zhu Yanyan dares to bully Grandma, Xixi will fight you to the death!
She angrily sullenly picked up the axe she had brought back, spun around in place a few times, and finally swung it forcefully, sending it flying out of the air.
Axes and other swords flew out of the frame and smashed towards Zhu Yanyan and her companions.
Upon noticing the sudden appearance of the axe, Lin An quickly rushed forward and pulled Zhu Yanyan back.
The axe, originally intended to strike Zhu Yanyan, merely passed in front of her and landed at her feet.
The others also suffered varying degrees of knife wounds while blocking the incoming swords.
Lin An cautiously shielded Zhu Yanyan behind him, glanced around, and anxiously reminded her, "Boss, there are hidden weapons, let's go quickly."
"Damn it, I never expected the Zhu family to be so treacherous and cunning. Take them away and get out of here immediately."
Zhu Yanyan glared angrily at the Zhu family members lying on the ground, her face vicious, and pointed at Zhu Xixi and Zhu Zinan.
Upon hearing the news of the retreat, the officials quickly picked up Zhu Xixi and Zhu Zinan, left behind a piece of Xuan paper, and turned to leave.
The sky suddenly turned slightly cool, while the temperature around the desert gradually rose.
The airtight mud house was as stuffy as an oven, and the people who were asleep gradually woke up from their slumber in the heat.
Liu was the first to wake up from her slumber. She took off her cotton-padded jacket and got up to go to Old Madam Zhu's side.
"Mother, wake up."
Old Mrs. Zhu's face was somewhat pale. She barely opened her eyes in her drowsy state and subconsciously touched the things in her arms.
After realizing that her granddaughter was missing from her arms, she suddenly opened her eyes and looked around.
"Where is Xixi? Where is Xixi?"
The others also woke up one after another, and after hearing Grandma Zhu's excited shouts, they looked around blankly.
Not daring to blame her mother-in-law, Liu could only stammer in a trembling voice, "Mother, Xixi... wasn't she with you last night?"
"I...I suddenly fell asleep last night, and then I don't know anything else." After hearing her daughter-in-law's panicked voice, Old Mrs. Zhu held her arms with both hands and comforted her with sobs.
"Don't worry, the room is so small, someone else probably took it to play with."
"Mother, Xixi has been kidnapped."
Before Liu could even process the fact that her daughter was missing, she heard her younger brother and sister-in-law's anxious voices.
Upon hearing this, she looked flustered and hurriedly turned to look at Madam Sun, only to see that Madam Sun was holding a piece of Xuan paper in her hand.
She paused for a moment, then took the paper with trembling hands. It contained the reason for her daughter's disappearance.
Grandma Zhu noticed that her daughter-in-law's expression was not right, and in a panic, she took the Xuan paper from her hand.
Upon seeing the letter's demand that Wang Hao hand over the treasure map, she became agitated and gripped the paper tightly.
"Zhu Yanyan is a beast. She doesn't even spare such a young child. She's not even human."
"Mother, what exactly happened?"
Zhu Chenfeng anxiously approached Old Madam Zhu and Madam Liu, asking with extreme unease.
Seeing this, Sun suppressed her grief and explained in a low voice, "The letter said that Xixi has been taken away by Zhu Yanyan, and that Brother Wang needs to hand over the treasure map before Xixi can be released."
"She's crazy, this Zhu Yanyan is absolutely insane."
Wang Haocheng never imagined that his misjudgment would lead to his benefactor's daughter suffering a calamity; it was all his fault.
"I'll go and bring Xixi back right away."
"Master Wang, please do not act rashly."
Just as Wang Haocheng was about to leave the earthen house to look for Zhu Yanyan, Pei Sining appeared from behind the crowd and stopped him.
He had intended to appear once he reached Ruha City, but an unexpected incident occurred along the way.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, he abandoned his plan to hide.
Wang Haocheng turned around upon hearing the sound, and upon seeing Pei Sining, he was greatly surprised and quickly went to him to bow.
"Your Highness, what are you doing here?"
Apart from the Zhu family, Chen Xiang and the others all looked at Pei Sining with blank expressions.
"Your Highness? Brother Wang, who exactly is Pei Sining?" Chen Xiang narrowed his eyes warily and questioned Wang Haocheng in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Wang Haocheng looked up at Pei Sining, and only after receiving Pei Sining's approval did he turn around to explain.
"This is Pei Sining, the only son of the renowned Prince Ningyang of Liang Kingdom."
Upon learning the other party's true identity, Chen Xiang was so surprised that his expression changed, and he stared at Pei Sining with disbelief.
Even Zhu Wen swallowed nervously after hearing that Pei Sining was the heir apparent.
He had secretly complained about Pei Sining before, and even blamed the boss for not listening to this brat.
Now that he knows Pei Sining's true identity, he instantly feels like he's eaten shit.
Pei Sining had no time to explain to everyone why he was there; his priority was to rescue Zhu Xixi as soon as possible.
"No need for formalities. The most urgent matter is to discuss how to rescue Zhu Xixi."
"The longer she stays in Zhu Yanyan's hands, the greater the danger she faces."
Old Mrs. Zhu felt that Pei Sining was absolutely right. Zhu Yanyan was cunning and treacherous, and they absolutely could not do as she asked.
“Si Ning is absolutely right. We can’t let her have her way. If she gets her hands on the jewelry, she will definitely kill us to silence us.”
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