"Of course, come with me."
Several girls burst into tears of joy and gathered around.
Even though the girl in front of them was younger than them, they trusted her for no reason.
Qi An's ears twitched; she heard footsteps approaching the basement.
Shh, someone's coming, hide first.
The girls obediently shrank back into the corner, looking at Qi An with fear.
"Don't worry, I will take you away. Don't be afraid."
The person walked to the basement door and pushed it open.
Qi An recognized the person from Liu Ye's memories as Yang Lei's father, the village chief of Xia Liu Village, a heartless old scoundrel.
The girls all knew him; it was this man who locked them in the basement, beat and starved them, and even sold some of his sisters out.
When he got home, he noticed the basement light was on, grabbed an axe, and went downstairs.
The first thing the village chief saw was not willow leaves, nor the girls, but a familiar mass of mangled flesh on the ground.
The basement reeked of blood. A few seconds later, he recognized that the mangled flesh, cut into several pieces, was his beloved son.
"Lei Zi... Lei Zi... my son..."
The village chief rushed to his son's body and wept bitterly.
He lost several wives, but only had this one son, who was his heart and soul, his very eyes.
Anyone who harms his son is taking his life.
"My son, who has harmed you? Who is it? I will kill him... I will kill her..."
The village chief's eyes were bloodshot as he roared angrily at the girls, his gaze leaving no doubt that he would devour them alive.
The village chief's eyes were bloodshot, and his gaze was filled with malice. At this moment, all he wanted was to kill these women to avenge his son.
He was convinced that these women had killed his son together, but he didn't want to know why.
All he knew was that these women had to die.
He walked towards the girls, carrying an axe: "You killed my son, I'm going to chop you up and make you pay for it with your lives."
Liu Ye was short, and the village chief hadn't seen her because she had been intentionally or unintentionally hidden behind several girls.
Qi An spoke up: "He was just a beast, so what if he's dead?"
The village chief looked over and recognized Liu Ye.
He was so frightened that he took a step back. This was Liu Ye, the daughter of the Liu family, but his son had said she was dead.
Then he saw the shadow of the willow leaf under the lamp; it turned out the willow leaf wasn't dead.
He pointed the knife at Qi An: "Did Lei Zi's death have anything to do with you?"
Qi An smiled sweetly: "Let me think... I dismembered him into eight pieces and finally broke his neck, so I guess that's somewhat related."
Driven mad by her nonchalant tone, the village chief swung his axe and charged at her.
Chen Yun exclaimed, "Sister, be careful!"
Qi An smiled, showing no sign of panic.
Just as the axe was about to strike her, she lightly raised her hand, grabbed the village chief's wrist, and with a strong pull, ripped the village chief's arm off, causing the knife to fall to the ground.
The girls were so frightened that they closed their eyes.
The village chief roared in pain, but Qi An grabbed his vocal cords, and he could only squeeze the words out of his throat like a chicken with its neck being choked.
This man, by colluding with human traffickers, ruined the lives and even the lives of innocent girls in this small mountain village.
All his wealth, prestige, status, and even his son—everything—was bought with the blood and tears of girls.
The village chief rolled his eyes, trying to break free from Qi An's grasp, but felt as if the hand gripping his neck weighed a ton, and he couldn't break free.
"Yang Zhenyun, do you still remember how many girls you've killed over the years?"
"Your son is a son, but other people's daughters aren't daughters?"
"You scum who deserves to die, go to hell."
Qi An grabbed his neck with one hand, then reached out and grasped the woodcutter's knife, stabbing him to death cleanly and decisively.
The group finally emerged from the basement. The girls were so hungry and frightened that they could barely walk.
Qi An led them to the village chief's room and provided them with clothes and food.
To prevent them from escaping, the traffickers always gave them very little food and water, just enough to keep them from starving. They hadn't had a full meal in a long time, so they wolfed it down.
Qi An ransacked the village chief's house and found a lot of money, which he would give to them for their travel expenses later.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group rested until midnight, until all the chickens in the village had gone to sleep, before Qi An led them out of the village chief's house.
Xiaoliu Village is surrounded by mountains and is almost isolated from the outside world. It takes three mountains to cross to get to the town.
There is only one bus a day from the town to the county seat, and only from the county seat can you take a bus to the city.
Without someone to guide you, you simply can't get out.
As a native of the mountains, Liu Ye knows how to get out of this mountain.
Therefore, Qi An at least needs to send the girls to the county town, otherwise it's hard to say whether these girls who have just been trafficked will encounter bad people again.
It would take four hours just to get to town. The girls were trying their best to escape, but the mountain road was rugged and dark, and they were still stumbling along.
Qi An sighed. If they continued walking like this, they wouldn't be able to get out of the mountains by dawn.
The girls felt anxious when they heard her sigh, fearing they would be left behind.
"Close your eyes. No matter what happens, don't tell anyone or make a fuss."
The girls were extremely dependent on her and obediently closed their eyes.
Qi An silently chanted a spell, and after a moment, he waved his hand, and the five people disappeared from the spot, enveloped in red light.
When the girls opened their eyes again, they found themselves no longer in the mountains, but at the entrance of a bus station in a small county town.
They looked at Qi An in surprise. Had they encountered a savior from suffering?
The girls were moved to tears, wishing they could kneel down and kowtow to Qi An.
Qi An distributed the money to them: "This bus goes directly to the city. It will depart in half an hour. Once we get to the city, you'll know how to get home, right?"
The girls nodded: "We know."
"Good to know." Qi An smiled.
"Forget all of this when you get back, live a good life, and there are many good days ahead."
Finally, she said, "The nightmare is over."
Only then did the girls finally dare to cry out loud.
Qi An disappeared from their sight just as he had arrived.
Daylight broke.
Qi An returned to Xia Liu Village; she hadn't finished her business yet.
The old man who died next to his son's grave was discovered, his face still covered with a red veil of willow leaves.
The whole village was in an uproar, with everyone saying that Liu Ye had turned into a vengeful ghost and killed the old man.
The news quickly reached the ears of the Liu family.
Liu Shan recalled Liu Ye's wide-open eyes before her death and panicked: "Dad, the old man Wang who bought Liu Ye is dead, and Liu Ye has disappeared. Everyone is saying..."
He dared not continue.
Father Liu was also frightened. He swallowed hard and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Old Wang was old. He may have died suddenly from an illness."
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