The officials secretly planned to let the Shen family go so they could search for Shen Qingtang.
If anything goes wrong, they will be held responsible.
The head constable gritted his teeth and bowed to Old Master Shen.
His tone carried a hint of perfunctory apology: "Old Master, I'm sorry, but I have my duties to perform and I really dare not make decisions on my own."
As soon as he finished speaking, the officers took out ropes.
They tied up Shen's parents, Old Master Shen, Qin Wanqing, Su Lingwei, and others.
"Let go of my parents!" Shen Minglan's eyes were bloodshot as he broke free from the restraints of the guards beside him. Shen Mingzhao also resisted. The two brothers had only one thought in their minds: they had to find their sister.
"You've gone too far!" the head constable roared, waving his hand. "Stop them!"
The other officers immediately surrounded the Shen brothers and began fighting with them. Seeing this, the Shen brothers' parents rushed forward like madmen, trying to stop the officers: "Don't hit my son! Let them go! Let them go!"
"Get out of the way!" An impatient officer raised his whip and lashed it across Shen's father's back, leaving a bloody welt.
Shen's mother rushed forward to protect her husband, but the whip fell on her again.
The two were instantly beaten and covered in blood, but they still stood in front of them, shouting repeatedly, "Minglan, Mingzhao, run! Go find your sister!"
Despite her illness, Su Lingwei wanted to help.
But the officer pushed him aside, and he fell to the ground in the snow.
Qin Wanqing was so anxious that she burst into tears, but she was bound by ropes and could not move.
Shen Minglan and Shen Mingzhao watched as their parents were beaten.
My eyes were red and swollen, but I knew I couldn't turn back now.
They exchanged a glance, then suddenly pushed aside the officials in front of them and, taking advantage of the chaos, ran wildly towards the dense forest where Shen Qingtang had disappeared.
"Stop! Chase after them!" the constable roared angrily.
"Stop chasing them!" Lin Peirou suddenly spoke up, blocking the officers' path. "Let them go. Maybe... they can find your sister-in-law."
She spoke sweetly, but a calculating glint flashed in her eyes. She thought that if the two brothers went to find Shen Qingtang, they would both die in the bear pack, thus ending the matter once and for all.
The officials were already reluctant to venture deep into the dense forest, so when they heard what she said, they readily stopped.
He glared at the bound Shen family members and muttered curses as he reorganized the group.
The parents lay paralyzed in the snow, watching their two sons disappear into the wind and snow. Despite their injuries, they managed a faint smile before everything went black and they both fainted.
The snow was still falling, landing on their bleeding wounds, its coldness biting to the bone.
The officials dragged the Shen family members into the dilapidated temple. The temple was drafty, and snow was falling from the cracks in the roof, making it as cold as an ice cellar.
Shen's father and mother were covered in whip marks, and bloodstains mixed with snow water congealed on their clothes. They were in so much pain that they could hardly breathe.
"Serves you right!" Lu Jiaojiao squatted down in front of them, clapping her hands and laughing. "Your good daughter must have been eaten by a bear! Who told her to always go against me!"
Mother Shen trembled with anger and said weakly, "She's your own mother... How could you say that..."
"So what if she's my own mother?" Lu Jiaojiao rolled her eyes. "A disobedient mother is worse than no mother at all! What a load of rubbish!"
Upon hearing these absurd words, Shen's father couldn't catch his breath and began to cough violently, causing excruciating pain as his wound was aggravated.
The two gazed at the swirling snow outside the dilapidated temple, their hearts filled with pain and despair. All they could do was pray silently: Qingtang, you must live…
On the other side, Shen Qingtang, holding the bear cub, used her ability to teleport to quickly lead the mother bear back to her den. She had just put the cub down.
She suddenly felt her blood and qi surging within her body, and her martial arts skills improved without her even realizing it, making her movements more agile.
She found a sturdy tree branch nearby, whittled it into a simple bow and arrow, and took out an arrowhead coated with medicine from her spatial storage.
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