Chapter 452: Chapter 451: Snatching Clothes

Zhu Yu had her back to the courtyard gate when she was suddenly pushed down. It was so unexpected and abrupt, with such great force, that she lost her balance and fell. Although there wasn’t any major injury, her palm was scraped, and blood beaded up, causing her to be both startled and in pain.

Lu Qing frowned slightly, then helped Zhu Yu up from the ground without making a sound, positioning her behind himself. He then turned a cold gaze toward the group of burly men who had suddenly rushed in to grab clothes.

The clothes these burly men wore were different from those worn by the people they encountered earlier on the road, yet they were quite similar.

They were taller and more robust than the ordinary Fan Country people Zhu Yu and her group had seen on their journey. Their facial features didn’t resemble local Fan Country people. Although they differed in appearance and clothing, they had a similarly domineering bandit aura.

The leader of the burly men glanced at the dress he had just snatched from the child’s hands, as if he had uncovered some significant evidence, then glared at the farmer, snorted coldly, and arrogantly gestured to his brothers behind him.

Those people immediately rushed into the farmer’s house.

The farmer only held his child tightly, watching helplessly as these strangers barged into his home. He dared not resist and instead forced a trembled smile and stammered out a question, “Gentlemen… what, what can I do for you?”

The leader with a face full of hardened flesh ignored him, treating his voice as insignificant as a dog’s bark.

After a while, the excited ones who had rushed into the house returned, empty-handed and disappointed.

The leader’s expression darkened, still clutching the dress, and he approached the farmer, yanking the child away from his arms. After a cursory inspection of the boy, seeing that he was indeed male, he tossed the child aside as if discarding rubbish.

If Yan Daoxin hadn’t been there to catch the boy, the child might have suffered an even worse fall than Zhu Yu.

The leader grabbed the farmer by his collar, eyes fierce, and demanded, “Spit it out! Where are you hiding the woman in your house?!

If we find you’ve been hiding her, your entire family won’t keep their heads!”

“I dare not, truly, I dare not hide anything!” the farmer stammered with a trembling smile, “There are just men in my family, including my youngest child, not a single woman among us!”

“Then what is this?!” The leader shook the dress in his hand, “Are you trying to say your men have peculiar tastes?!”

His words made his henchmen burst into roaring laughter.

The farmer trembled uncontrollably, barely able to stand. “You’ve misunderstood… my family really hasn’t hidden any woman! I have no sisters, no daughters; my old mother passed away years ago, and my brothers have gone their separate ways.

The dress in your hand belonged to my deceased wife when she was alive…”

Upon hearing this, with the dress of a deceased person in his hand, the leader made a face and tossed the dress to the ground in disgust.

The child, clutched tightly by the farmer, became frantic upon seeing the dress thrown to the ground and tried to leap toward it in desperation.

The farmer, terrified, held the child tighter, not daring to loosen his grip, no matter how much the child struggled and fought.

The leader still seemed distrustful, ordering his men to search the house again for any secret rooms or cellars.

They ransacked the place, with one even peering into the well, trying to discern any secrets it might hide.

Zhu Yu, clutching her throbbing palm, stood behind Lu Qing, watching coldly, thinking to herself that she should just kick the man down the well…

But then she decided against it. The well’s water was so sweet; it wasn’t worth tainting it with such filth.

After all the chaos, the farmer’s already dilapidated home became even more of a mess.

And as expected, despite turning the place upside down, they found nothing.

The leader was displeased, having wasted time for nothing. His frustration didn’t have a target until he glanced around at the nearby people and barked, “What are you all standing around for?!”

“They’re just passing through. It was hot, so they came into the courtyard for some water and a rest…” The farmer hurriedly explained to avoid causing trouble for Zhu Yu and her companions.

The leader glared at him, “What?! In this courtyard full of people, you think you’re the only one with a mouth?!

I was asking them. Did I ask you?!”

As he spoke, he sized up Lu Qing and the others with malice.

At this moment, another man ran in from outside the courtyard, hurriedly whispering something in the leader’s ear. A look of delight crossed the leader’s face, and he seemed uninterested in continuing to stir trouble for them. He signaled his men, and the group hurriedly left the courtyard.

The farmer, holding his child, watched them leave, their figures fading away in the distance until he could no longer make them out. His legs gave way, causing him to collapse to the ground, his grip on his child inadvertently pulling the boy down with a thud.

Zhu Yu turned, looking through the broken fence at the departing figures, a sense that something was amiss. She glanced around and then realized what was wrong— the rune was gone.

“Where did the rune go?” She puzzled for a moment before understanding, and quietly asked Lu Qing, who stood in front of her.

Lu Qing remained composed, his eyes unmoving, signaling Fu Lu to help the farmer and his son, and with a slight smirk, replied, “You’re asking the obvious. Is your hand no longer hurting? Was that push for nothing?”

So she suspected!

“Could this cause more trouble?” Zhu Yu couldn’t swallow the indignation but felt a tinge of worry.

“Go have Fu Lu help you wash your wound.” Lu Qing gestured toward the wooden bucket, seeing Fu Lu already deftly fetching water, and added, “If this causes more trouble, then the rune being beside me all these years was all for naught.”

Since Lu Qing had spoken so, Zhu Yu felt reassured. The pain in her palm from that fall, coupled with those people’s arrogant attitude, made it hard for her to just let it go.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep