He Lang no longer cared about hurting them. His hands reached out to grab them roughly, his face ferocious.

"Let me teach you a lesson for being so disobedient." He growled like an animal.

His hands gripped the cloth around the little girls’ neck, almost strangling them. He began to drag them back to where Liu Hei and Han Tingxun were exchanging blows.

It was obvious Han Tingxun was at great disadvantage. Liu Hei’s attacks kept pushing him back.

Xiao Qingya choked, feeling dizzy all over that her eyes were seeing stars. She clutched her neck tightly, coughing as she tried to stop the cloth from tightening around her neck.

The branches and thorns in the leaves grazed their skin, leaving obvious red.

He Lang threw both little girls to the ground harshly. At the same time, Han Tingxun had collapsed to the ground. He was unable to hold back anymore from his severe injuries.

Xiao Qingya’s anxiety was at her peak.

She felt utterly hopeless as Liu Hei walked toward Han Tingxun, holding the huge branch he had picked up from the ground. It was obvious what he wanted to do.

Her breath almost stopped when she saw the branch slashed down, clutching the other little girl’s wrist tightly.

However...

"Seize them!"

A loud voice commanded, shattering the tense atmosphere for Xiao Qingya. She was so anxious that she hadn’t heard the sounds of footsteps approaching and the System’s excited chattering.

The System obviously had noticed the group of men.

It wasn’t just one or two people, but more than four. There was also someone familiar among them. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Liu Hei and He Lang froze. The branch Liu Hei was about to use to hit Han Tingxun was suspended in the air, a few inches away from the unconscious man on the ground.

They recovered their senses in a split second, and didn’t hesitate to run away, realizing that the yamen had come for them.

The grain barn owner was among the people who had come. He visibly looked relieved when he saw Xiao Qingya and the other two girls intact.

The yamen runners immediately chased after Liu Hei and He Lang.

"Are you two alright?" He approached them and picked them both on each of his arms. He pursed his lips when he saw the obvious scratch marks on their fair skin.

Xiao Qingya shook her head, pointing to Han Tingxun anxiously. "Uncle... uncle..."

Fortunately, there was another yamen runner who hadn’t joined his companions to chase after the two child traffickers. He was utterly shocked when he saw Han Tingxun’s state.

"Mr. Guo, his condition is so severe. I can’t lift him by myself," he murmured, crouching down as he tore the clothes he was wearing and used it as a bandage on Han Tingxun.

"Uncle, I can walk," Xiao Qingya muttered in understanding, tugging on Guo Tiansheng’s sleeve. The little one on Guo Tiansheng’s other arm copied Xiao Qingya.

He sighed and let them down, marvelling at how precocious they were. "Follow us closely, alright? Don’t get lost in the woods."

The two proceed to make a quick stretcher from straight branches and vines. It wasn’t easy to find straight branches, but surprisingly, Xiao Qingya always managed to spot them once Guo Tiansheng found one as an example.

[System, where else? Show me quick! We can’t let that uncle suffer from more blood loss.]

The System helped them to point out the location of each branch, making the process incredibly swift. In less than ten minutes they already created a decent temporary stretcher.

Soon, Guo Tiansheng and the yamen runner used the stretcher to bring Han Tingxun out of the woods.

Fortunately, although there was a lot of vegetation around, their location wasn’t that far from the town. There was a skilled physician there who might be able to help with Han Tingxun’s injuries.

Based on the severity of his injuries, if he were an ordinary person, he would have died a long time ago. But he was obviously a martial artist who possessed internal energy.

The two little ones were holding hands together, following behind the two adults. The two adult men would occasionally glance behind them to make sure the kids didn’t get lost.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the town.

A few more yamen runners helped them to send Han Tingxun to find a physician. Guo Tiansheng took care of the kids, sighing deeply in his heart.

Since he couldn’t sleep some hours ago, his wife’s sleep was also disturbed. Knowing he couldn’t hide things for too long from her, he ended up telling the truth.

Or maybe it was because he saw his children who were also at the same age as the kidnapped kids. He couldn’t help but imagine, what if the same thing were to happen to his kids in the future?

These kidnapped children definitely also had parents who were anxious because their kids went missing.

Someone who stumbled into the kidnapping scene and managed to escape might make the same decision as him. Just imagining it gave him a sense of loss and guilt. As such, under his wife’s encouragement, he ended up reporting the case to yamen.

Besides, even if he didn’t report the case, the possibility of his children getting kidnapped in the future was undoubtedly greater. The greedy child traffickers wouldn’t easily stop.

After he made a report, things also didn’t develop in the negative way like he feared.

The authorities actually didn’t blame him. They only required him to participate in the investigation process. Guo Tiansheng was relieved. With the whole thing nearly resolved, he also became much kinder to the two little girls.

The other kids hidden in his grain barn were also taken away so that they could return the kids to their parents.

Guo Tiansheng led the two kids to yamen and helped them to inquire. "Sir, is there a report about missing children lately? Their parents might have sent a report to find the children."

The yamen clerk nodded. "We have received some reports since yesterday."

He turned his attention to Xiao Qingya. "Little girl, what is your name? We will help you find your parents. They might be–"

His voice was cut off by an excited yet anxious yell.

"Little Ya!"