Although they were on foot, these men were strong and agile, and since they carried little to no baggage, they naturally moved much faster than the refugee groups.

Seeing these people getting closer and closer, Shen Qingwan’s eyes turned cold.

“Ah!”

As she was running, Lu Jiaojiao was suddenly pushed by someone and fell heavily to the ground with a loud thud.

“Jiaojiao!”

Old Man Lu panicked when he saw his little daughter fall.

He immediately tried to rush forward to help her, but the surging refugees squeezed him aside, preventing him from moving.

Seeing this, Shen Qingwan jumped off the mule cart. “Father, you take the reins and drive the cart. Let my mother get on too.”

Old Man Lu quickly took the reins from Shen Qingwan and helped Old Madam Lu onto the cart before climbing up himself.

As soon as Shen Qingwan jumped down, she began pushing through the crowd toward Lu Jiaojiao.

Old Man Lu wanted to wait for them, but the frightened mule, overwhelmed by the chaos, bolted forward uncontrollably, dragging the cart away.

“Shen Qingwan! Jiaojiao!”

Old Madam Lu called out anxiously.

Shen Qingwan saw the cart being carried away by the crowd and immediately shouted, “You go ahead! We’ll catch up later! If we get separated, meet at Yongfeng Town!”

After calling out her instructions, she turned back and forced her way toward Lu Jiaojiao.

Lu Jiaojiao had fallen to the ground and was trampled several times.

Just as she was about to get up, someone kicked her back down again.

Shen Qingwan grabbed her wrist and yanked her up in one swift motion.

Lu Jiaojiao let out a startled yelp, only to realize that she had already been lifted off the ground.

“Big Sister-in-law!”

Seeing that it was Shen Qingwan, Lu Jiaojiao burst into tears.

The young girl had never experienced such chaos before and was utterly terrified.

Shen Qingwan shielded her and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. We need to get out of here first.”

However, because of this delay, the pursuing bandits had already caught up.

Without hesitation, Shen Qingwan discreetly retrieved a wrist crossbow from her space and fired an arrow at a man wielding a broadsword who was chasing them.

The man collapsed to the ground instantly.

By now, dusk had begun to set in, but the visibility was still good.

Shen Qingwan pulled Lu Jiaojiao along as she ran, occasionally turning back to fire more arrows.

“Brother Zhao, someone in the crowd is shooting hidden arrows!”

After losing several of their men, the bandits finally realized something was wrong.

Zhao Gang’s sharp eyes scanned the fleeing crowd before locking onto two small figures.

“Catch those two women!”

At Zhao Gang’s command, his men immediately charged toward Shen Qingwan and Lu Jiaojiao.

Seeing that the pursuers were getting closer, Shen Qingwan led Lu Jiaojiao straight into the forest.

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment.

He hadn’t expected the two women to flee into the woods.

The deeper parts of the forest led to the mountains—an extremely dangerous place.

But as more of his men fell to Shen Qingwan’s arrows, his fury grew.

“You damn woman! Let’s see where you can run to!”

Zhao Gang gritted his teeth and chased after them.

Shen Qingwan moved swiftly through the forest, but Lu Jiaojiao struggled.

Before long, she tripped over a protruding rock.

Luckily, Shen Qingwan had been holding onto her, or she would have fallen hard.

“Hiss…”

Lu Jiaojiao clutched her scratched arm, trembling in pain.

“Big Sister-in-law, just leave me behind and run! I can’t keep up…”

She knew she was slowing Shen Qingwan down. If she stayed behind, her sister-in-law might have a chance to escape.

Shen Qingwan glanced back at their pursuers—there were about thirty of them. If they wanted to die, she would grant their wish.

“You wretched women, where do you think you’re running to?”

“Brother Zhao, these two little ladies look quite nice. It’d be a waste to kill them just like that…”

The bandits surrounded the two women.

Shen Qingwan’s crossbow was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking she was now defenseless, the bandits became even more arrogant. Just as they were about to lunge at them, Shen Qingwan curled her lips into a faint smile.

“Jiaojiao, close your eyes.”

As she spoke, she covered Lu Jiaojiao’s eyes with one hand.

In the next moment, a submachine gun appeared in her other hand out of thin air.

A rapid burst of gunfire echoed through the forest, sending birds frantically taking flight.

Zhao Gang barely had time to register the strange black object in Shen Qingwan’s hand before a searing pain exploded in his chest.

“Witch… You…!”

His pupils dilated in shock as he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Before the rest of the bandits could even scream, they too crumpled into lifeless heaps.

Shen Qingwan put away the submachine gun before finally releasing her hand from Lu Jiaojiao’s eyes.

“Big Sister-in-law… They…?”

Lu Jiaojiao stared at the fallen men in horror, trembling uncontrollably.

“They were hit by my hidden weapon,” Shen Qingwan explained. “Unfortunately, it can only be used once. If you’re scared, just close your eyes for a bit.”

With that, she walked over to the corpses and began looting them.

Since there were quite a few valuables, she discreetly stored most of them in her space.

In the end, she left a large bundle of loose silver and jewelry—mostly silver hairpins and bracelets.

After securing the goods, she carried the bundle on her back and led Lu Jiaojiao out of the forest.

She had taken care of half of the bandits, but the remaining ones had likely continued chasing the refugees.

Worried about her fellow villagers and her in-laws, Shen Qingwan didn’t dare delay.

The path they followed was littered with corpses—victims of the bandits.

Some people sat beside their loved ones’ lifeless bodies, wailing in despair.

Shen Qingwan had no time to help.

She pulled Lu Jiaojiao along and hurried forward.

When they reached a fork in the road, Shen Qingwan stopped.

Seeing a few refugees nearby, she quickly approached one of them.

“Brother, have you seen a group of about three hundred refugees pass by?”

The man was cradling his mother’s corpse, sobbing bitterly.

At first, he was wary of Shen Qingwan, but upon seeing that she was just a young woman, his expression softened.

“When the bandits attacked, the refugees scattered in all directions. Some took the main road—it leads straight to Yongfeng Town. Others took the side path, which also leads there, but it’s a longer route.”

The man’s voice was thick with sorrow, but he still answered her question.

Shen Qingwan pressed further. “Did you notice if any of them had a mule cart with a carriage?”

The man thought for a moment before nodding. “I didn’t see if it was a mule or a horse, but there was one carriage. It went down the side path, with more than ten bandits chasing after it.”

“Thank you.”

Shen Qingwan tossed him a pouch of money before quickly heading down the side path.

The man, initially numb with grief, was stunned when he opened the pouch to find silver and copper coins.

His dull eyes suddenly regained their light.

“Wife, we’re saved!”

His wife, upon seeing the silver, broke down in grateful sobs.

They had been robbed of everything and thought they had no way out—until now.

“Yes! We’re saved! Let’s bury Mother and then catch up with the village!”

With renewed hope, the man set to work burying his mother.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingwan and Lu Jiaojiao pressed forward along the rugged side path.

Despite her aching feet, Lu Jiaojiao forced herself to keep up, knowing that her parents were in danger.