“You’re leaving so soon?”
Hu Zezhi’s body shook, and she looked at Lu Qing with some bewilderment.
That morning, she had not heard anything about this moment from Lu Qing.
“Indeed, we have been away from home for a long time on this trip, and we don’t know how things are at home. We would like to return quickly…”
Hu Zezhi did not fully catch what Lu Qing said next, her mind in total disarray as she stood there dumbly.
“Miss Hu?”
Knowing that something was off with her, Lu Qing gently called out to her several times before Hu Zezhi came back to her senses.
“Oh, nothing, what is it?” Hu Zezhi asked somewhat vacantly.
“Miss Hu, there are two paths ahead. Which one leads to your home?”
“Erm… take the left.”
Hu Zezhi, a bit flustered, discerned the direction before pointing it out.
And in an attempt to mask the turmoil within her, she rushed ahead.
Watching Hu Zezhi’s agitated pace, Lu Qing shook his head without saying much, just following behind.
As for the elder doctor, he simply smiled at such youthful emotions, neither approving nor disapproving.
Hu Zezhi’s heart was in chaos, but this tumult slowly dissipated as they approached her home.
What remained was the excitement and nervousness of returning home.
Finally, upon seeing that all-too-familiar doorway, her emotions peaked.
No longer able to contain herself, she ran forward.
The gate to her family’s yard was open, which Hu Zezhi found strange.
But she did not have the time to ponder these thoughts, overjoyed, she ran in.
Crying out, “Dad, I’m back…”
But in the next moment, her eyes widened in shock.
“Who are you people?! Let go of my dad!”
Hu Zezhi’s eyes flashed with alarm.
Inside the courtyard stood a gang of fierce and brutish men, and her father Hu Laosan was bleeding from his chest.
Pinned to the ground by a richly dressed, gentle-looking young man, he was unable to move.
“Xiao Lian, you’re back, are you alright?”
The moment Hu Laosan saw Hu Zezhi, his eyes showed an unbelieving joy.
But quickly, his joy turned to urgency, and he shouted, “Run quickly, they are all bad people!”
But it was already too late.
Upon seeing Hu Zezhi, the young man’s face showed delight.
Without his command, two men leaped out from behind him, reaching for Hu Zezhi.
“How dare you!”
Seeing his daughter about to fall into evil clutches, Hu Laosan’s eyes turned blood red with rage and struggled fiercely.
But already severely injured, and with the gentle-looking young man’s cultivation far surpassing his, Hu Laosan’s efforts were fruitless. With just a little force from the young man’s foot, Hu Laosan spat out blood, his breath growing weak, unable to struggle any further.
The gentle-looking young man’s gaze remained fixed on Hu Zezhi.
As he saw his slaves about to capture her, a smile crept onto his face.
But the next moment, that smile froze on his face.
He saw that his two superbly skilled slaves, whose cultivation had reached the Muscle Bone Realm,
were about to touch Hu Zezhi when a black rod poked out from behind and jabbed them in the chest.
Boom! Boom!
A powerful force burst forth, and the two slaves spat out blood, flew backward, and landed in the yard, knocking over various objects. By the time they stopped, they had passed out.
“What?!”
This sudden turn of events astounded everyone in the courtyard.
The gentle-looking young man narrowed his eyes, looking toward the iron rod that had emerged from behind Hu Zezhi.
No, more precisely, at the owner of the rod, Wei Zian.
“Who are you, to interfere with the affairs of the Qi family?” the young man asked Wei Zian coldly.
However, Wei Zian did not pay him any attention but instead turned to Hu Zezhi, asking with concern, “Sister Hu, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Hu Zezhi shook her head, her face anxious, “but they’ve captured my father.”
“How dare you ignore me?”