Lock and secure

His knees hurt so much, and the pain was even worse without his internal strength. Yuan Zhaoling gasped in pain, twisting his neck and glaring at Li Er.

"You wait for me!"

Li Er ignored him and turned back to Luo Yao.

"Young Master, you may ask now."

Yuan Zhaoling: "Even if you ask me, I don't know where they are!"

Luo Yao stepped forward and said indifferently, "You don't know? Do you think I would believe it?"

Yuan Zhaoling looked at Li Er's unsympathetic face and said impatiently, "How long have I been held captive by you? You think I can know where they went in Li County, where I'm unfamiliar with the place? You think too highly of me!"

It seemed that this was the truth. Luo Yao stood up with his brows tightly furrowed.

Zhu He: "Princess, this guy is tight-lipped. The young prince has been captured in Li County. I'll loosen up his muscles and pry open his mouth. It's dirty here, so please leave first!"

Luo Yao glanced at Yuan Zhaoling. He looked like he really didn't know. "Never mind. What he said does make some sense. He really doesn't seem to know where those two people are going. Let's go."

Zhu He glared at Yuan Zhaoling and said, "You're lucky, kid!"

Luo Yao and Li Er left the cell. Zhu He was about to lock it up when Yuan Zhaoling inside suddenly looked up, seemingly provoked by something. He ignored the shackles on his feet and supported himself against the wall, making them clang as he pulled. "Wait! Are you the princess? Princess Yong'an?"

Luo Yao stopped and tilted his head slightly, "I am, what's wrong?"

"Did Li County also lose a child?"

Zhu He didn't have that much patience. He pushed the door open and whipped Yuan Zhaoling twice.

Yuan Zhaoling was beaten to the ground and his acupuncture points were sealed. The severe pain was unbearable for an ordinary person, not to mention that he was weak and sickly.

Luo Yao stepped forward to restrain Zhu He with a very bad look on his face. When Zhu He saw that the princess's face had turned black, he quickly moved away in disappointment.

"A child, my brother, is missing in Li County."

"I know where they are. Let me out and I'll take you there!"

Li Er: "Young Master, don't believe him, he just wants to escape. He is from the Black Faction of the Songwuyuan Clan!"

Zhu He's jaw dropped to the ground and he looked at Li Er in disbelief.

Being recognized, Yuan Zhaoling looked at Li Er in shock, swallowed his saliva, and stammered, "I don't know what you are talking about?"

Li Er narrowed his eyes and examined Yuan Zhaoling, his gaze moving from his face to his bare, scarred forearm. "You don't know? He's just a defeated general who can only run away. I just didn't think of him."

Luo Yao was confused. Yuan Zhaoling looked at his arm, where there was an irregular red burn scar.

This burn was caused when he was a child. Every man has scars on his body. Yuan Zhaoling didn't know why Li Er was staring at his forearm. When he heard Li Er say that he was defeated, he was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick.

"Hey! Who are you?! Who are you talking about being defeated by?"

Li Er ignored Yuan Zhaoling's helpless roar and said, "Young Master, this man's martial arts skills are just average, but he's very good at Qinggong and is known for his cleverness."

"Hey! I don't care who you are or how you know my identity. But since you have guessed my identity, I will tell you who I am!"

"This young master is Yuan Zhaoling of the Songwuyuan clan!"

Yuan Zhaoling? Never heard of him. Who is he? Luo Yao's mind was full of questions. When Li Er heard him say this name, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Zhu He couldn't pick up his fallen jaw. He... he had captured Yuan Zhaoling, the young master of the Songwu Yuan family... and he had just whipped him... I heard... I heard that the people of the Black Sect were ruthless killers...

Zhu He didn't care about Princess Yong'an who was standing aside with a confused look on her face, and hurriedly sent his lackeys forward to remove the shackles on Yuan Zhaoling's feet.

"Princess, we don't have any clues right now. Why don't we just let him go? If he tries to escape, let this brave man seal his acupuncture points..."

Before Luo Yao could say anything, Zhu He looked at Yuan Zhaoling again, "Master Yuan, you said before that your name was Zhang Daniu... If you reveal your identity..."

Luo Yao: "Ahem..."

Releasing the human traffickers in front of Princess Yong'an shows that he doesn't respect Princess Yong'an at all!

When Zhu He heard Luo Yao cough, he stopped trying to remove the shackles. He looked left to see Princess Yong'an, then looked right to see the Yuan family whom he couldn't afford to offend. He didn't know what to do for a moment, so he had to turn his attention to Luo Yao's bodyguard Li Er.

Li Er looked at Yuan Zhaoling's frail appearance and stroked his nonexistent beard. "That's alright, Young Master. He looks half-crippled, so he shouldn't be able to run. If he dares to run, I'll break his legs immediately."

Damn it, even the elders of my Black Sect are not as cruel as you, and you still want to break my legs!

Just wait for me! When I get better, I’ll kill you! Yuan Zhaoling cursed all eighteen generations of Li’s ancestors in his heart.

Luo Yao hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"Let him go. This guy is very good at Qinggong. You can watch over him."

Li Er: "Yes."

Li Er untied the shackles on Yuan Zhaoling's right foot and untied the acupoints on Yuan Zhaoling's body.

"Let's go, defeated general."

Li Er turned and left, and after a few steps, he heard a plop sound behind him.

"Tsk... it hurts... it hurts so much..." Yuan Zhaoling sat on the ground, hugged her knee, lifted the hem of her skirt to check her injured knee. The knee was severely scratched and was bleeding.

Yuan Zhaoling struggled to stand up with the help of the iron gate. A pair of black boots appeared in his sight. Yuan Zhaoling looked up and saw that it was Li Er.

Li Er looked at his dirty face covered in snot and tears, and then saw his bare, dirty feet. He asked impatiently, "Where are your shoes?!"

"Gone..."

For some reason, he felt like crying, and Yuan Zhaoling wiped away his tears suddenly.

"Aren't you a good runner? Come on up!"

Li Er's words were full of sarcasm. Yuan Zhaoling looked at the broad back squatting in front of him and lowered his pride to lie on it.

Don't think I'll let you go just because you carried me on your back! When I get home I'll—hiss!

"What are you doing? It hurts!"

"I'll carry you on my back. You're about to fall." Li Er shrugged the person on his back and caught up with Luo Yao with light steps.

"Young Master, what should we do next?"

Luo Yao glanced at Yuan Zhaoling who was lying on Li Er's shoulder. Yuan Zhaoling was sweating from the pain and had fainted.

"Wait for news from Xiao Qi. Yuan Zhaoling also needs to recuperate for a while before he can set off."

After returning to the county government office, he sent someone to get medicine and asked Li Er to look after Yuan Zhaoling. Luo Yao left with a heavy heart.

There is still no news from Ye Xiaoqi, and Yuan Zhaoling's health does not allow him to go on the road, but his younger brother can't wait for them, and waiting for even one more minute is dangerous!

Returning to his yard with a heavy heart, Luo Yao found Ye Lin standing in front of his door holding a small pillow.

"Lin'er, what's wrong? Why don't you go back to bed so late?"

Ye Lin said nothing and bit his lips.

Luo Yao looked at his stubborn eyes, his lips turned pale and trembled slightly. This child must be gritting his teeth and trying hard not to cry out loud... What a weird child. Luo Yao squatted down, wiped away the tears from the corners of Ye Lin's eyes, and hugged Ye Lin in his arms.

"Don't worry, Lin'er. Brother Chenchen will be fine. If you're scared, come and sleep with your uncle."

I touched the child's head and carried him into the house. Tonight was a very long night, and the two of them, one big and one small, lay in bed, unable to sleep all night.

It was not yet dawn and there was one more person in Luo Yao's room.

"Princess...Princess, wake up!"

Luo Yao opened his eyes in a daze and saw that it was the secret guard Xiao Ba. He tilted his head to look at Ye Lin who had finally fallen asleep beside him, and made a gesture to keep quiet.

Luo Yao got up and followed Xiao Ba out of the room quietly.

"Any clues?" Luo Yao sat down on the stone table in the yard.

"We've been following them all the way and have heard that they are going to Daoya."

"What is the Daoya place?"

Xiao Ba: "It's not clear yet. Those two are quite skilled in Qing Gong. They noticed we were following them and set several traps for us. Xiao Qi and I almost lost them. Seeing that I couldn't keep up, Xiao Qi asked me to bring you a message. Those people seem to have captured a lot of children and are keeping them in Daoya."

“That makes sense!”

"You go and rest first. I'll have someone check where this knife tooth is."

Xiao Ba: "Let me do it. If I hadn't taken good care of the young master, he wouldn't have been captured!"

Seeing Xiao Ba's exhausted face, still looking like he wanted to atone for his sins, Luo Yao said helplessly, "Go back and rest first. You've been running all night. There's no rush for that Daoya. We'll know where it is at dawn."

Xiao Ba thought about what his brothers had just told him about the princess interrogating Yuan Zhaoling, and nodded reluctantly.

After Xiao Ba left, Luo Yao walked back and forth in the yard with gritted teeth. He really wanted to pull the man named Yuan Zhaoling out of the bed right now and force him to tell him where they were hiding his brother!