The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

As the two passed by Sun Laohai's house, they saw a head peeking out from over the wall.

Before Lu Qingqing could attack, the person on the wall spoke.

"Brother Lu, it's me!"

Are you going to Manager Wu's house? Wait for us!

Lu Qingqing recognized Sun Dahai's voice and released the bowstring she had drawn.

Soon, two men ran out of Sun Laohai's house, and the gate was quickly closed again.

Sun Dahai and Sun Erhe followed closely behind Lu Qingqing, passing through the alley between the two houses, and arrived at Manager Wu's house.

At this moment, the gate of Manager Wu's courtyard was wide open.

Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang stood on either side of the courtyard gate, looking inside to check the situation.

There was a group of people in the courtyard, kicking the door of the west room with all their might.

At this point, a large hole had been torn in the middle of the door.

The people inside were desperately pushing against the things blocking the door, trying to prevent it from being opened.

While the two sides were locked in a tense standoff, a great commotion broke out in the courtyard, but the merchants did not notice anyone approaching at the gate.

After assessing the situation in the courtyard, Lu Qingqing made a gesture to Qin Lang.

Qin Lang was in charge of security, while she dealt with the people inside.

He swiftly drew his bow and arrow, and a single arrow pierced the night, heading towards the merchants at the very back.

The man only had time to let out a muffled groan before collapsing to the ground.

Immediately following were the second and third arrows.

With each arrow fired, a life was taken.

At this moment, the traveling merchants holding torches in the courtyard became easy targets.

After three people died in succession, the merchants in the courtyard finally realized what was happening.

They threw away their torches and hurriedly sought shelter from the arrows.

While they were panicking and trying to hide, three more people were shot dead.

Seeing that there were only five merchants left in the courtyard, Lu Qingqing quietly beckoned Qin Lang and the others to come in, and then closed the courtyard gate behind her.

This time, the group of merchants finally saw what the enemy looked like.

Seeing that there were only four people, the fear stemming from the unknown dissipated somewhat.

However, out of fear of the archer, they did not come out to fight back.

For a moment, the entire courtyard fell into an eerie silence.

This was the first time Sun Dahai and Sun Erhe had experienced something like this, and the smell of blood in the air already made them feel nauseous.

He was terrified and followed closely behind Lu Qingqing.

Seeing their state, Lu Qingqing simply had them squat at the doorway, holding their machetes.

If any thieves try to escape through the door, stop them.

After giving instructions to the two, he whispered a few words to Qin Lang.

She kept a close eye on the thieves while they were hiding.

They were also fully aware of their current location.

After hearing the location and number of people, Qin Lang walked to the left, close to the wall.

Lu Qingqing slung her bow and arrows over her shoulder, took out a dagger from her bosom, and walked along the wall to the right.

Inside the house, Manager Wu heard the commotion outside stop and nervously pressed his face against the window to listen for any further sounds.

But after a series of footsteps, it became completely quiet outside.

He didn't know what had happened and paced anxiously in the room.

Just a moment ago, those thieves were kicking his son's door. Why did they stop?

No, they've already broken through!

Manager Wu tried to hold back, but he couldn't resist.

"Big brother, second brother, how are you two?"

His shout startled both the people hiding and the attackers in the courtyard.

After the two merchants inside the shed realized what was happening, they spat under their breath.

One of them couldn't resist opening the door a crack and peeking outside.

The moment the door opened, a dagger swiftly emerged from the darkness, plunged deep into his eye socket, and swirled around inside.

The man only had time to cry out in pain before his brain was shattered.

The merchants behind him were also taken aback.

His companion lost his life simply because he opened the door a crack.

He was so frightened that he took a few steps back and looked around the shed for a place to hide.

Lu Qingqing didn't give him that chance. She kicked the door open and threw the dagger in her hand.

The man didn't even have time to resist before he was killed with a single blow.

As Lu Qingqing pulled out the dagger, she heard the voices of Wu's two sons.

"Dad, I'm fine here!"

"Dad, my wife, kids, and I are all alright!"

Almost simultaneously with the exchange of those two sentences, Qin Lang also eliminated the three people hiding in another location.

After he and Lu Qingqing met in the courtyard, they quickly finished off the corpse on the ground.

Inside the door, the brothers Sun Dahai and Sun Erhe watched the two men skillfully slit their throats, too terrified to move.

It wasn't until Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang finished dealing with the battlefield that they knocked on the door and managed to call out Manager Wu and his family.

When Manager Wu came out, he saw a pile of corpses on the ground and was so frightened that he fell to the ground.

He only realized what was happening when he saw Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang about to leave.

"Eldest brother, second brother, hurry up and catch up with Brother Lu and Brother Qin!"

After Manager Wu finished speaking, the two brothers instinctively tried to find an excuse not to go out.

But under his father's pressure, he had no choice but to pick up the wood-chopping knife and follow him out.

Behind them, Manager Wu's wife muttered under her breath, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Husband, why did you send our son out to do this?!"

There are countless thieves outside; it's too dangerous for our son to go out!"

Manager Wu turned around and glared at his wife, then went forward to see the group out before quickly closing the courtyard gate.

After thinking about it, I still felt a little uneasy.

They took two doorstops and put them on top, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Seeing his wife's worried face, he sighed and explained:

"Old woman, do you think I want my son to go out and take risks?"

So many thieves have come to our little courtyard today.

The entire village is probably doomed!

If no one sends anyone out, and those thieves come one by one to kill us, we'll all die!

As he spoke, he shivered and beckoned his wife, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter to come inside.

After entering the house, he gradually blocked the doorway before continuing his explanation.

"Most importantly, neither of the two elders of the Sun family are fools."

I reckon they're already organizing a counterattack.

In times like these, if any family doesn't send someone out, they're guaranteed to be purged later.

The Sun family in the village is one thing.

If we outsiders don't produce any outstanding individuals, it might be difficult for us to even stay in the village in the future.

As for why I let the eldest and second eldest brothers follow Lu and Qin,

"Look at that yard full of corpses, you all probably already know what's going on."

After hearing his explanation, Wu's wife and daughter-in-law finally understood.

At this moment, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang were leading people south.

The group first went back to their homes to make sure everything was alright before regrouping.

When passing by Mai Sui's house, Lu Qingqing made a point of knocking on the door to ask what was going on.

Knowing that nothing had happened to her family, they hurried towards the east side of the village.

They planned to inspect each household from the east to the west of the village.

When they reached the easternmost point, Lu Qingqing divided them into pairs and sent them out.

They would knock on the door of each house to make sure everything was alright, then move on to the next one.

If you hear an unfamiliar voice or the person doesn't answer the door, shout for help.

After checking three rows of cells, no abnormalities were found.

When they came to the brick house in front of them, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang noticed something was wrong.

The footprints at the door of this house were somewhat messy.

The two exchanged a glance and tacitly refrained from knocking on the door again.

Qin Lang squatted down in front of Lu Qingqing, gesturing for her to sit on his neck.