After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

In the third courtyard, in the back room, a disheveled man covered in blood was strangling a child. Liu Ying entered, carrying a pair of small shoes. Upon seeing the man, she immediately drew her dagger and shouted, "Put down the child, and I'll spare your life!"

The man looked up, and Liu Ying froze.

It's Lu Yun! It's actually Lu Yun!

How could it be Lu Yun? Wasn't he supposed to be at the Liu family gathering information?

No, that's not right! The servant who swept the floor died last night. Lu Yun was still at the Xie residence then, so he didn't have time to commit the crime. He couldn't have done what happened to the Liu family.

My gaze fell on the child... Could it be that he wasn't a child?

The lady once said that there is a disease called dwarfism, and some of them look like two or three-year-old children.

My mind was in turmoil, and I didn't know what to say. What came out of my mouth was still the same sentence: "Put down the child. Madam is here. Leave everything to Madam."

Lu Yun grinned maliciously, and with a sharp pinch, the sound of a neck snapping reached Liu Ying's ears. Immediately afterward, the limp child was tossed towards her. Liu Ying instinctively caught it, completely unaware that Lu Yun's next target was her.

When Lu Zhiyuan entered, she saw Liu Ying's neck tightly bound by a belt, the other end of which was gripped tightly in the hand of the man behind her. The man turned his face to the side, letting his loose hair obscure his view.

Liu Ying's face was full of disbelief; her head was tilted back, and her upper body was leaning forward in an extremely uncoordinated manner. Clearly, something was pressing against her back.

“Lu Yun…” she began with difficulty, “What’s wrong? I’m Liu Ying… don’t you recognize me?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the belt around his neck tightened even more.

Liu Ying's face was distorted by suffocation and pain. The stinging sensation from her back made her anticipate her death. She looked at Lu Zhiyuan, her eyes filled with reluctance.

"Madam... please stop..."

"Let her go!" The scene before her threw Lu Zhiyuan into a panic. Although the person looked a lot like Lu Yun, she knew he was not Lu Yun.

Even if Lu Yun were insane, foolish, amnesiac, or poisoned, he wouldn't harm her or Liu Ying. Besides, Lu Yun, like Liu Ying, had taken the Hundred Poisons Pill she gave him. Although he wasn't immune to all poisons, he wouldn't have become like this after being poisoned.

"Who are you? Why are you impersonating Lu Yun? What is your purpose?"

The man didn't answer; all that could be heard was his increasingly heavy breathing.

"Release Liuying, and I'll negotiate anything you want, even my life." Lu Zhiyuan had never been so panicked, not even when she knew her life was nearing its end. She tried her best to calm herself, carefully moving her feet, attempting to use the hidden weapon on her bracelet to attack the man. "She's just a maid; she's of no use to you or your master."

The man remained silent, offering no bargaining, making it impossible to discern his true intentions.

“Madam…” Liu Ying shook her head. She knew Lu Zhiyuan’s physical condition and was afraid that she would be in danger because of saving her.

Her face was already purple from the tight belt, and as soon as she uttered those two words, her eyes widened. A desperate, reluctant gurgling sound came from her throat, and her body trembled violently.

Lu Zhiyuan saw a shiny metallic object pass through Liu Ying's heart.

His heart clenched, his pupils dilated, and he stared blankly as the firefly staggered toward him with outstretched arms. The firefly was speechless, her eyes filled with deep despair and reluctance. She took only one step before collapsing to the ground.

The stab was clean and swift; Liu Ying didn't even have time to bleed, but she knew that her heart had been pierced by that sword. It was Lu Yun's sword, the one she had given to him, now stained with Liu Ying's blood.

The fact that the sword was in the hands of a man who looked remarkably like Lu Yun proved that Lu Yun had also met with misfortune.

Without time to think, Lu Zhiyuan gritted her teeth, disregarded her physical condition, and chased after the man who wanted to leave.

The man did not attempt to escape the Liu family's old house. Instead, he leaped onto the roof of the back house and landed in the back garden. The Liu family's back garden was small and unkempt, appearing rather messy.

After landing, the man headed straight for a corner. Lu Zhiyuan shot out a silver needle, hitting the target with one needle, while the man deflected the remaining two needles.

The man disappeared in the time it takes to block a needle.

Lu Zhiyuan walked to the spot where the man had just stood. There was a hole in the weeds, and she could hear rustling sounds coming from inside. She took out a tinderbox, lit it, and threw it into the hole. The moment the flame went out, she saw Lu Yun's face.

"Lu Yun, is that you?"

"Miss?" Lu Yun struggled to stand up and looked at the cave entrance.

His eyes were injured, and he couldn't see clearly. He listened intently, confirming that the person above was indeed Miss. Thinking of the person who had injured him, Lu Yun asked anxiously, "Miss, have you encountered another version of myself?"

"We've encountered him." Thinking of Liu Ying's death, Lu Zhiyuan felt a pang of sadness, but the most important thing right now was to rescue Lu Yun from the cave.

"How badly are you injured? Can you get up on your own?"

"The injury isn't serious, Miss, don't worry." In the pitch-black cave, Lu Yun looked around. This cave didn't seem to have been dug out; it seemed to have formed accidentally. Judging from the voices, the cave wasn't deep. If he hadn't been injured, getting out of the cave wouldn't have been difficult. But he was injured, with internal injuries, and couldn't exert any strength. There were no footholds in the cave, so getting out would probably be difficult.

Lu Zhiyuan understood Lu Yun; if he wasn't seriously injured, his speaking skills would have improved. The fact that they hadn't improved meant he couldn't.

Looking around, I saw some logs against the wall. I dragged two of them over and arranged them like a ladder.

"Can we come up? Something happened to Liuying, and there's only a young cart driver in the front yard. We can't stay here for too long."

The wood twitched twice, and Lu Zhiyuan quickly unbuckled her belt and threw one end in: "Can you grab it? I'll pull you up."

Lu Yun came up a quarter of an hour later.

There was only one external wound, very close to the heart. The internal injuries were more severe; the attacker clearly didn't intend for him to live.

What's wrong with the fireflies?

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

"I accidentally fell into a trap." Lu Yun smiled. "What happened to Liu Ying? Are you injured?"

“Liu Ying…” Looking into those dark eyes, Lu Zhiyuan couldn’t bear to tell him the truth: “Liu Ying was injured by that person! Do you know him? Who is he?”

“My younger brother, Alu.”

Having been together for so long, spending every day together, Lu Zhiyuan was unaware that Lu Yun had a younger brother named Alu.

Although they are brothers, their personalities are worlds apart. Lu Yun has been steady and reserved since childhood, and doesn't talk much. A Lu is outgoing and loves making friends, but his mood is unpredictable and he tends to overthink things.

They were sent to the separate residence together. Not long after, A-Lu was sold off by the steward for repeatedly causing trouble and being disobedient. In order to find out where his younger brother was, Lu Yun tried his best to please the steward and became his confidant, which led to the events that followed.

“I found out that Alu was sold to a family as a servant, and was beaten to death by his master not long after.” Lu Yun raised his eyes: “I always thought he was dead and gave up the idea of ​​continuing to look for him. I didn’t expect that he was still alive and suddenly appeared in front of me.”

Lu Yun clenched his fists, unable to describe the feeling: "He killed me when we brothers were reunited."