How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Guo Zixing handed Qingru over to Zhang Xun, saying, "Take her back first, I'll come back after I catch up with her."

Seeing what had just happened, Zhang Xun understood that Guo Zixing probably cared about the woman in front of him. Therefore, he solemnly said, "Don't worry, I will definitely bring her back safely and stay by her side until you return."

Guo Zixing glanced at Qingru, then spurred his horse forward and chased after the carriage again.

Guo Zixing spurred his horse and gave chase, determined to capture the thief.

The forest is difficult to traverse, but the other party is driving a carriage, so it's unlikely we can avoid them in time.

He thought for a moment and decided to deal with the black horse first.

"drive--"

The steed galloped swiftly and arrived in front of the horse in an instant.

Just as the black hoof was about to stomp down, the rider suddenly leaped up and rolled to the side.

The horse lost control and charged forward several meters before coming to a stop.

"Uu——"

The rider on horseback gently tightened the reins to steady himself, and looked up at the rider.

Those were a pair of gloomy and ruthless eyes, filled with hatred, as if they wanted to pierce through Guo Zixing with their gaze.

That kind of gaze sent chills down one's spine. This person was probably even more difficult to deal with than the previous one, so one couldn't help but be on high alert.

The forest path was narrow to begin with, and Guo Zixing was standing precisely at the angle between the two mountain walls. In such a narrow place, if he were to force his way through, he would inevitably crash into the mountain wall or fall directly off the cliff.

But since this place is desolate, there are obviously no cliffs.

How to do?

Guo Zixing frowned.

He was not an indecisive person; he acted decisively, raising his hand and pointing the gun at the other party.

But the second sister-in-law was obviously faster. She quickly took a dart off her head and threw it at Guo Zixing. Guo Zixing dodged, but his gun went astray. He was grazed on the right leg by the dart.

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck, and he almost fell off his horse.

Taking advantage of the situation, the second sister-in-law fired several darts in quick succession. Everyone was distracted in protecting Guo Zixing and dodging, which allowed the second sister-in-law to take advantage of the situation.

She kicked the horse's back, and the horse, in pain, turned around and neighed directly at Guo Zixing. Then she pulled out the hairpin and stabbed it hard. Unable to bear the pain, the horse immediately galloped towards Guo Zixing and his party.

Knowing he was in danger, Guo Zixing endured the pain and leaped up the other side of the hillside.

Seeing that they had been driven away, the second sister-in-law turned and fled for her life without any further hesitation.

The forest path was difficult to walk, but for Second Sister-in-law, this was a place she frequented, and she was in her element, quickly disappearing from sight.

Two thieves severely injured more than ten policemen and escaped right under Guo Zixing's nose, causing him to lose face and making people doubt his abilities.

Guo Zixing stared intently in the direction his second sister-in-law had fled, his expression unusually cold. Fortunately, a tight net had already been laid, so there was no worry about not being able to catch her.

The man and child who knew the truth were still lying in the hospital; the man had already been handed over to the prison guards. Given their family's expertise, they weren't worried about him not revealing more information.

Although one thief escaped, Qingru was rescued and another thief was captured, so this trip was not a waste of effort.

Guo Zixing led his men back, gave them a quick bandage, and then went to the prison for interrogation.

He lost face today and was determined to regain it. As for Qingru, she remained in the separate courtyard.

He wanted both the wealth of the Lü family and the power of the Zheng family. With this thought in mind, Guo Zixing suppressed his ambition and stepped into the cell where his second brother was imprisoned.

The second brother was tied to the torture post and beaten until he was on the verge of death.

Guo Zixing walked up to him, using the butt of his gun to brush aside his disheveled hair. "Where did your thieving accomplice go?"

The second brother chuckled softly, "You haven't found him, have you? Haha, you won't find him, haha..."

He laughed maniacally, which infuriated Guo Zixing; this was not the first time he had messed things up.

“You guys are quite clever, knowing that you need to use aliases when traveling the martial arts world. That's why that idiot Niu Da doesn't know your real names at all. But it doesn't matter. I've already sent someone to your hometown to ask your mother. She'll know everything.”

The second brother looked up and saw Guo Zixing looking at him with confidence, seemingly unconcerned about whether he confessed or not, and even less certain about how much Guo Zixing knew about their affairs.

"Hmph," the second brother snorted defiantly, gritting his teeth and refusing to speak. Zhang Xun was about to teach him a lesson when Guo Zixing stopped him. "No need. Whether he confesses or not is another matter. The most important thing is to bring his lover back. We've made arrangements within and outside the city, within a 300-mile radius. No one along the way dares to take her in. I just don't know how long she can stay in the deep mountains and forests without people. After all... it would be bad if she got sick. There's no medicine, no doctor, and the weather is so cold... sigh..."

Hearing the threat in Guo Zixing's words, the second brother hesitated for a moment, then became firm again, "Don't try to provoke me, it won't work."

At this moment, Chief Zhang came over with San'er and whispered a few words in Guo Zixing's ear, seemingly mentioning words like "mountain" and "snow cave," but unfortunately, the second brother didn't hear them clearly.

Guo Zixing laughed after hearing this, and said as he took off his hat, "Okay, oh dear, if you hadn't said anything, I would have just gone to clean up after her. My marksmanship is still better; I hit the bullseye perfectly. Even if she had escaped at the time, she would have died from blood loss."

Zhang Xun also said, "Yes, if she hadn't run away, she could have lived for a while. Who knew that once she started moving, her wounds would open up even wider."

Guo Zixing put his arms around the shoulders of the Zhang brothers, one on each side, and said, "Come on, let's hurry up and collect the body, take this case, and then go have some fun..."

The group all wore knowing smiles and made jokes as they walked out.

After they left, the second brother suddenly raised his head, staring intently at Guo Zixing's back, his eyes blazing with fury.

The jailer who stayed behind said with a hint of regret, "Alas, it's a pity I'm on night duty tonight, otherwise I could have gone out and had some fun with them."

Another said, "That's right, they eat and drink like royalty, with beautiful women on both sides of them. I heard the young master is very generous and can even pick out the most popular courtesans!"

The jailer shoved his colleague with a laugh and a curse, "With your measly two ounces of flesh, don't pretend you're something you're not."

"What do you mean? You have no idea how powerful I am..."

The two chatted idly, completely oblivious to the fact that their second brother was hanging nearby, covered in blood.

He listened quietly, then suddenly called out, "Young man, young man..."

The jailer didn't hear clearly, but his colleague tugged at his ear, "Hey, that person is calling you."

The jailer was already annoyed at not being able to join them in their fun, and when he saw that there were prisoners calling him, he immediately asked irritably, "What is it?"

The second brother said weakly, "What you two young men said warmed my heart. Could you please give me a glass of strong liquor?"

"Go away, I don't even have money for alcohol, you're dreaming."

"Heh, why would I trouble you to spend money, young man? Come on, check my pockets, I have two taels of gold sewn into my trousers!"

Upon hearing about the gold, the jailer was skeptical. He walked over and said, "If you don't have it, I won't spare you. I'll give you another round of torture."

"Hehe, don't worry, it's sure to be there."

The jailer swaggered over, reached into his pocket, and asked, "Nothing here?"

"What do you mean, 'no'? Didn't you see stars?!"

"Bang!" The second brother slammed his head hard against the jailer, who fell straight down before he could even cry out.

Another jailer heard the noise, turned around, and asked, "What? What's going on?"

"Young man, come and see! It looks like he swallowed some gold and got choked, and he's trying to swallow it all by himself!"

The jailer didn't think much of it and came over to check, only to see a large bump on his colleague's forehead. "What happened..."

Before he could finish speaking, his second brother had already knocked him down. He flexed his muscles and easily slipped out of the handcuffs and shackles.

He stripped the two jailers naked, put on their clothes, and swaggered out of the prison.

After he walked away, the jailer slowly got up from the ground. "Well, did I give myself away?"

His companion clutched his head and cried out in pain, "Ouch, it wasn't you who was attacked. Go and report it quickly."

The group hurriedly left, unaware that Song Fu, who had come to deliver food to Warden Cheng Ping, had witnessed everything.