She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

Seeing their companion beaten like this, the others were filled with fear.

Their previous arrogance vanished instantly, their faces turning pale with fright. They picked up their injured companion and fled in panic.

"Girl, thank you for saving me," the old man said gratefully to Shen Man after the people had fled.

"Grandpa, are you alright? Do you know these people? Why did they attack you?" Shen Man stepped forward, helped the old man up, and asked him with concern.

"I'm fine, just some minor injuries. I don't know them. I was just passing by when they suddenly jumped out of the woods and tried to steal my money. I refused, and they beat me. Luckily you arrived in time, otherwise, I might be dead here!" the old man said slowly.

"These people are despicable! They even prey on the elderly!" Shen Man said indignantly. "Sir, where are you going? Let me take you there!"

"No need, my home is just across this grove," the old man said, brushing the dust off his clothes and walking forward unsteadily.

Shen Man watched him walk away before continuing towards the town.

Upon arriving in town, Shen Man noticed many unfamiliar faces on the streets, and they all seemed like shady characters.

Shen Man was startled; her intuition told her that these people's appearance was definitely not simple.

She decided to find a place to hide and observe the situation first.

She went into a teahouse, chose a seat by the window, and kept her eyes fixed on the activity on the street.

A moment later, she saw a group of men in black outside the window, escorting a man dressed in bright red as he slowly walked past.

The man's red clothes stood out like a burning flame in the crowd.

The veil he wore was even more peculiar; the exquisite black gauze draped down, completely obscuring his face, like a mysterious barrier that prevented anyone from seeing his true appearance.

However, even so, he exuded an extremely strong and chilling aura, like a demon emerging from the depths of hell, making the surrounding air seem to freeze.

Shen Man watched this scene intently, unable to help but wonder about the person's identity.

Just then, the two people at the next table started talking in hushed tones.

"Hey, have you heard? The Zhu family in our town was robbed last night, and they suffered heavy losses."

"That's right. This area has been quite unsafe lately, with thefts and robberies happening frequently."

Shen Man's heart sank; it seemed the town's security situation was worse than she had imagined.

She has been busy training the village's self-defense force these days and has not come to town. She doesn't know if everything is alright at the clinic.

Thinking of this, she stood up and prepared to leave.

Just then, the teahouse waiter recognized her and spoke loudly to her: "Dr. Ding, what brings you to our teahouse today? Aren't you busy at the clinic?"

Before Shen Man could answer, she saw the men in black outside the window all looking in her direction.

Suddenly, the man in red ordered his men, "Go, bring that woman inside to me!"

Shen Man was startled and quickly turned to run towards the back door of the teahouse, trying to escape the pursuit of the men in black.

She moved nimbly through the streets, using the surrounding buildings and obstacles to conceal her movements.

However, the men in black quickly caught up, gradually tightening their encirclement and forcing Shen Man into a narrow alley.

Seeing that there was no way to escape, Shen Man gripped the medicine packet in her hand tightly, preparing to fight the man in black.

"Why are you running?" the man in red asked coldly as he approached her.

"I ran away because you told them to arrest me!" Shen Man looked at the man in red warily. "Who are you people? Why are you arresting me?"

The man in red didn't answer Shen Man's question, but continued, "I heard from the waiter at the teahouse that you're a doctor? I never expected that a mere doctor in a small place like Qiufeng Town would possess such amazing lightness skills..."

"What exactly do you want?" Shen Man asked, backing away while keeping her distance from the man in red.

The man in red narrowed his eyes slightly, looking Shen Man up and down. "Don't I feel like I've seen you somewhere before? You look so familiar."

"Brother, your way of flirting is so outdated and unoriginal!" Shen Man couldn't help but chuckle after hearing this.

"Oh? Since you are a doctor, have you seen this person recently?"

After saying that, the man in red took out a portrait from his pocket and handed it to Shen Man, asking her to identify it carefully.

Shen Man stared intently at the portrait, and felt as if her breath had stopped for a moment.

The person in the painting was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was very handsome, with delicate features that resembled a work of art carefully sculpted by God.

His eyes, in particular, were clear as water, making them unforgettable at first glance.

Shen Man thought Zhu Jing was already considered good-looking among men, but compared to this person, he felt that he was inferior in every way.

"Who is he? He's so handsome!" After a long while, Shen Man finally looked away from the painting and asked the man in red.

"Judging from your appearance, I can tell you've never seen him before. Let's go look for him somewhere else!"

Shen Man wanted to ask something more, but the man in red didn't give her the chance and quickly left with his men.

Shen Man watched their departing figures, lost in thought.

She decided to go to the clinic first to see if there were any patients waiting for her treatment.

When Shen Man arrived at Yu's Medical Clinic, she found everything was normal, and the number of people coming to see her was almost the same as usual.

"Man'er, what have you been busy with these days? I haven't seen you for several days." Senior Brother Lin Jian asked Shen Man as soon as he saw her.

"Senior Brother, I've heard that every time a new emperor grants amnesty, it causes unrest among the people. I'm worried that some villains might come to our village to do bad things, so I've formed a self-defense force in the village, and I've been busy training them these past few days!"

As she spoke, she sat down at the counter, skillfully took a prescription, and began to prepare the medicine.

Just then, Shun'er rushed over and said to her, "Junior Sister, Master has something urgent and wants you to go to the backyard immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Man's heart tightened. Without thinking, she quickly stood up and followed Shun'er, running all the way to the backyard.

The two arrived at the innermost room. Shun'er stopped, pointed to the tightly closed door, and said softly, "Let's go in, Master is inside!"

Shen Man took a deep breath, gently pushed open the door, and walked inside with somewhat hesitant steps.

Upon entering the room, she saw Dr. Yu sitting by the bed, taking a patient's pulse.

But when she saw what the person looked like, her eyes widened in surprise.

Just as she was about to speak, a chilling aura suddenly swept over her from behind. She turned around in alarm to see a sharp longsword pressed tightly against her neck, the sinister coldness sending a chill down her spine.

"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you!"