Chapter 32 - An Innocent Smile

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The frantic sounds of footsteps were heard as the men in black got off their horses one after another. With expressionless faces, they carried torches and searched every house meticulously.

With a clang, a man in black kicked open the door of the straw hut opposite the one Mu Yao was in.

“Ahhh!” There was actually someone behind the door, and he even let out a scream.

“All of you, don’t move! It’s so dark outside. If anyone dares to do anything rash, you will die!”

She saw a couple in shabby clothes kneeling on the ground, trembling, their expressions uneasy as they raised their hands.

They pursed their dry lips and said in a trembling voice, “Sir, we are just a pair of poor commoners without much money. If you want anything, we will give it to you. Please let us go.”

The men in black outside carried torches and went straight in to raid the house, smashing everything in sight before using the torches to light up every corner of the thatched house.

The men searched every room and even raided the wardrobe, only giving up when the bottom of the wardrobe was revealed. They even kicked over the bed boards, looking for things hidden under the beds.

When they did not find what they wanted, they pulled the couple’s hair and demanded fiercely, “How long have you been married?”

Mu Yao saw that she had no chance or time to draw her sword since she had her two children in her arms, so she decided to stay put.

The owner of the pair of hands on Mu Yao’s lips was hidden in the dark. The flickering light of the torches outside shone on the clothes of the owner of the hands. There was nothing strange about this piece of clothing. It was just an old and tattered cloth robe worn by commoners.

Sensing Mu Yao’s lack of hostility, the owner of the hand carefully removed his hand from her lips.

As the hand slowly moved away, the face of the hand’s owner slowly appeared in the light.

At the same time, the couple on the other side shouted, “Lord, Lord, we really don’t have any children! We’ve been married for many years, but we’ve never been able to conceive. Even if we did, we wouldn’t have the ability to raise a child!”

The next moment, a certain man in black stepped ruthlessly on her husband’s head, and the sound of bones cracking could be heard.

As the woman was being held down by two men in black, her tears flowed freely as she knelt on the ground and cried loudly, “My Lord! Don’t touch my husband! I beg you!”

The man in black, who was stepping on his husband, smiled evilly and smirked at the woman. “Let him go?”

His wife was about to rush forward when she was pulled back by the men in black. “Ahhh!” She couldn’t help but scream in pain.

Because her pants were already worn out, her skin on her knees was scraped as the men dragged her along the ground, and fresh blood oozed out of the wound.

The man in black, who was stepping on the woman’s husband, suddenly had a fierce look on his face. He said calmly, “Those who beg for mercy are useless and deserve to die. However, if you tell me the whereabouts of your child, I can consider letting you go.”

The husband struggled to get up and shouted, “I told you we don’t have any children!”

The next second, the sound of bones cracking could be heard again. Suddenly, a stream of warm blood gushed out from the man’s head.

Upon seeing this, his wife’s eyes suddenly widened and her voice became hoarse. Even so, she shouted, “No! No! I’ll tell you! Don’t kill him! I beg you!”

The husband suddenly struggled with all his might. His eyes were instantly filled with blood and some turbid tears. He opened his mouth, which was also full of blood, and looked at his wife with despair. “Xiaohua! You!”

At the same time, Mu Yao witnessed everything that happened behind this door.

It turned out that the person holding the knife was an elderly lady in her sixties. Behind her stood a flustered couple. Each of them was carrying a newborn child.

The next moment, the man spoke first, “Mother! You’re being silly! How could you let a stranger in at such a crucial time? For the past week, we have been hiding day and night just to save our lives!”

Meanwhile, that old granny was looking at the confused Mu Yao and the two adorable little children in her arms with their chubby little hands still on their mouths. She remained silent.

His wife, who was beside him, frowned and comforted the child in her arms who did not dare to open his eyes. She whispered, “That’s right. Mother, we have suffered so much just to save our lives. We’ve been trying so hard to hide all day, pretending that there’s no one in the house. Who would have thought that they would break into our village and even our houses tonight? What should we do now? We can’t even take care of ourselves. Are we supposed to take care of this woman and her children?”

She continued her rant, “Besides, we haven’t seen this woman even after living in this village for so long. What if she’s a bad person? Moreover, if this woman’s child hadn’t accidentally kicked a bamboo basket, she wouldn’t have lured those men in black to our village. Don’t you know? I heard from Xiaohong from another village that many of their children were snatched away in the night! It looks like it’s our village’s turn today!”

Her husband’s face was livid. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Muyao. “That’s right! If that woman’s child hadn’t knocked over that wooden basket, those men wouldn’t have known anything! Now, they’re probably going to raid the entire village!”

At the same time, Zimo and Zichun, who were in Mu Yao’s arms, seemed to have gotten used to the shock and felt a little safer. They slowly moved their hands away from their lips.

The moment they did so, they blinked their big and bright eyes at the elderly lady in front of them. Then, they even grinned widely, revealing their little front teeth that had yet to fully grow. They happily smiled at the old granny.

At this moment, the old granny actually burst out laughing.Even the couple behind them was stunned. They too were melted by the twins’ naive and innocent smiles. However, their expressions were still fierce due to their pride.

After the granny finished laughing, she put down the hand that was still holding the knife and finally said, “Young lady, we don’t have time. Hurry and hide. The men in black haven’t come to our house yet. I reckon…”

Before the granny could finish, Mu Yao, who had been silent all this time, cut in, “This house is the closest to them. I bet they think it’s the most dangerous place and that no one would dare to hide here. That’s why they would subconsciously think about searching it last.”

When the granny heard that, she raised her eyebrows and said, “That sounds true, Miss.”

At the same time, the couple’s desperate pleas came from outside.

Mu Yao’s ears twitched and she lowered her eyes. She then put down the two little kids and quickly got up, placing her hands on the handle of the silver sword at her waist.

The next moment, Mu Yao opened her eyes and a cold gleam flickered across her clear pupils. Mu Yao smirked. “Grandma, stay here and protect my children. I’ll be back soon.”

Seeing that, her smiling face suddenly turned solemn. She warned in a low voice, “Miss! Don’t be rash!”

The stunned couple finally realized that the woman in front of them had an aura that was different from that of ordinary women. She also had a silver sword carved with a flying dragon in her arms.

Then, their shock turned into anger.

The husband shouted at the top of his lungs, “Young lady, I don’t care who you are. If you dare to leave this house now, our entire family will be dragged down with you. Once you leave, you will definitely be discovered by those men in black!”

The woman at the side also chimed in, “That’s right! Ingrate! We just saved the three of you! Once you go out, all eight of us will suffer! Are you trying to tempt fate?”

The old granny raised her hand, signaling for her son and daughter-in-law to remain silent. Her voice was calm as she said, “Don’t speak too harshly. What did I teach you in the past?”

The couple shouted in unison, “But-“

“Alright, keep your voices down. We have to be careful not to be discovered.”

At the same time, the screams in the house on the other side were growing louder.

The man was already on the ground and couldn’t move. Even so, he kept repeating, “Xiaohua, we don’t have any children.”

“How dare you try to lie to us?” The man in black exerted even more strength on his foot.

“Ah!” The man screamed in pain.

Xiaohua struggled to break free of the man’s grip to save her husband. By now, the clothes on her body were already torn and tattered due to the repeated tugging. It even revealed the smooth and white skin of the woman.

Still, she continued to shout stubbornly, “Let him go! I beg you! Our child is…”

“Xiaohua!” her husband shouted.

Then, the man in black, who was stepping on her husband, let go of him and walked toward Xiaohua with an evil expression. He raised Xiaohua’s chin with his index finger.

“Tell me. Where is your child?” the man in black asked coldly..