Zhen Yunqian ran away with A Man.
When Old Master Zhen learned of this, his expression went blank for a moment.
"Grandpa, I can't live without A Man. You must help me get him back!" Zhen Xiaoyu said anxiously.
"Don't be so impatient..."
"I can't afford to wait. If we're any later, they'll be long gone!"
Seeing Zhen Xiaoyu so anxious, the old master was extremely puzzled. "Does this A Man know some kind of sorcery?"
Previously, when Zhen Xiaoyu wanted to keep A Man, the old master thought she was looking for someone easy to control to marry into the Zhen family and safeguard the family fortune. But now, he realized that his precious granddaughter truly cared about A Man.
"It's already dark. It won't be easy to find them. My dear, go back to your room and rest first. I'll send someone to find Shopkeeper Qian in the town and ask him to arrange his assistants to inquire about their whereabouts," the old master said methodically.
Zhen Xiaoyu sighed. She knew this was the only option for now. It served her right for not reading that novel properly. Now she was completely at a loss.
Back in her room, she sent Ah Hua away and asked the system, "System, is there a tracker available for exchange in your store?"
[You can exchange 50 points of killing intent for a positioning compass.]
The positioning compass only cost 50 points of killing intent, much cheaper than the beauty pills. Zhen Xiaoyu asked further, "How do I use the positioning compass? Can I use it on someone who's not around me?"
[You can use it by putting the hair of the person you want to track into the groove of the positioning compass.]
Zhen Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. She exchanged for a positioning compass with the system and then rushed to A Man's room. She lay on the bed and rummaged around.
Ah Hua followed her all the way. She watched her acting like a lovesick girl, feeling around on the bed where A Man had slept. When she found a strand of A Man's hair, she even jumped up in excitement.
Alas, there's no hope for our young lady...
After finding A Man's hair, Zhen Xiaoyu was about to take out the positioning compass when she suddenly remembered that all the items exchanged from the system were in the spatial bracelet, which had been stolen by Zhen Yunqian. She felt as if struck by lightning.
It was all for nothing!
[The host can exchange 100 points of killing intent for the location of the spatial bracelet.] The system's prompt came like a timely rain.
The positioning compass only cost 50 points of killing intent, but the location of the spatial bracelet cost 100 points. Zhen Xiaoyu suspected that the system was overcharging, but she had no evidence.
"I'll exchange!" she said through gritted teeth.
"What are you saying, miss?" Ah Hua asked in confusion.
Zhen Xiaoyu turned to look at Ah Hua. "Go and find two people now. We're going to look for someone!"
"Where are we going to look for someone at this late hour?" Ah Hua looked utterly confused.
"Just follow me. Hurry up!"
Before Zhen Xiaoyu could leave the house, the old master had already learned of her intention to go looking for them in person. After failing to persuade her, the old master had no choice but to send a few skilled people to accompany her.
Zhen Xiaoyu followed the system's instructions with full confidence, but she found that they were heading towards the back mountain. They walked for a long time but still didn't see anyone.
"Miss, let's not go any further. It's impossible for the eldest miss and her husband to have walked such a long mountain path, especially since her husband has a broken leg," Ah Hua grabbed Zhen Xiaoyu, who was still walking forward out of breath.
"Hold on a little longer. I think they're just ahead," Zhen Xiaoyu still chose to trust the system.
After walking a bit further, an older person in the group suddenly said, "Everyone, turn off your lights. There's a bandit stronghold in the stone forest ahead. It's the bandits' lair."
"Miss, we have to take a detour."
Just as Zhen Xiaoyu was about to agree, she heard the system's prompt in her mind: [The spatial bracelet is in the stone forest ahead.]
Could it be that Zhen Yunqian was captured by the bandits and forced to be the bandit leader's wife? Zhen Xiaoyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She remembered that some readers in the comment section had mentioned this. The bandit leader was the third male lead in the novel, a lovelorn supporting male character who had taken a knife for the female lead.
She just didn't expect this to happen so soon.
She regretted not reading the novel properly. If she had, she wouldn't be relying on the spoilers in the comment section and making wild guesses like this.
In a room in the bandit stronghold.
Zhen Yunqian, curled up in a chair, also regretted deeply. She didn't expect that after being reborn, she would fall into the same trap again.
In her previous life, she was captured by the bandits who came to the village to rob.
In this life, to avoid this trap, she had left the Zhen family three days earlier. To prevent the Zhen family from finding her, she had taken A Man on a mountain path that was not easy to track. She thought she had bypassed the bandit stronghold, but unexpectedly, she ran into a few bandits who were scouting the area.
The reason the bandits brought her back to the stronghold was exactly the same as in her previous life. They said they were going to offer her to their leader as his wife.
It was simply absurd!
The door creaked open, and someone walked in.
Zhen Yunqian looked up and saw that it was the old woman who had brought her food.
"Miss, is the food not to your taste?" the old woman glanced at the untouched food on the table.
Zhen Yunqian bit her lip. "I want to see your bandit leader!"
The old woman gave an understanding smile and comforted her gently. "Don't worry, miss. The bandit leader is the most handsome man in our stronghold. You'll surely like him when you see him. Just calm down. The bandit leader and the others will be back soon. Then you'll be able to see him."
Zhen Yunqian felt even more uneasy. She had to leave this place!
Moreover, she had hidden A Man in that tree hole. If she didn't go and move him in time, the future backer she had painstakingly found for herself might end up in the mouth of a wild animal.
"Miss, the night is long. You'd better eat something. Otherwise, it'll be hard to get through. I'll come back later to collect the dishes," the old woman advised and then left.
After waiting for a while, Zhen Yunqian got up and tiptoed towards the window. She was about to climb out when suddenly she heard two dull thuds from outside the door. The door opened again.
"Eldest miss, we're here to rescue you," a somewhat familiar figure appeared at the door.
Zhen Yunqian's heart skipped a beat. The people from the Zhen family had found her so quickly.
She walked out calmly and asked as she walked, "How did you find this place?"
"It's..."
"I led them here," the voice she hated came from the side.
Zhen Xiaoyu walked out from behind a small wooden house.
Several people jumped out from around and reported to Zhen Xiaoyu, "Miss, several strong men have been knocked out and tied up. There are only some women and children left in the stronghold. The others are nowhere to be found."
"Round up the women and children and lock them up so they can't go for reinforcements," Zhen Xiaoyu ordered and then walked towards Zhen Yunqian.
Seeing Zhen Xiaoyu approaching, Zhen Yunqian couldn't help but take two steps back. She stared at Zhen Xiaoyu warily and asked, "How did you know I was here? Did you collude with someone in the stronghold?"
"You took my thing. I can find you even if you hide at the ends of the earth," Zhen Xiaoyu stepped forward and grabbed Zhen Yunqian's hand, taking off the bracelet on her wrist.
Zhen Yunqian looked astonished. She didn't expect Zhen Xiaoyu to be able to sense the location of this bracelet.
Zhen Xiaoyu walked into the room, looked around, and then walked out again. She asked Zhen Yunqian, "Where's A Man?"
"I don't know," Zhen Yunqian said expressionlessly. "We separated a long time ago."
"I'll find him even if you don't tell me!" Zhen Xiaoyu turned around and left. She slipped the hand wearing the bracelet into her sleeve and made a gesture of taking something. She took out the positioning compass from the space.
Fortunately, she had brought that strand of A Man's hair.