Chapter 171: How on Earth Did She Do It?

"The other group is acting suspiciously, with both men and women. They're probably human traffickers."

Lin Jingyue's gaze darkened, indifferent to affairs outside her own. She glanced at Lu Yunji. "Help find the children."

Before Lu Yunji could speak, she continued, "The traffickers only found their opportunity because of the movie you screened."

"...Isn't that a bit far-fetched?"

Lin Jingyue looked at him without a word. After a moment, the corner of Lu Yunji's twitching mouth relaxed. "Fine, I'll help."

"Use your connections in the county."

With no idea who had taken the children, relying solely on the production brigade would likely get them nowhere.

"...Alright." Lu Yunji actually wanted to refuse, but considering his grandfather was still here, helping to find the children might trade for the production brigade leader taking good care of the old man.

Why not?

Sure enough, despite everyone searching the mountains and fields during this time, the two children were nowhere to be found.

Everyone reconvened at the threshing floor, lighting torches and holding flashlights. Not a single person went home to rest.

"The children might really have been taken by child snatchers." The Party branch secretary furrowed his brows deeply. This was the first time such an incident had occurred in the village.

"Ergou, go report this to the public security bureau. Everyone else, split into two groups: one group will trace the main road, and the other will take the mountain trails toward the town." The brigade leader's face was dark as pitch. Tiedan was his eldest grandson, and Niuniu was also a child from the brigade; absolutely nothing could happen to them!

The young people immediately split into two groups. The women were wiping away tears silently, but none made a sound.

This was not the time for crying.

Seeing that the brigade leader had made his arrangements, Lin Jingyue did not step forward. She and Lu Yunji quietly slipped away from the brigade, taking the mountain path as well.

"Comrade Lin Jingyue, I'll do my utmost to help find the two children. In return, you'll help look after my grandfather in the future." Along the way, Lu Yunji seized the opportunity to negotiate terms.

Lin Jingyue looked at his back and rolled her eyes. "Keep dreaming. You share the blame for this incident in the first place. Shall I go tell the public security comrades that you were covering for human traffickers?"

"... " She really was unreasonable.

Seeing that Lu Yunji had quieted down, Lin Jingyue stopped talking as well.

"Wait..." After walking quietly for about half an hour, Lin Jingyue sensed something was wrong.

The moment she spoke, Lu Yunji had already stopped.

The two of them gazed vigilantly toward the front left.

"Didn't expect you to be quite so alert." Two figures emerged from the shadows, their faces obscured in the gloom. Under the dappled moonlight, the silhouette of a firearm gleamed in one's hand.

Lin Jingyue's heart skipped a beat.

How thrilling. Ever since she transmigrated, just how many times had she run into people holding firearms?

"Come on out, there can't possibly be just the two of you, right?" Lin Jingyue elevated her vigilance to an unprecedented level, secretly resolving to slip straight into her spatial dimension the split-second danger struck.

As for Lu Yunji... who cared if he lived or died.

Lu Yunji: Utterly ruthless!

"It seems the mistress guessed wrong. You are vastly different from your mother." The man in the lead let out a cold laugh. With a wave of his hand, two more figures stepped out from either side.

"Mistress? Since I am about to die, could you gentlemen enlighten me? Let me be a ghost who understands why she died?" Sensing a slight movement in her sleeve, Lin Jingyue spoke to buy time.

"Sorry, you won't be an enlightened ghost. Go die in ignorance." The man snapped directly.

If they killed Lin Jingyue right now and left overnight, no one would ever trace it back to them.

Though he didn't know why the mistress wanted Lin Jingyue dead, they only needed to follow orders.

Just as the opponent was about to squeeze the trigger, a sudden and drastic change erupted!

"Awooo—"

"Bang—"

Two piercing sounds rang out simultaneously, coming from Lu Yunji—who had been silent until now—and Big Gray.

Lu Yunji lunged forward to the front right, tackling one of the men straight to the ground. Big Gray had been lurking behind; the very instant the leading man pulled the trigger, the wolf pinned him flat. As for Lin Jingyue, she had already dropped and rolled to the opposite side. Seizing the moment, she instantly utilized her space to pull the remaining two men inside, released them a fraction of a second later, clamped her hands around their throats, and without a shred of hesitation, snapped them!

The two men, losing their breath, would never understand until the day they died what that sudden wave of dizziness and suffocation had been.

Lu Yunji was equally fast. He snatched the firearm from his captive's grip and smashed his fist into the man's temple, knocking him out cold.

He scrambled up, preparing to go help Lin Jingyue, only to see two figures go limp and collapse from her hands.

"??!!!!"

How on earth did she pull that off?!

His deep gaze locked onto Lin Jingyue, but she remained completely unfazed.

She had calculated beforehand: the night was the ultimate camouflage, and with someone else drawing their attention, within a matter of seconds, Lu Yunji truly wouldn't have been able to see what happened.

Lu Yunji indeed hadn't seen clearly. Though inwardly shocked by Lin Jingyue's combat skills and speed, now was not the time to probe deeper. He looked with vigilance at the gray wolf, which had just torn into its prey and lifted its head, its eerie green eyes chilling to the bone.

Another tough battle lay ahead, but...

He raised the gun in his hand, aimed at the gray wolf, and prepared to strike a fatal blow when Lin Jingyue's voice rang out: "Stop!"

The next moment, he witnessed something even more shocking: Lin Jingyue strode right up to the gray wolf and threw her arms around its massive head!

Lu Yunji: "??!!"

In his entire twenty-odd years of life, he had never been as shocked as he was tonight.

"Big Gray, thanks." Shielding her actions with her body, Lin Jingyue used her hand to feed Big Gray a few drops of spiritual spring water.

This fellow had to be taken along; she would just stash it in her space for now and let it out for some fresh air when she had time.

Patting Big Gray's head, she looked at Lu Yunji. "Big Gray is mine."

Big Gray???

The corners of Lu Yunji's mouth twitched violently. He stared deeply at Lin Jingyue. To think someone actually raised a wolf as a pet?!

"How is he? You killed those men." Ignoring his astonishment, Lin Jingyue pointed at the person lying unconscious at Lu Yunji's feet.

"No, I'm a law-abiding citizen. Why would I kill anyone? Besides, they weren't after me." In a flash of insight, Lu Yunji instantly deduced the fate of the two men in Lin Jingyue's hands.

Simultaneously, a fresh wave of shock washed over him regarding her ruthlessness and decisiveness.

To be able to take lives without a second thought—forget ordinary women; many grown men couldn't even manage that.

Just what kind of person was she?

"Is that so?" Lin Jingyue looked at him nonchalantly, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.

At that exact instant, Lu Yunji suddenly sensed danger.

His brows furrowed sharply, and he swiftly raised his firearm!

Right in front of him, the gun in Lin Jingyue's hand was already aimed squarely at him, and the gray wolf beside her was baring its fangs, revealing razor-sharp teeth.

One against two... he had no chance of winning.

Lu Yunji rapidly weighed the disparity between them. No matter what scenario played out, he wouldn't be able to walk away unscathed.

Truly... an unprecedented predicament.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" The moment she killed those men, Lin Jingyue had already mapped out her exit strategy.

Hand over her leverage to Lu Yunji voluntarily? She might as well kill him too and be done with it once and for all.

After all, it wouldn't be her first time taking a life.