The few of them stayed awake until midnight. Just as they were about to return to their rooms to rest, Furball started to howl uneasily.

It wasn’t the usual reminder that someone was coming. Instead, it sounded like a warning.

Shen Yijia and Song Jingchen looked at each other and asked Madam Li and Widow Wang to bring the children back to their rooms first. The two of them followed Furball to its hole that had long been frozen by the snow.

As soon as the two of them approached the hole, they heard something digging outside the courtyard wall.

Without waiting for Song Jingchen to react, Shen Yijia had already taken a few steps forward and punched into the hole.

Snow poured out of the hole, and the entrance was revealed.

At the same time, a cry of pain came from outside. It sounded like a child’s.

Shen Yijia glanced at Song Jingchen, rubbed her nose, and muttered, “I thought it was a bad person.”

“Is anyone inside?” The child’s voice was trembling.

Shen Yijia and Song Jingchen tacitly didn’t speak and waited quietly for a while.

A small head crawled in from the hole. Shen Yijia squatted down and blocked the child’s way in.

Fu Bao looked at the fierce-looking person squatting in front of him. His face turned pale and he wanted to leave.

However, thinking of why he was here, he swallowed and stammered, “I- I’m Song Dajiang’s grandson and Song Dalin’s son. I’m your eldest nephew. You can’t kill me.”

Shen Yijia raised her eyebrows and glanced at Song Jingchen. The latter was also puzzled.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Yijia reached out and grabbed Fu Bao’s arm, pulling him in.

Fu Bao’s body was suspended in midair. He was so frightened that he kept kicking his legs and shouting with his eyes closed, “Ah! Don’t kill me. There are bad people entering the village. I’m here to ask for your help.”

“Who asked you to come?” Song Jingchen asked.

“No- no one. I came on my own. The village demon is powerful. I came to beg her to come with me to save someone.”

“Huh?” Shen Yijia was dissatisfied. Why was she being described as a demon?

Fu Bao shuddered and quickly added, “Aunt, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have called you that. Please come with me to save them. Otherwise, they’ll all die.”

Song Jingchen frowned and his voice became serious. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Shen Yijia stopped teasing him and placed him on the ground.

Fu Bao heaved a sigh of relief and patted the snow off his body. He placed his hand to his mouth and sighed. “I… I wanted to look for my mother, so I sneaked out.”

“However, there was snow everywhere. I couldn’t find my way home. I wanted to go home, but I saw many people entering the village with torches,” he continued.

“I had heard my mother say before that those were bandits. I was afraid that they would catch me, so I hid in a snowdrift.”

“They went from house to house to capture people. They tied them up and brought them to the ancestral hall. Auntie is so powerful. Please come and save my father.”

He seemed to be freezing. Every time he said something, he would tremble. His words were incoherent, but Shen Yijia and Song Jingchen understood.

There was a disaster outside, and the bandits could not survive on the mountain, so they thought of a way to sneak into the village to rob them.

“I’m not going.” Shen Yijia refused.

“But…” Fu Bao couldn’t think of a good reason. He simply imitated his mother’s usual threatening tone and said,” Your family looks very rich. Even if you don’t go, they’ll come and catch you. You’re good-looking too, so they’ll snatch you away. ”

After saying that, he paused and looked at Song Jingchen. “You won’t have a wife then.”

Song Jingchen’s eyelids twitched as he looked at Shen Yijia, who was smiling foolishly because of the praise.

Sensing Song Jingchen’s gaze, Shen Yijia’s smile disappeared. She tried her best to keep a straight face and asked unhappily, “Is my husband not good-looking?”

“How could this child only praise me and not my beautiful husband? He looks like he wants to object to this.” she thought.