Lu Ping’an muttered to himself, struggling inwardly.
After time-traveling here, all he had wanted was a peaceful life. With so many loving family members around him, an ordinary life was more than enough.
He closed his eyes, then gave a bitter smile.
“This damn sense of justice…” he cursed inwardly.
“Cousin, wait here for me. I’ll be back in a moment.”
In the end, he couldn’t harden his heart. If he hadn’t noticed, that would be one thing. But now that he had—if he didn’t intervene, he knew his conscience wouldn’t let him rest.
Li Lingyi looked confused, not understanding what he meant.
But seeing him already striding forward, she hurried after him. “Cousin, wait for me!”
“Lingyi,” he said quickly, “did you see those two people? I think they might be traffickers.”
“You stay here. It’s too dangerous to follow. I’ll just take a look and come right back.”
He didn’t want her risking herself.
Her face immediately paled, and she nodded.
Seeing her agree, he let out a breath of relief and quickly headed off.
The two suspicious men had already entered an alley and were moving deeper inside.
Lu Ping’an followed closely behind.
Watching his figure disappear, Li Lingyi grew anxious. If anything happened to him, how would she explain it to her parents?
Clenching her teeth, she suddenly turned and sprinted toward another direction—the East City Police Station.
Lu Ping’an’s current physical abilities were not yet on par with his previous life.
But after several days nourished by the Spirit Spring water, his body had undergone tremendous changes.
Though tall and lean, he possessed surprising strength—he could lift two hundred jin with one hand, and his power was still increasing.
Combined with his refined combat techniques from his previous life, he feared no ordinary opponents.
Of course, this era had firearms. That was something he had to be cautious about.
He kept his distance to avoid alerting them.
The two men quickened their pace in the alley, much faster than before.
Soon, they stopped at the entrance of a courtyard, scanning their surroundings. After confirming no one was following, they knocked.
Three long knocks, one short.
Almost immediately, a voice came from inside:
“Spring slumber knows no dawn.”
The burly man carrying the person responded, “Everywhere the mosquitoes bite.”
The door opened.
Another burly man, in his twenties with a fierce expression, stood there.
“Bai Lao San, why are you so late this time?”
“Don’t mention it,” the man replied. “There were people around that woman. We didn’t dare make a move for a long time.”
The door shut.
From behind a distant wall corner, Lu Ping’an emerged, staring at the courtyard.
Now he was certain—these people were suspicious.
They even had coded phrases.
Anyone unaware of the code would instinctively continue the poem and immediately expose themselves.
“Could they be spies?” he muttered.
But after a moment’s thought, that didn’t seem likely.
He approached the courtyard and activated the spatial sensing ability of his Spirit Spring Space.
Strangely, he didn’t sense them in the open yard.
Without hesitation, he vaulted over the wall and landed silently inside.
Keeping low, he moved swiftly toward the largest room in the courtyard—the source of earlier voices.
Through his spatial perception, he sensed ten figures inside.
Four children of varying ages lay unconscious on the ground.
Their clothing was clearly of good quality. These were not children from ordinary families.
The remaining six figures were adults—all male.
The “woman” from earlier was among them—but now he saw clearly that the person wore a wig.
He hadn’t noticed from afar.
Among the six men, three were burly and three were thin. The one disguised as a woman was the shortest, barely over 1.5 meters tall.
“Brother Feng, we’ve really stirred up trouble this time. If we get caught, we’ll all be shot,” one of the thin men said nervously.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Bai Lao San sneered. “We’ll sell them tonight, take the money, and leave. Go enjoy ourselves somewhere else.”
“One thousand each. That’s four thousand total. Split between us, that’s enough to live well for a year or two!”
“Bai Lao San’s right,” Brother Feng added. “We were hired. We didn’t hurt them.”
“As for what happens after we hand them over—that’s none of our business.”
Hearing this, Lu Ping’an immediately understood.
They had been hired to kidnap the children.
One thousand per child—a sky-high price.
This was no simple matter.
Regardless, since he had encountered it, he couldn’t walk away.
Just then, one of the men exited the room.
Lu Ping’an quickly hid.
The man headed toward a well—probably for water.
As the man tossed the bucket down, Lu Ping’an moved.
In a flash, he stepped forward and struck the back of the man’s neck with a precise chop.
The man’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
Lu Ping’an caught him before he hit the ground and dragged him aside, hiding him.
Moments later, someone inside muttered, “What’s taking Wang Dazhu so long just to get water?”
Another burly man came out, followed by the smallest thin man.
As they approached the well, Lu Ping’an sprang into action.
With a swift swing of a wooden stick, he knocked the burly man unconscious.
Then he struck the thin man’s neck—but miscalculated slightly.
The man partially dodged and remained conscious.
“Who are you?!” the thin man shouted.
Another heavy blow answered him.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
But his shout had alerted the others.
Three figures rushed out of the room.
There was no more hiding.
Lu Ping’an moved first.
He charged straight at Brother Feng and delivered a flying kick to his chest.
With a scream, Brother Feng flew backward, crashing into another man. Both fell to the ground.
Only one remained standing.
Bai Lao San.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. His hand went to his waist—
And in an instant, he drew a dagger, lunging toward Lu Ping’an’s chest.