“…Help me…”
“…Wake up, wake up.”
A young voice reached her ears, and Xi Fuhong frowned.
She opened her eyes to see a familiar face.
Her head throbbed as she lowered her gaze, trying to move her numb legs, only to be met with sharp pain.
She weakly tilted her head back, feeling sore all over.
Beside her, the child who always followed Luo Qingcheng was holding a servant’s clothes from Luo Residence.
He helped Xi Fuhong up with effort, then turned his face away and handed her the clothes.
“You should put on some clothes quickly.” The child, no more than eight years old, was very uncomfortable seeing the girl completely naked.
Xi Fuhong was startled at first, then realized she was completely naked.
She quickly took the clothes from the child and put them on haphazardly, biting her lip without making a sound.
Every cruel scene from last night was vividly imprinted in her mind.
She had been humiliated by words and actions.
An ordinary woman would have bitten her tongue to commit suicide, but Xi Fuhong was just a child who grew up in the valley.
Even though she was hurt all over, she didn’t have such noble sentiments.
“…I’m here to help you escape.” The child turned back after a while, looking at the now fully dressed Xi Fuhong.
She stared at him in surprise, seemingly half-believing.
The child was Luo Qingcheng’s servant, so why would he help an outsider like her? Could it be that Luo Qingcheng planned to release her? Would that terrifying woman like a demon let her go? Impossible…
“I really want to help you… Miss talked to the Alliance Leader yesterday, and today she plans to send you away, but…” The child stopped speaking, nervously clutching his hemp pants.
His round eyes darted around as he continued, “Last night, I heard… I heard your pleas for mercy when I passed by the dungeon… I was so scared… Miss has never beaten a prisoner like that before… I think you might be innocent, so I came to help you.”
“Aren’t you afraid Luo Qingcheng will punish you for letting me go?” Xi Fuhong frowned, surprised that the only clear-sighted person in Luo Residence was an eight-year-old child.
“It’s okay.
If a servant makes a mistake, at most they’ll miss a meal and sleep in the woodshed.
But seeing you beaten like this by Miss, I really feel sorry for you…” The child stood up, dusting off his clothes.
He took out a key from his pocket and unlocked the iron cuffs on Xi Fuhong’s wrists.
“Let’s go quickly.
If the Alliance Leader comes, I won’t be able to help you.”
Watching the small figure sneak out of the iron bars, Xi Fuhong felt a mix of emotions.
She wasn’t a criminal, nor did she lie to Luo Qingcheng.
But why did she hand herself over to the Alliance Leader? What did they plan to do to her next? Thinking of last night’s experience, Xi Fuhong’s eyes welled up with tears, but she stubbornly held them back.
“There’s no one outside.
I’ll take you out through the back door!” The child hurriedly said as he came down the stairs.
Seeing this, Xi Fuhong immediately followed.
At this time, the back courtyard of Luo Residence was very quiet.
All the servants of Luo Family had gone to the front hall to entertain the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, so no one was guarding the dungeon.
Luo Qingcheng had also gone to the front hall with Chen Tanghe early in the morning, so the child wasn’t called away, giving him the chance to help Xi Fuhong escape.
They smoothly reached the back door.
The child unlocked it and pushed Xi Fuhong out, then took out a crushed bun from his sleeve and handed it to her.
“I stole it from the kitchen.
Eat it on the way.” The child looked back cautiously, as if he heard something behind him.
“Thank you.” Xi Fuhong gratefully accepted it.
The child just smiled and quickly closed the door.
She didn’t leave immediately, just stood quietly by the door listening for any sounds inside.
At this moment, a similarly young girl’s voice came, asking where the child had gone, as Miss Luo was looking for him.
The child brushed it off vaguely, and the girl didn’t pursue it.
Their footsteps gradually faded away.
Xi Fuhong squeezed the bun in her hand, feeling both touched and ashamed.
She was saved by an eight-year-old child but had no chance to repay him.
After a few bites, she swallowed the food, gathered her strength, and started running towards the city.
When she was brought to Luo Residence, she had fainted, only to find that Luo Family was built on a small hill a little distance from the city.
The road was lush with greenery, birds chirping, and flowers blooming, making it hard to imagine that the head of Luo Family was a cold-blooded and cruel woman.
As she entered the long-lost crowd, her mood slightly calmed.
She didn’t dare stay long, as the city was only a short distance from Luo Family.
Thinking of this, she didn’t care which direction she was heading, just ran as fast as she could.
Originally, she had some silver given by Xiao Qiyu, but it was confiscated when she arrived at Luo Family, leaving her penniless.
She couldn’t buy a horse and could only rely on her legs to walk.
Xi Fuhong initially ran very fast, but as she got further from the city outskirts, she became out of breath and eventually could only walk slowly along the roadside.
During her days at Luo Residence, she only ate one meal a day, and that meal was just enough to keep her from starving.
She didn’t have much strength to begin with.
Although she had eaten a bun in the morning, she was already exhausted from running.
Swallowing a few times, she walked under a tree to rest in the shade.
Fortunately, the hot weather prevented the poison in her body from acting up, so she could still walk and stop intermittently.
Sitting down against the tree trunk, she was so tired that she lowered her head to rest.
In her ears, the cicadas chirped at the end of summer, and her originally chaotic thoughts gradually settled down as she listened.
She closed her eyes, slowing her breathing, savoring the taste of freedom.
