The three people who were originally lying or lying face down began to make rustling noises after snoring came from the direction of Fu Lu.

One of them struggled to arch their body to catch sight of Fu Lu and the others, helping their companions keep watch.

The one who earlier discovered their knot wasn’t fully tied also started working, cautiously moving their wrist up and down, attempting to loosen the already untied knot even more.

After secretly fussing for a long time, the not-so-secure knot gradually began to loosen.

The person didn’t dare move excessively and cautiously slipped one hand out of the rope, focusing steadily on Fu Lu in the distance. Seeing that his snoring hadn’t changed, he gradually grew bolder, carefully sitting up and reaching for the rope on his legs.

After a few glances to ensure he hadn’t alerted the others, he finally untied all the ropes on himself, carefully rolled over, and crawled to his companion, trying to untie the tightly bound knot as well.

But before he could loosen the tight knot, Fu Lu’s snoring suddenly stopped, followed by a loud shout from afar: "They’re trying to escape!"

The three were terribly startled, and upon looking up, they saw that Fu Wen, who had gone to sleep earlier, had somehow returned, spotted their movements, shouted in anger, and woke the dozing Fu Lu. The two were running toward them.

"You go quickly, don’t worry about us. They haven’t achieved their purpose yet, so they won’t harm us! Go back and get the brothers to come and rescue us! Get going!" The one whose rope wasn’t yet untied hastily nudged his companion with a shoulder, signaling him to flee quickly.

The person was initially reluctant but then remembered Fu Lu’s previous words about "two fists being unable to fight four hands." He dared not hesitate longer, hurriedly abandoning his two companions for now and quickly darted into the dark forest behind, his figure soon disappearing into the woods.

Fu Lu, fiercely chasing to the front, initially wanted to continue rushing into the forest, but Fu Wen held him back.

"Don’t be reckless! The forest is dark and deep, and that guy surely knows the area better than you. If you charge in blindly, you might not catch anybody and even suffer a loss!

Stay with these two, or else if we neglect one thing to address another, and these two run away, we’ll really be in trouble!

Our two lords are still resting, and we can’t just leave them here while all of us chase over. It’s not prudent!" Fu Wen shook his head at Fu Lu.

Fu Lu looked unwilling but reluctantly stopped in his tracks.

Fu Wen bent down to check the ropes on the two people on the ground, ensuring they weren’t loose, then he and Fu Lu each picked one up and, complaining under their breath, moved the two "prisoners" to a closer and more watchable spot.

After another while, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu, who were supposed to be resting on the carriage, also got down. They both looked energetic, not at all like they were groggy from sleep.

"Where’s the other one?" Lu Qing looked at the two people tied to the tree and asked Fu Wen beside him.

Fu Wen smiled: "He’s already run away."

Lu Qing nodded and turned to ask Zhu Yu: "We couldn’t have a good meal because of their disturbance tonight. Are you hungry now?"

"Now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry." Zhu Yu nodded casually.

"Didn’t you catch a wild rabbit when you went out to collect firewood today?" Lu Qing gestured to Fu Lu, "Second Lord is hungry, bring out the rabbit for me."

Fu Lu immediately responded and ran to get the previously caught wild rabbit.

The two originally thought Lu Qing and Zhu Yu would be furious because a captive escaped due to their subordinates dozing off, but they found both of them surprisingly calm. This unusual attitude made the two feel unsettled.

Zhu Yu slowly walked to a spot about ten feet away from the two, hands on hips, and looked over the disheveled "prisoners."

"I say, why are you so stubborn? Despite your tough appearance, you have no bandit vibe at all... you can’t even pretend!" Zhu Yu lamented, shook his head, and sighed, "Originally, my brother had some patience with you. He thought the worst would be to starve you for a night, let you suffer a bit, and then we’d give you some food and have an open and candid talk tomorrow. Wouldn’t that be great?

But what happened? In the dark of night, your companion sneaked away! Don’t be fooled by my brother’s calm appearance; in fact, as I know him, he’s already boiling inside."

While speaking, Zhu Yu glanced back at Lu Qing, who was waiting expressionlessly for Fu Lu to bring the rabbit: "Look at him now; doesn’t it seem like he’s emotionless?

In reality, that’s how he is. The angrier he gets, the less you can see it on his face, but when it comes to action...

The calmer he looks, the more ruthless he is with his hands...

So, if you still want to live, don’t stubbornly resist. While the situation can still be salvaged, tell us the truth, so we can communicate properly.

Where have you hidden Prince Lan’s eldest grandson?"

Initially, the two thought Zhu Yu was just bluffing, trying to trick them, and looked disdainful, not even glancing at him.

But upon hearing the last sentence, they both were taken aback, instinctively looking at Zhu Yu, their surprise and nervousness so evident that even the thick darkness couldn’t hide it.

One quickly realized and hurriedly averted his gaze, trying to hide his panic by not looking at Zhu Yu, though it was a futile attempt.

The other, slightly calmer than his companion, quickly regained composure and coldly snorted, saying: "What nonsense are you talking about? We’re just ordinary mountain bandits, robbing for leisure and freedom. What Prince Lan, what eldest grandson, we have nothing to do with them. We don’t even know who you’re talking about!"

Meanwhile, Lu Qing, holding the rabbit Fu Lu had given him in one hand and a dagger in the other, approached, stopped in front of Zhu Yu, raised the rabbit and knife slightly, and asked, "You or me?"

Zhu Yu looked at the rabbit and said, "Why use a sledgehammer to kill a fly? It’s just a rabbit, you do it."

The two tightly bound "mountain bandits" glanced peculiarly at Zhu Yu upon hearing this.

To them, the tall and strong "big brother" Lu Qing should be the tough one, while the words of this much smaller, youthful-looking lad sounded like mere nonsense.