Chapter 20: The Perverse Old Man

For the sake of her child, she endured the heavy burden and discomfort of her body and nodded heavily.

"You must save the child. Forget about me, I beg you."

The middle-aged woman, having cast aside all thoughts of life and death, stared at Luo Qianfan and spoke with great difficulty.

"Rest assured, the child will be fine, and you—you will survive as well." Luo Qianfan curled her lips into a smile, her face radiating a glow of confidence.

With that, Luo Qianfan dismissed all the hidden guards in the vicinity and began the treatment. Nearby, Luo Yi assisted with silent, practiced efficiency.

After an unknown amount of time, a wail—"Wah... wah..."—echoed from the dilapidated temple. Everyone outside the door let out a sigh of relief.

It was a baby girl.

The moment the child was delivered, the middle-aged woman fainted, a smile of relief lingering on her lips. Luo Qianfan quickly lifted the infant from the mother's abdomen, tidied her up briefly, and placed her beside the woman.

Watching the little girl nestle against her mother, Luo Qianfan found her thoughts drifting to that perverted old man.

Seven years had passed, through countless days and nights. If not for that perverted old man, she likely would not have fared much better.

The original Luo Qianfan had been sent away from home at the age of eight to an obscure, small mountain village under the guise of praying for blessings and seeking redemption, though in reality, she had simply been discarded. The nursemaid there was a bully who favored the strong and preyed on the weak; having been bribed by the women of the Luo family’s inner courtyard, she subjected the girl to nothing but cold words and constant mistreatment. Initially, Luo Qianfan would fight back, but after the nursemaid tasted the pain, she tempered her approach, resorting only to underhanded tricks in the shadows.

If she had been born into an ordinary family, it might have been easier, but Luo Qianfan had grown up in the Luo