Chapter 248 Do Not Disturb My Daughter's Rest

• As Corey had foreseen, the masked marauders had descended upon the village, their intentions as dark and foreboding as their concealed faces. Cloaked in an aura of enigma, their identities and origins were veiled in impenetrable secrecy. The village square, a sea of anxious souls numbering close to a thousand, buzzed with a mixture of dread and curiosity. Among them were the villagers, their faces etched with fear, but the majority were travelers who had ventured from distant lands.
• Initially, the villagers had made a valiant effort to resist the onslaught. But when the masked assailants, with cold efficiency, silenced a defiant voice with a merciless slash, a palpable terror swept through the crowd. The sight of life extinguished so abruptly had rendered their courage to dust.
• In this chaotic tableau, the leader of the masked band, wielding a blade that seemed to swallow the light, surveyed the crowd with a gaze as cold as winter's breath. His eyes, glinting with a malevolent glee, scanned the assembly with a predatory hunger. "Rumor has it," he announced in a voice that sliced through the tension, "that among you, there is a wealthy daughter-in-law from a prominent southern family. Tell me, who might she be?"