Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

Chunhua County, Longyou Circuit. County Government Office.

From the capital to this desolate land, in just half a month, the Zhao family had been tortured to the point of being emaciated. Madam Zhao was on her last legs, clinging to life only with medicine. Zhao Li knew that this was no longer a demotion, but a slow, agonizing death.

"Father..." Zhao Qingyun huddled in the corner, her voice trembling with tears, "Mother's cough has gotten worse."

Zhao Qingyi stood by the window, her hand on her sword. Looking out at the dark, rainy night, her once proud almond-shaped eyes were now filled with a deathly despair. The dream of a noble lady from the capital had shattered.

"Qingyi," Zhao Li's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together, "I have something to say."

Zhao Li looked at his two daughters, his cloudy old eyes reflecting an almost insane determination in the dim candlelight.

"Our Zhao family is finished." Zhao Li's voice was soft, but it felt like a heavy hammer blow to the heart. "Your mother won't make it through this winter. This old man of yours won't be able to hold you for more than a few days."

"Father! Please don't say that!" Zhao Qingyun cried and rushed over.

"Listen to me, Father!" Zhao Li slammed his hand on the table, making the candlelight flicker. "If it weren't for those two benefactors along the way, the Zhao family would have been wiped out long ago. I've realized that the court can't be trusted, and the Privy Council wants us dead. The only ones we can rely on are those two who saved us."

Zhao Qingyi bit her lip, her hand gripping the sword hilt tightly. She thought of the man in black, the man who, like a ghost, reaped lives at the post station and the mountain temple. She hated his mystery, yet she craved the little bit of security he brought her.

"What does Father intend to do?" Zhao Qingyi raised her head, her eyes flashing with stubbornness. "Go to the capital to appeal to the Emperor? Or gather our old subordinates and fight the Privy Council?"

"Fight?" Zhao Li gave a bitter laugh, pointing to the dilapidated county government office. "What are we going to fight with? My old bones, and your mother's ailing body? The result of fighting would be that you two sisters would be captured by those people and die in humiliation!"

He was panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot, and said, word by word, "The only way to survive is to marry you off to that benefactor in black."

"What?!" Zhao Qingyi was struck dumb and took a step back.

"Father! Have you gone mad? That man... that man doesn't even dare to show his face, you want to marry your daughter to someone like that?"

"Insolence!" Zhao Li roared, struggling to his feet, pointing at Zhao Qingyi's nose, "What do you know! In this world, what's the value of face? Staying alive is the most important thing! Do you know who he is? I don't, but I do know he has earth-shattering abilities! With him around, those scum in the Privy Council won't dare touch us!"

"But Father..." Zhao Qingyun was terrified, her face pale, and she huddled in the corner, trembling. "I don't want to marry a masked man..."

"You have no choice!" Zhao Li's voice was resolute, carrying a desperate ruthlessness. "Qingyi, didn't you boast of your superb swordsmanship? You couldn't even touch the hem of that person's clothes! Qingyun, weren't you gentle and filial? This is the time for you to repay your parents' kindness in raising you!"

Just then—

"Clatter".

A drop of rain fell from the leaky roof and extinguished the candle on the table.

The room was plunged into darkness in an instant.

The heartbeats of Zhao Li, Zhao Qingyi, and Zhao Qingyun resounded like drums in the darkness.

"Who?!" Zhao Qingyi shouted sharply, holding her long sword across her chest, her back against her sister.

There was no response in the darkness. Only a faint scent, mixed with rust and a biting cold wind, permeated the room.

Despite his failing eyesight, Zhao Li, guided by his intuition, knelt tremblingly in the direction of the aura.

"My benefactor... Zhao Li, I thank you for saving my life on several occasions!"

He kowtowed deeply, "My benefactor's kindness is beyond repayment. Now, Zhao Li has nothing of value but his two unworthy daughters, which he wishes to offer to my benefactor to serve by his side, in order to repay Heaven's grace!"

Silence remained in the darkness.

Zhao Qingyi's hand gripping the sword trembled. She couldn't see anyone, but she felt a pair of cold eyes scrutinizing her in the darkness. That gaze was like a knife, peeling away her clothes, seeing through her pride, and chilling her to the bone.

"Father! Get up quickly!" Zhao Qingyi cried out anxiously, "We don't need this kind of underhanded favor!"

"Lord Zhao," a hoarse, deep voice finally rang out in the darkness, devoid of any emotion, "I saved you not for any reward."

"Yes, it was I who overstepped my bounds." Zhao Li knelt on the ground, his forehead touching the earth. "But benefactor, my days are numbered. I only beg you, benefactor, to take care of these two orphaned children and take them in. Even as maids or servants, it would be better than being humiliated and killed by those people!"

In the darkness, those eyes turned to Zhao Qingyun, who was huddled in the corner.

Zhao Qingyun was terrified, but within that chilling murderous aura, she sensed a subtle... scrutiny.

"Sister..." Zhao Qingyun cried, clutching Zhao Qingyi's sleeve tightly, as if it were her last lifeline.

Zhao Qingyi gritted her teeth and stared intently at the aura in the darkness.

Just then, a heart-wrenching cough came from the inner room, followed by a maid's panicked cry: "Master! Come quickly!"

Zhao Li scrambled towards the inner room. Zhao Qingyi and Zhao Qingyun, disregarding the presence in the darkness, hurriedly rushed in as well.

On the dilapidated bed, Madam Zhao's face was ashen, her breath faint, and her already frail body was now even more emaciated. Her cloudy eyes struggled to open, staring intently in the direction of the doorway, the place where she and her sisters had come in.

"Mother..." Zhao Qingyun threw herself at the bedside, sobbing uncontrollably.

Tears streamed down Zhao Li's face as he trembled as he grasped his wife's hand: "My lady... hold on, hold on..."

In the darkness, a tall figure appeared silently in the doorway, blocking the faint light that leaked in from outside. He didn't come in, but simply stood there quietly, like a cold stone monument.

Madam Zhao's withered fingers twitched. Her gaze passed over her weeping daughter and her distraught husband, fixing fixedly on the black silhouette in the doorway. She seemed to have used her last strength, letting out a hoarse sound from her throat, her eyes wide open.

"My...wife..." Zhao Li cried out in despair, turning to look at the man in black at the door, his voice hoarse, "My benefactor! My wife..."

The man in black remained silent, his exposed eyes revealing no emotion in the shadows.

Madam Zhao gasped for breath, and with her last ounce of strength, gripped Zhao Li's sleeve tightly, her nails digging almost into his flesh. Her voice was barely audible, yet carried an undeniable resolve: "Master... while I... still have a breath left... marry off... those two wretched children..."

"Madam!" Zhao Li cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Marry her!" Madam Zhao glared at him, her eyes bulging with fury. "Before I... pass away... I'll see... them... have... someone to rely on! Otherwise... I'll die... with my eyes open in disbelief!"

She turned her head sharply, her cloudy eyes fixed on the man in black at the door. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a complete sound. She could only plead and beg with her eyes over and over again.

The man in black remained silent.

Zhao Qingyi felt ice-cold all over. She looked at her mother's dying face, which was filled with fear and pleading—not fear of death, but fear of her daughter's future fate.

She knew that her mother was using her last breath to exchange for a life-saving charm from this mysterious and terrifying man for her and her sister.

"Mother..." Zhao Qingyi knelt and crawled to the bedside, crying, and grasped her mother's withered hand. "I will not marry. I will stay with you and Father..."

"Snapped!"