Cheng Yidao coughed until his face turned red, realizing for the first time that saliva could choke someone to death.

Zhao Qingyan whispered, "Uncle, sometimes it's best not to say anything even if you see through something, don't you think?"

Cheng Yidao nodded while coughing.

After all this commotion, it was getting late, and even if the caravan wanted to continue its journey, it couldn't.

So the caravan set up camp at the foot of the mountain, while the women and children started cooking over a fire on the mountain.

The village had no shortage of food. They chopped up all the cured meat in the kitchen, picked some vegetables from the garden, and cooked a meal that was so-so in taste but plentiful and oily.

Considering that women and children's stomachs may not be able to handle greasy and excessive food,

Zhao Qingyan still had them cook porridge, and for the first meal, they were not allowed to drink too much; each person could only have one bowl. If they got hungry in the middle of the night, they could start a fire to cook some more porridge.

The girls were quite obedient and didn't get upset that Zhao Qingyan wouldn't let them eat meat.

As expected, a troop of cavalry arrived at the foot of the mountain the following afternoon.

The officers and soldiers were quite surprised to see so many bandits bound tightly.

They are not to be trifled with; they are known for their ruthlessness, and those who run into them generally have no chance of survival.

This caravan is so impressive; it truly deserves its reputation as the premier imperial merchant group.

When they reached the mountain and saw the bandits beaten to a pulp, the officers and soldiers felt sorry for them.

He really wanted to say, "This is too cruel," when an uncle from the caravan said...

"We didn't do it to these people; it was the girls who beat them up."

The officer in charge was quite surprised, but after glancing at the girls, he understood.

That's normal; if it were me, I would definitely have chopped these menaces up.

Now that I've taken over, I can't just take it for nothing, can I?

Once the number of bandits was determined, they were chained together like a string of candied hawthorns.

They woke up the unconscious ones by splashing them with cold water, regardless of whether they could walk or not.

Anyway, we're taking them downhill. If we can't walk, we'll just drag them along, since it's downhill anyway.

Wherever they went, bloodstains were left on the ground.

After taking stock of the assets, it was found that there were not many large amounts of gold and silver, but there were many antique ornaments and fabrics.

Especially the grain; the warehouse was full, enough to feed an army of ten thousand for several days.

The Han family caravan and the girls had all retreated down the mountain by this time.

The Zhao family's caravan didn't officially set off until the third day. This time, they were delayed quite a bit, but at least they did something good.

The officers and soldiers were not traveling with the caravan, but fortunately, they had brought horse-drawn carriages with them.

To settle these girls, they followed the soldiers, which brought them closer to Qingyang County.

After observing, Zhao Qingyan found that the leading officer was somewhat righteous, and she slipped him a silver note containing four hundred taels of silver.

"After you have completed the household registration for these girls, please hire a security escort agency to send them to the Dongfang Embroidery Shop in Qingyang County."

If there's any silver left over, consider it an invitation for the official to have a cup of tea.

The young man in the lead, surnamed Wang and named Jin, naturally knew the approximate prices charged by the escort agency.

A quick calculation showed that they could save at least half the money, so they readily agreed.

He gave Fanghua another letter.

Zhao Qingyan then separated from the caravan and the soldiers.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been hanging around this area lately without leaving a trace, but I haven’t encountered any robbery since the Han family’s caravan left Lingnan.

It was unbearably hot at noon that day, so Cheng Yidao decided to rest at noon and continue his journey later when it wasn't so hot.

Everyone quickly unloaded the carriage, let the horses rest and eat some grass, and let the people eat some dry food to fill their stomachs.

When it's hot, traveling can be unbearably hot and you're prone to heatstroke. When it's cold, the further you travel from south to north, the colder it gets, and you feel like you need to wear two layers of clothing every day.

Anyway, being a merchant is just suffering.

"Brother Cheng, we haven't had meat for two days. How about we go for a stroll in the woods tonight and hunt a few pheasants?"

The one speaking is called Wei San.

He'd been with the caravan for over ten years. He had no other hobbies than eating meat and drinking alcohol. Drinking wasn't allowed while on a trade route, and with no meat to eat either, things got a bit tough.

Sure enough, as soon as he sat down, he started shouting.

Whether it was his resentment or not, a number of rabbits soon came running out of the forest.

Occasionally, pheasants would suddenly take flight with a loud thud.

This was clearly not right. Everyone immediately drew their weapons, ready to fight.

It's clearly too late to escape now.

Soon, several wild boars came running out of the forest; judging by their size, it was clear they were a family.

Clearly, they were hunting by the mountainside to teach their piglets hunting skills.

Unfortunately, they ran out of the forest and bumped into a group of humans who were desperately craving meat.

When the wild boars saw so many two-legged creatures standing outside the forest, the boar parents were overjoyed. With a squeal, they charged straight towards the group.

It's obvious that the two-legged creature has more meat than the rabbit. But the pig father and mother overlooked the power of the glutton.

Working in groups of several, the piglets were quickly taken down. Only the pig parents remained, putting in the hard work.

You slash him with your knife, he stabs you with his sword. Wild boars are already tough and thick-skinned, and they like to rub themselves against trees to get resin, and then cover themselves with mud, making their protective shell even harder.

It's not easy to kill it, but you can hurt it. This further irritated Pig Daddy.

Those who can become fathers are naturally not ordinary people.

It can think, and these tall, two-legged creatures are clearly not easy to deal with.

Hmph, you bully my child, then I'll bully your child too.

As a result, Zhao Qingyan, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, became the primary target of Pig Dad's attack.

Just as Pig Daddy was about to rush in front of Zhao Qingyan, no one reacted in time. His speed was probably the fastest ever seen in a pig's life.

Just as everyone was holding their breath for Zhao Qingyan, a large steel axe appeared in her hand without anyone noticing.

She raised the axe high and slammed it down hard with the back of the axe.

With a "thud," a huge bloody hole appeared on the head of Pig Dad, who thought he was sure to succeed, and his body, which had been charging forward, crashed to the ground.

The last pig mother, distracted by the tragic death of her pig father, was stabbed in the eye by Cheng Yidao.

It let out its final lament.

The wild boar family lined up neatly together.

Wei San, who loves meat, was so happy he didn't know what to say.

"Hey Cheng, there's so much meat! Shall we cook a pot of it now?"

Cheng Yidao looked at him.

"Boiling a pot isn't a problem, but we don't have any water here. Why don't you go get some?"

The nearest water source is at least another hour's walk away. This back-and-forth trip will not only leave us with very little water, but will also cause us delays.

After discussing it, we decided to bleed the meat on the spot, skin and gut it, throw away the internal organs, wrap the remaining meat in an oilcloth, wash it thoroughly at the next water source, and then cook it.