"Brother, there seems to be no movement at Prince Yong's mansion! Could it be that those two boys aren't actually princes from the mansion?" Da Lin and Scarface hid in a corner of the side wall of Prince Yong's mansion, observing the movements at the mansion gate.

Actually, before they arrived, the men sent by the Fourth Master had already left through the side gate. They only saw the Fourth Master's carriage come out, and there was nothing else unusual.

"No, we have to go and find out. Dalin, shall we try to get some information from the gatekeeper?" Scarface said unwillingly.

“How can they talk about things inside the manor with outsiders? Brother, why don’t we arrest one of them and interrogate him?” Da Lin said.

“Not just anyone would know about our master’s affairs. Forget it, I’ll buy paper and pen and go back to have that kid write a ransom note. Anyway, we want the money, let’s see how they respond,” Scarface said.

Meanwhile, the man who went out to hunt actually caught some, and he returned happily carrying two rabbits.

"Hey, Wu, you actually caught a rabbit!" The two guards who were chatting at the door were also happy to see that Wu had indeed brought back a rabbit.

"Hmm, do you guys know how to roast rabbit?" A-Wu asked smugly.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve made this, I should be able to bake it,” one of them said.

“Why don’t we let the two kids inside roast it? They’re just kids, they can’t run away. We can just keep an eye on them. Why should we serve them rabbits?” another person said.

“Good, let them come out and grill it. That kid says he’s really good at grilling.” A-Wu tossed the rabbit onto someone. “You go gut it and wash it clean.”

A-Wu then walked towards the room where Hongli and Hongzhou were in charge, and personally took out the key and unlocked the large lock.

Hongli and Hongzhou remained slumped on the ground, too weak to do anything due to hunger.

"Did you catch any wild animals?" Hongli heard the rattling of the iron locks outside and knew that the person had arrived, and that he must have caught some.

"We've got them. Get up, go out and help roast the rabbit," A-Wu said.

"Brother, our hands and feet are tied, how can we help?" Hongli said with a slight smile.

“That’s easy, I’ll open it for you. But if you try to escape, I’ll catch you and hang you all from the roof beams.” A-Wu thought the boy in front of him was just a child, so he said with a stern face.

"Don't worry, we're so hungry we don't even have the strength to stand up, how could we possibly escape?" Hongli quickly retorted.

“Yes, we can’t even stand up,” Hongzhou chimed in.

Seeing that they did indeed look listless, A-Wu personally untied the ropes for the two of them.

Only then were Hongli and Hongzhou able to move their hands and feet. Being tied up was really uncomfortable; all their joints and muscles ached.

After the two of them followed A-Wu out, Hongli realized that they seemed to be in the mountains, because there was no sound at all around, except for the occasional bird chirping, and the distant mountain peaks shrouded in mist could be vaguely seen.

Hongli considered the mountains surrounding the capital. Apart from the Yanshan Mountains near the Great Wall to the north, there were no mountains to the south. Were he and Hongzhou really to the north? Judging from the exterior of the house, it was dilapidated and abandoned, likely a place no one lived in. So, this was the lair of notorious bandits?

In another room, the two guards had already gathered firewood and set up a simple grill.

"Do you have any salt?" Hongli walked up to the grill, turned the two rabbits that were already skewered on the branches a few times, and asked.

"Where would we get salt in this desolate wilderness?" A-Wu said. "Hey, Boss, you were in such a hurry that you only left some dried biscuits and steamed buns."

Hongli and Hongzhou exchanged a glance, and then Hongzhou said, "I do know where we can get salt, but I don't know if you'd be willing to go and get it."

"Where?" A-Wu asked hurriedly.

“Look for those whitish stones in the mountains; they're probably where the salt is,” Hongli said.

"This mountain is so big, where am I supposed to start looking?" A-Wu shook his head and said, then stared at Hongli suspiciously, "Kid, are you up to something?"

“I meant well, but my elder brother is suspicious. Well then, let’s just make do with what we have. It’s better than nothing,” Hongli quickly said.

Several notorious bandits leaned against the side watching the brothers Hongli and Hongzhou roast a rabbit, and gradually the aroma of meat wafted out. The men began to drool; these bandits were used to eating and drinking, and being forced to eat only steamed buns and flatbread here was incredibly frustrating for them.

When Hongli and Hongzhou saw that the rabbit was almost cooked, they looked at each other. In fact, they had already discussed how to proceed in the small room they were in.

"Big brother, it's ready to eat!" Hongli said, picking up a roasted rabbit.

The three of them couldn't wait any longer, so they immediately stepped forward, tore the rabbit apart, and began to devour it.

"You two eat too!" A-Wu said, taking a bite of a rabbit leg. The rabbit was roasted to a perfect crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, and it was delicious. Although it wasn't salted, the bandits still ate it with great relish.

Hongli and Hongzhou also started tearing apart and eating the other rabbit. If they wanted to escape, they had to eat their fill first to have the strength, right?

Halfway through the meal, Hongli felt a bit uncomfortable in his stomach and said, "Brother, I need to go to the toilet!"

Ah Wu was enjoying his meal when he glanced at Hongli and said, "Then go ahead. Just turn right after you leave the house, and walk straight to the end. There's an outhouse there. Don't try anything funny. If you run out alone and get carried off by wolves, I won't be responsible."

They were enjoying their meal and had no intention of putting down the rabbit to follow Hongli. After all, the surrounding area was all mountain paths, and Hongzhou was still there, so they weren't afraid that Hongli would run away.

Hongli had taken this into account, so he pretended to have a stomachache. In fact, he didn't have a stomachache at all. He just wanted to take a closer look at his surroundings and see where he was.

Hongli quickly replied, "Don't worry, elder brother. I'm all skinny and thin, how could I run far? Besides, my younger brother is right here!"

After Hongli stepped out of the house and walked to the right until he reached the end, he finally realized where he was. It turned out that he was indeed in the mountains, surrounded by forests. It was quite strange to find a farmhouse like this here.

Could this be a hunter's hut in the mountains? That's the only possibility, but the hut is quite large, unlike a hunter's dwelling. Hongli walked around the farmhouse and found traces of pigs and chickens being raised, but they had clearly not been used for a long time and had long been abandoned.

Hongli looked around at the dense forest again. If he ran out like this, he might really be attacked by wild animals.