Upon hearing that his mother needed a water bottle, Zhu Haotian quickly took out a leather water bag from his waist and handed it to her.
"Mother, I have it."
Upon seeing this, Old Lady Zhu immediately handed Xixi over to her daughter-in-law, took out a dagger from her bosom, slashed her long skirt, and tore off several pieces of her clothes.
When everyone saw what Grandma Zhu did, they were immediately surprised and wanted to step forward to stop her.
Madam Liu then handed her own handkerchief to Old Madam Zhu, saying, "Mother, your clothes are already thin; you can't go on like this. Please take this and share it with everyone."
"No, this is a swaddle blanket to protect Xixi. You will wrap Xixi in your clothes and the swaddle blanket later. Make sure she doesn't inhale any dust."
Old Mrs. Zhu did not take the handkerchief from Liu's hand, but looked at Zhu Xixi in her arms and gave her instructions with a worried expression.
Seeing this, Liu dared not say anything more and could only re-tie the towel around herself and her daughter.
After pouring the water from the water bag in her hand onto a coarse cloth, Old Lady Zhu distributed it to her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson one by one, and then whispered her instructions.
"Listen carefully, when you go outside, make sure to cover your mouth and nose with a damp cloth to avoid inhaling dust, and run out of the bushes as fast as you can, understand?"
After receiving the wet cloths, everyone nodded in unison, tied the cloths to their faces, and lined up to walk out of the cave one by one.
Once out of the cave, the group rushed out of the bushes at great speed. The wild grass that had been blocking their path had been half burned by the fire the night before, making it much easier for them to move around during the day.
In less than half an hour, they crossed the grass and reached the slope of the official road, but everyone was walking too fast.
In addition, with wet cloths wrapped around their faces, they all quickly ripped off the cloths and gasped for breath after stepping out of the bushes.
Especially since Liu was carrying Zhu Xixi on her back for such a short distance, she was already panting heavily, her face flushed as she leaned against a big tree, breathing deeply.
The sound of her mother's heartbeat made Zhu Xixi, who was still asleep, groggily open her eyes. She blinked her long eyelashes blankly.
Its dark eyes looked around curiously at the fact that its family members were all breathing heavily.
Just as she was observing her family's situation, she heard Zhu Yanyan's sharp and sarcastic voice.
“Officer, there’s definitely something fishy about this. Zhu Shengan’s family hasn’t shown up since last night. I’m afraid these bandits are the ones they hired to fake their deaths and escape.”
Zhu Yanyan, who was helping everyone clean up the mess in the camp, angrily approached the escort.
Last night, bandits suddenly attacked the escorts. During their escape, the escorts were caught up by the bandits and had no choice but to fight back.
Several of them suffered knife wounds and injuries of varying degrees, and currently only two people are still able to escort the prisoners.
The remaining two escorts, who had been supported by Zhu Yanyan all the way, believed her without question. Their faces suddenly turned sinister, and they gripped their swords tightly, speaking viciously.
"The monk may run away, but the temple can't. If they really escape, we'll send a message by carrier pigeon to the border region, and someone will naturally handle this matter."
After hearing the escorts' reply, Zhu Yanyan smiled with satisfaction and turned around to continue helping her clansmen clean up the mess.
When Zhu Borong saw his daughter return, he immediately went up to her with a smile and asked, "What happened? What did the escort say?"
"Don't worry, the escort still believes that this was done by Old Lady Zhu's family. They will naturally suffer when they return."
While pretending to bend down to pack her luggage, Zhu Yanyan glanced back at the escort and quietly reported the battle situation to her father.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Borong clapped his hands happily and cheered, looking into the distance with resentment on his face, "Finally, I can vent this anger."
"But Yan Yan, why didn't we see Grandma Zhu's family's cart when we were cleaning up the mess?"
In response to her father's question, Zhu Yanyan calmly squatted down and pointed to the bushes not far away.
"They hid the cart last night. When they come back, we'll take the guards to arrest them. We'll catch them red-handed and see what they have to say then."
Zhu Borong had no idea that his daughter had already arranged everything. No wonder she kept sneaking out yesterday; she was secretly watching Zhu's family.
Knowing that his daughter had arranged everything, he felt instantly relieved and sat on the stone bench, humming a little tune happily.
Despite everything being arranged perfectly, Zhu Yanyan couldn't be happy. She always felt that the Zhu family seemed to know in advance what was about to happen.
Otherwise, why would they have hidden the two carts in advance? What puzzled her most was that these people had even secretly made gunpowder.
It seems she underestimated these "tools" (people who are just there to help); she needs to get rid of these troublesome individuals as soon as possible.
Just as Zhu Yanyan and Zhu Borong finished packing their belongings and brought Wen Xiuying to the clan to spread the news that Old Lady Zhu's family had escaped.
Zhu Xixi abruptly turned her gaze back, angrily pursing her small lips, her little mouth pouting so much that she cried out in a loud, babbling voice.
Wow! Absolutely shameless! They even dare to falsely accuse us of colluding with bandits?!
Not only did they falsely accuse us, but they also incited the clansmen to frame Grandma, intending to find the cart we had hidden as evidence.
That's so mean, you bastard, that despicable bastard!
She grew angrier the more she thought about it, waving her little hands angrily, her chubby little face turning red with anger.
After noticing her granddaughter's babbling, the observant old lady Zhu rushed to her daughter-in-law and asked her with concern.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, is it because Xixi ran too fast just now that she's feeling unwell?"
Liu's mind was completely on what her daughter had just been talking about, and she only realized what was going on later.
She shook her head with a worried look on her face and looked at Old Lady Zhu uneasily. "Mother, don't you find it strange that the bandits keep chasing us?"
Grandma Zhu was checking on her granddaughter by getting close to Liu's arms when she heard her daughter-in-law's words.
He was immediately taken aback, and looked up at his daughter-in-law in confusion, "Meixin, have you discovered something?"
"No, I just feel the whole thing is too strange. The bandits didn't find anything of value on us outside, so why are they chasing us?"
“Logically, they should have targeted Zhu Borong’s family, since they had fish and meat in their car.”
Not knowing how to fully express her daughter's feelings, Liu could only point the finger at Zhu Borong's family.
Unexpectedly, this statement resonated with everyone, and Zhu Chenfeng also nodded in agreement with a furrowed brow.
“That’s right, I think these bandits are strange, and last night it seemed like only our family was desperately trying to escape, why didn’t the others make a sound?”
“Yes, yes, I noticed that too. Why haven’t any other tribesmen come over after we’ve been on the slope for so long? That’s really strange.”
Zhu Haotian recalled the scene from last night and found it unbelievable; the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off.
Although the others were not present, they vaguely sensed that the whole incident was not as simple as a bandit robbery.
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