Gou Sheng was startled, his eyes lighting up with excitement. He nodded repeatedly, "Sister Yi Mian, don't worry, leave the hawthorn picking to me. I'll definitely pick a whole basketful to take back."
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and climbed up the hawthorn tree in a few quick movements, picking a handful of hawthorns and throwing them into his basket.
The movements were executed in one smooth motion, as if they were performing something sacred.
Jiang Yimian found it amusing, told the others to be careful, and then left her basket behind before heading towards the outer edge of the mountain.
After walking for more than an hour, we finally saw a thatched hut built not far away.
There were only three thatched huts last time I visited, but now there are six.
The refugees who were lying on the ground were gone; only a few were cooking taro in front of the thatched hut.
As soon as Wang Zhuzi saw her, he rushed over to greet her, his face full of joy. "Miss Jiang, you've finally come! My wife and children are all better, and so are the other refugees. They drank that ginger water and they've stopped coughing. They're all out digging taro and picking walnuts now."
At first, he was desperate and thought Jiang Yimian's method was unreliable, but he didn't have any better options, so he could only have everyone try drinking ginger water and fumigating with mugwort.
Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the fever of those refugees that had been unable to break down subsided, and the cough that had been persistent also stopped.
Although the group wasn't exactly jumping around, they were much better and at least had the energy to go out and find something to eat.
They've dug up quite a few taro recently. Although eating them three times a day is really tiring, no one would say anything as long as it fills their stomachs.
They were overjoyed to see the group of people, who had been so thin and frail that they looked like they could be blown away by the wind, gradually regain their spirits.
Jiang Yimian also breathed a sigh of relief. Now that these people were better, she no longer had to worry about it developing into a plague, and the small depression would not be affected.
Just as I was about to leave, I saw Wang Zhuzi stammering, as if he had something to say but didn't know how to start.
Jiang Yimian asked curiously, "What's wrong? Just say what you want to say."
Wang Zhuzi scratched his head before hesitatingly saying, "Liu Xiaofei and the others ran away."
Jiang Yimian raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised.
Now that the village at the foot of the mountain is occupied, and Wang Zhuzi and his group are on the mountain, they are not allowed to dig taro to eat. They still dig tree roots to eat every day. They are neither full nor starving. It would be strange if they did not run away. Jiang Yimian has to give them a thumbs up for being able to last a month before running away.
Wang Zhuzi was still a little uneasy, but he gritted his teeth and continued, "A few days ago, Liu Dafei and the others were also sick, but they refused to drink the ginger water, saying that you had given it to them to poison them, and they didn't drink a drop."
As a result, Liu Dafei's condition worsened, and he was constantly dizzy and disoriented, yet he still insisted on digging up tree roots to eat. Coupled with his persistent leg injury, he lost his footing and fell down a hillside, dying instantly.
Jiang Yimian was somewhat surprised, not expecting Liu Dafei to die like that.
Although she didn't go to see the three of them, she glanced at them from afar and confirmed that they were just coughing, so she didn't bother them. She believed that as long as they drank the ginger water, they would get better.
Unexpectedly, the others thought she had poisoned the drink and refused to drink it, but this had nothing to do with her.
After thinking for a moment, she asked, "What about Li Xiaofang?"
Wang Zhuzi was a little embarrassed for a moment, and touched his nose before saying, "She ran away with Liu Xiaofei and his son. I guess they ran towards the town."
If the three hadn't run away, they wouldn't have known that Liu Dafei had died in the crash.
This woman is truly heartless. Seeing her husband die, she not only ignored him but also ran off with her brother-in-law.
Jiang Yimian nearly choked on her own saliva, and it took her a while to recover before she asked in surprise, "Did Liu Dafei really die from the fall?"
She felt there was more to the story!
Wang Zhuzi shook his head and said uncertainly, "We don't know either. When we found him, Liu Dafei had already slid down the hillside and died. There was indeed a big rock next to him."
It looked like he had accidentally fallen. Li Xiaofang and Liu Xiaofei and his son had already run away, and they didn't know exactly what had happened, so they could only hastily bury Liu Dafei.
Jiang Yimian nodded, not paying much attention.
Regardless of how Liu Dafei died, it had nothing to do with her. With these people gone, the mountain was much more peaceful, and she couldn't be bothered to find out where they were going.
Seeing that Jiang Yimian really didn't care, Wang Zhuzi breathed a sigh of relief. He had been uneasy for the past few days, afraid that Jiang Yimian would blame them for not keeping a close eye on the people. Not only did one person die, but the other two also ran away.
Seeing that many of those who went to dig for taro had returned, he was about to call Jiang Yimian to go and see his wife and son.
Jiang Yimian suddenly asked, "Have you seen any bandits coming up the mountain in the last few days?"
Wang Zhuzi paused, thought for a while, and then shook his head. "I haven't seen any bandits heading up the mountain, but the mountain stronghold doesn't seem to be very peaceful lately."
Jiang Yimian frowned.
Wang Zhuzi lowered his voice and said, "There's a person tied up at the entrance of the stronghold. Every day, the bandits go and whip him. It's bloody and terrifying. It's been going on for several days now. I don't know if that person is dead or alive."
If he hadn't gone halfway up the mountain to dig for taro, he would never have discovered it. He could see the bloodstains on the ground from a great distance, and he was terrified. He only told the people on the mountain not to go down recently, because they might be captured by bandits to vent their anger.
Jiang Yimian found it strange. Although bandits were known for their unpredictable tempers and arrogant behavior, they wouldn't just casually tie someone up at the gate of the stronghold to vent their anger.
Something must have happened in the mountain stronghold.
Thinking it over, she said goodbye to Wang Zhuzi and headed towards the woods at the foot of the mountain.
Fearing being discovered, she stopped some distance from the watchtower at the foot of the mountain and crouched in a bush, peering towards the entrance of the mountain village.
There were four or five men standing at the entrance of the stronghold, each holding a whip. The scarred man at the head of the group sneered and said, "You dare to be a traitor? Don't blame the brothers in the stronghold for being ruthless. Don't worry, we will send your family down to keep you company."
As soon as he finished speaking, the scarred man swung his whip and lashed the man tied to the doorway.
The already bloody wound was ripped open again, but the person being beaten didn't make a sound, and his muscles didn't even twitch. He was clearly dead.
The scarred man lashed the man a few more times, but found it boring. "Hey, a dead person isn't fun. You guys can throw him to feed the dogs in the stronghold later."
After saying that, the scarred man left.
The others, except for a lame man who wasn't whipped, whipped the corpse severely before putting it down from the entrance of the stronghold and dragging it into the stronghold.
Jiang Yimian was somewhat surprised. She watched the bandits leave before carefully climbing the mountain. Why did she see a familiar face among them?
After thinking it over carefully, she realized she hadn't seen it clearly and assumed she was just seeing things.
The affairs of the mountain stronghold have nothing to do with them. As long as she doesn't want to go up the mountain to deal with them, she can rest assured for the time being.
However, the feeling of constantly worrying that counterfeiters will attack is indeed unpleasant.
Moreover, she was genuinely curious about what the bandits meant by the traitor.
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