"Brother Zhao, could this guy be connected to the bandits, deliberately wasting our time and playing us for a fool?"
The thought of this possibility made Ma Ming wish he could rush over right now and bring the person down from the tree.
Zhao Da glanced at the people in the tree, and although he was reluctant to admit it, he still shook his head. "They are just ordinary people, and have nothing to do with the people from the mountain stronghold. As for whether they are playing us for a fool, we don't know."
He now actually hopes the other party is a fake, so he can just arrest them and question them instead of wasting time here.
Upon hearing this, Ma Ming's dark and thin face became even more anxious. "Then what do we do now? Are we really going to wait here? She doesn't know how cunning those bandits are, but you should know that."
They had considered using this method long ago, but the bandits were good at hiding and rarely came alone. The government had made several attempts to arrest them, but to no avail. Once, they finally caught a lone person, but before they could ask him a few questions, the man swallowed the poison he had hidden in his mouth and committed suicide.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to infiltrate the mountain stronghold.
Zhao Da sighed helplessly, staring at the path leading down the mountain to the stronghold, and said irritably, "What can we do? Let's just wait and see. There's nothing we can do. Let's just listen to Miss Jiang for now."
The two sighed simultaneously and silently stared at the road below the mountain.
Lin Yan'an, however, was not convinced that Jiang Yimian's method was truly a case of waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump. Just from the fact that she used him as bait to kill the wolf, he knew that this person must be extraordinary; otherwise, she wouldn't have specifically mentioned her to the county magistrate.
He wanted to see what tricks the other party was playing.
I have to say, he was right.
Jiang Yimian didn't really intend to wait here in vain. She was just trying her luck and planned to sneak into the mountain stronghold alone after dark to carefully check the situation inside.
The reason I'm here is twofold: first, I want Zhao Da and the others to have something to do; second, I want to verify my own conjecture.
She had seen bandits driving horse-drawn carts back from here twice during the Shen time (3-5 PM), guessing that they were going out to buy supplies, but she didn't know how often the bandit stronghold would go out to buy supplies.
Just then, I heard the chaotic sound of horses' hooves in the distance.
She opened her eyes instantly, leaped down the tree, and came to Zhao Da and the others.
The three were still a bit confused, only startled by the other party's elusive appearance. Before they could ask anything, they heard the other party say coldly, "You're here."
The three of them instantly dropped their nonchalant expressions and stared intently at the road below the mountain.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, six or seven men driving horse-drawn carriages appeared at the end of the road.
There were three carriages, with many things fixed to their roofs, but they were covered by black cloth, so it was impossible to tell what they were.
The carriage traveled for a while but then stopped.
Zhao Da frowned, somewhat unsure of what was going on.
Jiang Yimian heard the conversation between the bandits very clearly.
"Oh, brother, I can't hold it in anymore, let me go downstairs and pee, or I'll wet my pants," a male voice pleaded.
"Lazy ox and lazy horse poop and pee a lot. What's wrong with you, kid? We're almost there. Go back to the mountain stronghold to pee."
"Brother, I'm begging you, I really can't hold it in anymore. If we keep bouncing like this, I'm going to pee in the carriage. If you don't care about your brother, at least care about all this food in the carriage. Hurry up."
Upon hearing this, the others also laughed and cursed.
"You disgusting brat, go pee right now. Don't take the carriage, walk back by yourself. We're not waiting for you."
"That's right, don't bring that urine stench to the food, or I'll have to think of you every time I eat. Get lost."
The man who had initially refused laughed, and seeing the bandit camp nearby, he cursed, "You better get lost, or I'll skin you alive."
As soon as he finished speaking, the person who couldn't hold back responded quickly, jumped off the carriage, and disappeared into the woods, while the others continued driving the carriage on their way.
Jiang Yimian raised an eyebrow, signaling Lin Yan'an to stay there. Ignoring the dissatisfaction on his face, she led Zhao Da and Ma Ming away from the bushes and walked through the woods.
The lone bandit was no longer in a hurry. He looked around before carefully digging a hole in the ground. Just as he took out the money bag he had hidden in his arms, a knife was placed against his neck.
The bright, cold light startled him so much that he shuddered. Just as he was about to scream, his mouth was quickly stuffed with a handful of sand.
His throat was stuffed with mud and sand, preventing him from making a sound. He dared not move, enduring the strange-tasting, foul-smelling mud and sand in his mouth, and kneeling on the ground with his hands raised, begging for mercy.
Damn it, he's a bandit who's never even threatened anyone with a knife, yet he's the one being threatened by others.
Zhao Da stared coldly at the man in front of him and warned, "You'd better behave yourself. I'll cut off your head before you even scream and spit out the sand in your mouth."
The bandit nodded hurriedly, coughed a few times, and finally managed to spit out the mud and sand in his mouth. Suddenly, his jaw was forcefully pinched open, and he felt as if his bones were shattered.
Jiang Yimian glanced at him, and only after confirming that there was no poison hidden in his mouth did she reluctantly let go. Staring at the person in front of her, she said with a half-smile, "Uncle Er Gou, long time no see!"
When they tied someone up at the village gate last time, Jiang Yimian spotted the other person. She thought she was seeing things, but now she was sure she wasn't mistaken.
It surprised her that Zhao Sandao hadn't killed Wang Ergou after all this time.
The person in front of me hasn't changed much from six months ago, except that he's missing an ear and has a slight limp, making him look a bit older. But the cleverness that always glints in his eyes is still the same as before.
Wang Ergou was stunned and didn't react for a while. After a while, he suddenly widened his eyes and stared at Jiang Yimian for a long time before saying in a somewhat disbelieving tone, "Jiang, Jiang family girl, you, you guys are not, you're not dead? You've been on the mountain for the past six months?"
He couldn't believe that the fair-skinned, delicate-looking girl in front of him was the same slovenly, sallow, and thin person he had seen just over half a year ago.
He personally witnessed the entire mountaintop engulfed in flames during that wildfire. If this person survived, does that mean the others didn't die either?
The thought of this possibility made him quite excited.
He didn't kill any of the villagers.
Jiang Yimian did not answer him, but said coldly, "Tell me everything you know about the mountain stronghold. If you tell me even a single lie, I'll cut your head off right now."
Zhao Da extended the knife in his hand towards his neck. Just as he was about to dodge backward, another knife was also extended.
Two sharp knives were held firmly to his neck, causing him to swallow hard involuntarily. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously looked at the group and asked, "Who...who are you people?"
How could Jiang's daughter be associating with these people?
Zhao Da coldly shouted, "You government officials, if you tell us what you know now, the magistrate might reduce your punishment."
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