Xiao Tao smiled at the person not far away and said, "I'll be there in a bit, I forgot something."
As soon as she finished speaking, she pushed open the door. Just as she closed it, her mouth was instantly covered, startling her so much that her eyes widened in shock.
Just as Jiang Yimian was about to knock the other person unconscious, Xiao Tao quickly mumbled a few words, as if she had something to say.
Jiang Yimian frowned, met those hopeful eyes, and paused for a moment, then lowered her voice to warn, "If you dare to scream, I'll kill you right now."
Xiao Tao nodded quickly, glanced at Lu Cijian beside her, and when she met his cold gaze, she trembled in fright and quickly looked away, not daring to look around.
As Jiang Yimian released her grip, she reached for the curved dagger in her sleeve with her other hand, determined to kill the man before he could scream.
Xiao Tao was finally able to speak, but she lowered her voice and said, "You, you've come to rescue us, haven't you?"
The girl looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, but her thin, sallow face made her look rather haggard.
Her misty eyes were filled with anticipation as she stared intently at Jiang Yimian.
Jiang Yimian nodded, finally recognizing the voice as that of the girl who had just called the bandits disgusting.
Seeing her nod, Xiao Tao instantly became excited, her voice trembling, "Great, great! Finally someone has come to save us! Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Don't worry, I'm not a bandit. I was kidnapped by them. I'm just an ordinary citizen."
God knows how long she had waited for this day. Ever since she was found by these bandits while hiding in the village cellar, she had wanted to run away every day, but there were too many bandits in the village, and she couldn't escape.
He could only live with this disgusting bandit group day after day.
Everyone advised her to settle down and live in the village, but she refused.
These ruthless bandits killed her family; this is an irreconcilable hatred, and she will never forget it.
Jiang Yimian raised an eyebrow and glanced at the girl in front of her. She had thought that after living in the mountain stronghold for so long, these kidnapped women would be assimilated by the bandits. But now that she saw Xiao Tao, she realized that she had been prejudiced.
Especially when she met those firm and bright eyes, Jiang Yimian suddenly felt an urge to trust her just this once.
“When the mountain village is in chaos, you lead the ordinary people to run up the mountain and hide in the forest.”
With this person evacuating ordinary people, she can have more time to do other things.
Moreover, those people would be more willing to trust their fellow villagers than strangers.
Xiao Tao nodded quickly and said earnestly, "I will definitely bring everyone up the mountain safely."
Jiang Yimian ignored her and instead exchanged a glance with Lu Cijian.
The boy smiled and instantly understood what she meant. He left a message to be careful and then slipped out the window and disappeared without a trace.
Jiang Yimian also slipped away, but she didn't go too far. She observed Xiao Tao from the shadows and saw that Xiao Tao's expression was calm and she was still busy with her own things, so she stopped paying attention to her and headed straight into the mountain stronghold.
Although she didn't learn from Wang Ergou where the stronghold's granaries and warehouses were, she could deduce that the place guarded by the most bandits must be one of them.
After dodging patrols along the way, Jiang Yimian finally arrived at her destination.
Although Zhao Sandao rebuilt Xinghua Village in a way that was very different from before, she still followed her memory and found the original village chief's house.
Most of the houses in Xinghua Village are mud-brick houses and thatched huts, but these four houses in front of us are brick and tile houses. Although they are a bit dilapidated, they are still much better than those mud-brick houses and thatched huts.
Jiang Yimian glanced at the people guarding the main gate; there were at least twenty of them, scattered around outside the house.
There must be something important here for so many people to be guarding it.
With a leap, she jumped directly into the courtyard. She looked around the rooms but didn't find anything valuable. She guessed it was Zhao Sandao's residence and went straight to the cellar.
The cellar door was locked tightly with chains. Jiang Yimian took out a wire from her spatial storage and easily pried open the lock.
How could a mere lock be difficult for her?
The cellar was dimly lit, and you could only see that the dark areas seemed to be filled with things.
Jiang Yimian closed the door and took out a flashlight, instantly illuminating the dimly lit cellar.
What came into view was a pile of sacks filling half of the cellar, roughly estimated to be seven or eight hundred sacks.
Jiang Yimian casually slit open a bag, and instantly, the white rice appeared before her eyes.
After repeating the process a few times, they discovered that half the cellar was filled with high-quality rice and flour, which they guessed had been stolen from passing caravans.
She raised an eyebrow and looked at other things.
After searching for a long time, apart from some silver ingots in two locked chests, the rest were all medicinal herbs, all common ones. Apart from being of decent quality, they weren't anything too valuable.
In these famine years, even bandits can't steal many good things.
Places looted by rebels generally don't have many valuables.
Jiang Yimian glanced at the silver ingots in the two boxes and estimated that there were more than a thousand taels. She only took one box and put it into her spatial storage, leaving the rest for the wandering refugees.
She kept half of both the food and the medicine.
There wasn't much left. After the government reported it, they would probably handle it themselves. Judging from Song Quanzhao's personality, he would probably use it to subsidize the refugees, which would be considered a good deed.
When Jiang Yimian came out of the cellar, the guards outside were eating and drinking, chatting and laughing, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Seeing this, Jiang Yimian made some simple arrangements in the courtyard and then went to other places.
The patrol teams in the mountain stronghold frequently checked the surroundings, remaining very vigilant. If Jiang Yimian hadn't dodged in time, she would have been discovered several times.
She wandered through the various houses but didn't find any other important places, only a house where weapons were kept.
The room was filled with weapons, including various knives, red-tasseled spears, bows and arrows.
Jiang Yimian found it strange that Shanhu Village had only been developing in Xinghua Village for half a year, so where did they get so many weapons?
She examined them carefully and felt that the broadswords looked somewhat familiar, similar to the swords that Zhao Da and the others wore at their waists.
She raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding.
No wonder the bandits were so fearless; they had connections in the government.
She took down a bow and arrow, drew out several arrows and stored them in her spatial storage, then made some arrangements in front of several houses before leaving.
Jiang Yimian went to a place with a wide-open view, where she could see the entire mountain village and the outside world – the watchtower at the foot of the mountain.
She glanced at the person beside her who was unconscious but still standing upright because of the rope, then hid on the watchtower and took out her binoculars to check the situation below.
It was getting dark, and the image in the binoculars was not very clear, but she could still make out what it looked like.
Many bandits gathered at the entrance of the stronghold, ready to fight, while others hid in the shadows.
At that moment, a horn sounded in the village.
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