Jiang Yimian frowned. After finishing her meal, she told the Chen and Liu families about the refugees on the mountain.
Upon hearing that there were refugees on the mountain, the group immediately fell silent, clearly remembering the incident where refugees had come up the mountain and killed people.
The long-forgotten memories suddenly resurfaced, and the bloody scene made the group shudder involuntarily.
Seeing that they were clearly frightened, Jiang Yimian quickly said, "These refugees are not from the mountain bandits. They are people who have fled famine. Because the roads down the mountain are blocked by the mountain stronghold, they have no choice but to go up the mountain to find a way to leave."
Hearing this, their fear lessened slightly, but they still frowned.
Old Liu thought for a while before saying, "Yimian, later you take Dayong and Gousheng to dig some traps in the woods near the cave. We must not let them find us. As for the lotus pond, even if those people come looking for us, they can't get in without a raft, so there's no need to worry about that."
Besides, he often stayed in that area and didn't see anyone there.
Liu Dayong immediately nodded, "I'll take Gousheng and Yimian out to dig traps in a bit."
Even if we can't catch them, we should at least make them afraid to go deeper into the woods.
Seeing that the two had already made up their minds, Jiang Yimian didn't say anything more.
After lunch, the group left the small depression.
Liu Dayong and Gou Sheng were busy digging traps in the woods and at the cave entrance, while Jiang Yimian walked towards the outer edge of the mountain.
They didn't see many people along the way until they reached the burned-down hilltop, where they spotted a few people, all of them pale and emaciated, skin and bones, looking as if they would be blown away by the wind. They were not dangerous and were indeed ordinary refugees fleeing famine.
Jiang Yimian watched for a while and then left, going to the mountainside to keep an eye on the village below.
Several months had passed since she last checked on the mountain stronghold, and there had been many changes, with several newly built houses and watchtowers.
The entire mountain stronghold was surrounded by a two-meter-high fence with sharpened wooden tops, which looked rather intimidating. Getting inside was no easy task.
Zhao Sandao is indeed remarkable for being able to rebuild a mountain stronghold in just over half a year.
Jiang Yimian looked around for a while, and then looked around again. Sure enough, she saw a lot of earth and stones piled up on a road near Xinghua Village. Not far from the earth and stones, there was a tall watchtower, which was used to observe the surrounding situation.
She guessed it was set up to rob passersby.
Jiang Yimian glanced at it a few more times and then left, telling Liu Dayong and Gou Sheng what she had seen. The two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"That scared me to death. I thought it would be some strong young men again." Gou Sheng was still a little scared.
Although he has become much stronger by training with Jiang Yimian in the past six months, he is still just a child, and the incident last time left him with a lot of psychological trauma.
Liu Dayong frowned and said, "Aren't the people from the mountain stronghold afraid? Although Xinghua Village is remote, there are many mountain roads nearby that connect to many villages and towns. Those who pass through will definitely take this route to save time, but they have blocked them all."
"So brazen! Aren't they afraid of the authorities?"
Jiang Yimian chuckled, "Now that the war has just been quelled, Jincheng Prefecture and the surrounding counties must have been looted. It's hard to say whether the county magistrate is still alive. It will take at least several months before things can function normally again."
As for these bandits, the imperial court is currently too busy to deal with them, as it lacks the manpower to spare.
What she didn't say was that if the county magistrate was a coward, he might not care about the bandits or the lives of the people in the nearby villages once he knew the size of the stronghold.
They could only hope that the county magistrate was an honest, upright, and people-oriented official.
Liu Dayong fell silent for a moment, then sighed helplessly and silently dug the trap beneath his feet.
Gou Sheng changed the subject, saying with a determined look, "Sister Yi Mian, I've been training with you for so long, aren't you going to teach me some fighting moves?"
He didn't want to encounter refugees again and end up being beaten like last time. He wanted to protect his mother, his family, and everyone in the small depression.
Jiang Yimian glanced at Gou Sheng a few times before nodding, "Alright, I'll teach you some things another day."
She doesn't know any fighting techniques at all; all she knows is how to kill.
However, it's good that it can help these people shift their focus and relax.
The affairs of Zuoyou Mountain Village have nothing to do with them, and she doesn't have the ability to save those people.
As long as the mountain stronghold exists, these continuous mountains will be their protective umbrella. The bandits will not touch these mountains, and as for the people on the mountains, they will not bother to care. The wild animals in these deep mountains are enough to give these people a hard time.
In addition, without food, they will starve to death sooner or later.
As long as Jiang Yimian and the others keep an eye on the refugees, they will be perfectly safe on this mountain.
When Gou Sheng saw that she agreed, he immediately became happy and even had more energy to dig the trap.
Liu Dayong, unfazed by the situation, teased Gou Sheng a few times before the group resumed digging the trap.
After three or four days of busy work, the three of them dug a number of traps in the woods near the cave.
Several days passed, and not only were there no people stepping on it, but there were also no animals. Seeing this, everyone was relieved.
They were located deep in the mountains; without courage and a fearless determination, those people probably wouldn't dare to venture into the mountains.
The small depression returned to normal, and people went about their business as usual; no one paid any more attention to the group of refugees.
After having breakfast, Jiang Yimian took Mimi out of the cave.
She's been so busy these days that she hasn't been able to go out for several days.
She first went to the woods where the traps were dug to check for any signs of anyone stepping on them. She found that several traps were intact, except for one trap where the weeds and dead leaves covering it had disappeared.
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