During dinner, Zhao Zhi kept a watchful eye on things.
She silently counted in her mind that there were thirteen people in the group, including a cook and a boy of about four years old.
Their meals were very lavish. The table was mostly filled with meat dishes, including braised pork knuckle, stir-fried rabbit, and pork belly…
Everyone ate heartily, drank wine from large bowls, and engaged in lively conversation at the dinner table.
While they weren't looking, Zhao Zhi tested the bowl with a silver needle. Finding no ingredients in it, she tilted her head back and gulped it down.
She tilted her head back, revealing her fair, swan-like neck, and the surrounding noise suddenly disappeared.
Zhao Zhi suddenly felt like she was being pricked by thorns.
She noticed several men staring at her neck and swallowing hard, which made her nervous. One hand drooped down, and she subconsciously pinched a few silver needles.
Her mother had told her to be wary of dogs in heat and men.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Yong shouted, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Get out if you're full!"
He kicked over a short man with drool dripping from his mouth, yelling, "What kind of behavior is this? Get out of here!"
The short man then realized he had lost his composure. He quickly wiped his mouth with his shirt, grabbed a pork knuckle from the table, found a rock, and squatted down to gnaw on it.
Zhao Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She gave Li Yong a grateful look. Li Yong nodded to her, signaling the cook to take her away from the table.
Not long after Zhao Zhi left, the bandits dispersed, burping as they returned to their rooms to rest.
The cool moon hangs like an eyebrow, and the mountains are as dark as ink.
Zhao Zhi lay on the hard bed, tossing and turning, planning to escape when everyone was sound asleep in the middle of the night.
She waited and waited, listlessly counting the chirping of unknown insects several times.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Zhi suddenly heard a strange noise outside.
She immediately became alert, jumped out of bed, and tiptoed to the window to look outside.
A group of shadowy figures sneaked into the mountain stronghold at some unknown time, and they killed the lookouts one by one with a knife.
This group of people is well-trained and clearly organized and premeditated.
The night was dark and the wind was high; it was the perfect time to commit murder.
Zhao Zhi's heart skipped a beat.
The bandits of Shangluo Mountain were used to being undisciplined and usually only engaged in robbery without killing anyone, so they were not among the bandits targeted by the government.
As the leader, Li Yong lacked a sense of crisis and did not have his men train diligently. Their rudimentary skills were no match for the men in black.
Zhao Zhi thought to herself: There are too many men in black. Even if I shout, the bandits will have a hard time escaping. She sighed; this calamity for the bandits of Shangluo Mountain was inevitable.
Soon, the bandits on Shangluo Mountain were all slaughtered. The women and children didn't even have a chance to cry for help.
Such a brutal killing could not possibly be committed by government officials. Zhao Zhi quickly made this judgment.
She took out some soot from the bottom of a pot from the corner of the wall and smeared it evenly on her face.
She had secretly collected the soot from the bottom of the pot when the cook wasn't looking, intending to use it when she escaped. She never expected it would come in handy now.
"Have you found them?"
"No."
"Did you find the item?"
"No."
As Zhao Zhi was about to climb out of the window, someone suddenly grabbed her neck from behind.
“Girl, they killed so many of my brothers to find you. Come with me.” Li Yong said through gritted teeth.
“Brother, judging from their accents, they’re from the Yun Dynasty. I’m from our Great Sheng. Are you sure they’re looking for me?” Zhao Zhi reacted quickly.
But Li Yong wouldn't listen.
He took Zhao Zhi hostage and led her outside.
At that moment, the man in black in the courtyard was examining the bodies one by one with a portrait in hand. "One escaped," he said, pointing to the person in the portrait. "This person is Li Yong. And the person we're looking for isn't here either."
When Li Yong heard this, he had already taken Zhao Zhi hostage and brought her to the door.
He was caught in a dilemma, filled with regret. But he clearly didn't know anyone from Yunchao!
Soon, the men in black formed a circle and surrounded the two.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her."
The leader of the men in black raised his hand, signaling his men to stop.
"A month ago, your men robbed a merchant at the foot of Shangluo Mountain. Among his valuables was a pear wood box. Where is the box?"
"A month ago?" Li Yong remembered.
A month ago, his men did indeed rob a caravan at the foot of Shangluo Mountain. Among the countless gold and silver treasures, there was a pear wood box. He saw that the box had an ingenious mechanism and kept it for himself.
It turned out that the box was the cause of this disaster. Li Yong felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Although they knew that doing this job was like risking their lives, they never expected disaster to strike so quickly.
He spent all his time catching chickens, but he never expected to get pecked in the eye by one.
"Have you ever seen this person?" Another man in black took out a portrait.
The person in the portrait is masked, with only a pair of eyes that shine like stars in the sky visible.
Li Yong shook his head.
"If you want to live, answer two questions: First, where is the box? Second, where are you hiding the person in this portrait?" the leader of the men in black said, rubbing the ring on his finger.
"I remember the box, but it had a mechanism that we couldn't open, so we just gave it to the kids to play with." Li Yong quickly calculated in his mind that these people were from Yunchao, and maybe there was some unspeakable secret hidden in the box.
Even if he did reveal the box's location, they would definitely kill him to silence him.
"You're asking for death! Kill them!" the leader of the men in black ordered.
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