Chapter 109 Escape at Night
Unfortunately, Wang Er's action was too late.
Almost at the same time, Jiang Yongkang took action.
With just one swing of his knife, he instantly cut off one of Wang Er's arms. Ming Xiaoshuang was already prepared at the side. Without waiting for Wang Er to scream, he twisted Wang Er's hands behind his back and stuffed two smelly socks into his mouth.
Blood splattered all over Xu Qingying who was standing beside him.
She didn't have time to wipe it dry, so she just said, "Stuff it tight, don't let him scream!"
Wang Er screamed silently and curled up like a shrimp. His face was as pale as paper and he could only whimper. The veins on his forehead bulged with pain and cold sweat poured down.
In just a moment, the three men joined forces to subdue Wang Er.
Dazhuang took off his belt and tied up Wang Er, not forgetting to remove the weapons on him, and finally kicked Wang Er's face into the mud without mercy.
During this busy period, everyone was very nervous, but they cooperated well.
At this moment, he was out of breath, "Miss Xu, what should we do next?!"
Catching someone and then releasing him is a problem, and killing him is also a problem.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yongkang on the side said, "We can't let them go! There's something wrong with these people!"
Jiang Yongkang said this in a hurry. There was blood on his face and his eyes were bloodshot.
Zhao Bantou then asked, "Boy, what's wrong with these people?"
Da Zhuang said, "It's not logical for a small group to suddenly appear in the deep mountains and old forests. Besides, there are no troops stationed near Jinzhou, so where did these people come from?"
"That's right!" Seeing everyone looking at him, Jiang Yongkang's throat rolled over and he simply confessed everything, "To be honest, the victim of the timber case that caused a lot of trouble in Bianjing City was none other than my master. That night, it was this group of people who stormed into my Jiang Mansion and killed over a hundred people. I recognize their leader's face! Miss Xu, there's something wrong with this group of people, believe me!"
"The Jiang Mansion timber case?" Zhao Bantou looked thoughtful. "Are you a servant of the Jiang Mansion? Didn't they say that everyone in the Jiang Mansion was killed? How did you escape?"
Seeing Jiang Yongkang's troubled expression, Xu Qingying said, "Don't worry about it for now. The fact that these people suddenly appeared in the mountains is already very unusual. In that case, let's pry him open and ask him."
"How do we conduct the trial?" Zhao Bantou waved his hand. "Sister, we'll do whatever you say."
"First, drag them farther away so they can't hear us. We need to act quickly, as they'll quickly react. If they catch up, we'll be dead."
Everyone obeyed the order.
Dazhuang carried the unconscious Li Zhaodi on his back, while Zhao Bantou and Ming Xiaoshuang dragged Wang Er forward. When they arrived at the place where the horses were tied, they found a secluded place and put down Wang Er, who was covered in blood.
Wang Er's face was as pale as paper. He was like a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others. He had no strength to struggle at all.
Zhao Bantou pinched his nose, took the stinky socks out of Wang Er's mouth and threw them to Ming Xiaoshuang, not forgetting to curse: "Damn, Ming Xiaoshuang, your socks are too stinky, have you never washed your feet in your life?"
It was rare to see Ming Xiaoshuang blush. He said sheepishly while putting on his socks, "Hey, squad leader, keep your voice down. The girls are here. Please give me some face!"
"There's no time to lose, let's act quickly." Xu Qingying turned her head to look at Liu Dazhuang. She knew that Liu Dazhuang was far more capable than he appeared, so she asked directly, "Brother Dazhuang, if you have any method that can make someone confess quickly, feel free to use it."
"Since Miss Xu has spoken..." Dazhuang took the dagger from Li Zhaodi and, under the slightly curious gazes of the crowd, walked slowly to Wang Er. Wang Er sensed the approaching shadow and his face was filled with fear. He shouted, "Don't dream, I won't say a word!"
"laugh--"
There was a sound of flesh being cut by a blunt knife.
Without blinking, Liu Dazhuang forced the dagger into Wang Er's femoral artery.
Wang Er screamed.
A large amount of dark red blood flowed out from Wang Er's legs at an extremely fast and silent rate.
"I pierced your femoral artery. If the bleeding doesn't stop in time, you'll only have about an incense stick of time to live." Da Zhuang smiled innocently, but inexplicably, he looked like the King of Hell, demanding his life, with a sinister aura. "You only have two choices: either speak or bleed to death."
Everyone was shocked.
Even Zhao Bantou, who had been dealing with forced labor and executioners for years, felt his scalp tingling. When he looked at Liu Dazhuang again, Zhao Bantou's eyes were filled with fear.
This guy is not a fool at all, he is clearly a devil who kills without blinking an eye.
Where did you learn these methods of tracking, interrogating, and killing?
Even though Zhao Bantou had a lot of questions in his mind, he didn't dare to ask any more questions at this moment.
Everyone thought Wang Er was a tough guy, but he surrendered in just a few seconds. He lay on the ground, almost crying, "Please spare my life, please spare my life, what do you want to know? I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything..."
Jiang Yongkang immediately asked, "Tell me! Why are you here?"
"We are also following orders. The superiors only told us to find an exile group led by Zhao Qiaonian and kill these prisoners. It would be best to disguise it as an accident—"
Xu Qingying's expression changed. "So you were the ones who led those refugees here?!"
"That's right... We didn't expect you to be so lucky. A group of elderly, weak, women and children were ambushed by so many people and not all of them died, and the captain said... said... Ah!!!..."
Wang Er hesitated, and Zhao Bantou stepped on his wound anxiously. The severe pain made Wang Er gasp rapidly.
Xu Qingying quickly said, "Captain Zhao, please let him finish."
"The captain said that we'll launch another surprise attack in the middle of the night and make sure to wipe you out..."
Everyone looked at each other, and saw a hint of shock in each other's eyes.
They were just a group of exiled prisoners, how could they be hunted down and killed?
Xu Qingying suppressed her emotions and asked coldly, "Why are you killing us?"
"I don't know... I don't know..." Wang Er was almost fainting from the pain, but Jiang Yongkang beside him pulled his hair excitedly, his eyes bloodshot, "Tell me, were the people who broke into my Jiang Mansion that night yours?!"
"What Jiang Mansion... I... I don't know..."
"Whose captain is yours? Is he Uncle Zhu or Prime Minister Han?! Who killed over a hundred people in my Jiang Mansion?!"
"I don't know... I only know that he came from Qiongzhou, and I'm... a military household stationed in Qianzhou, temporarily transferred here to help... As for the rest... I really don't know... Please let me go... Stop the bleeding for me quickly—"
Qiongzhou?
Has anyone in their group offended anyone from Qiongzhou?
"From Qiongzhou?" Zhao Bantou was surprised, then a little incredulous. "Could it be that Ming prince from Qiongzhou?"
Everyone looked suspicious.
Among this group of people, the only one who could be related to the prince was Fang Ruyu, the eldest daughter of the Fang family, wasn't she?
But why did that Ming prince send someone all the way to kill his fiancée?
The existing reasoning conditions were insufficient, and Xu Qingying couldn't figure out the reason even if she racked her brains.
Da Zhuang glanced at Xu Qingying and said firmly, "Miss Xu, I'm afraid he has told me everything he knows."
Xu Qingying sighed and raised her eyes. There was a coldness in her eyes, but her tone was without hesitation. "Kill him."
Da Zhuang raised his sword and slashed it down, killing the victim with one blow.
Then he wiped the blood off the dagger and returned it to Xu Qingying.
"This gang is going to attack us again. We can't stay in that village anymore. Move out immediately. Ming Xiaoshuang and Zhao Bantou, you two must ride on your own and hurry back to tell everyone to leave their luggage and pack up. Run away immediately! Don't tell them about the situation here when you get back. Just say we found a larger group of refugees and they're planning to attack us overnight. Everyone should move out immediately!"
"good!"
The moonlight is hazy, the wind is blowing and the trees are swaying. A silent contest has begun.
Zhao Bantou and Ming Xiaoshuang went back at full speed first, but she didn't know how to ride a horse, and Li Zhaodi was unconscious, so their speed would inevitably be slowed down.
Xu Qingying was anxious. Their village was not far from where the soldiers were. If they didn't run away in time, it was very likely that all of the more than one hundred people would become victims.
She just hoped that the horse under her could go faster, faster!
The most worrying thing was that Li Zhaodi moaned and slowly woke up.
Xu Qingying originally thought that she would have to spend a lot of effort to persuade Li Zhaodi not to be impulsive and go back to talk about it. However, when Li Zhaodi woke up, she did not cry or make a fuss, but just buried her head deeply in Liu Dazhuang's back.
Xu Qingying couldn't see her expression clearly, but she could feel her shoulders shaking.
"Zhao Di, I'm sorry. I can't save Yin Zhang."
Xu Qingying's eyes were red and her voice was hoarse.
Yin Zhang, the little girl who always liked to follow Li Zhaodi, the little girl with curved eyes when she smiled, who was clearly asking her how to make a lot of money the second before, and then her head and body were separated the next second -
Just thinking about it, Xu Qingying felt like her heart was being cut by a knife.
Xu Qingying didn't know why she was crying too.
The mountain wind was cold, making her face hard and her heart cold.
Li Zhaodi didn't say anything. She seemed to realize that she couldn't bring back Yin Zhang's body. She bit her lower lip tightly, sobbing softly, and her tears kept flowing, soaking Liu Dazhuang's back.
Among the pile of corpses, she had already seen Yin Zhang's head.
She stared with her eyes wide open, and no one knew what she had experienced before she died, but she didn't seem to be in much pain.
From then on, she had no younger sister.
From then on, she was the only one left in this world.
Li Zhaodi knew very well that they were no match for that group of people. She could not let others fall into danger because of her own selfish desires. Not retrieving Yin Zhang's body was the most sensible decision.
But... my heart really hurts...
My sister is so young, she's afraid of thunder. If I abandon her in the mountains, what if she gets eaten by wild beasts or wolves? What if she can't find her way home?
"Zhao Di." Xu Qingying called out with a worried look on her face.
Jiang Yongkang on the side said, "Miss Xu, please give Miss Zhaodi some time."
Xu Qingying had no choice but to remain silent.
A group of people rode away on horseback at a very fast speed, their figures constantly moving through the jungle.
When Xu Qingying returned to the village, everyone had packed up and was ready to leave.
No one knew what had happened. They only knew that Zhao Bantou said that there was a group of refugees near the village and were heading this way, and asked everyone to leave immediately at night!
These people trusted Zhao Bantou, but they also trusted Xu Qingying even more. When they saw Xu Qingying returning covered in blood, they were terrified and immediately rushed forward to pull Xu Qingying away. "Miss Xu, what's going on? Why did Zhao Bantou say that there were refugees nearby who were going to attack us? We've already had our things stolen, so why are they still coming?"
Xu Qingying asked Zhao Bantou not to reveal too much, for fear of causing panic among the people, so she told them to just say when they returned that there were still bandits nearby and it was very dangerous for them to stay in the village, so they had to set off as soon as possible.
"Everyone, we just followed them, hoping to find Yinzhang and a few other children. But we discovered another group of hundreds of refugees nearby. They're armed, and I don't know who told them we have food. They're planning a night raid. If there's food, they'll rob it; if there's no food, they'll kill us!"
"Ah!" Someone was so frightened that he fell to the ground and cried out, "I just escaped death, why is there another wave..."
"There's no time to dawdle. They're already on their way. If you don't want to die, hurry up and follow us. We have to move overnight! If you don't trust me, don't want to leave, or are hoping they won't kill you, go ahead and do what you want, but don't delay our journey!"
Xu Qingying started to make arrangements, and everyone started to get busy again.
She pushed through the crowd and found the Xu family. Huang was slapping her head anxiously: "Sixth girl said that the bandits are coming soon. Huang Cui'e, don't bother with those things. This house has been searched thoroughly. What food can be left for you? Hurry and leave——"
"Mom, I'm coming, I'm coming. There's a small porcelain bowl with a chip here. Take it and drink water on the way!" Huang Cui'e responded while calling Lian and others, "Look around in that corner. I remember this family has a cellar with two big cabbages in it... Let's take them. Yes, yes, that umbrella is broken, but we don't care. Take them all—"
"Sister-in-law, stop looting and leave quickly, or the bandits will come again—"
"Oh, what are you afraid of? It hasn't come yet."
Miao finally saw Xu Qingying and hurried over to her, only to see her covered in blood. She nearly fainted, but Xu Qingying quickly said, "Don't worry, mother. This isn't my blood."
"Qingying, what happened? What took so long? Are those children really...dead?" Xu Degui was also panicking. "It's the middle of the night now. Where can we escape to?"
"We'll talk about this later. Father, don't hesitate! They're already on their way. If we don't leave now, we'll all die here!"
Seeing that this was no solution, Xu Qingying simply hardened her heart and threw away the scrap metal in Miao's hand. She dragged Xu Degui and Miao out and said, "They're already here. I won't stop you if you want to die. Anyway, we're leaving first!"
When Miao saw that Xu Qingying's expression did not seem like a joke, she finally realized that the arrow was on the string and had to be shot.
She didn't even bother collecting her things, but instead picked up a few sharpened bamboo poles. "Wait, Degui, carry Mei Xiao on your back. We're leaving everything behind, let's run!"
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