Shen Changan stood on the edge of the cliff and pulled the rope hard.
The rope is very thick and its load-bearing capacity should be good.
He tentatively climbed down a few steps and found no problem.
Jiang Li stood on the edge of the cliff, looking at the abyss below, feeling dizzy.
This ladder is indeed very steep. If it were her, her legs would be shaking before she even stood on it, let alone climbing down a thousand meters.
After Shen Changan came up, he took Jiang Li’s hand and at the same time pulled the man’s arm and pulled him back.
"Chang'an, that ladder looks scary. Why don't you just go down the mountain normally? Don't waste this little time."
Jiang Li's voice was trembling when he spoke, and even his steps were shaking a little.
Jiang Li is a little afraid of heights, let alone such a high place. He felt dizzy at the sight of it.
Shen Changan realized her fear, smiled and shook his head and said.
"It doesn't matter. In order to keep the villagers alive, I have no choice but to sacrifice myself this time."
"But what if the ladder doesn't extend to the bottom, or if there's a break in the middle, wouldn't you be in danger?"
"If something really happens to you, what will happen to me? What will happen to our marriage? And what about the two lovely children at home?"
Jiang Li held Shen Changan's arm tightly. She didn't want him to take any risks at all.
As long as this man can live well, what does it matter if the people in the village do bad things?
Regardless of whether they can be punished by law, Jiang Li feels that it has nothing to do with her.
Only Shen Changan’s life and safety are what she values most.
"When I went down just now, I saw a lot of footprints on the ladder, which shows that this is something they use frequently."
"When we attacked the village, it was so sudden that they probably didn't have time to prepare."
"For these reasons, we have nothing to be afraid of. If you're still worried about me, why don't you find someone else to threaten?"
Shen Changan whispered in Jiang Li's ear.
He kept breathing hot air into her ear. Jiang Li lowered her head with her cheeks flushed.
"Okay, I'll go ask a few people now."
Jiang Li ran to the village first. She ran into someone else's house and woke up the man who was still sleeping.
"Get up. I have something to ask you. If you want to live, answer honestly. If you want to die, just lie!"
Jiang Li threatened as soon as she opened her mouth, and the man looked at her with contempt.
Jiang Li glared at him fiercely, and without saying a word, he gave him two big beatings, which made him see stars.
"Can you tell me now? Or do you want to continue being beaten?"
Jiang Li raised his arm and held his palm high, looking fierce as if he was going to continue the attack.
The man spat at her disdainfully, still not taking her seriously at all.
Jiang Li was holding back his anger and suddenly became angry.
She sneered and slapped him repeatedly until he was beaten into a pig's head. Her palms were also red and swollen. Then she asked again.
"Do you still dare to sneer? Do you still dare to spit at me? Can you even answer my question?"
The man was obviously much more honest, and his eyes became evasive when he looked at her.
Jiang Li pulled out the dagger from his waist and put it on his neck quickly and fiercely.
"One last question for you. Do you want to die or answer my question honestly?"
The man was completely intimidated and stammered, "What question do you want to ask? Can't you ask first before hitting me?"
"Hmph! It's none of your business to interfere with my decision! Is there a shortcut down the mountain in the village?"
The man couldn't figure out her purpose, but he didn't dare keep his mouth shut because he would be beaten, so he could only lie.
Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Li said coldly.
"I'm asking more than just you. If you dare to lie, the consequences will be serious!"
Under Jiang Li's coercion and inducement, the man told her about the ladder to the back mountain.
What he said was almost the same as the other person's, so Jiang Li spared him for the time being.
She then asked two more elderly people and got similar results.
When she went to ask the women in the village, they immediately cried and begged her for mercy, and some even wanted to kneel down and beg her.
Although they were also villagers, they were the targets of the village men's prevention of escape, so they would never be told such important news.
Jiang Li finally set her sights on the children. She did not threaten them, but pretended to come to rescue them. She took off the cloth strips on their mouths, gave them colorful fruit candies, and told them funny stories, but she did not untie the ropes on their hands and feet.
Jiang Li told them that if they answered her questions, they would get candy and she would help them untie the ropes.
The children were innocent, especially with the sweet candies in their mouths. Even though their hands and feet were still tied, they quickly let down their guard.
"Okay, let's start asking questions now. If you can answer them correctly, you'll get one candy. If you answer really well, you'll get two candies."
Jiang Li first told them the rules of the game, and then started asking questions.
"Excuse me, how many men are there in Lijia Village? How many women are there?"
The younger children had no idea what was going on, while the older children were scrambling to answer.
The children answered the question, and Jiang Li gave them a candy out of his trust.
Someone added more details to the question, and Jiang Li also rewarded him with a candy.
"Then let me ask you again, how many cows and sheep are there in the village?"
Jiang Li asked some irrelevant questions at first, and the children answered them one by one for the sake of the candy.
Many children received candies, but some children were slow to respond and therefore could not answer any questions.
They could only watch others answer and eat candy.
This was exactly the effect Jiang Li wanted, so she began to increase the difficulty of the questions.
In order to get candy, the children no longer cared about the teachings of the village and answered honestly one by one.
Some things in the village are kept secret and adults do not allow children to tell others.
The children used to be very tight-lipped, but now because of the candies and the quick answers, they have gradually relaxed their guard.
Seeing that the situation was almost settled, Jiang Li got straight to the point in order not to waste time.
"Excuse me, how many roads are there down the mountain from the village?"
"Two! One at the entrance of the village, and another one to the east of the village!"
Immediately, a child couldn't wait to speak up. Jiang Li was about to reward him with candy, but at this time, a child who had never eaten candy objected.
"You're wrong! There are three roads in the village! Besides the two you mentioned, there's also a hidden road!"
"Impossible! All my life I've only known there are two paths in the circle. Can you explain clearly where there are three paths?"
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