Chapter 150 Mountain Bandits
The group of four or five people finally reached the temple gate. In their panic, they opened the gate and found only burnt-out firewood; they saw no one else.
Su Mingshu tightened her grip on Zhou Wanning's hand, looked around, and tried to calm herself down: "Sister Zhou, the person probably heard the news and escaped. The fire was just extinguished not long ago, so we should still be able to catch up."
Zhou Wanning hesitated: "Okay, I'll listen to you, Ming Shu."
Su Mingshu looked back at the bandits who were still chasing after her, and pulled Zhou Wanning to run towards the backyard. Their clothes were soaked through by the rain, and water droplets kept sliding down their cheeks.
As the two fled outside, they tried to block the broken gate of the temple. Three guards closely protected the two young ladies as they fled towards the back gate of the temple.
It had just rained on the mountain, and the messy ruts left by the caravan carrying Chang Zhiyuan and Zhou Sheng had not yet been washed away by the rain.
The guard looked down at the tire tracks: "Miss, judging from the tracks, the people must have left not long ago. There should have been a group of about a dozen people."
Another guard nodded in agreement: "The bandits number no more than thirty in total. If we catch up now, along with the travelers, we might have a fighting chance!"
Zhou Wanning's eyes reddened slightly as she tugged at Su Mingshu: "Mingshu? You make a decision?"
Su Mingshu shook her head: "We brought twenty skilled men with us when we came out, but now only a few of us have escaped. Those bandits are no ordinary people. Even with the caravan in front, we might not be able to defeat these vicious thugs."
Su Mingshu pulled out the hairpin from her hair and the jade bracelet from her wrist, carefully gathering the valuables and tossing them behind the temple. Then, she grabbed Zhou Wanning and pulled her away: "There's no time to dawdle any longer. We need to follow the cart tracks and catch up quickly. The treasure in the carts is more than enough for the bandits. If they abandon the carts and still chase after us, I'm afraid..."
Zhou Wanning was so anxious that tears were about to well up in her eyes: "Then, then, Sister Su, let's go quickly!"
Without saying a word, Su Mingshu grabbed Zhou Wanning and led the guards to chase after them.
Humans can never outrun horses. If we want to escape today, we must catch up with the group of people ahead of us.
The guards were fine, covering the two young ladies as they hurriedly ran towards the back mountain. However, the two young ladies were panting heavily. Both of them were well-bred young ladies who usually traveled by carriage. They could barely run after only this short distance.
Panting heavily, Su Mingshu looked back and saw that the bandits behind her were still relentlessly chasing her into the temple.
Su Mingshu gritted her teeth: "Wang Er, Li Xing, you two carry us away, we're too slow!"
Zhou Wanning hesitated: "Sister Su, this is bad for your reputation."
Su Mingshu interrupted, "Forget about reputation, if you want to live, come up here!"
Under the stern reprimand, Zhou Wanning gritted her teeth and clung to the guards. Without the two young ladies holding them back, the three guards moved quickly. Although the weather was wet and the road was slippery, they could already vaguely see Chang Zhiyuan and the others who were ahead.
"Miss! It's a caravan from a security escort agency!"
Su Mingshu, clinging to the guard's back, said happily, "Let's catch up! Sister Zhou, quickly take off your hairpins and jewelry, catch up with them and give the items to their head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), and exchange the hairpins and jewelry for a ride in the carriage."
Zhou Wanning nodded and, ignoring the pain in her hair, quickly removed the valuable hairpins and ornaments from her body.
The group was about 800 or 900 meters apart, and their figures were somewhat obscured by the rain. The guard lifted the young lady behind him and shouted, "Wait, the convoy ahead! Wait!"
The guards' shouts were particularly clear in the quiet night. He Sheng, wearing a raincoat, turned around and looked back: "It sounds like someone is shouting!"
The head镖师 hesitated for a moment, standing on the carriage and looking back. Chang Zhiyuan looked up at the flickering firelight on the mountaintop temple and his face darkened: "Speed up! There's a high chance of trouble ahead!"
The guards' shouts weren't just audible to them; the bandits on the mountain could hear them too. A loud roar at night was like a beacon in the darkness. Perhaps the bandits initially had no direction, but with this, even a fool could hear the direction of the sound and chase after them.
Chang Zhiyuan cursed the people behind him inwardly for being brainless. This forest was so vast; once someone ventured inside, they would be hard to find. They could wash away their footprints overnight. Why did they have to make things difficult for them like this?
This tactic brought more than just those behind them in pursuit; the bandits on horseback were much faster than their carriages.
The head镖师 nodded to himself and quickly ordered his men to speed up.
He Sheng still peeked back cautiously: "There should be a few people, and they don't look like they're carrying anything valuable. Why are the bandits chasing them?"
Chang Zhiyuan also glanced back. This time they were further away, but he could vaguely see that there were two or three people carrying people on their backs.
After a moment's thought, he adjusted the straw hat he was wearing to shield He Dong from the rain: "Unless the bandits aren't after the treasure, the fact that they have guards suggests they must be either rich or noble."
He Sheng nodded and nudged Chang Zhiyuan: "Wouldn't we be rich if we saved him? Maybe we could even make some money or a reward."
Chang Zhiyuan sighed and looked at He Sheng with some helplessness: "Is your business short of money?"
As he spoke, He Sheng suddenly interrupted Chang Zhiyuan: "Zhiyuan, listen, it sounds like a woman's voice!"
Chang Zhiyuan fell silent and began to listen intently. After a while, he nodded and looked behind him: "It's a woman's voice."
He Sheng hesitated: "What if the woman falls into the hands of bandits..."
Chang Zhiyuan hesitated. What good could come of a woman falling into the hands of bandits?
He Sheng looked at Chang Zhiyuan and pursed his lips: "Zhiyuan? Do you want him?"
Chang Zhiyuan stared at He Sheng and then looked back: "You are the young master of the escort agency, I will listen to you."
He Sheng wiped the rain off his face and glanced back: "Stop the car! Uncle Chen, turn your horse around and bring the people onto the caravan!"
The convoy continued forward without stopping, but Uncle Chen reined in his horse and galloped backward.
After getting closer and seeing the people clearly, Uncle Chen frowned. There were five people in the group, and it wouldn't be a problem to take them along, but if there were more people, the convoy would inevitably slow down.
Su Mingshu kept turning back, and when she saw the person coming, she said with delight, "Brave warrior, could you give us a ride?"
Uncle Chen frowned: "The convoy can't carry that many people."
The guards hurriedly put Su Mingshu down from their backs: "Brave warrior, could we give our young lady a ride?"
Uncle Chen looked down at the two thin, disheveled girls, both around fifteen years old, and nodded: "Okay."
The two little girls probably weigh no more than an adult man, so it wouldn't be a problem to bring them along.
As they spoke, the two guards put the two young ladies down and helped them onto their horses.
"Miss, you and the others should go forward first. Once it's safe, head to the prefecture ahead. We'll come find you once we're out of trouble!"
Uncle Chen looked nervously at the people chasing after him, grabbed the two young ladies and put them on their horses, then cracked his whip and chased after the caravan.
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