Yun Ruochun thought for a moment and then said, "Let's buy a horse, right here."
"Buy horses?" Yun Ling was a little puzzled; she couldn't figure out what Yun Ruochun was up to.
"Yes, as Mr. Yu said, horses can recognize each other by scent. Foals are born with the ability to recognize their mothers, and stallions and mares will also make corresponding movements if they want to mate."
Yunling nodded. "Auntie, what kind of horse should we buy? A foal?"
"No, right now is the time for mares to mate, to ensure that the foals born next spring won't freeze, so what's being sold won't be mares, only stallions, and we'll buy stallions too."
Yunling took out a copper coin from her bosom and asked:
"Auntie, can we find it by following the horse's movements?"
"Let's give it a try. The two horses they just bought have 0847 and 0849 printed on their legs. Let's buy those with similar numbers; that might make them easier to find."
Yun Ruochun thought that if she followed those human traffickers directly, firstly, she couldn't outrun them on foot, and secondly, given the vigilance of these traffickers, she didn't know if they would set up something on the road, perhaps waiting for her to walk into their trap.
Yunling finally chose a horse, 0846, paid the copper coins, and then handed the reins to Yun Ruochun.
“Auntie, come here. This little guy is clever. I think after this is over, I’ll buy another carriage and use it as our own. Then we won’t have to wait for Father to go out of the city all the time.”
"good."
The two men led their horses out of the city and waited a few hundred meters away from the group of human traffickers. The traffickers were swift and efficient; within an hour, they began to emerge from the city gates.
Some carried their children on their backs, some had them carried in large sacks, and some even dragged them by force, claiming that their children wanted a toy but wouldn't let them buy it, which was why they were crying so much. In short, the methods were varied and endless.
A little while later, all the young women who had been abducted were put into the carriage.
"Six today too, enough to fetch a good price. The boss said things are getting tense lately, so we should hold back and get rid of those hot potatoes first, lest someone else interfere at the last minute and we end up with nothing."
"Alright, I'll listen to you, boss. I'll go in first, sell the horse, and then go back with you."
"Alright, alright, let's buy a knife. Yesterday, a sneaky person was following us. Luckily, Second Brother discovered it, otherwise we would have failed completely."
The fourth brother nodded quickly, and each of them led two horses towards the city.
Yunling and Yunruochun also led their horses aside. Judging from their tone, this fourth brother was the eldest among these people. Now that a second brother had appeared, they didn't know whether he was waiting on the way or had been secretly following them. They couldn't be too careless.
The fourth brother emerged from the city gate about fifteen minutes later, and the group of traffickers set off with their carriage.
Yunling stared at their departing figures and asked:
"Auntie, what should we do?"
"Let's wait until night to set off, so we won't attract too much attention."
"OK."
Seeing that it was still early, Yunling ran back to the city to buy some pastries, and then went to the Fu family's shop to tell Yun Shenghua that she would not be going home tonight.
Yun Shenghua was puzzled. He could explain to Zhang that he hadn't gone home last night because he was busy discussing business and stayed at a reliable inn, so there was no need to worry.
But he wasn't coming back tonight. What could he possibly explain? Could this business deal really be going on for two days and two nights? Yun Shenghua quickly grabbed the man.
"Ling-jie, you and Chun-niang are doing something, you'd better tell me, or your mother will skin me alive."
Yunling said happily, "Father, we are going to do something big, but as the saying goes, you must not talk about it before you have accomplished something, or you will fail to do it."
"Just tell me, and I won't tell anyone else."
“If I tell you, isn’t that the same as telling everyone? Mother, you have to tell them, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, and Sister. I don’t believe you won’t tell them.”
Yun Shenghua was in a real predicament. When he tried to persuade Yun Ling again, she had vanished without a trace. This gave him a huge headache, and he couldn't concentrate on his work all afternoon, only thinking about how to come up with an excuse to fob off Zhang Shi.
**
Night fell,
While grooming the horse, Yun Ruochun whispered in its ear, "0846, you have to be good, okay? Go find your companions 0847 and 0849, alright?"
"Auntie, can you ride a horse?"
"No, but didn't you say that 0846 is a smart little guy? With it around, it definitely won't make us fall."
Yunling couldn't help but cover her mouth and weep. Her aunt really... really...
After saying a few more words to 0846, Yun Ruochun stepped onto the stirrup, leaped over the horse's rump, and landed smoothly on the saddle. She then reached out her hand to Yun Ling.
"Ling-jie, come here."
Yunling thought her aunt's mounting move was incredibly cool, and she wanted to learn it too. However, when mounting, she accidentally kicked the horse's rump with her back foot, startling 0846, which lurched forward and almost threw both of them off the horse.
Yun Ruochun steadied herself, pulled on the reins, and, without caring whether Yun Ling was alright, stroked the horse's mane and said gently in a soft voice:
"0846, we didn't mean it, please don't be angry. Quickly take us to find your companions 0847 and 0849."
Yunling was muttering about her aunt's favoritism when suddenly her whole body leaned backward. Luckily, she managed to control her balance with her hips, otherwise she would have been blown away like a kite without a trace.
The night was quiet, with only the clatter of horses' hooves. Although Yunling could see clearly in the dark, she had never traveled this road before and was unfamiliar with its conditions, so she could only let 0846 lead the way.
After an unknown amount of time, 0846 gradually slowed down and finally stopped in a village with inhabitants. This was far from the desolate and remote place that Yunling and Yun Ruochun had imagined.
But this road is definitely the right one, because not far ahead under a tree there are two horses tied up, and when Yunling leans out to look, she sees the markings 0847 and 0849 on their legs. The human traffickers' hideout is right here!
However, it was pitch black all around at the moment. In the afterglow of the moonlight, three or four small houses could be vaguely seen. There was no sound coming from inside, not even a sound. This made it difficult to determine whether the houses were the right ones.
"Ling-jie, let's dismount and walk over slowly to take a look."
"OK."
The two tiptoed off the horse and took a few steps toward the three or four huts when a pack of dogs suddenly appeared and barked at them.
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