Chapter 249 Rescuing the Private Tutor and Students
Fang Hui said, "What's wrong? Are you worried about your father? He seems to be over fifty years old, and he also has a leg ailment. No matter how many times they try to conscript men, they don't want him!"
"No! I'm worried about the people at the private school!" Li He grabbed Fang Hui's arm. "Quick, come with me to the private school!"
The local teacher at Lihe Nian Private School was in his thirties, and most of the students were around sixteen years old.
Wouldn't that mean they could catch them every time?!
Fang realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately followed.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and said, "Brother, wait!"
Then he went straight to the place that had been used as a kitchen, took out two kitchen knives, handed one to Li He, and then set off.
When the two rushed to the private school, the officials had not yet searched the area.
The sound of reading aloud rang out in unison.
Li He barged in and shouted, "Stop reading! Come with me!"
A dozen or so students stared blankly at him.
The schoolteacher was taken aback, then angrily rebuked, "Li He! It's one thing for you to skip school, but you want to cause trouble for others too? Get out and stand there! After I finish teaching today's lessons, I'll go to your house and have a good talk with your parents! I simply can't teach a scoundrel like you!"
"Don't talk about my older brother like that!" Fang Hui shouted, brandishing a kitchen knife.
The schoolteacher's eyes widened. "Oh, you...you even brought your accomplices to threaten me!"
Li He said sternly, "Sir, I apologize for my previous disrespect. You must quickly bring everyone and come with me. The officials are conscripting men everywhere! Once they find this place, you won't be able to escape!"
Upon hearing these words, the students looked alarmed.
The schoolteacher sneered, "Li He, Li He, you've always been cunning, always finding new ways to trick me. What's your trick today? You even made up a story about conscripting men. Ah, it seems my place is too small to accommodate such a big shot like you!"
"He's not lying to you!" Fang Hui scratched his head anxiously. "Hurry up! Otherwise, it'll be too late! Do you all want to be conscripted? Then you won't see your parents again!"
Seeing that Li He and Fang Hui didn't seem to be joking, the students became increasingly flustered, and some hesitantly stood up.
The schoolteacher slammed his ruler on the table. "Nobody move! Don't listen to these two brats' nonsense! Even if the county government is conscripting men, why would they arrest you scholars? Even if they do come, I'm not afraid. I'm a scholar who passed the imperial examinations. Even the county magistrate has to give me face. I can protect you!"
His confident words calmed the students down, and those who had intended to leave sat down again.
"This situation is different from before. Those officials are like madmen. Why would they care about some nobody like you, a mere scholar?" Li He gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Fang Hui! Let's use force!"
"Yes, brother!"
Fang rushed over and held the kitchen knife to the teacher's neck.
"You damn scholar! Come with us obediently, or I'll slash your neck and draw blood!" Fang Hui threatened viciously.
The schoolteacher trembled all over, "I...I'm not surnamed Bird..."
Fang Hui punched the schoolteacher on the forehead with his other hand, yelling, "I don't care what you call me! Get out of here!"
The schoolteacher was truly terrified now.
Young boys are prone to impulsiveness, and judging from his demeanor, he's already gone mad. I can only move my feet in fear.
The dozen or so students present had never seen anything like this before, and most of them were immediately stunned, while the other half even started to cry.
Li He had no time to coax her gently. She suddenly chopped open the teacher's wooden desk with a kitchen knife and threatened, "Everyone, follow me! Anyone who disobeys will end up like this desk!"
This simple and direct approach really works.
The students immediately followed obediently.
"Wait, brother..." Fang Hui asked, holding the schoolteacher hostage, "Which way do we run?"
Li He said, "Leave through the back door of the private school via a small path, take a secluded route to the dilapidated temple. You lead the way, and I'll bring up the rear!"
"Alright, brother!"
Fang kicked the schoolteacher in the backside and pressed the back of his knife against his shoulder, yelling, "Go, go, go!"
And so, the group hurriedly left the private school.
As soon as they came out of the back door and entered the alley, they saw a group of officials passing by aggressively at the alley entrance in the distance.
To avoid attracting attention, Lihe asked everyone to remain quiet and stay where they were.
Before long, everyone heard the commotion of the officials breaking down the door and storming into the private school.
There were also officials shouting that they had come here specifically to arrest people, but now everyone had disappeared.
At this moment, the schoolteacher realized that Li He was not playing a trick on him, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
"We can go now," Li He said softly.
Fang Hui then nudged the schoolteacher, urging him to move forward.
"No!" The schoolteacher stopped in his tracks.
Fang was so angry she wanted to chop him on the head with a knife. "You've seen what happened, don't you believe me?"
The schoolteacher swallowed hard. “This alley behind the private school isn’t safe enough. I know a more secluded path. Follow me.”
After saying that, he crouched down and crawled away in another direction.
Everyone else, including Li Hefang, was puzzled.
That was clearly a dead-end alley that had been abandoned for who knows how many years; there was no way to go at all.
Unexpectedly, the schoolteacher hadn't gone far when he started rubbing against the alley wall, turning around and urging, "What are you standing there for? Come and lend a hand! This is the entrance to the secret passage. If those officials can't find anyone in the private school, they'll come to search through the back door, won't they? Hurry up!"
Upon hearing this, the students rushed forward and hurriedly helped him move the pile of rubble.
A short while later, a dark hole in the wall, about half a person's height, appeared in front of everyone.
"Sir... how come there's a secret passage here?" someone asked.
The schoolteacher wore a smug look on his face. "I discovered this by chance many years ago when I was studying here. Hehe, every time I skipped school, I would sneak in here, and no one would ever find me..."
"Ah? Sir, you..."
Everyone was taken aback.
The schoolteacher coughed and said, "Ahem, everyone has a mischievous and ignorant phase... but you're not allowed to imitate that! Otherwise, I'll spank your bottoms!"
After saying that, he took the lead and crawled inside.
The others entered one by one, and Fang Hui and Li He were the last to crawl into the hole in the wall, and then used rubble to seal it up again.
The secret passage was much more spacious inside. The group groped their way forward in the darkness. After only a few steps, they heard officials searching the alley behind them. They were terrified.
"Oh dear!" the schoolteacher at the front suddenly exclaimed.
Several students behind him hurriedly reached out and covered his mouth.
"Sir... don't shout, or we'll be in big trouble if we're discovered..."
The teacher, struggling to breathe with his hands suffocated, rolled his eyes back. After a while, the students finally let go and whispered to him what was wrong.
He gasped for breath and said, "I just... I just bumped my knee. There seems to be... there seems to be some loose rocks blocking the way. I haven't been here for so many years, I don't know what it's like now... Don't move, be careful, it might be dangerous."
The students muttered to themselves:
"It's a pity there are no lamps or torches, otherwise we could have seen the situation more clearly."
"What should we do? Slowly make our way over, or..."
"How about we turn back and get some oil lamps and candles?"
"..."
Before the group could finish their discussion, a bright light suddenly shone from behind.
Looking back, I was blinded by the light.
Li He's voice rang out, "I have some lighting tools here, I'll provide you with light so you can keep going."
The schoolteacher squinted, unable to see clearly what Li He was holding. In any case, the light was far brighter than a torch, illuminating the surroundings clearly. So he turned around and led the group forward.
Fortunately, although there were collapsed rocks ahead, they did not block the secret passage.
With the light, everyone worked together to clear away the rocks and continue on their way.
"Sir, why is there such a secret passage behind the private school? Where does the secret passage lead?" Li He's voice came from the back of the group.
The schoolteacher said, “This is a natural formation, a crack in the mountain. One of the exits happens to be behind the wall in the alley outside the private school. You all need to stay close. There are many more forks in the road ahead, so don’t lose them. The only exit on the other side leads directly to the south gate of the city, not far from that dilapidated temple.”
Li He was overjoyed. "This is truly a stroke of luck! Now I don't have to worry about running into the officials at the south gate of the city!"
"It's not that heaven helped you, it's that I, your teacher, helped you," the teacher said proudly.
Li He smiled and said, "You're right, sir."
The schoolteacher exclaimed, "How strange! This is the first time I've heard you agree with me. You always used to disagree with me."
"Ahem... Sir, you're right."
"..."
The teacher was silent for a moment, then said, "Lihe, you are actually very smart. I have often heard people say that you are quite loyal. You must walk the right path. Even if you really don't like studying, don't do bad things."
This was probably the first time the teacher had spoken so frankly to Li He. Li He was deeply moved and earnestly replied, "Please rest assured, teacher. I am no longer the same Li He I once was. I will always remember your teachings."
"Hmm, not bad, not bad, a promising student," the teacher said with satisfaction. He worked even harder to clear the rocks in front of him to make a path for the students behind him, while shaking his head and saying, "Come, come, recite a few poems from the Book of Songs for me."
Li He was silent for a moment before speaking, "Sir, we've finally built up some feelings for each other, so it's best not to ruin it."
The schoolteacher sighed, "Ah, never mind if I didn't praise you."
The other students burst into laughter, which eased everyone's tense mood considerably.
By the time everyone emerged from the secret passage, it was already dark.
Apart from Li He and Fang Hui, who were still full of energy and not out of breath, everyone else, including the schoolteacher, was exhausted and collapsed on the ground.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the cave that everyone had just crawled out of.
Everyone was startled and sat up, looking towards the cave entrance.
Li He carefully observed the passage, then crawled back in. He quickly came out and told everyone that the secret passage had completely collapsed and was blocked by rocks and mud.
Everyone was still shaken. The schoolteacher patted his chest and said, "They must have cleared a lot of rubble along the way, making the already fragile cracked passage even more vulnerable. Luckily... luckily we're all out now, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Li He looked around and found that the place was indeed in the mountains behind the dilapidated temple. After everyone had recovered a little, he led them all into the temple.
The night was cold, and it started to rain heavily.
The teacher and more than a dozen students were cold and tired, so they huddled together for warmth on the straw pile that Li He had made in the corner, and soon fell asleep.
Just in case, Li He turned off the flashlight Ning Jinli had given him and didn't even light a fire. He and Fang Hui took turns keeping watch.
As the night passed and dawn broke, the rain had lessened considerably.
The others gradually woke up, and it took them a while to come to their senses. They remembered what had happened yesterday and realized that they were now hiding in a dilapidated temple.
Some students cried, saying they missed their parents and wanted to go home.
Some students clutched their stomachs and cried out that they were hungry.
You can't blame them, after all, they are just teenagers in their early teens who have never experienced anything like this before.
The schoolteacher offered some words of comfort, then called softly, "Li He, Li He?"
“Sir, Li He has gone into the city to scout out the situation,” Fang Hui said as he walked over. “You two can stay here for now. Oh, by the way, I’ve cooked you some food, it’ll be ready soon.”
The schoolteacher exclaimed in surprise, "There's food here?"
Fang Hui chuckled, "This is actually a secret residence for me and Brother Lihe. Some time ago, we renovated it and stocked up on some food just in case. I never expected it to come in handy."
“I see. You two lads…you’re really something.” The schoolteacher looked around and asked, “What did Lihe use for lighting yesterday? I could only vaguely see what looked like a black round stick less than half a foot long. There was no flame, but it was extremely bright.”
Fang Hui said, "That's a lighting tool that Sister Jinli gave me. It's called... a flashlight. I don't know, but it's very bright."
"Sister Jinli? And who is this?"
"Um... sir, please don't ask. I'm not good with words and can't explain it clearly."
"..."
Only then will you hear footsteps coming from afar.
He hurriedly went to the temple gate and glanced outside. His expression changed drastically. He quickly returned to the temple, lifted a wooden board in the corner, and shouted, "The officials are here! Quick, hide in here!"
There was a hole under the wooden plank.
It was something he and Li He dug out during this time, used to store silver and things that Ning Jinli would occasionally send over.
With the teacher's help, more than ten students quickly squeezed inside.
Fortunately, they were all thin and small boys, and with a bit of effort, they managed to squeeze in.
"Sir, please come in too!" Fang urged.
The schoolteacher stared at the entrance of the hole, frowned and shook his head. "If I squeeze in, the children will probably be crushed to death. I think there's only room for you at most, Fang Hui. You should go in quickly."
"gentlemen……"
"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up! I can stay outside and cover you with wooden planks!"
After saying that, the schoolteacher pushed Fang Hui inside.
Inside the cave, all the boys tried their best to huddle together, leaving a small gap for Fang Hui.
Fang Hui's legs went down, but his upper body was stuck among the people and he couldn't move.
The schoolteacher gritted his teeth, pressed down on Fang Hui's shoulders with both hands, and finally managed to stuff the person inside after a lot of effort. Then he quickly covered it with a wooden board and sprinkled some dry grass to cover it up.
At this moment, several county officials carrying knives walked into the dilapidated temple.
The schoolteacher hurriedly sat down on the wooden board, and the officers quickly spotted him.
"Gentlemen, what brings you here? What brings you here?" He greeted them with a smile, panting heavily. "How has our county magistrate been lately?"
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