Throughout the night, they experienced three waves of bandit attacks. Although many people were injured or killed, at least their homes were successfully defended.
Of the villages attacked, Huanghua Village suffered the most severe damage. In particular, one family had not built any snow walls or fences, so they were immediately robbed by the bandits. Only a three-year-old girl survived by being locked in the woodshed outside the house for some unknown reason.
By the time the bandits were taken over by the yamen runners who had rushed to the scene, it was already dawn, and the sky was beginning to lighten.
After such a night, everyone was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Now that it was finally over, everyone was eager to go home and rest or settle down.
Only Cheng Ruyi knew that the matter was not actually over, because the system notification had not sounded at all.
She looked at the bandits being guarded by the constables and felt uneasy. Suddenly, she realized that some of the bandits looked familiar. It seemed that they were the people who had come with the bald man to attack the furniture shop that day!
Oh no! Ruyi was startled and immediately got up and rushed back to the other courtyard.
Zhou Yin had originally planned to return to the county town, but after seeing Cheng Ruyi's appearance, he suddenly understood something and immediately followed her to Lishan Villa with his guards.
After casually popping a "moisturizing energy candy," Ruyi leaped back to the villa in a few bounds.
Fortunately, she was timid and cautious, and had already laid a trap in the villa early on.
The red thorns planted on the outer wall of the courtyard have grown wildly over the past year, taller than an average adult male. Anyone who doesn't know light-footed kung fu and wants to climb over the wall will be paralyzed by the poison of the red thorns unless they bring a ladder.
As expected, several bandits lay dead on the outer wall next to the back gate of the villa. These men were not only wearing fur vests, but also carrying gleaming broadswords. It was clear at a glance that they were no good. She knew that she had guessed right!
Walking from the back gate to the inner courtyard, and then from the inner courtyard to the front courtyard, we didn't see a single member of the Cheng family, except for two or three wounded bandits lying on the ground outside the main hall.
Seeing this scene, Ruyi knew that her family must have followed their previous agreement and quickly hid in the cellar after encountering the intruding bandits.
Lishan Villa has two cellars. The cellar in the front courtyard was built along with the house. The entrance is under the octagonal table in the main room. Lift the tablecloth that is usually covered with decorations to see the wooden entrance. The underground space is very spacious and sturdy. According to the old craftsmen, it can accommodate up to one hundred people if you squeeze in.
The other cellar is in the inner courtyard, which was added this year. Although it is not as large as the cellar in the main hall, it is much more hidden and ordinary people would not be able to find it at all.
Besides the Cheng family, there are four members of the Tao family, four members of the Meng family, and a guard staying in the villa. Their combined strength is definitely much higher than that of ordinary bandits. In addition, with the various props and life-saving pills she left behind, there should be no major problems.
Sure enough, as she entered the main room with two guards, she heard Xu Cui's strong voice calling from downstairs: "Ruyi! Is that you back?"
"It's me. How are you all? Are you all alright?"
After Cheng Ruyi and the others went down into the cellar, they found ten bandits lying neatly on the ground, all of them tightly bound, while the others in the courtyard were unharmed.
According to Xu Cui's description, after Ruyi left the villa, the others gathered in the front hall as planned. When the first wave of bandits attacked Lishan Village, the villa was still unharmed, but everyone was very uneasy listening to the sounds of chaos outside.
Until half an hour ago, Lin Xiaoman suddenly heard a group of people approaching the villa through the back door and being injured by the Red Thorns. So they immediately opened the cellar and let those who did not know martial arts go in and hide.
Because there were many people and the path down to the cellar was very narrow, the bandits had already arrived at the front yard when only the guards, the three members of the Meng family, and Xu Cui remained in the main room.
The guards rushed out to block them, trying to buy time for everyone. However, the enemy outnumbered them, and several managed to break through and enter the main hall, where they immediately engaged in a fierce battle with the remaining members.
After studying the Gale Blade Technique for half a year, Xu Cui, with her astonishing arm strength, wielded the wooden sword with great force and speed. The bandits couldn't even get close to the cellar entrance. With the Meng family mediating between them, the bandits quickly lost their footing and gradually had no chance to fight back.
Just when they were about to subdue the bandits, a man in black, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, suddenly rushed out from nowhere. This man was clearly different from the bandits who only knew some basic martial arts skills; he had genuinely studied martial arts and even seemed to have reached a level of mastery. Instantly, the situation became unpredictable again.
Sure enough, a short while later, Meng Daya and Meng Fu were the first to be injured because they were the bravest.
At this moment, the other members of the Cheng family who had been keeping an eye on the main room from inside the cellar were getting restless, but Cheng Yun'an, who was the last to enter, stood guard at the door and prevented everyone from leaving.
Cheng Yun'an calmly observed the situation above through the crack in the cellar door. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable to them, she immediately took out the "top-secret weapon" that her mother had left her before leaving and threw it out. Then she immediately closed the cellar door and signaled to everyone to cover their mouths and noses and not breathe.
A few breaths later, there was no sound at all in the main room. Cheng Yun'an did not dare to relax and continued to hold his breath. After a while, he quietly opened the cellar door and found that everyone in the main room was lying on the ground.
As for what she threw out, it was naturally Cheng Ruyi's specially made secret weapon, "Concentrated Cloud Dream Lotus Fragrance".
Besides its sleep-inducing properties, Yunmeng Lotus has another remarkable characteristic: "If one inhales the fragrance of more than three of its blossoms within a ten-foot radius, one will immediately fall into a dream, and will only wake up after three days or by consuming Yunmeng Lotus leaves."
When she first got her hands on it, the first thing she thought of was how to use this feature to create a life-saving artifact. This "Concentrated Cloud Dream Lotus Perfume" was something she created after nearly half a year of experimentation. It was a small, thin ceramic bottle containing perfume extracted from the petals of six Cloud Dream Lotus flowers. After testing, it was found that breaking the bottle could instantly send mortals within a radius of twenty feet to sleep.
Unfortunately, Yunmenghe is not abundant, and it cannot be mass-produced.
"What kind of hidden weapon is this? I've never heard of it before." This was what Zhou Yin was most concerned about after hearing the story.
"Ahem, that's not important. Have you noticed that this bandit seems a bit strange? Why would a bandit be wearing night clothes and a mask? There must be something fishy going on!" Cheng Ruyi said as she walked to the man in black and tried to pull off the mask covering his face.
Unexpectedly, just as she reached out to pull off her face mask, she suddenly triggered a hidden weapon concealed in the man's ear. Several silver needles flew out instantly, shooting straight at Cheng Ruyi!
"careful!"
"Step back!"
"mother!"
Several sounds rang out simultaneously. Cheng Ruyi's agility was comparable to the "mastery of all techniques," so she naturally managed to dodge the needles smoothly. However, she didn't expect Zhou Yin to suddenly reach out and block in front of her, and then gloriously took the hit...
Everyone was stunned by this series of changes. How could someone who was already unconscious and tightly bound still be able to launch hidden weapons? And how did it turn out that Master Zhou was the one who was injured?
After a moment of shock, Cheng Ruyi quickly came to her senses and immediately pulled up Zhou Yin's sleeve to take a look. Sure enough, the needle marks had turned black.
She immediately took out a pill and stuffed it into Zhou Yin's mouth, then said to his guards, "Your master has been poisoned! Quickly take him to see a doctor!"
"I'm fine..." Zhou Yin was still a little dazed. He was shocked that he had instinctively reached out to shield Cheng Ruyi, and also shocked that Cheng Ruyi had touched his lips when she gave him the pill...
Ignoring Zhou Yin's objections, Cheng Ruyi pushed him directly to the guards. The guards of the Zhou family were terrified when they came to their senses. They were doomed if anything happened to Master Zhou!
Without saying a word, everyone picked up Zhou Yin and left Lishan Villa in an instant, ignoring his struggles.
Cheng Ruyi was worried that the other bandits might also have similar devices on them, so she wanted to leave them as they were and let the county yamen runners deal with them. However, Cheng Yan said it was fine. Nothing had happened when they carried the bandits down, so they figured as long as they didn't damage their equipment, it would be okay. Besides, the cellar wasn't really suitable for too many people to visit.
So everyone carefully carried these people back to the floor of the main room before leaving to rest in their rooms.
After a busy night, Cheng Ruyi was not only tired, but also wanted to take a shower and change her clothes, since her clothes were covered in blood. However, just as she was about to take off her clothes, Cheng Yun'an suddenly came to her room, and his expression was quite serious.
"Yun'an, what's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?" Ruyi knew that her eldest daughter was always the most sensible and reliable person in the Cheng family, so if she came to see her at this time, it must be something important.
Cheng Yun'an didn't say anything, but quietly closed the doors and windows. Then he pulled his mother to a secluded corner, secretly took out a letter and a piece of paper from his clothes, and gestured for Ruyi to open them. Then he spoke softly to the outside, "Mother, I see your clothes are covered in blood. Are you injured?"
Ruyi first opened the note and found that it was written by Yun'an. She said that when she was moving the bandits to the cellar, she accidentally bumped into him, and a letter fell out of the man in black's clothes. She then quietly put it away.
After reading the note, she instantly understood why her daughter had done this. It seemed that reading so many storybooks had actually been useful. "Ahem, don't worry, Mother isn't injured. This blood is from those bandits. I'm just feeling a little tired."
"Now that you've put your mind at ease, I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave now."
Cheng Ruyi: "Uh... um..."
It seems I should read fewer storybooks in the future. What kind of nonsense are these lines? Ruyi almost burst out laughing as she watched her daughter leave with a serious but awkward posture.
After returning to her bedroom, she picked up the unremarkable envelope in her hand. From the outside, the envelope looked no different from the ones that ordinary people use every day; it wasn't even sealed.
She couldn't help but feel curious. This was something that Cheng Yun'an, who had a "lucky buff," had obtained. Logically, it couldn't just be an ordinary letter, so... maybe this was a hidden quest!
For safety's sake, she first put on leather gloves and held her breath before carefully opening the envelope and taking out the thin piece of paper inside.
This was a piece of paper as thin as a cicada's wing, with a very special feel. It seemed to have an unknown layer on its surface, making it look very shiny. After thinking about it carefully, Ruyi was certain that it was something she had never seen before.
When she unfolded the paper in her hand, it was as big as an eight-immortal table. But what shocked her even more than the size of the paper was its contents. Good heavens, it was a map!
Looking at the three large characters "Wolongzhai" written in the upper right corner of the paper, Cheng Ruyi had a feeling of "just as I thought." What was bound to happen would happen, and she knew that her premonition was probably correct.
Previously, it was just a guess, but today, not only did they find Baldy's men among the bandits, but they also found that the bandits had specially sent a group of experts to "take care" of their family. She didn't believe that the Green Dragon Gang wasn't involved, so the Green Dragon Gang was indeed connected with Wolong Village.
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