Clearly, only two bandits came to deliver a message and extort money in the morning, and they really didn't take the villagers seriously.
Because the footprints were left so openly on the snow, without any attempt to conceal them.
Li Laosi and the others were delighted. Their pursuit at this moment would be completely unexpected by the bandits, greatly increasing their chances of successfully rescuing the child.
The group pursued relentlessly, traversing mountains, while also guarding against the bandits' slow pace and the possibility of the two sides colliding.
With frequent stops and starts, the snow in the mountains was quite heavy, making the journey difficult.
By the time everyone could see the lights in the distance, it was already quite dark.
Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou discussed the matter, and Liu Biaotou led his men to hide. Li Laosi and Sister-in-law Qiong went inside to investigate and find out where the child was hiding.
With their hearts pounding with excitement, the group pulled out the sheets and blankets they had brought, lay down on the spot, and completely blended into the snow.
Not to mention in the dark, even in the daytime you have to get close to see it clearly.
Sister-in-law Qiong and Li Laosi groped their way toward the light, one after the other, but just as they were about to leave the woods, they were terrified.
It turned out there were several dark things hanging on the tree; they had initially thought they were broken branches or something similar.
But upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was... several people! People who had been stripped naked and hung from trees, frozen to death!
"Damn it!" Li Laosi cursed under his breath, gripping his long knife even tighter. These bandits were too ruthless; he probably couldn't avoid this desperate fight today.
Although Sister-in-law Qiong was a woman and knew some martial arts, she was still terrified and turned pale.
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness and caution in each other's eyes, before continuing to feel their way forward.
Despite being called a mountain stronghold, the place where the bandits stayed was actually just a small courtyard.
I don't know if it was inhabited by mountain people or some kind of villa belonging to a wealthy family.
The small courtyard is square, with three main rooms, three west wing rooms, and a fire in the side room, which seems to be a cooking area.
At the entrance of the courtyard, a bonfire was lit, and two bandits were huddled around it, talking and warming themselves. Surprisingly, no one was seen on guard duty around the courtyard walls.
Sister-in-law Qiong made a hand gesture and quietly climbed over the wall and went inside.
Li Laosi quietly approached the gate. Two bandits were talking crudely. One of them, perhaps because he was freezing, called out to them.
"I'll go inside and see what's going on. You hold the fort for a bit, then I'll come out and relieve you."
The remaining one was somewhat unhappy. "No way, the boss will be upset if he sees this. Those peasants might even come looking for us!"
"What nonsense! I was the one who delivered the letter today. You don't know how those peasants are crying like their mothers have died after losing their children. It's a complete mess. They wouldn't dare to cause trouble even if they had a thousand lives. We just need to wait for the money tomorrow! Besides, the eldest brother is having a great time and won't be able to get out of bed for half the night. What are you afraid of!"
The bandit who was speaking didn't care and turned to go inside, leaving the remaining bandits glaring helplessly. In the end, they didn't stop him, but got up, unbuckled their belts, and found a sheltered spot to urinate.
Before he could urinate, his mouth was covered, and a cold machete was placed against his neck.
"Shut up, or I'll slit your throat!"
The bandit instinctively tried to struggle, but Li Laosi lifted his knee and hit the back of his leg, causing him to kneel down on the rock with a thud, trembling in pain.
"I'll ask you questions, and you'll answer them. If you dare to lie or raise your voice, I'll send you to meet the King of Hell right now!" Li Laosi pressed down on his wood-chopping knife, and the bandit's neck was slashed, drawing blood.
The bandits trembled even more and nodded repeatedly.
"How many of you are there in total? Where is the child who was kidnapped yesterday hidden?"
“Thirty…thirty, we have thirty people. Yesterday, that child…was stuffed into the cellar!”
The bandit spoke haltingly, as if afraid Li Laosi wouldn't believe him. He even pointed to the wall next to him, saying, "The cellar is in this corner of the yard, and there's a big rock pressing down on the cellar entrance."
Li Laosi then asked, "Where are you from? Do you have any accomplices?"
"No..." The bandit hesitated for a moment, and Li Laosi bled him again.
He quickly confessed, "During the summer, there was a severe drought in the south, and we couldn't make a living, so we came here to earn some money. Later, we heard that barbarians were coming, and the emperor and wealthy families all fled south. We then blocked the official road and robbed fat sheep..."
"I'm asking you, do you have any accomplices?"
"No, no more! Our families are all in the south, we don't know anyone here!"
Li Laosi breathed a slight sigh of relief. Just as he was hesitating whether to kill the bandit to silence him, Sister Qiong jumped out from behind the wall.
She lowered her voice and said, "The poison has been put in, but only those gambling in the west wing will be affected. There are still seven or eight in the main room, but we can't worry about them now. We need to be careful when we make our move."
Before Li Laosi could respond, the bandit suddenly jerked to the side, straining his neck to shout.
With a swift movement, he slit the bandit's throat, and the bandit collapsed limply with a series of gurgling sounds.
Despite feeling nauseous from the hot blood soaking his shoulders, Li Laosi grabbed him and threw him a few steps away.
He then gestured for Sister-in-law Qiong to stay, and then turned and slipped back to where everyone was hiding.
"Sister-in-law Qiong has already drugged them, and I also got information by grabbing their tongues. There are thirty bandits in total, most of them are gambling in the west wing, and a small portion are in the main house. The child is in the cellar on the right side of the courtyard entrance, and there are large stones pressing down on the cellar entrance."
"Once we're inside, I'll go rescue the children first. Remember, don't hold back; kill them all. They have no accomplices outside. We must eliminate them completely!"
Everyone listened intently, their hearts pounding, and nodded emphatically.
Li Laosi was afraid they would start fighting and hesitate, so he pointed to a tree at the edge of the woods and said.
"There hangs there the bodies of bandits who froze to death, all of whom were abducted from the official road! These bandits are too ruthless. Today, it's either them or us who die. If we let even one escape, they'll probably send someone to take revenge!"
Everyone turned pale and replied in a low voice, "Don't worry, we'll definitely kill them all."
Judging that it was about time, Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou led the group forward.
Doctor Zhang is a first-rate healer, and his poisons are also exceptionally effective.
Sister-in-law Qiong was getting anxious when she heard that there was no movement from the west wing. When she saw everyone coming, she went into the courtyard first.
Li Laosi then went straight to the corner of the wall.
Sure enough, there was a large rock pressing down in the corner, which would probably take three people to move, but it was easy for him; he just used his arms to lift it.
He lifted the wooden plank and, disregarding his fear, jumped down.
The cellar was pitch black and completely silent. His heart tightened, and he lit a pine torch to illuminate a section of the ground, barely managing to see his surroundings. He only glanced around before he couldn't help but gasp.
However, five children were crammed into the small cellar, which was only eight or nine steps square, with Gou Sheng leaning against the corner of the wall.
He strode forward and grabbed Gou Sheng. Gou Sheng was burning hot and unconscious.
He ran over to the other children, but his expression changed...
In the courtyard, after listening to the west wing to make sure there was no movement, Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), gently pushed open the door.
There were three or four oil lamps lit inside, and a stove crackling loudly; it wasn't hard to see them clearly.
In the middle of the room, there was a square table with four people sitting around it. There were seven or eight people lying on the ground and seven or eight people on the kang (a heated brick bed), all of them bleeding from their mouths and noses, and were dead beyond any doubt.
Perhaps someone noticed something was wrong while being poisoned, and tried to open the door, their hands still resting on the threshold...
Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go in to finish off the enemy when the main room door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.
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