After a fresh rain in the empty mountains, the weather is pleasant in the evening. The bright moon shines between the pines, and a clear spring flows over the rocks.
In the still of the night, in the pitch-black depths of the mountains and forests, after a precious spring rain, everything begins to grow wildly.
The air at night became exceptionally fresh, giving one a rare sense of clarity and purity, untouched by worldly dust. Yet, the surrounding stillness was almost eerily quiet.
At this moment, Ruoxi, who had fallen down the mountainside and had been unconscious for most of the day, stirred slightly after being drenched by a heavy rain. She finally woke up slowly.
In my hazy consciousness, I seemed to hear a silent surrounding, with only the crackling sound of a bonfire burning brightly in my ears.
I slowly opened my eyes and found that the faint light I had felt earlier had returned. I turned my head to look, and sure enough, the crackling sound coming from it was a ball of fire.
So, enduring the pain all over her body, she struggled to slowly sit up.
Suddenly, a deep, magnetic middle-aged man's voice, seemingly right beside me, said, "You're awake!"
She was startled by the sound, her heart skipped a beat, and even her thin, frail body trembled. After a moment of stunned silence, she instinctively curled up and, not understanding why, cautiously retreated away from the direction of the sound.
Clearly, this person's voice was completely unfamiliar to her; she didn't know if it was benevolent or malevolent. So, she hugged her knees tightly to herself, huddled in a corner, and timidly asked, "Who are you? Where are we?"
A middle-aged man, dressed in a black cloak, his dark hair half-tied, exuding composure, was seen holding a jar of Daughter's Red wine in one hand, drinking heartily, while in the other hand he used a dry twig to stir the campfire between them, making it burn brighter and radiate more warmth. He sat cross-legged opposite Ruoxi, then looked around, took a breath, and finally said in a deep voice, "This is... a cave that can still provide shelter from the wind and rain. As for me... I just happened to be passing by. You can call me Brother Long."
"A cave? Brother Long?...Did you save me?" Ruoxi frowned slightly, as if she had only now slowly recalled everything that happened in the mountains that afternoon, and asked him in surprise.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man chuckled and said to himself with some surprise, "You little girl, you're really lucky! You tumbled down a hillside dozens of meters high, entangled with a pine tree that had been struck by lightning and caught fire, and you only suffered some extremely minor superficial injuries. There's probably no one else in this world as fortunate as you! However, if it weren't for this heavy rain that extinguished the fire on that tree in time, I don't know if you would have been so lucky... By the way, what's your name?"
Upon hearing this, and sensing the man's cheerful, gentle yet somewhat unruly tone, Ruoxi suddenly felt less wary of him than before. She slowly relaxed her arms from her knees, thought for a moment, and softly thanked him, "Thank you for saving my life, my benefactor. You may call me... Ruoxi."
"Ruoxi," the middle-aged man heard, took another big gulp of wine, and then repeated the sentence in a low voice.
Looking up, she suddenly caught sight of the bright moonlight outside. After a moment's thought, the middle-aged man asked again, "Miss Ruoxi, where do you live? I'll take you home when it's light, or... would you like to go home by yourself? This mountain forest is undulating and stretches endlessly; you won't get lost, will you?"
Upon hearing this, for some reason, Ruoxi's mind went blank for a moment, and a faint throbbing pain seemed to rise in her head. She stammered listlessly, "Where is my home... home... Brother Long, to tell you the truth, Ruoxi has experienced some things, and now she's not only blind... but also has amnesia. That's why she accidentally slipped and fell down the hillside. I wonder how Wang Er and that uncle are doing..."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately turned his deep, dark eyes toward him, staring in astonishment as he muttered to himself, "How could this be?"
Ruoxi pursed her lips and continued, "Originally, Ruoxi was rescued by an old woman in a village and stayed at her house. When she first woke up, she heard her mention the name of the village once, but what was it called again?... But now, Ruoxi really can't remember it at all. ... Oh, right, there was also a young girl named Huan'er in her house. The two of them seemed to be a mistress and servant who depended on each other for survival."
“In that case, you’ll have to come back with me for now. This deep mountain forest is rarely visited by people; it’s a very dangerous place, and wild animals often roam around. Once I get back, I’ll send more people to the nearby villages to find out who took you in, and then I’ll send you back. Is that alright?” the middle-aged man suggested after thinking for a moment.
Although Ruoxi didn't explicitly agree to go back with him, it was a tacit acceptance, like a rootless duckweed drifting aimlessly, with nowhere to turn and no other choice. She couldn't just stay alone in this deep mountain forest, waiting to die and become food for those ferocious jackals and wild beasts.
And so, the two of them gradually became acquainted around a campfire. After spending a long night in this dilapidated cave deep in the mountains, the middle-aged man carried Ruoxi on his horse and held her in his arms as dawn broke the next day. Together, they rode away from the cave and into a misty, endless forest.
After traveling for about an hour, they finally emerged from the mountains and forests. The middle-aged man led Ruoxi southward, crossing a babbling brook and then passing through a dense forest of lush green trees. They arrived at the foot of a mountain, where Ruoxi felt the horse's pace, which had been galloping rapidly, gradually slow down.
Then, a majestic stone gate, seemingly guarded by someone, appeared in the distance. Hanging on the stone gate was a plaque with three imposing golden characters that read "Xiaolong Society".
The Xiaolong Society stands against the mountain, and its scale appears quite large. On either side of the stone gate, there is a square flag with a black background and red border, and in the center of the flag is embroidered a majestic golden dragon that seems about to take off.
As soon as the person entered, two of the guards quickly opened the gate wide. Once the person had entered, they hurriedly closed the gate tightly.
At this moment, one of his men quickly stepped forward and firmly took the reins of the middle-aged man's horse. As soon as he dismounted, everyone bowed and said in unison, "Greetings, Chief!"
"Chief?" Upon hearing this, Ruoxi, who was still on horseback, suddenly felt a pang in her heart and paused.
Then, the middle-aged man carefully instructed his subordinates who came forward to lead the horse, "Take this girl away and settle her in properly. Also, send more people to search carefully in the surrounding villages to see if anyone has lost this girl."
"Your subordinate obeys."
Only after he stopped and watched with his own eyes as his men led Ruoxi and her horse into a courtyard at the back and disappeared from sight did the middle-aged man seem to feel relieved. He then hurriedly walked towards the main hall of Xiaolong Hall in the east courtyard.
Unexpectedly, after taking only a few steps, he saw two more men binding two women, their heads covered with black cloth, and rushing them stealthily toward the backyard. The two women seemed to have their mouths gagged, and they struggled and cried out desperately in their hands.
"What's going on with these two women?" Upon seeing them, the middle-aged man walked over without hesitation, stopped them, and asked.
"Greetings, Chief. Just now, when the brothers were patrolling the back mountain, they found these two girls by the river. They looked pretty good. The Deputy Chief ordered us to take them to his room to serve him..." The two men immediately stopped and bowed to him. One of them, a burly man with a dark face, looked uneasy and timidly reported to him.
"Let them go!" Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately ordered them with a gloomy expression.
Unexpectedly, the burly, dark-faced man remained hesitant, stammering as if in difficulty, "Chief, but the Vice Chief..."
Before he could finish speaking, a heavy slap landed squarely on the face of the burly, dark-faced man.
He immediately covered half his face, and even spun around in place several times before stopping. Then, the two of them hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, saying, "Master, spare us! Master, spare us! We'll release them right away!"
In an instant, the ropes binding the two young women were quickly untied, their mouths were freed, and the black cloth coverings on their heads were removed. The middle-aged man then put his hands behind his back, put his face stern, and asked the two women, "You two young ladies, why did you come to such a remote place? Where did you come from? And what are you doing here?"
No sooner had the middle-aged man finished speaking than the woman, who appeared slightly older and more worldly-wise, glared at him, spat fiercely, and angrily said, "Bandit, robber..."
“Bandits, robbers…” the middle-aged man repeated with interest.
Then, with a smile on his face, he slowly walked around the two women once, and finally turned his back to them, saying in a sharp and harsh voice, "Do you want to see what real bandits and robbers are like?"
At this moment, another, younger woman standing nearby, whether out of fear or something else, suddenly burst into tears, wiping away her tears and sobbing as she spoke…
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