The bald man glared at Xu Lin's mother and father, who were standing guard at the door, his voice tinged with grievance:
"It's all their fault... If it weren't for..."
That's a bit of an overstatement.
The Xu family never expected that the thatched cottage in the valley would be occupied, let alone that it would harm Zhiwu and Zhiwang.
It was only because Ye Wenxue wanted to eat tofu that Xu Lin's mother offered to make tofu herself in order to save the bandits some money.
They did not know in advance that the refugees had occupied the thatched huts, nor did they intend to harm Zhiwu and Zhiwang.
Ye Wenxue said "Oh," and while carrying the bald man out, she glanced at his mother, who was standing behind them with a worried look in her eyes, indicating that she should handle the situation.
"In that case, I was also at fault. I shouldn't have been so greedy after not having eaten tofu for so long, which led to the deaths of Zhiwu and Zhiwang."
"How about this... tonight we'll launch a surprise attack on the thatched hut, kill all the people who harmed us, and avenge Zhiwu and Zhiwang!"
The bald man, being grabbed by the back of his collar, asked: "?"
How come this guy is even more reckless than him?
No matter how much he felt sorry for Zhiwu and Zhiwang, and how much he wanted to avenge them, he would still have to consider the number of people on the other side.
Ye Wenxue, on the other hand, was completely unscrupulous. She said she wanted to kill someone to avenge herself, so she took out a knife!
The bald man, looking dejected, tried to stop him: "No, it's not your fault. Blame those refugees! They're a bunch of heartless beasts!"
Ye Wenxue looked somewhat puzzled: "Anyone can say that, but it's not quite appropriate for you mountain bandits to say it, is it?"
The people who died at the hands of the bandits probably cursed them in the same way.
"...I have never killed innocent civilians."
At the kitchen doorway, the three watched Ye Wenxue and the bald man enter the house, and all sighed.
Baldy's mother patted Xu Lin's mother's shoulder reassuringly: "Don't take it to heart. Suinian is a good child in every way, except he's not very smart. This is not your fault at all. I'll give him a good talking to later."
Xu Lin's mother shook her head: "It's my fault, I should blame myself... Never mind, I'll go cook and give the two children a good meal."
Grandpa Xu also felt a little guilty. He went into the kitchen first, lifted the pot lid, and his guilty expression froze: "What is this?"
The two people outside the door came in and took a look; their expressions were somewhat distorted.
Is the grayish-green mushy stuff in the pot edible?
Baldy's mother had expected this, and quickly calmed down. She poured out the inedible food from the pot, washed the pot and vegetables, and started cooking.
Inside the room, Ye Wenxue spoke solemnly:
"I'm serious, today is the perfect opportunity. No one will ever guess that we're going to launch a surprise attack tonight."
She was greeted by a room full of silence.
Dazhuang asked helplessly, "Mother, isn't this all too hasty?"
There were some things Ye Wenxue couldn't say, after all, it was just her own guess: "Now that the matter has come to us, we can't just sit here and do nothing."
Xu Lin was puzzled: "Coming to our door?"
Ye Wenxue: "Going to your house doesn't count as coming to your door?"
Xu Lin shut up.
He thought more deeply than the others; the news of bandits in the mountains had already spread, and the snow had piled up several feet thick in the dead of winter.
Aside from ordinary people who cut firewood to support their families, who would brave the heavy snow to go into the mountains?
In particular, Tanzhou accepted and gathered refugees from famine, but this group did not go there.
He was about to say something when Su Jiu interrupted, "I also think no one could have guessed tonight's operation."
Su Jiu was itching to try: "Why don't you take me with you? I brought sleeping powder, so I can protect you and run away if we encounter danger."
Ye Wenxue wasn't interested in having a burden: "If we encounter danger, I can escape on my own. You can stay at home and help me take care of the children."
Su Jiu snorted.
Zhiwang's voice trembled: "So... that's the decision? Don't you want to reconsider and discuss it further?"
Ye Wenxue was puzzled: "I'm here to help you get revenge, don't you want to get revenge?"
Zhiwang glanced at Ye Wenxue, then at the pensive bald man, and swallowed hard. "I do want revenge, but..."
But he didn't want Boss Ye and Boss Nian to die!
Zhiwang kept giving Dazhuang and Sanyuan meaningful glances, urging them to quickly persuade Boss Ye.
Dazhuang was deep in thought and didn't notice.
Sanyuan hurriedly went to Zhiwang's side: "Could it be that you've been poisoned? Why are your eyes twitching?"
Zhi Wang was heartbroken, and his hand fell limp: "No, I winked at you."
Da Zhuang and Xu Lin, who were listening in, chuckled.
Xu Lin had no objections, but was somewhat worried: "Why don't we just let Baldy go and take a look by himself? It's late at night, it's not very safe for you to go."
Baldy: "...Will I be safe if I go alone?"
Ye Wenxue offered a few words of reassurance, then added, "Don't worry, we'll just go and take a look; we won't act rashly."
Xu Lin and the bald man, who had little contact with Ye Wenxue, believed it.
Su Jiu smiled faintly and remained silent.
After making her decision, Ye Wenxue told the bald man to wait for her in the bamboo forest, as she needed to take the two children and Su Jiu home first.
On the way back, Dazhuang couldn't help but remind her, "Mom, you can't be too impulsive."
Ye Wenxue brushed the snowflakes off his head: "I know, Mom will take good care of herself. When you go back, make sure your younger siblings get some sleep. Don't stay up late, and don't steal any food."
Dazhuang was a little worried, but he still obediently agreed: "Okay."
After escorting the three back to the valley, Ye Wenxue restored the traps on the path and turned to meet up with the bald man.
The valley was too far away, so the bald man had to bring two horses to get around.
After meeting up, the two said nothing, mounted their horses, and galloped towards the thatched hut in the valley.
Throughout the ordeal, the bald man would glance at Ye Wenxue from time to time, his eyes constantly darting around.
Baldy was worried that Zhiwu and Zhiwang wanted revenge. Firstly, the two had gone to the thatched hut because of his orders, and if he didn't avenge them, the brothers in the mountain stronghold would probably lose heart.
Secondly, Zhiwu and Zhiwang were picked up by him and were given names by his mother. After spending many days together, they developed some feelings for each other.
But Ye Wenxue was different; she was cold-hearted by nature.
Compared to her children, Zhiwu, Zhiwang, and even Su Jiu and Xu Lin are nothing special.
Today, Ye Wenxue took the initiative to seek revenge, and even the bald man, who wasn't very bright, sensed something was wrong.
Unless... those refugees will harm Ye Wenxue's children in the future?
After thinking along these lines for a moment, the bald man chuckled and shook his head, realizing he was probably overthinking it.
Ye Wenxue, who was running ahead, was unaware of the bald man's thoughts. She rode her horse to a spot seven miles outside the thatched hut, tied her horse to a sheltered place, and called the bald man to carefully walk on the snow.
It was already late at night when we arrived outside the thatched hut.
There were no candles lit in the thatched hut; they simply dismantled the wood from which the hut was built and lit a fire for warmth.
Ye Wenxue and the bald man tiptoed to the window, held their breath, and listened intently.
There were still people awake inside, squatting by the fire and talking softly.
"Several villages around Qingxu Town have been brought under control. The adults haven't sent any more messages. Yuancheng, where do you plan to go next?"
Ye Wenxue's pupils widened slightly; it was indeed him.
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