Lan Qing snorted coldly and rolled her eyes at the bald man:
"Give back all the silver, or you can go find it yourself in this snowy weather!"
The bald man forced himself to swallow his anger and turned to leave.
He did want to compensate the Xu family with money, but he didn't have a single tael of silver in his pocket!
They were all stolen from the warehouse!
The bald man glanced back at the injured Xu Lin and his companion, then called over the people following behind:
"Dr. Chen, please go and examine them. I'll leave two people with you. As for the money... I'll settle it later."
Fortunately, he thought that the Xu family might get hurt, so he brought Doctor Chen with him; otherwise, the Xu family might have died from blood loss.
Unlike the bandits, Dr. Chen was not as resistant to wind and snow. He had been running all the way from the mountain stronghold and was already exhausted.
Upon hearing the bald man's words, Doctor Chen, his face pale, agreed and remained where he was with the two bandits who were helping him.
"Wait!" Lan Qing frowned, took two steps forward with the kitchen knife in her hand, and said, "We don't need you to send people to treat us! You're just pretending to be kind! Get out of here!"
Xu Lin's parents supported him without stopping him, their eyes blazing with fury as they glared at the bandits, seething with hatred.
Having finally moved to a new place, they no longer had to worry about food and medicine. They made a lot of money selling charcoal together, and Xu Lin's eyes were almost healed.
Everything was going in a good direction, but unexpectedly, the bald man, whom they had gradually come to trust, disrupted their peaceful and improving life.
Xu Lin and his companion were injured, their money was gone, their bamboo house was smashed, and even the last few baskets of charcoal were taken away.
How am I supposed to live from now on?!
Dr. Chen was taken aback; the Xu family had never treated him so harshly before.
The bald man frowned, and before he could persuade the Xu family to trust Doctor Chen, he turned and said a few words before heading down the mountain:
"Believe it or not, I didn't have anyone steal it. Doctor Chen, they don't want to treat your injuries, so you can rest here for a while. I'll be back with people soon."
Dr. Chen nodded blankly.
Xu Lin suddenly raised his voice and said, "They've probably gone to find Ye Wenxue's family. If you hurry, you still have time."
The bald man's pupils widened slightly, and he quickly called to his brothers to continue running along the path.
Xu Lin had never seen Ye Wenxue kill or injure anyone; he only occasionally heard Ye Wenxue beating up the foul-mouthed and arrogant bald man.
He made this reminder out of concern for Ye Wenxue's family.
But for the bald man who knew Ye Wenxue's character well: he had to hurry, otherwise if the person was gone, he might not be able to get the money back!
After Lan Qing and the other bandits left, she glared at Doctor Chen and his two companions, angrily slammed the dilapidated wooden door shut, and pushed over several tables to block the way.
She went back to the house, boiled water, and got gauze. After carefully wiping the bloodstains from Xu Lin's face and neck, she was even more furious when she saw that the medicine on his eyes had been wasted.
"Why are you reminding him! That bald guy is definitely with them. Mountain bandits are all dishonest and untrustworthy scoundrels!"
Xu Lin touched the wooden basin, dipped his hands into the hot water, and reminded her, "Wang Chun is still lying in the room."
After being taken in as an apprentice by Master Xu, Wang Chun never returned to the mountain village and spent his days tending the charcoal kiln.
Upon hearing the commotion of vandalism outside, Wang Chun sensed something was wrong and rushed out.
Unfortunately, he lost the fight and was instead severely injured and knocked unconscious by those people.
Lan Qing hesitated for a while before saying, "He's been taken in as Grandpa's apprentice, so he's no longer considered a bandit!"
Xu Lin shook his head: "Go and invite Doctor Chen in. Be sincere and ask him to take a look at Wang Chun's injury. I'm afraid he won't make it until Doctor Su comes tomorrow."
Lan Qing bit her lower lip and mumbled a reply. After carrying the wooden basin and pouring in hot water, she reluctantly went to invite Doctor Chen.
The bald man didn't know where Ye Wenxue lived, but he instinctively knew that following the footprints would be the right thing to do.
The cold wind hit my face, making me shrink my neck.
The bald man cursed, "Aren't they just courting death? They know they can't beat Boss Ye, so why bother!"
His underlings followed quickly forward, their teeth chattering.
"The eldest son...they probably know that Boss Ye has five children and think that it is impossible to protect them all at once. They are planning to capture one so that they can get the money."
This is how the person who led them down the mountain to rob when the former chieftain was still alive taught them.
The bald man rolled his eyes. If Ye Wenxue were so easy to deal with, why would he give her any money? Wouldn't it be better for him to keep all the more than a thousand taels of silver for himself?
The bald man thought that it was those few bastards who forced him to brave the snow and rush down the mountain, and he wanted nothing more than to tear their skin off.
"Why is Zhixing running away with people if there's nothing wrong with him?"
And then there's Zhiwu, who didn't even bother to tell me before running off with Zhixing. Are they planning a rebellion? If they're so capable, let them be the second-in-command and support the entire stronghold!"
The underlings, shivering with cold, hesitated to speak.
Even now, you're not the only one supporting the entire village, are you?
It's clearly Boss Ye and Brother Zhixing!
Listening to the bald man curse all the way, the underlings, while sobering up and freezing, also had to endure mental torture, leaving them all dizzy and disoriented.
Following the footprints, they arrived at a cliff. The bald man looked up, his expression complicated: "Could they have climbed up there?"
Is Boss Ye settled on the mountaintop?
It's not impossible...
A careful henchman noticed that where the footprints disappeared, there seemed to be another path behind the stone wall. After peeking on tiptoe, he quickly called to the bald man:
"Old man, look!"
"What's with all the fuss? If you disturb Boss Ye, you'll be dead for sure..."
The bald man walked over and took a look, and his disgusted voice stopped abruptly.
On the snow-covered path, several corpses lay scattered about, their lips a dark purple, their clothes covered with a thin layer of snow.
The bald man instinctively took a step back.
Amidst the questioning gazes of the many bandit underlings, the bald man coughed lightly:
"Everyone step back. Boss Ye doesn't like being disturbed by too many people. I... I'll just go and call out a few times by myself."
Upon seeing this, the bandit leader decisively led his men back, saying, "...Take care, sir."
The bald man laughed in anger, thinking, "They're all heartless."
He took a deep breath, leaned out to the side of the path, and shouted loudly.
It wasn't that he couldn't take the money and leave, but the bald man was worried that he would be poisoned before he even got close to those people.
He didn't want to die with these traitors.
In the valley, Ye Wenxue's family is digging potatoes from a cave.
There was little sunlight in the cave, and the soil was thin, so the potatoes were small and shallowly buried in the soil. You could easily pull out several with a twig.
Apart from Su Jiu and Yuan Yuan, everyone has their own task.
Ye Wenxue and Dazhuang dug potatoes in front with small hoes, while the three younger ones followed behind carrying bamboo baskets to pick them up.
Shuangshuang was strong-willed and quick-moving; as she picked things up, she moved closer to Ye Wenxue's back.
Siwang, squatting behind, grew anxious: "Second Sister, there are still some in the field! You still have several potatoes you haven't picked!"
Shuangshuang waved her hand lazily: "Aren't you the same? It's okay, just have Sanyuan pick them up again. He's slow, that's perfect."
Sanyuan, who was at the very back, slowly looked up at Shuangshuang, picked up a small hoe, and turned the soil back and forth, not wanting to miss a single potato.
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