Ye Wenxue's expression changed slightly, and she pulled Sui Ye, who was still studying how many people had arrived, and hurried into the valley.
Halfway there, Suiye took a breather before he had a chance to ask, "Aren't you overthinking this little blade of grass?"
"The knot on the rope was tied in front of Sanyuan when I was tying the hemp rope on the edge of the cliff. It's unique among the surrounding mountains, if not too far away. Sanyuan must have been the one guiding the way."
Ye Wenxue hurried towards the valley, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Sui Ye gave a mocking smile: "Your third son doesn't seem very smart, and he doesn't talk much. If he hadn't been lucky enough to find the herbs that Su Jiu needed, he wouldn't have been able to learn medicine from Su Jiu. Do you think he would have thought of giving you directions in a dangerous situation?"
Ye Wenxue turned her head and glared at him, directly hitting his sore spot: "You're the smartest. I don't know who was afraid of losing face and pretended to have amnesia. They even pretended to have amnesia but didn't do it well. They just pretended to be mentally challenged!"
Suiye remained silent.
The two went back to the valley to check, and found Dazhuang closely leading his younger siblings in planting and watering the crops, with nothing unusual about him.
Ye Wenxue and Suiye exchanged glances, and almost instantly realized something. Without even saying goodbye to the children, they turned and went to the lakeside.
No matter how dry the lake becomes, its area is still quite large.
Sui Ye led Ye Wenxue to the place where he had seen the stranger that day and searched for half an hour but did not see anyone.
Just as the two were growing increasingly anxious and were about to search for the person in another location, footsteps suddenly came from the lakeside path.
Ye Wenxue and Suiye exchanged a glance and instantly reached a tacit understanding.
Suiye took Ye Wenxue's basket, put it on his back, and slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder, forcibly pretending to be a hunter.
Ye Wenxue let her hair down, making it messy and getting her clothes dirty and torn, but she didn't pretend anything on her face; her little face was exceptionally clean.
She reached out and grabbed Suiye's clothes, leading him forward:
"You useless piece of trash! You can't even hunt a single wild animal, and you eat wild vegetables every day. I'm so tired of it. If my family hadn't fallen on hard times, I would never have married a good-for-nothing like you! Hurry up and catch some fish for me. If I don't get any meat tonight, I'm not staying with you anymore!"
Suiye was stiff all over and was being dragged forward without daring to say a word.
Although... although he was thinking of disguising himself as a hunter from the mountains to infiltrate this group and rescue Sanyuan and Sujiu.
However, he did not expect Ye Wenxue to go to this extent.
Isn't she afraid her husband will be angry later? (Su Jiu didn't say anything more.)
Ye Wenxue had no hope for Suiye's intelligence, but she was quite satisfied that he didn't say anything. She continued to curse and drag him forward, and without noticing, they bumped into someone at a fork in the road.
She was startled and quickly hid behind Suiye, revealing half of her fair face as she timidly looked at the newcomer.
"I...I didn't mean to."
There were three people in total. The one who was hit seemed to be the leader of the three. He was bald and looked exceptionally strong.
He had already pulled out his bald knife, ready to teach the woman who wasn't looking where she was going a lesson, but his gaze suddenly paused when it fell on Ye Wenxue's face.
He hadn't seen such a beautiful young woman since the world fell into chaos.
Wow, I'm having pretty good luck today.
Ignoring Sui Ye, who was blocking Ye Wenxue's way, the bald man spoke arrogantly, his face trembling with fat: "You bumped into someone, and you think an apology is enough? Pay up, fifty taels of silver."
"Fifty...fifty taels?" Ye Wenxue's lips trembled and turned white. "Where would I get fifty taels? This, this is robbery!"
The bald man and his henchmen burst into laughter: "I'm a robber! Here's the money, are you going to give it to me or not? If not, I'll..."
Suiye stepped forward, looking down at the bald man: "What will you do if I don't give it to you?"
Baldy then noticed Suiye, who was barely noticeable. He was already considered one of the tallest and strongest men in the village, but this man was more than half a head taller than him.
Standing there silently was fine; he was like a big, clueless mountain fool, not intimidating at all. At most, he was just a bit more handsome and fairer-skinned than the average hunter.
But the moment this person opened his mouth, an invisible pressure descended, making him appear even more terrifying than the village chief.
The bald man swallowed hard, and relying on the two henchmen behind him and a large group of brothers, he finished speaking in a trembling voice:
"If you don't give it to me, then... never mind."
“We’ve met by chance, brother, you…you…” The bald man exchanged glances with his two underlings, and suddenly an idea came to him. “Brother, do you want to join me? We have plenty of money and food, but we need a hero like you.”
"Follow me on big missions, and I won't treat you badly. Silver, food, women—you name it. Didn't your sister-in-law just say she wanted some meat? I'm leading a hunt for wild boar. Why don't you... come along?"
The two underlings were secretly worried for their bald boss.
This guy doesn't look like someone to be fooled. I wonder if the bald guy can lure him to the mountain stronghold and kill him.
Sui Ye stared intently at the bald man for a long time before saying, "No..."
Before he could even utter a refusal, Ye Wenxue forcefully pinched him, interrupting his attempt.
Her eyes lit up as she walked up to the bald man and excitedly took his hand:
"Brother, don't listen to him. He's hit his head and doesn't understand anything. In this world, conscience is useless; what matters most is having meat to eat and money to earn, don't you think?"
The bald man's heart fluttered as he was touched, and he pulled his hand away, about to touch her back a couple of times.
Sui Ye frowned, stepped forward, slapped away the bald man's unruly hand, and pulled Ye Wenxue behind him, his voice deep and resonant:
"No, bandits usually don't have a good ending, I don't want to die."
"Hey, you stubborn fool." Ye Wenxue stood on tiptoe and pinched his ear. Sui Ye obediently squatted down, letting her hit and scold him. "I'm starving to death right now, who cares about the future!"
The bald man stood by with a smile, offering words of advice:
"Brother, if you don't want to be a bandit, then we won't. I've wanted to go down the mountain and be a law-abiding citizen for a long time, but I'm short of money. Brother, how about we do something big? If we succeed, you can have half the silver and half the grain."
Sui Ye looked at Ye Wenxue with a struggle on his face.
Ye Wenxue's pupils widened, she took a deep breath, and her whole body radiated joy: "Such a good thing? Big brother is a good person, count me in!"
The bald man glanced at Sui Ye almost imperceptibly: "This... I wonder if my sister-in-law can make the decision for my brother?"
Ye Wenxue held her head high: "Of course! If he doesn't agree, I'm not going to stay with him!"
Sui Ye vaguely felt that Ye Wenxue's arrogant attitude was somewhat familiar. After recalling for a moment, he realized that this was exactly how Ye Wenxue looked when he first met her after being rescued.
No wonder he's so deserving of a beating!
He glanced at Ye Wenxue sullenly, without saying a word.
The bald man took it as a yes, withdrew his lingering gaze from Ye Wenxue, rubbed his hands together, and chuckled, "Brother, let's go then. I'll tell you as we walk. It's like this..."
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