Chapter 107 Inviting Wolves into the House: There's Food and Beauties There Too!
Kang's lips trembled, and she shrank back, but the leading bandit was already walking towards her, his greedy eyes lingering on her without any politeness.
"Don't touch me!" Kang suddenly jumped back, her voice filled with terror.
"Oh! You've got a fiery temper!" The bandit leader was amused by her reaction, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her forcefully into his arms. "When you're with us, you think you can call the shots? Tonight, I'll show you what's what!"
The other bandits joined in the laughter, their desires undisguised.
Kang struggled desperately, kicking and punching with her hands and feet, but her strength was nothing compared to the strong and powerful bandits.
As the bandits were about to tear her clothes, Kang was so anxious that tears were about to well up in her eyes, but her mind was racing. Suddenly, she shouted, "I know a place with meat! There's an endless supply of food! And lots of beautiful women! If you let me go, I'll take you there!"
Upon hearing this, the leading bandit paused, and the smile on his face faded slightly.
A tall, thin bandit next to him sneered, "Who are you trying to fool? In this chaos of war, where would you find an abundance of food? You're a woman, and you can't even come up with a believable lie!"
The other bandits echoed her sentiments, clearly not believing her.
Seeing this, Madam Kang quickly added, "I'm not lying to you! Look at me."
She steeled her resolve, straightened her posture, and although her clothes were a bit thick, her figure was still quite plump. "In this chaotic world, if there were no food, a woman like me would have long since become skin and bones! It's because I used to live in a valley where the people had meat to eat every meal and had also stored up a lot of grain! There were many women like me there, young and beautiful. The most beautiful one was named Lin Yao. She used to run a restaurant in Qingquan Town and stockpiled a lot of grain before the war. Now, in the valley, she lives a more comfortable life than anyone else!"
These bandits valued food and women most. If you could appeal to their greed, you could have a chance to sway them.
Sure enough, the bandit leader released his grip on Kang's wrist and looked her up and down: "Are you telling the truth? The valley has such good conditions, how did you manage to escape?"
Kang was overjoyed, knowing that they had begun to believe her. She quickly squeezed out a few tears and said in a sobbing voice, "The valley is nice, but everyone here is from the same village, including the village head! Since we entered the valley, the village head has acted like a local tyrant, and everyone has to listen to him! That grandson of his wanted me to have sex with him tonight. My husband is still young, and I want to remain chaste for him. How can I do such a thing? I had no choice but to escape under the cover of night."
She spoke with great emotion, tears streaming down her cheeks, making her look exceptionally pitiful.
A bandit with a full beard sneered, "I didn't expect you to have such backbone, willing to give up a good life just to uphold your integrity."
But the bandit leader still wasn't entirely convinced, his eyes remaining wary: "What if you're lying to us? If we take you there and there's no valley at all, wouldn't we have wasted our time?"
Madam Kang quickly said, "How could I dare to lie to you? I'm just a weak woman. Do you think I can escape from your clutches? Here's what we'll do: I'll take you there tomorrow. If I've lied to you, you can do whatever you want with me. Kill me, sell me, I'll accept it! With so many of you, are you afraid of a woman like me playing tricks?"
The bandit leader pondered for a while and realized that what she said made sense.
Since they don't have a specific destination in mind, they might as well go with this woman to see if there really is the valley she mentioned. That would be a huge gain, and if not, they could deal with her later.
"Alright, I'll trust you this once!" The bandit leader clapped his hands and said to the bandits beside him, "Tie her up, keep a close eye on her, don't let her escape! Tomorrow morning, have her lead us to that valley!"
As night deepened, a cold wind swept through the woods, bringing a chill.
In the valley, the people who should have been fast asleep were gathered at the village head's house. Under the dim candlelight, their faces were all serious.
The village head sat in a chair, his gaze sweeping over the villagers present, and slowly began to speak: "I have called you all here tonight to discuss two matters. First, I'm sure you all already know about Kang's releasing snakes to harm Lin Cheng. When we went to catch her, she had already run away, leaving only two children in the house."
As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers began to whisper among themselves. Some were outraged by Kang's viciousness, while others felt sorry for the two innocent children who had such parents.
The village head raised his hand to quell the disturbance and continued, "Those two children didn't do anything wrong, so they shouldn't suffer because of us. I've already discussed it with Yongyuan. We'll let their family take care of the children for now, and when we divide the game later, we'll leave more for Yongyuan's family, which will also help the two children."
Lin Yongyuan stood in the crowd and nodded: "Don't worry, everyone, I will take good care of Xiao Shitou and Ya Ya."
The villagers nodded in agreement.
Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the village head continued, "The second thing, and the most important thing right now, is that Kang has run away. In this chaos of war, if she, a woman, runs away and encounters bandits or marauding soldiers, in order to survive, will she reveal the location of our valley?"
The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned icy.
Everyone knew that the valley was their last chance to survive; if outsiders found out, they would face certain death.
Fear spread in everyone's heart.
Lin Cheng said in a deep voice, "Everyone, don't panic. The Kang family has just run away and may not encounter outsiders immediately. We still have time to prepare. Starting tonight, each family will send one male member to take turns guarding the entrance to the valley. During the day, two people will be in a group, and at night, three people will be in a group. If any strangers are seen approaching, they must be reported to everyone immediately."
Fang Dayu nodded in agreement: "Brother Cheng is right. We need to clear the path at the entrance of the valley again and set up more traps. Even if someone comes, it will buy us some time to prepare."
The villagers nodded in agreement. There was no better solution at the moment; they could only strengthen their defenses and proceed cautiously, taking it one step at a time.
The village headman said to everyone, "Let's do as Lin Cheng and Da Yu said! Tonight, the men from the Lin, Fang, and Yongyuan families will take the first shift. We'll arrange the subsequent shifts tomorrow morning. Everyone remember to be vigilant while on guard duty and not let your guard down. This valley is the lifeline of all of us!"
"Okay!" the villagers responded in unison. With a solution in mind, their expressions improved considerably.
After the discussion, the villagers dispersed, some to rest and others to stand guard.
Lin Yao followed beside her brother, her expression solemn the whole way.
The next morning, Kang was kicked awake by bandits. "Wake up! Stop pretending to be dead!"
Kang was kicked hard in the waist just now, and he was in so much pain that he was grimacing.
She struggled to sit up, but a bandit grabbed her by the collar: "Get up now! Take us to the valley you mentioned. If you dawdle any longer, I'll kill you right now!"
Kang nodded quickly.
The bandit leader waved his hand impatiently and kicked a hard, dry biscuit to her: "Eat quickly, then lead the way! If we can't find the valley, you know what will happen."
Kang grabbed the flatbread and wolfed it down while his mind raced with anxiety.
Last night, all she could think about was escaping. She ran frantically towards the edge of the valley, but it was so dark that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She didn't remember the way at all!
If you ask her to lead the way, how would she know which way to go?
But looking at the fierce-looking bandits, she dared not say a word of refusal and could only grit her teeth and agree.
After finishing the pancakes, Kang was escorted by two bandits and walked ahead.
She pretended to find her way, sometimes bending down to look at the footprints on the ground, sometimes looking up at the sun in the sky, but her steps were slow and hesitant.
After walking for about an hour, the surrounding area was still an unfamiliar forest, without even a trace of a valley.
"Do you even know the way?" The bandit leader finally lost his temper, grabbed her hair, and slammed her head against a tree trunk. "If you try anything again, I'll throw you here to feed the wolves!"
Kang was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. She was both scared and anxious, and she quickly shouted, "I recognize it! I just ran too fast last night and got confused about the direction! Give me one more hour! Just one hour! If I still can't find it, I'll let you do whatever you want with me!"
Seeing her confident demeanor, the bandit leader released her: "I'll give you one hour! If you still can't find it, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Kang quickly got up, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind. She remembered that there was a tall birch forest near the valley, which should be visible from a high vantage point.
She ran quickly to a thick pine tree and climbed up it using both hands and feet. The bandits below stared at her with their knives raised, cursing and urging her to hurry up.
Reaching the top of the tree, Kang squinted and looked around. Sure enough, she saw a familiar birch forest to the southeast! Overjoyed, she quickly climbed down and pointed southeast to the bandits, saying, "Over there! I see the birch forest, and the valley is behind it!"
The bandit leader was skeptical, but still let her lead the way, and the group walked quickly in the southeast direction.
Kang walked ahead, feeling both nervous and expectant.
Once she reaches the valley, Lin Yao will have no chance of escape, even if she has wings!
At this moment, at the mouth of the valley, Liu Dazhuang and Lin Yougong, along with several men, had just finished their shift change.
Exhausted, Lin Cheng and Fang Dayu walked together towards their house.
"Brother! Brother Dayu!" Lin Yao's voice came from afar. She pointed to the steaming pot next to her and said, "Eat something while it's hot. Su Niang just made this cured pork rice this morning, and it's still warm."
The two of them had been keeping watch all night and were both cold and hungry.
Fang Dayu was initially hesitant to eat because of the high price of food, but there was no one else in his family, meaning no one would prepare meals for him.
He simply didn't have the energy to cook for himself now. Thinking this, he sat down and ate, only thinking that next time he went hunting, he should share some of his meat with the Lin family.
The two of them were eating so fast that they didn't notice Lin Yao carrying a large bag of things and heading towards the mouth of the valley.
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