Sun Ergou quickly interrupted her thoughts, "Sister, we must remember the boss's instructions and not let anyone in without his permission."
Li Ruo didn't go far inside, just near the entrance. At first glance, it was almost exactly as described in the book: many wooden houses scattered among the mountains. Because the outside was covered by dense forest, it was impossible to discover the hidden world inside without going in.
Although everything seems rather rough, compared to her, who has a cheat code, Boss Xie is truly awesome.
Without further ado, she said, "I'd like to borrow ten people from you."
Anything could happen on the road—refugees, bandits, or the armies of powerful figures—this is not the time to show off personal heroism.
After hearing her plan, Sun Ergou was worried but also eager to go: "I'll go with you. I'll be the one to shield you from any trouble."
Li Ruobai glanced at him: "You should save yourself to shield others. Ugh, never shield anyone from arrows. Your own survival is the most important thing."
Her expression turned serious.
"Oh," Sun Ergou said, "Can I go this time?"
Remembering his ending in the book, Li Ruo resolutely refused, "No way."
Why?
"You are your boss's right-hand man; we can't do without you here."
Sun Ergou understood the last part of the sentence and was a little smug. "That's right." After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll lend you Xiao Li. He's a good swimmer."
But we can't make that decision yet.
Li Ruo couldn't just take the man away because of his relationship with Sun Ergou. This was a brother of Black Wind Stronghold, and it was a matter for the entire stronghold. Just then, the third leader and a slightly older man arrived. Sun Ergou introduced him as Uncle Luo, who was in charge of the stronghold's finances and Xie Xiao's capable assistant.
Uncle Luo and the Third Boss had both heard of Li Ruo several times, especially after the Fourth Boss kidnapped Li Ruo last time and was now being punished by the First Boss by being forced to raise pigs in the backyard.
"The girl only brought a dozen or so people?" The third leader frowned and gave ten more skilled men.
Li Ruo: ...Alright, might as well take it.
Uncle Luo was more concerned about what kind of reward she could offer Black Wind Village.
Li Ruo said, "After this is done, I will split the spoils with your Black Wind Stronghold fifty-fifty. Although you have more people, I have a large ship and a plan."
Li Ruoxin thought that their village must have a lot of straw from growing wheat, so he asked them for some and made straw figures.
Everyone looked puzzled, but Uncle Luo was the first to react, and his gaze towards Li Ruo changed. "Used to defend against their arrows?"
“That’s right.” Li Ruo glanced at Sun Ergou.
In the original book, Song Zhijing hid many archers on the grain transport ships to protect against thieves and refugees. Sun Ergou was shot into a pincushion while shielding the third leader from arrows in a critical moment.
Fortunately, Xie Xiao didn't go this time, and neither did the Third Master.
Sun Ergou naturally wouldn't go either.
Li Ru dressed up the more than sixty straw figures and put on their straw hats.
The third leader realized what was going on. "Good! We've created a fake. It's raining heavily right now, and visibility on the water is poor. Song Zhi knows that we Black Wind Stronghold are cunning, so he won't attack rashly. He can only shoot arrows. We can shoot whatever we want, and the arrows left on the straw man will be a free gift to us."
"We've been worried about not having enough arrows. We've used quite a few these past few days to keep people out," Little Li said excitedly.
Li Ruoxin thought to himself, "Thank you, Brother Kongming, for coming up with such a solution."
Sun Ergou's desire to go rekindled. "It's not like I can't do without you here, how about—"
As a result, Li Ruo gave him a beating, so he had to shut up, looking resentful.
No one raised any further objections.
Li Ruo led twenty-three people, each carrying several straw figures, down the mountain via a hidden path. This path was very secluded, so not many disaster victims came up.
Actually, at this time, the largest wave of disaster victims had not yet arrived. There were still disaster victims from Shenzhou, Yingzhou, Shouzhou, and even Jinling. Even the Marquis of Xinyang and the Prince of Jiangning would come.
However, their first choice, given their capabilities, should be Qinghua Mountain.
The female protagonist, Mu Sisi, is the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Xinyang. When she arrived in Yuzhou, she was framed by her elder sister and fell into the water. She and her maid found a large wooden basin on the surface of the water and floated there—yes, Zixia Mountain!
Because in the book, the Black Wind Village's lair is located in Zixia Mountain.
But now, for some reason, they have moved to General Mountain, so she always thought the female lead would appear at General Mountain.
But she may actually still be at Zixia Mountain.
So, Xie Xiao went to Zixia Mountain to transfer his brothers and move supplies because of his fateful encounter with the female lead?
So the gears of the main storyline keep turning forward and won't change because of anyone.
As for insignificant people like her and her sister-in-law, Heaven didn't care about them at all, so they escaped a calamity.
Li Ruo squinted and looked at the torrent ahead; the water was already almost halfway up the mountain.
After tomorrow, the water level will basically stabilize, neither rising nor falling, and will remain so for the next three years barring unforeseen circumstances.
"Where's the boat?" Little Li asked.
"Wait for me a moment." Li Ruo darted into the woods, startling a pair of mandarin ducks—real mandarin ducks, who scattered in panic at her start.
Look, the mandarin ducks have been washed up on the mountain by the flood.
Li Ruoke didn't want to be the one to break up the couple. Instead, she found another spot by the water, released the large boat from her spatial storage, and then called everyone over.
Little Li stared in disbelief. "Wow, wow, sis, such a big guy, and the refugees didn't even notice him."
What's even more outrageous is that there was a small boat on the big ship.
"Did you notice that just now?"
"No."
"Then hurry up and get going, stop arguing."
Once everyone was on the boat, they placed the straw figures at the front and on both sides and set off!
Because of the generous pay, the brothers worked with great enthusiasm.
Just to be on the safe side, Li Ruo gave each of them a bulletproof vest, saying it was specially made soft armor that was impervious to knives and bullets.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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