Chapter 70
There is a road to Yangshan Village, and Ashun hates it so much that he grinds his teeth when he mentions it.
“They forced the villagers to build this road,” Ashun said. “They originally wanted us to cut down trees day and night to build the road, but more than a dozen people died that night. A few clever ones climbed trees to escape.”
Tong Shu walked ahead with Ashun, while Tong Songming followed slowly in his car.
After walking for about thirty minutes, the group finally reached a corner.
“Turn this way and walk another kilometer down, and you’ll reach our village,” Ashun said to Tong Shu, pointing in the direction of the village as he walked to the edge of the road.
Tong Shu looked in the direction he was pointing and could vaguely see a small village hidden in the valley.
"The car is too conspicuous; let's not follow it in," Tong Shu said to Tong Songming inside the driver's seat.
Tong Songming nodded and let his two brothers-in-law get out of the car.
Although we said we should appear in public less often, since they already saw us yesterday, there's no need to deliberately hide in the car again.
"Is there anyone guarding your village?" Tong Shu asked Ashun.
Ah Shun shook his head: "No, our village is very remote. No one else has come here except them. At first, these people would patrol, but now they just prevent our villagers from escaping."
"Where do these people usually live?" Tong Shu asked again.
"They asked us to build them a new house not long after they arrived. They disliked our old house because it was dilapidated and they didn't dare to live separately. So we cut down a log in the forest and used the leftover materials from the village to build them a new house."
Tong Shu understood. Since these fugitives were all living together, it would be much easier to eliminate them.
However, the poisonous mushrooms in the forest are a big problem. To avoid being knocked unconscious by the mushrooms, they can only enter the village during the day. But even though the trees are lush, the visibility during the day is still a hundred times better than at night, making it unsuitable for a sneak attack.
“Their house is built at the very back of the village. There’s a cave in our village where we store grain, right behind their house. All the grain in our village is stored there now and is being guarded by them,” Ashun said.
"Are there any suitable places to ambush?" Tong Shu asked.
Ah Shun thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up and he quickly said, "Yes! Yes. There are cliffs on both sides of that house, and there's a crooked tree growing on the left. If you climb that tree, you can see their whole yard. In our village, the stoves are all built in the yard, so they cook and eat outside when it's time to eat."
Upon hearing this, Tong Shu's mind raced. She looked at Wang Jie and asked, "Is there any medicine that will make you faint if you take it?"
Wang Jie looked at her speechlessly: "Where did you learn this from? There's no such medicine."
Tong Shu's face showed disappointment.
Wang Jie thought for a moment and asked, "Are you planning to put something in their food?"
Tong Shu nodded. If the crooked tree was in a good position, she could use a slingshot to shoot the medicine into their food, which might prevent a fight.
Wang Jie offered a suggestion: "There's no need to think about using any kind of sleeping pills, just use some laxatives."
Tong Shu looked at her cousin in surprise: "Wow, you're quick-witted right now."
Wang Jie felt looked down upon and rolled his eyes at her.
They soon reached the village entrance. Ashun leaned closer and whispered, "They usually don't come this way, but since we haven't been back all night, they'll probably send someone to look for us. Let's go straight up the mountain via that path and go to the crooked tree."
Ah Shun was familiar with this place, so Tong Shu had no objections. She looked at the others who were standing still and asked, "Aren't you going back?"
These people all shook their heads: "How dare we go back? They take turns checking people in the village every half day. If we go back, we'll be discovered. We'd rather go with you. In case there's anything we can do to help, we can lend a hand."
Tong Shu neither agreed nor disagreed, letting them follow.
The village doesn't look very big from the outside, but it actually took half an hour to walk around it.
Tong Shu finally saw the crooked-necked tree that Ah Shun had mentioned. The tree was enormous, growing at an angle on the cliff face, with its branches densely covered with vines, making it perfect as cover.
Ah Shun first climbed up the tree, looked down, and then quickly climbed down again.
"I checked, they haven't gone out yet, they've already started preparing lunch," Ah Shun said softly.
Under Ah Shun's guidance, Tong Shu slowly climbed up the crooked tree. Fortunately, the tree had huge branches and vines to help her, so Tong Shu easily found a spot with the best view and lay down safely.
Tong Shu first observed that the courtyard below was mostly filled with muscular men, with a few thin men chopping vegetables in a wok. It was clear that these people didn't know how to cook. A large iron pot was filled with yellow soup that was bubbling and boiling, seemingly containing everything. These people let the leaves fly into the pot without remembering to put a lid on it.
This made things convenient for Tong Shu.
She quietly took out the slingshot and a few laxatives she had prepared beforehand from her pocket, wrapped the pills in a leather case, closed one eye, aimed at the iron pot, and slowly pulled back the rubber band of the slingshot.
With a "whoosh," the pill shot out and flew into the pot of boiling soup.
The courtyard was filled with noise, and no one noticed that a pill had fallen into the pot.
A skinny man had just finished chopping a bowl of radishes, brought it over and dumped it all into the pot, then stirred it with a large soup ladle.
Fearing that one pill wouldn't be enough to cause diarrhea in everyone, Tong Shu pressed on, seizing the opportunity to throw in several more pills.
After finishing her task, she tiptoed down the crooked tree and returned to Wang Jie and the others.
"How is it?" Wang Jie asked.
Tong Shu gave an "OK" sign.
“This laxative works very quickly. What are you going to do later?” Wang Jie asked.
Tong Shu took out a rope from her backpack: "I just checked. This cliff is steep, but not very high, only about five or six meters. Once they're all caught, we'll climb down from here and tie them up one by one."
Tong Shu was speaking to her family on the surface, but she was actually keeping an eye on Ah Shun and the others out of the corner of her eye.
Seeing Ah Shun approaching, Tong Shu turned her attention back to the ropes she had taken out and piled them up in front of her.
“Once they’re drugged, I’ll go down with the people from our village to tie them up. We mountain folks are more stable at climbing trees and heights than you city folks,” Ashun said.
Tong Shu glanced at him, and his expression seemed unreluctant: "Are the others willing to take this risk with you?"
Ah Shun nodded.
“Okay, then you can go.” Tong Shu agreed readily.
"...But, um..." Ah Shun hesitated, "Could you please look after my grandmother and other elderly people up there? They won't be going."
"That's no problem."
"...Also," Ah Shun said, sounding embarrassed, "your slingshot is so accurate, could you please keep an eye on us from up there? If anyone isn't drugged, give them a stone."
Tong Shu had already planned this without Ah Shun saying it, and she nodded.
The medicine Wang Jie gave them was indeed very effective. The group didn't wait long on the cliff before they heard cries of "ouch" coming from the courtyard below. Ah Shun peeked out and saw that everyone inside was clutching their stomachs and running around frantically, some looking for paper, others grabbing handfuls of vines and leaves and darting into the bushes.
Tong Shu gave Ah Shun a signal, and Ah Shun immediately accepted it. He picked up the rope from the ground and distributed it to the villagers. They tied the rope firmly to the tree trunk, held the rope with both hands, pushed off with their feet, and slid down at a very fast speed.
Tong Shu lay prone on the crooked tree, now armed with the gun she had been carrying. Emboldened by yesterday's events, the villagers of Yangshan Village, now facing the weak and terrified fugitive, were consumed by rage. They caught him and beat him with their bare hands before finally tying him up.
The potent laxatives weakened these usually fierce fugitives, who never expected to be ambushed by these ignorant mountain people. They were shocked and angry, their stomachs rumbling like thunder, while they cursed and swore, threatening to kill all the rebellious villagers.
Ah Shun helped the little girl tie up a skinny man. After looking around to make sure no one was left behind, he turned and walked to the stove, picked up a kitchen knife, and went into the house they had built together.
A few moments later, several cries for help came from the room, followed by muffled thuds. When Ah Shun came out again, his face and body were covered in fresh blood, which mixed with the bloodstains on his clothes from the day before, making him look cruel and horrifying.
The fugitives, who were tied up and piled together, were all furious when they saw him come out like this, and they made "woo woo woo" noises through their gagged mouths.
Ah Shun ignored them and walked to the edge of the cliff, shouting at the crooked tree, "It's all alright now, you can go into the village!"
Tong Shu had a good view from above, and she had just confirmed that there were no fugitives hiding in the shadows. She climbed down from the tree and called to Wang Jie and the others to enter the village together.
Considering the elderly with mobility issues and Tong Songming and the others, Tong Shu and Wang Jie did not climb down the rope. Instead, the group returned along the same route, led by the villagers of Yangshan Village, and entered Yangshan Village from the village entrance.
The other villagers in Yangshan Village had heard the commotion in the courtyard long ago, but due to the months of enslavement by the escaped convicts, none of them dared to come out and investigate. It wasn't until the people the convicts had taken away passed by the door that they finally mustered the courage to peek out through the crack in the door.
"What happened? Why are you only just getting back? What happened there?" the man asked a string of questions.
Ah Shun's grandmother beamed with joy: "Everyone there has been arrested! Let's go see!" She didn't have time for idle chatter, and after saying that, she led Tong Shu and the others deeper into the village.
The person who peeked out then noticed the unfamiliar faces, but having just processed Grandma Ah Shun's words, he jumped up and shouted into the house, "Those people have fallen! Let's go see!"
In an instant, the entire Yangshan Village came alive, with villagers filing out of their homes and running towards the courtyard.
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