The old man called out all the residents from the village.
According to the old man, there were eighteen households in their village, totaling eighty people. There were only five or six young girls there, and they were all hidden in the mountains. This was because the bandits here were too rampant. Like today, they would come to the village from time to time to plunder wealth and snatch beautiful women.
The people in their village were really afraid of the horse thieves, so they basically sent the young girls in the village to the mountains during the day, prepared meals for them, and then called them back in the evening or late at night.
Day after day, year after year, they lived in fear. That's why they were so alert when Gu Yuan came here and asked them if there were any young girls there.
After hearing what the old man said, Gu Yuan realized that their vigilance was not unreasonable. At the same time, he secretly cursed those horse thieves. These people really did things that were against the will of heaven and earth, and yet they made people so afraid of them.
After Gu Yuan's repeated assurances, the old man was willing to let Gu Yuan meet those girls.
After an incense stick of time, all the residents there had arrived. Gu Yuan looked at all the residents there and carefully looked for girls whose age matched Shui Yaoyao, but he was disappointed to find that none of them was Shui Yaoyao.
Gu Yuan looked at the old man and asked unwillingly, "Mr. Wang, are you sure that these are all there are in your village?"
The old man smiled bitterly and nodded, saying, "I have lived in this village for decades. I can count everyone in our village with my eyes closed. How could I have missed someone?"
Gu Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. Thank you, old man. Please send these young girls from your village back as soon as possible to prevent them from being seen by those bandits. Also, I will get up and go to Qingliang Mountain right now to help you take down the bandits. That way, you won't have to suffer from them anymore."
The old man frowned and said excitedly, "Young man, are you serious? Do you really intend to wipe out those bandits by yourself?"
Gu Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, didn't I just promise you that I will do what I promised. I can still do it, so don't worry.
According to what that bandit just said, the bandits at their headquarters are only so strong. I should still be able to deal with them. If things don't work out, I'll just raid and kill them one by one. It's no big deal. I'll just waste more time here. Anyway, I'll definitely do what I promised you. I'll take down that bandit.
The old man was still quite worried. He looked at Gu Yuan and said, "Then young man must be extremely careful. If it is really impossible, just give up. Although I also hope that the young man can help us get rid of the horse thieves, after all, our village and the surrounding villages have suffered from the horse thieves for many years, but for so many years, no one has been able to completely eliminate the horse thieves. So we live in fear day after day, year after year, and there is not a single good day to live. Now that the young man has finally appeared, we just hope that everyone can be safe and sound.
If you really can't do that, please try to kill a few more bandits for us. Of course, the premise is to ensure your own safety. Otherwise, if you get hurt because of this, we will really feel bad. "
Gu Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, don't worry. I'll rush to Qingliang Mountain right now. But I need someone to lead the way for me. This way I can save a lot of time. After all, I'm unfamiliar with this place. So, can you send someone to take me to the area of Qingliang Mountain and back? There's absolutely no danger."
The old man nodded and said, "Of course, young man, we are extremely grateful that you can do this for us. If you don't even have a guide, that would be unreasonable. How about this? I, this old man, will lead the way for you personally. I have lived here for decades and am familiar with everything around here. Even if something happens, I can also show you a way to escape. How do you think?"
Gu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, since the old gentleman is willing, then let's do this. Let's get up now."
"Um."
The old man nodded and said, "Okay."
Then he turned to the middle-aged man in the village and said, "You must protect the village. Also, dig deep pits to bury all the bodies outside the village and remove all traces of blood. Also, flush out the evil spirits in the air. Don't leave any traces. Do you understand?"
If the horse thieves' headquarters knew that Gu Yuan had killed more than a dozen horse thieves in front of Shuilong Village, it would be a huge deal. If those people knew, they would definitely lead a large army to kill us.
What the old man did today can be said to be a gamble.
The old man had suffered enough from horse thieves for so many years. He felt that he was old and needed to make some contributions to the village before he left. He had only one miserable life, but he had lived for so many years. If he could fight for a better life for his descendants and prevent them from suffering from horse thieves, it would be worth it.
The middle-aged man looked at the old man and said, "Don't worry, village chief. You and the young man can go ahead without worry. We will take care of everything in the village and we will protect it well."
The old man nodded, and finally looked at Gu Yuan and said, "Young man, let's go over there."
Afterwards, the two set off for Qingliang Mountain. Qingliang Mountain was about fifteen miles away from Shuilong Village, and it took them half an hour to walk to the area of Qingliang Mountain. Along the way, the old man told Gu Yuan about many small paths around Qingliang Mountain. Those paths were relatively hidden and connected in all directions, leading to many places.
The reason why I told Gu Yuan all this was to ensure that Gu Yuan would have a chance to escape if he was defeated by those horse thieves. Gu Yuan was very moved by this.
The two hid behind a towering tree. The old man said to Gu Yuan, "Young man, please look at the big black dot ahead. That's Qingliang Mountain. But I don't know where those bandits are, or in which cave. You'll need to find them yourself when the time comes."
Gu Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, then you can go back now, old man. I can go alone. It will be more convenient for me to act alone. As for the whereabouts of those bandits, I will find them and help you get rid of them."
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