Chapter 76 If Not, I'll Do It "Are you sure you can do it? If not, let me do it."...
As time passed, the night grew deeper and darker, like a vast, silent sea with surging waves that could swallow up any tiny, frail shadow at any moment. The moon, obscured by dark clouds, could not shed its bright light, casting only a few blurry, pale shadows on the steep, hidden mountain path.
High mountains and dense forests, thousands of cliffs and ravines, this path down the mountain is surrounded and blocked by layers of thick old trees, and the ground is paved with withered branches and decaying leaves that have survived for countless years. Leaving the towering firelight behind, several mountain bandits in a hurry and panic quickly shuttle through the deep forest, not daring to stop for the moment. Their tense and heavy breathing sounds like a continuous water stain left by a drowning person.
Thump!
A dull, heavy thud rang out crisply, piercing the night and startling a few crows and sparrows from their roosts.
Lin Laosan lost his footing and, caught off guard, fell heavily into the deep trap. With a heart-wrenching scream, blood gushed from his left calf, and he grimaced in pain.
"Keep your voice down!"
The other bandits quickly approached, lay down above the trap, took out their tinderboxes and shone them into the trap. Their expressions immediately turned serious: "It's been pierced by bamboo skewers."
These bamboo skewers were used by hunters to trap animals. One end of the bamboo was sharpened to a very sharp point and then stuck into the dug trap. Once a beast fell in, even the fiercest animal would have a hard time resisting it. Lin Laosan was pierced right in the calf, and even if he was rescued, he would no longer be able to run away for his life.
The flames on the mountain burned brightly for a long time, and the noise was unmistakable in the silent night. Even from a distance, the sounds of fighting could be heard constantly coming from the mountaintop.
At this critical moment, the bandits lying on top of the pit looked at each other in bewilderment, but none of them dared to abandon Lin Laosan and continue to flee. They could only look at the leader of the bandits and ask, "What should we do?"
Of course, Lin Lao Er couldn't abandon his younger brother. He gritted his teeth, took out a hemp rope from his waist, and said, "I'll go down and cut the bamboo. You guys stay up here and help me. When I come back up, I'll carry him and run."
The crowd had no interest in hearing this. After helping Lin Lao Er tie the rope, they held up tinder, lay down on the pit, and lit the path beneath his feet inch by inch.
Lin Laosan was drenched in sweat from the pain, his blood soaking through the decaying leaves beneath him. Leaning against the pit, he gasped for breath, "Brother, I can't take it anymore, it hurts too much! You guys run!"
Carefully avoiding the bamboo skewers in the pit, Lin Lao Er frowned and said gruffly, "Stop talking nonsense. My eldest brother is dead, my parents are dead, and the whole family is just the two of us. The family is counting on you to carry on the family line. How can I abandon you?"
He then took the knife thrown down from above, squatted down, and cut off the bamboo skewers that were piercing Lin Laosan's flesh one by one.
Lin Laosan was in so much pain that his fingertips were trembling, the veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he almost bit his yellow teeth to pieces.
Lin Lao Er focused intently on cutting the bamboo skewers until the last one was cut.
A long wind howled past, and the firelight shining down from above the pit suddenly weakened considerably. He didn't care, took out the medicine powder from his pocket and sprinkled it on Lin Laosan's wound, then carried him on his back and climbed up the rope that was hanging down, sending his younger brother up first.
The moment Lin Laosan went up, he keenly sensed something was wrong—
It's so quiet!
No one even reached out to pull or help them up.
A shadow fell over him, and before he could react, a stick struck him hard on the back!
Lin Laosan was in pain and was immediately knocked to the ground. He was then restrained and tied with hemp rope. The other bandits who had followed him to escape were also pinned to the ground, tied up, with towels stuffed in their mouths and strips of cloth wrapped around their bodies. They twisted violently but could not struggle.
Lin Laosan knew something was wrong. His eyelids twitched violently. Just as he was about to speak, his jaw was swiftly and decisively dislocated. He could only watch helplessly as the men, holding torches, squatted in front of the pit.
Old Lin, knife in his hand, gripped the rope tightly, trying to climb up. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before him, and figures materialized in front of him. He looked up in astonishment, his pupils dilating, and exclaimed in disbelief—
"Madam Xue!?"
The two guards held up bright torches, illuminating the shock deep in Lin Lao Er's eyes. Jing Nu squatted in front of the pit, holding the portrait Jiang Huaishun had given her in one hand. She shone the torches on Lin Lao Er's face and confirmed again, "It's him!"
The flickering firelight fell on half of Xue Rongyue's face, but the warm yellow glow brought no warmth whatsoever. Like a meticulously crafted, cold jade sculpture, her expression was unusually calm, so calm it could be described as indifferent.
Lowering her eyes, she looked down at Lin Lao Er, who was frozen in the pit. The indifferent curve of her lips deepened slightly, yet it sent a chill down one's spine: "Lin Lao Er, I have an old score to settle with you."
The fighting on the distant mountain peaks gradually subsided, the fire died down and turned into billowing black smoke, and the drizzling rain pounded down, piercing through the lush forest. The sound of the rain was rapid, but it could not drown out the heavy breathing of Lin Lao Er.
The cold raindrops pattered on Lin Lao Er's forehead, sending a shiver down his spine. His throat tightened, and a sense of impending doom enveloped him, making his hands and feet tremble and rendering him speechless.
***
"I know nothing, I know nothing..."
Lin Lao Er knelt on the ground, head down, and kept squeezing out these words through clenched teeth.
"Although the bandits entrenched in Liangzhou have been wiped out by the government troops, and their leader, Song Chengtian, has turned to dust, as long as there is a will, there is no such thing as a perfect cover."
In the cramped cave, several bright lights made the trembling bandits kneeling on the ground nowhere to hide. Xue Rongyue sat on the rock, her calm gaze falling on Lin Lao Er, whose face was ashen, giving him no more chance to argue.
“When you were a bandit in Liangzhou, you were highly regarded by Song Chengtian, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to gather such a group of subordinates. Later, you were lucky enough to escape from that siege, but you were injured. You returned to your hometown, took your younger brother, and came to seek refuge with Luo Hongfang, but you were not valued by him.”
Xue Rongyue recounted his experiences over the years, recounting details that he probably remembered even better than Lin Lao Er himself. Lin Lao Er listened, sweating profusely, his legs trembling, his head bowed, never daring to lift his head.
This is all thanks to Jiang Huaishun, who has been hiding his identity in this bandit den for so many years and has found out their background very clearly, especially regarding the events of that year.
Xue Rongyue's voice turned cold: "Back then, it was you who ambushed my brother on his way back to Chang'an with Song Chengtian. After my brother escaped, you were the first to chase after him in the mountains. If you hadn't pressed him so closely, my brother wouldn't have fallen off the cliff and been left with no trace."
Upon hearing the word "elder brother," Lin Lao Er's vision went black, and beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He stared blankly at Xue Rong Yue: "You, you, you are not...you are...you are—!"
He dared not utter the name aloud; his body trembled like a leaf, and the veins on his forehead throbbed intermittently. He was so frightened that he slumped to the ground.
Xue Rongyue had no intention of concealing her identity. She looked at him coldly and said, "Now you have two paths before you. One is for me to answer your questions properly, and the other is..."
Xue Rongyue's gaze shifted to Lin Laosan, devoid of any warmth. Lin Laosan was so frightened that he couldn't help but shrink back, wanting to beg for mercy but his mouth was blocked.
Jingnu strode over to Lin Laosan's side, took out the gag from his mouth, and before he could speak, she stomped hard on the bamboo skewer that was still stuck in his injured left calf.
"Aaaaaah—!"
The bamboo skewer sank deep into flesh, and a large amount of blood gushed out, filling the cave with a stench of blood. Lin Laosan's face contorted in pain as he howled and struggled, rolling on the ground.
Not only Lin Lao Er, but all the bandits present were terrified, their faces turned pale, and they desperately shrank back.
"No, no!" Lin Lao Er tried to rush forward, but was firmly pressed to the ground by the guards. Unable to struggle, he could only look at Xue Rongyue pleadingly, "Madam Xue, please be magnanimous and let him go! I really don't know anything, I really don't know anything!"
"I haven't even asked you, and you already don't know?"
Xue Rongyue sneered: "It seems that your brother's consolation is nothing more than this in your eyes."
"No, no!" Lin Lao Er shed two lines of tears. He wanted to say something, but swallowed his words several times. He didn't dare to look at his brother who was crying and wailing. His hands, which were tied behind his back, trembled constantly.
Xue Rongyue's face remained unmoved as her gaze fell upon Jingnu again. Jingnu understood, drew the dagger from her waist, and bent down to stab Lin Laosan, who was rolling on the ground. Lin Laoer's face was filled with fear, and he finally spoke amidst rapid breathing: "I'll talk, I'll talk!"
He knew exactly what Xue Rongyue wanted to ask, closed his eyes, and poured out all the past events he dared not recall: "It was...it was the Gao family who came to us, took Xue Langjun's portrait, and demanded that we kill him..."
The Gao family?
The answer she had been searching for so long was finally laid out before her. Xue Rongyue's breathing became uncontrollably heavy, her face grim. Jingnu beside her also frowned: "The Gao family? Which Gao family?"
"Lord Gao Hongxi, Military Advisor of Liangzhou."
Now that he had already said it, Lin Lao Er had no reason to hide it anymore. Even now, when he recalled the scene, he still felt terrified: "Back then, Song Da Biao's death was not due to the government troops' encirclement and suppression, but rather he was killed by him!"
"The night before the government troops' encirclement and suppression, he disguised himself and went up the mountain. At that time, Song Da's leader thought he was there to help him escape. Unexpectedly, he chopped off Song Da's head. If I hadn't run fast and was familiar with the terrain, and found a cellar to hide in, I would have become a handful of dust by now."
The night was as dark as ink. Gao Hongxi held a large cleaver, its sharp blade covered in blood. Blood splattered on his cruel and indifferent face. His eyes were like an eagle's, searching for his figure inch by inch.
Not far away, Song Chengtian's head, with its eyes wide open in death, was hanging on a tree, staring intently at him. He hid in the cellar, watching Gao Hongxi circle around in the pale moonlight, gradually approaching the not-so-hidden cellar.
Cold sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes. He desperately tried to suppress his trembling breath, but he couldn't control his weak legs.
If it weren't for the rustling sounds coming from afar that lured Gao Hongxi away, allowing him to escape from the cellar and descend the mountain overnight, his head would probably have been hanging from a tree.
The shadow of that night lingered over him for years. Every night, when he closed his eyes, the image of Song Chengtian's chopped-up corpse seemed to unfold before him again.
“He gave Boss Song a lot of money. At the time, we had no idea that the person in the portrait was General Xue’s son. Otherwise, even if there was a lot of money, we wouldn’t have dared to kill him!”
As Lin Lao Er was rambling on and on, suddenly, they heard a faint sound of footsteps outside, followed by voices: "Boss, there's light in the cave ahead!"
They're bandits!
Jingnu reacted quickly, her expression hardening. Just as she was about to rush out, a palm struck her hard. She dodged it with lightning speed, and the man took the opportunity to break free of the ropes and run outside, shouting, "Boss Luo, help!"
Jingnu's face immediately darkened. She drew her dagger, but Xue Rongyue was faster than her with a throwing knife hidden in her sleeve. A sharp whooshing sound pierced the night as the throwing knife flashed and stabbed straight into the neck of the fleeing bandit.
A large amount of blood gushed out, and the body collapsed weakly to the ground. The fleeing bandit twitched twice and then stopped breathing completely. Blood stained Lin Lao Er's hands. He looked at Xue Rong Yue in horror, unable to utter a single word.
He was there when Luo Hongfang "invited" Lady Xue up the mountain. He never expected that Lady Xue, who seemed so weak and whose whip was so soft, would actually have such skill.
He wasn't the only one stunned. Luo Hongfang and his men approached the cave and witnessed the scene firsthand. He couldn't help but take a step back, then realized what had happened and gritted his teeth, saying, "So you were lying to me too!"
Having said that, he swept his gaze over Xue Rongyue and the other three, then waved his hand fiercely, abandoning any thought of fleeing to avoid the brunt of the attack: "There are only four of them. So what if they're skilled? Go! Capture her!"
Jingnu and two guards strode forward to block Xue Rongyue's path. Jingnu reached for the purse at her waist, about to sprinkle out the poison powder, when she suddenly heard Xue Rongyue scoff disdainfully behind her, her voice filled with displeasure:
"Young Master Qin, after watching this show for so long, are you really planning to just stand by and do nothing?"
Jingnu was taken aback and began to look around. Luo Hongfang looked at her, puzzled, and for some reason, felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
Immediately, a figure as strong and tall as a pine tree leaped down from the old tree planted in front of the cave, much to everyone's astonishment.
Xue Rongyue raised her chin, pointed at Luo Hongfang, and ordered without any politeness, "Tie him up!"
He stood firmly in front of the cave, like a pine tree growing on a precipice. With long arms and a slender waist, his tall and agile figure already revealed the inviolable majesty and sharpness of the young general he would become in the future.
The wind whipped his robes fluttering in the breeze, and the firelight illuminated half of his handsome, refined face. He tilted his head slightly, a thin smile playing on his lips, and answered obediently:
"yes."
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a sharp knife came straight at him. Qin Jin reacted instantly and dodged, but unfortunately, the tip of the knife still grazed his arm, splattering a string of blood droplets in the night.
Xue Rongyue: "......"
Ji Dian, who rushed over: "..."
"..." Xue Rongyue drew her long whip from her waist and asked coldly, "Are you capable? If not, let me do it."
Qin Jin: "......"
Turning to look at Luo Hongfang, Qin Jin was filled with anger and frustration, so much so that he could barely hold onto the knife in his hand.
He was utterly incredulous, his voice trembling noticeably: "...Big brother, did you have to ambush me at this moment?!"
Luo Hongfang was even more furious than him. He cried out and rushed over, shouting, "Even you betrayed me!!"
Ji Dian: "......"
He reached out to stop the guard who was about to rush forward to help, rubbed his temples, and said understandingly, "Let him handle it himself."
"You lost so much face trying to show off, especially in front of Xue Rongyue. If you don't regain your dignity tonight, your master won't be able to sleep for the next year."
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Author's note: I'm late! I'm late! [shy][shy]
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