The monkey led the Pinghe Village team towards Yaojia Village. On the third day, the scouts ahead discovered that roadblocks had been set up. These roadblocks were not particularly sophisticated, but one could still fall into them if one was not careful.
"There's no village or shop in sight here, so why would anyone set up roadblocks here?" Big Bear and his companions were all surprised when they heard the scouts ahead stop and talk about it.
"Everyone, perk up!" Monkey reached into the black bag, took out the weapon, and put it in his pocket. This was something Brother Cheng had specifically told them to carry with them at all times.
"Destroy the roadblocks and move on quickly." Now that we're here, there's no intention of turning back.
Not long after they passed the roadblock, a dozen or so burly men appeared at the foot of the mountain wall around the corner.
"Brother, are we just going to let them go like this?" Some people asked unwillingly as they watched the crowd carrying large and small bags forward.
"Pah! Don't they know how many of them there are? They all have machetes. How can we, with just a dozen or so of us, possibly take them on?"
"But we've been waiting here for so long, and this is the first time we've seen any people."
"Who told you we were going to let them go? Let's follow them a bit further away and see if we can find an opportunity to strike tonight." The leader kept his eyes on the direction the group had left in, pondering the best way to make his move.
"Big Brother is truly brilliant. Waiting until late at night when everyone is quiet is the best time to strike. Look at their backs, they're laden with goods. This is a great start for us." Some people were already speculating about how much they could gain this time.
"Everyone, keep your distance and don't make any noise." The leader was still worried and turned back to give a stern warning. Seeing that everyone nodded in agreement, he turned away with satisfaction.
The monkeys were also wondering, "Did they get through it so easily?"
“Be careful tonight,” Angkor came over to remind him. “When we were fleeing before, many people disappeared inexplicably in the middle of the night, and no matter how we searched for the cause, we could never find them.”
The monkey knows Angkor's character and knows he wouldn't say such things casually. It seems everyone needs to be more vigilant tonight.
Everyone quickly arrived at the same campsite from last time. They continued to camp based on their previous experience, which saved them time from wasting time searching for water sources and suitable places to stay.
"We'll be resting in two shifts tonight. Even when you're resting, don't sleep too soundly. Try to stay together as much as possible." The monkey went around and gave everyone his instructions.
Remembering the previous roadblocks, everyone said they would definitely be more careful.
Perhaps because there were more people on night watch, everyone sat peacefully all night. They dragged their tired bodies on their way, and finally reached what looked like a campsite. They ate some dry food and sat on the ground, too tired to move.
The monkey checked the surrounding area and found that the barbs they had set up were still relatively intact, although they were covered by grass. He didn't touch them, but turned around and went back to the camp.
"Brother Hou, what are we going to do tonight?" Lu Yunfeng asked with some concern, looking at all the people who were lying on the ground.
"Everyone was on their toes last night, and with today's journey, we're all a bit exhausted." Big Bear was also starting to feel the strain, sitting on the ground and looking up at them.
"It seems there's a counter-surveillance expert among them. I have a feeling someone's following us, but they haven't shown themselves yet. Maybe they're just waiting for an opportunity." Monkey had been keeping an eye on what was happening behind them the whole way, and he had a vague feeling about it, but he hadn't been able to catch them.
As his longtime partner, Da Xiong naturally believed him. "Then what do we do?"
“Since they want to wait for an opportunity, let’s give them one,” the monkey said to his men, looking back the way they came.
Everyone huddled together in a circle, back to back, and drifted off to sleep. Even the night watchman couldn't stay awake any longer and fell into a deep sleep.
As the night deepened, the snoring sounds, varying in volume, emanating from the campsite seemed particularly loud.
"Ah!" With a cry of surprise, everyone in the camp stood up.
If you get closer, you'll see that each of them has a thin string tied to their hand. If one person pulls the string, it will tighten, and with a single effort, everyone can break free and run towards the direction of the sound.
At this point, the group of people who had been following them could no longer hide; they stood up, turned around, and tried to run.
But how could the monkeys let them off so easily? The village's three crossbows fired simultaneously, wounding several people, while the others were pinned to the ground by the pursuers.
"You guys are too cunning. You actually put barbs on the ground. When did you put them there? How come we didn't notice?" The speaker was probably their leader. As he spoke, he glared fiercely at the accomplice who had spoken earlier.
His accomplice, clutching his still-bleeding left hand, avoided his gaze. He really didn't mean to make a sound; he just didn't realize what was happening and couldn't help himself.
"Is it you?" The Wu brothers recognized the people as soon as they saw them. In fact, they had some suspicions before, but they were not sure.
"Brother Wu, do you know them?" Monkey wasn't doubting Brother Wu and his group, but rather curious.
“Didn’t we have a lot of people going missing during our escape? At the time, many people suspected they were behind it, but we never caught them in the act.” Wu Ge and his family had also been observing these people carefully for a while, but they hadn’t found any clues. They were probably too well hidden. But judging from the actions of these people tonight, the previous disappearances must be related to them.
"Are those people who went missing along the way related to you?" Brother Wu asked as soon as he thought of it, as he had some connections with some of them.
"What does this have to do with us? We're just hungry, and seeing that you've brought so much stuff, we wanted to borrow some from you first," Su Xun, the leader who had spoken earlier, retorted.
"If we hadn't buried barbs nearby, and you hadn't found our way to the camp, would you have only taken some food?" The monkeys clearly didn't believe their explanation.
“We’re telling the truth, and there are only a few of us, so we can’t do anything to you,” Su Xun said, and the people behind him began to echo him.
"Yes, just look at the manpower on both sides, how could we possibly harm you?"
"We really just want to find some food. We've been starving for days. Please, please give us some food."
Soon, those who were pinned to the ground began to plead for mercy and act pitiful.
“Let’s search them and see how they used to take people away silently,” Wu suggested, thinking of another possibility.
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