Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu's hearing was much better than that of Song Chen and Feng Jiuli, and they could vaguely hear the conversation between the two. The two looked at each other, and Zhang Chong asked uncertainly, "Xiaowu, the people in the forest don't seem to be bandits, but Zhao Wu and his group?"
Zhang Xiaowu nodded, "It sounds familiar, it should be them."
Huahua, who is always very vigilant, did not make any warning growls at this time.
The people were relieved.
After waiting for a while, several furtive figures appeared in the woods, three of them were wearing official uniforms.
"It's Zhang San, Zhao Wu and the others." Zhang Chong patted his chest, and his heart was relieved. "I was almost scared to death. I thought it was bandits chasing us. If there is another wave of bandits, I won't be able to resist."
"Mother!" Feng Jiuli had sharp eyes and spotted Madam Feng at a glance. He rushed out of the forest and ran towards Madam Feng's location.
When Madam Feng heard the familiar voice she had been thinking about, she looked in the direction of the voice with surprise, only to see a little ball rushing towards her like a firecracker and throwing itself into her arms.
Madam Feng burst into tears, "Ah Li, wuwuwu, are you and your sister okay? It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone to pick up the phoenix hairpin your father gave me, I wouldn't have been separated from you."
The mother and son hugged each other and cried bitterly.
"Mother~" Feng Jiuyan walked behind the two of them and looked at Madam Feng with red eyes.
Just now, she almost thought she would lose her mother forever. Fortunately, Qiao Ping saved her.
For this, Feng Jiuyan was extremely grateful to Qiao Ping.
"Ayan." Madam Feng sobbed, reaching out to hold Feng Jiuyan's hands, "Aniang will never do such a stupid thing again next time, wuwuwu, nothing is more important than you and your brother."
Feng Jiuyan's heart was broken when she heard Madam Feng crying. She quickly comforted her, "Mother, it's okay. You won't be like this next time. Our family of three is fine now, please don't cry anymore."
Madam Feng continued to shed tears and sob uncontrollably.
Feng Jiuyan simply threatened, "Mother, don't cry anymore. It would be bad if you attract bandits."
When Madam Feng heard this, she immediately stopped crying, covered her mouth with her hands, and glanced around vigilantly. "I, I won't cry anymore."
Feng Jiuyan bowed to Qiao Ping and said, "Thank you, Brother Qiao, for saving my mother. We, the three of us, cannot repay your kindness. I will work like a cow or a horse to repay you in my next life."
Who knows if there will be a next life? Let’s just fool around in this life first.
Qiao Ping felt a chill on his back. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he sensed a lot of hostility from Feng Jiuyan's words. But when he saw her smiling face, he thought he was overthinking it.
"Hehe, it's just a small favor, not worth mentioning." Qiao Ping said with a silly smile.
Feng Jiuyan sneered in his heart, his vest has fallen off, and he is still acting silly here!
When Zhao Wu, Zhang San and Wang Er saw Zhang Xiaowu and Zhang Chong, they were so excited as if they had seen their relatives.
The three of them were originally on Zhang Xiaowu's side. Seeing that their immediate boss was fine, the three of them felt relieved.
Moreover, with Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu escorting the prisoners, they finally felt a little more at ease and no longer as panicked and breathless as before.
If the sky falls, you have your boss to hold it up.
Zhao Wu reported the situation on Meng Liang's side to Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu, and urged them to take the prisoners to Qingzhou City as soon as possible, lest Meng Liang and others catch up with them, see Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu, and ask them to accompany them to the mountain stronghold to die.
So, Feng Jiuyan and others followed Zhang Chong, Zhao Wu and others and hurriedly set off towards Qingzhou City.
On the way, Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu followed Feng Jiuyan's instructions and bypassed Qingxiu Mountain, successfully avoiding the harassment of the mountain bandits. However, after taking this detour, they were much farther away from Qingzhou City.
Without the oppression of officials like Meng Liang, the prisoners lived much better. At least they didn't have to endure flogging at every turn.
However, what surprised Feng Jiuyan was that her good second uncle and her lame cousin were among the seven or eight prisoners, yet they were not hacked to death by the bandits.
It’s just that Second Madam Feng and Old Madam Feng are nowhere to be seen.
She sighed inwardly, thinking that Feng Qingyun was so lucky. Even though she was lame, she was still able to follow Meng Liang and other officials to escape from the clutches of the bandits. No one knew what means she had used.
There were more than a dozen people in the group. Except for the officers who had horses, the prisoners all walked on their own two legs. Of course, Madam Feng and Feng Jiuli did not need to walk, as they were carried by the proud donkey.
They walked for several hours before they finally saw a village. They thought that night was falling and it might be unsafe to continue on their journey.
Therefore, Zhang Chong and Zhang Xiaowu brought everyone into the village and prepared to stay overnight.
Zhao Wu held the hilt of the sword at his waist, a little puzzled, "Hey, this is really strange, why is this village so quiet, there is not a single person in sight?"
"It's dinner time now. Most of the villagers are probably having dinner at home." As he said this, Wang Er licked his dry lips.
Speaking of dinner, everyone couldn't help swallowing their saliva. Except for Feng Jiuyan and Zhang Chong who had eaten steamed buns and eggs on the top of the mountain, the rest of the prisoners and officials hadn't had a drop of water for the whole day. Therefore, they couldn't help but speed up their pace.
"Is anyone there?" Zhang Chong walked forward and knocked on the door of one of the houses.
I knocked for a long time, but no one answered.
Zhang Chong and other officers were not giving up and knocked on several more houses.
Of course, no one answered.
Zhang Chong, Zhang Xiaowu and other officers had very solemn expressions on their faces, and the prisoners below also began to mutter.
"It's really strange. We've been here for quite some time, but we can't see a single person. Every door is closed. There's no candlelight in the room, and we can't hear a single voice. This shouldn't be right."
"Not to mention no one was there, not even a ghost was seen."
"That's right! If you can't see a human figure, it's okay to see a ghost!"
Just as the words fell, an old voice came from behind them, "Ahem, what are you doing?"
The old voice was weak, the tone was drawn out, and it was creepy.
"Ahhh! Ghost!"
"Wow, wow, what a bad luck this year has been. I encountered bandits during the day and ghosts at night. God wants to kill me!"
"Namo Amitabha, may the Buddha bless you, please come and take him away!"
Feng Jiuyan was not like these ancient people who believed in ghosts and gods. She turned around to find out what was going on.
Not far behind them stood an old man with white hair and beard. The old man was trembling and weak, and he was leaning on a cane in his right hand to support his body.
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