Chapter 195 Waterside
After the rocks fell, the shouts of the bandits came from all directions.
Sima Jun was calm and pushed Aju to Yin Wen: "You follow Captain Yin, and I will take care of the lady."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and threw out a knife, and a bandit fell to the ground with the knife.
Sima Jun pulled Sun Wei to hide behind a large banyan tree and ordered the soldiers to form a battle array. Just as he had spoken, he suddenly heard a shout of "Be careful."
Looking back, a bandit who had attacked was lying on his back with a knife in hand and eyes wide open.
Sima Jun looked closely and saw that the bandit had a dagger stuck in his neck. Sun Wei, who was hiding behind the banyan tree, looked at his hands covered in blood, a little dazed.
She had stabbed him with the dagger, and she had obviously never killed anyone before.
Sima Jun shouted and called Deng Lian over.
"Leave two alive," he said coldly, "and kill the rest without mercy."
Deng Lian received the order and turned away.
"Are you hurt?" Sima Jun asked Sun Wei.
Sun Wei had come back to her senses and shook her head: "I'm fine."
As she spoke, she had already looked in the direction of the shouting and screaming.
Xie Xiao's troops had arrived and attacked the bandits from the front and back together with Deng Lian's men.
The bandits had long lost their previous ferocious arrogance and fled in panic.
"Follow me." Sima Jun said.
Having said that, he took Sun Wei's arm without saying anything else and took her into the forest.
Sun Wei said: "Those bandits..."
"Xie Xiao is here, he will work with Deng Lian to deal with it." Sima Jun said in a calm tone, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
After walking a short distance, we came to a stream in front of us.
Sima Jun asked Sun Wei to wash his hands while he looked around privately. Not long after, he pulled out a handful of weeds.
Seeing that the wild grass was quite fresh and tender, Sima Jun rolled it into a ball and handed it to Sun Wei.
"Scrubbing with it can clean the blood stains on your hands."
Sun Wei was stunned for a moment, took the grass ball, and said "Oh" softly.
She scrubbed her fingers carefully.
Sima Jun also squatted down and washed his hands.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
Sun Wei shook her head: "It's a life-and-death situation, there's no time to be afraid."
Sima Jun looked at her still pale face and said nothing. He thought for a moment, took a towel from his sleeve, wet it, wrung it dry, and handed it to Sun Wei.
"Wipe the right side of your cheek."
Sun Wei took it and wiped it on her face.
Sima Jun looked at her, hesitant to speak.
Sun Wei noticed it and wiped it again.
Sima Jun felt somewhat helpless. He took the towel from her hand and held it under her chin.
Sun Wei was startled and subconsciously avoided it.
"Don't move." Sima Jun said, "Xie Xiao and the others are still waiting. Don't waste time."
Sun Wei paused.
Sima Jun tilted his head and wiped it carefully.
His fingers had just been wet, and were slightly moist and warm. His face was right in front of her, his eyes fixed on hers intently.
There was clearly cold water on the towel, but Sun Wei felt that the place he was wiping was burning hot.
My heart was beating as fast as it did in my previous life, when he took me to the horse.
It's getting dark.
Sun Wei thought that Sima Jun should not be able to see the strangeness on her face, nor hear the noise in her chest.
Not long after, Sima Jun stopped.
A cool breeze blew, and Sun Wei stood up quickly as if he had been pardoned.
Sima Jun washed the towel slowly in the stream, and heard Deng Lian calling from not far away.
He responded and said to Sun Wei, "Go back."
Sun Wei responded, but fearing that he would come to pull her again, she hurriedly took a step forward and walked ahead.
——
Night had already fallen, and the soldiers and guards lit torches and cleaned up the battlefield.
The bodies of the bandits were scattered everywhere.
Following Sima Jun's instructions, Deng Lian only left two people alive and tied them up and threw them on the roadside.
Seeing the two return, Xie Xiao hurried forward to greet them and asked, "Are the prince and princess well?"
"No problem." Sima Jun said, "What's the current situation?"
Xie Xiao immediately reported the whole incident to Sima Jun. As he was speaking, Deng Lian suddenly came over and said, "Sir, A'ru is missing."
Everyone was surprised.
Sun Wei and Sima Jun exchanged a glance and hurriedly asked, "Just now, the Crown Prince handed Aru over to Captain Yin. I wonder where Captain Yin is now?"
Deng Lian said, "Captain Yin has returned, but he said A'ru has disappeared."
Sun Wei's heart tightened.
Sima Jun summoned Yin Wen, who was drenched in sweat. Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, he said with a rather dejected tone, "I don't know where A'ru has gone. She followed me into the woods, but I spotted a group of fleeing bandits, so I led my men in pursuit. During the fight, I wasn't paying attention, and she disappeared. I heard from others that A'ru suddenly saw someone and ran off in a southeasterly direction!"
Sun Wei followed the direction Yin Wen pointed. It was dusk and there was a forest of giant trees.
"I've been chasing after them, but I can't catch up. There's no trace of them. It's getting dark, and there are so many dangers in the forest. I dare not pursue them anymore, so I have to turn back." He knelt and said, "I have disobeyed the instructions of the Crown Prince and the Princess. I ask for punishment!"
Sun Wei had no time to punish others. He waved his hands and calmed himself down.
The person who could make Aju chase after him without hesitation must be an old friend.
But how could there be an old friend of Aju among the bandits?
This once again proved that these were no ordinary bandits. Or rather, these ordinary bandits were doing someone else's work and had committed an unusual robbery.
"These bandits aren't ordinary people," Sima Jun said. He looked at Deng Lian and said, "Bring them alive so I can interrogate them myself."
The two bandits were quickly brought in and knelt in front of Sima Jun, their bodies shaking like sieves.
Unexpectedly, despite this, the two men remained tight-lipped. No matter how Deng Lian questioned them, they remained completely clueless.
Yin Wen said to Sima Jun, "These bandits usually live in one village, including their families. They're afraid that if they confess, the imperial court will come directly to the village, and they'll have nowhere else to stay. Furthermore, according to bandit rules, anyone who surrenders to the enemy will suffer a bitter fate, both for themselves and their families. There's no way the Crown Prince can get them to talk without some tricks."
Sun Wei listened from the side and realized that Yin Wen meant to use torture.
She frowned.
In her opinion, this method was a bad idea. If these two lied to avoid punishment, they would only make a big mistake.
This principle had been taught to her by Sima Jun in her previous life. He had said that whenever a spy was captured in the Jingzhou camp, the best strategy was to capture their heart. She wondered if Sima Jun in this life also followed this principle.
Sima Jun looked at the two of them and said nothing.
"Bring the purse here." He suddenly said to Yin Wen.
Yin Wen agreed, and soon brought a coin bag.
Sima Jun poured out the contents of the purse in front of the two of them.
It was a few pieces of gold, which looked to be at least ten taels.
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