Chapter 73: To die?
From the arrow tower down, along the stone steps all the way to the foot of the mountain, there was a pinch of the same medicinal powder at intervals, which was particularly conspicuous on the gray ground.
The path was originally hidden in the bushes and was extremely difficult to identify, but now it was vividly outlined by this pink line.
"This woman has already left a mark!" The scarred leader's face turned ashen. He suddenly turned his head to look at Wen Ning lying on the ground, and the cruelty in his eyes almost overflowed.
He reached back and pulled at Wen Ning's right sleeve, and with a "swish", the sleeve instantly tore open.
The exposed oil paper was torn and deformed, and some powder leaked out.
Early this morning, when these brutal bandits broke into the house to arrest people, Wen Ning happened to be in front of the medicine box getting medicine to reduce swelling and relieve pain. In a hurry, she grabbed two packets of medicine powder.
This powder was originally used to heal the blisters and stop pus in patients during epidemics, but on the way I heard those remnants of the bandits gossiping about it.
They said there were two ways to enter the village. They set an ambush for the Marquis on the only way, and the one they took was a small path that few people found.
When Wen Ning heard this, her fingertips trembled slightly and she quietly curled up her bound fingers.
While stumbling from being pushed, she rubbed her sleeves against anything nearby, and the powder hidden inside would fall out a little through the gaps in the fabric.
The lame henchman limped down the stone steps, looked down at it, and then suddenly spat, and the greed on his face was instantly replaced by anxiety.
"Brother Scar, what should we do? We've set up tripwires, crossbow boxes, and ground mines on the road in front of the village, all aimed at ambushing Xie! If he sees the mark she left and circumvents the ambush, how can we, the few of us, fight him?"
"We can't let him get away! We'd better hang this little girl right now. Either that Xie guy steps into the trap to rescue her, or watch her die!"
As he spoke, the bald man with scabies suddenly pulled out the whip wrapped around his waist and lashed it towards Wen Ning with a fierce wind.
"I'll beat you half to death first. Then when Xie comes and sees you like this, he'll be so distressed that his liver will tremble. Won't he come to rescue you obediently?"
Wen Ning subconsciously curled up her body. Although she was tied up with hemp ropes and couldn't move, she still tried her best to turn her shoulder to avoid the whip shadow that was falling with the wind.
The clothes were torn apart in an instant, and purple-red whip marks appeared on the white skin.
The bald man with scabies ripped the burlap out of her mouth and said viciously, "Scream! Scream if it hurts, the louder the better! I want to see if Xie dares to come in alone!"
Wen Ning's vision went black due to the pain, and her lips were bitten through between her teeth, but she swallowed the cry of pain.
The air in his chest was sucked out and he couldn't breathe. Bright red blood slowly flowed out from the corners of his lips.
She coughed twice, her cracked lips moved, her voice hoarse but full of sarcasm.
"Save your energy. If he really valued me, why would he abandon me here when he returned to the capital?"
The corners of his bloodstained lips curled up into a cruel smile, "You're using me to threaten him, but I'm afraid you've made a wrong calculation."
As soon as he finished speaking, the lame henchman next to him smiled sinisterly.
"You're quite stubborn," he said, pinching Wen Ning's chin with his rough fingers, his eyes cloudy and greedy. "Don't worry, if Mr. Xie doesn't come, the brothers won't suffer any loss."
The bald man with scabies smiled knowingly, his dirty hands already touching her belt, "At least we picked up such a beautiful woman for free, it's enough for us to be happy..."
"Stop dreaming!" the scarred leader roared, swung up a thick, oil-soaked hemp rope and threw it to the two of them. "Hurry up and hang this little bitch up!"
The two men were startled by his roar and hurriedly grabbed the rope.
One of them took out a dagger and cut the hemp rope on the woman's body with a snap.
Before Wen Ning had time to move her numb hands and feet, another person suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her under the beam.
The oil-soaked rope was shiny, and when you got close you could smell the pungent smell of tung oil.
They planned to hang Wen Ning on the arrow window, and as long as they threw a tinder, he would immediately turn into a fireball.
Just as the two men dragged Wen Ning under the beam, the wooden door of the arrow tower suddenly exploded, and a figure flashed among the scattered wood fragments.
The two guards at the gate didn't even have time to scream before they fell to the ground, covering their bleeding throats.
The scarred leader was quick-eyed and quick-handed. The moment he stepped in, he suddenly grabbed the woman on the ground, and the sharp blade was instantly pressed against her neck.
"You, you, you really avoided the ambush!!!"
Veins bulged on the leader's forehead, and his hand gripping the knife tightened, the blade immediately leaving a trail of blood across Wen Ning's neck.
They had set up a trap with great difficulty, but he had dodged it just like that!
"I don't accept it!" The scarred leader raised his voice suddenly, his eyes red as if blood was about to drip out.
Xie Jinglan's steps suddenly stopped. He saw the blood stains on the corners of Wen Ning's lips, the torn collar revealing half of her shoulder, and whip marks winding across her snow-white skin.
A terrifying scarlet suddenly welled up in his eyes, carrying with him an extremely suppressed violence.
“Let her go!!!”
These three words were filled with murderous intent, and he wished he could chop off these people's heads immediately.
The three men behind the leader were frightened by Xie Jinglan's aura. After they reacted, they dragged the roll of hemp rope soaked in tung oil over and threw it at Wen Ning's feet.
The tung oil on the oil rope flowed down along the rope strands and soon formed a small pool on the stone slab.
“Don’t, don’t come over here!!”
The one-eyed man leaned forward and hurriedly reached for the tinder at his waist. "If you dare take a step forward, she will be engulfed in flames!"
Wen Ning saw the shock and pain in Xie Jinglan's eyes and forced a smile. Her voice was thick with blood and foam, and she said, "Don't panic... I can hold on."
The scarred leader was enraged by her appearance and pressed the blade against her neck again, "Shut up!"
Seeing that the panic in her eyes was gone, Xie Jinglan's Adam's apple rolled suddenly.
He had saved her more than once and knew that this kind of calmness was not innate, but was grown from the cracks in his bones bit by bit under the pressure of the blade and the grinding of danger.
He failed to protect her, and this was all his fault.
Just as he was stunned, Xie Jinglan suddenly caught a glimpse of Wen Ning holding half a piece of oil paper in her left hand, and a little blue-gray powder was falling through her fingers.
His eyes suddenly darkened as he looked at Wen Ning, and the two of them nodded meaningfully.
His eyes fell on the increasingly deep red mark on her neck, and Xie Jinglan's voice was as deep as if a huge rock was pressing down on him.
"Let her go, and I'll agree to any conditions you ask for!!"
"What are your conditions?" Scarface asked viciously, "I'll kill you! Can you agree to them?"
Xie Jinglan looked at Wen Ning, his voice strangely calm, "If I die, will you let her go?"
There was no trace of anger, but rather a hint of inquiry.
The chief was choked by these words, and his hand holding the knife loosened inexplicably.
He suddenly laughed ferociously and roared, "Xie, you've come to this day! I never thought a woman could make you willingly come to die!"
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