Although his family was already struggling to survive, the women and children who had been captured were also from the same clan as them. They hadn't known the situation before, but now that they knew there were still people alive, they had to go and see them.
Moreover, the opponent only has five people, so the chances of winning are still very high.
"Father, my elder brother and I will go check the situation first. You all find a place to hide."
When Lu Lao Er spoke up, it was clear that he didn't want the elderly and women and children to suffer along with him.
"I'll go with you!"
Old Lu stood up straight. How could he be a coward in such a situation?
Moreover, he still knows some martial arts from his days as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), but he's become rusty over the years. He's already had two matches in the last two days, so he's warmed up a bit.
While they were arguing, He Jiuniang silently gave the children water and settled them in before saying, "Don't rush to argue about these things. You're all injured, so you need to treat your wounds first. As for rescuing people, we need to plan that further."
As she spoke, she took out a small porcelain bottle from her bundle, saying it was a wound medicine with excellent effects in treating external injuries.
Ms. Sun asked, "Did you find this before?"
Everyone looked at the porcelain bottle in her hand, thinking of the other porcelain bottle she had just given to the convoy. These were precious items that her family could not afford, so the only explanation was that she had picked them up on the road.
He Jiuniang nodded: "I was lucky to find a lot of good things, all of which will come in handy."
Everyone felt that this was He Jiuniang's good fortune after surviving a great calamity, and that her whole family had enjoyed this good fortune, so they were grateful to He Jiuniang.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, He Jiuniang couldn't openly take out the gauze to use, so she could only find some clean strips of cloth to do a simple treatment.
Aside from the swollen back of their hands from being hit by pebbles by the maid, everyone else had some wounds from the fight, but fortunately none of them were too serious. After applying medicine, they would heal in three to five days.
While bandaging the wound, the family discussed going to the rescue. After thinking for a moment, the eldest son said, "Father, Mother, you rest here first. My second brother and I will go and scout ahead to see if there are really only five people stationed here. Those bandits don't seem very honest, so it's hard to say if they're not lying."
Logically speaking, the task of suppressing bandits should be left to the government, but now there are so many bandits that the government dares not get involved, and it would be easy to alert them. So only this family can try.
Although Old Man Lu was worried about his two sons, there seemed to be no better course of action than this. Mu Zhuang Er Niu was not a member of the Lu family, so there was no reason for him to take the risk with them from the very beginning.
"Big brother, second brother, you should be resting properly since you're injured. I'll go check on you."
He Jiuniang stepped forward, but Sun Shi pulled her back and scolded, "This is too dangerous! What are you doing getting involved, a woman like you!"
Old Lu also disagreed, saying there were still men in the family, and it made no sense to let women take such risks.
"Father, Mother, when I came back to find you, I was robbed by bandits on the way, but not only did I come back, I also found a bag of good things. You should believe me."
He Jiuniang was determined to go this time, mainly because with two more people joining, there definitely wouldn't be enough food and water. Moreover, if they went to rescue those women and children, they would starve to death on the road if they ran out of food. She had to take the opportunity to go out and take out some things from her space to ensure that everyone would not go hungry later.
The Lu family was at a loss for words. Since the third son's wife came back, she had indeed become more capable than before and had been luckier, managing to escape danger on both occasions. However, it was somewhat inappropriate to send a woman out to explore the way alone.
"Father, let me go with my third sister-in-law to take a look."
Boss Lu stepped forward; as the eldest brother, he should always be at the forefront, no matter what.
Old Lu glanced at Madam Sun and could only nod: "Go and take a look first, but don't do anything rash. If something seems wrong, come back immediately!"
"Mom, I want to go too!"
Although the dog was young, it knew that the trip was dangerous. It clung to He Jiu Niang and wouldn't let go, its little face full of stubbornness.
Although the son was not her biological child, He Jiuniang had already come to regard him as her own son after spending the past few days with him.
Seeing the dog's reluctant expression, my heart melted.
"Don't be naughty, little one. Mommy has some very important business to attend to. You stay here with Grandpa, Grandma, your brothers and sisters and be good. Mommy promises you, I'll bring you something delicious when I come back, okay?"
The puppy shook its head, burying its head in her arms: "I don't want food, I just want Mommy, waaaaah..."
The scene was so moving that even the adults couldn't help but tear up. Mrs. Sun cursed the heavens, "It's all because of this damned heaven that won't send rain!"
The child cried for a while and realized that it was wrong of him to make such a fuss. Although he was still very reluctant, he stopped making a fuss and nestled in Sun's arms, watching He Jiuniang and Lu Laoda walk away.
According to the bandits, their stronghold was not far from here, and riding a horse there would be more likely to alert them, so they decided to walk.
After walking for most of an hour along the mountain path, they indeed saw two people patrolling. He Jiu Niang and Lu Lao Da quickly found a place to hide.
"Brother, you check here first to see if they have any more helpers. I'll go see if there are any other entrances. If we can get in, the two of us can rescue them."
As she spoke, He Jiuniang gave Lu Laoda two smoke balls: "If you encounter danger, throw these on the ground and take the opportunity to escape."
Looking at the smoke ball in his hand, Lu Laoda felt it was burning hot, and he suddenly regretted bringing his third sister-in-law out.
My third sister-in-law is no ordinary tiger!
Can just the two of them really manage?
"It's too dangerous for you to go, I'll go instead."
Lu Laoda wanted to return the smoke bomb to her, but He Jiuniang said, "Don't worry, brother, I'm confident. I have plenty of good stuff in my bag!"
After saying that, he gave him no chance to refuse, then went into the woods and quickly disappeared.
Lu Laoda was dumbfounded. When did his third sister-in-law become so skilled?
After regaining her senses, she obediently followed He Jiuniang's instructions and carefully watched the two people.
Freed from her restraints, He Jiuniang easily evaded the bandits and entered the mountain stronghold. Though called a stronghold, it was really just a place with steep terrain; upon entering, one could see several dilapidated thatched huts.
This was the most shabby and impoverished mountain village He Jiuniang had ever seen.
Perhaps these people were new to banditry and lacked experience, because there were no patrols in the mountain stronghold.
Loud snoring came from one room, with three voices rising and falling in turn.
If I'm not mistaken, these are the ones who made a great contribution in the last murder and robbery.
He Jiuniang quietly entered the room, and what she saw were several human skulls scattered on the table. They all looked like children.
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