Chapter 130 Wiped Out by Bandits
The caravan continued on its journey. The Xiao family had a horse, so they put all their belongings on the carriage and let the horse pull it. They planned to buy another carriage after passing through the next city.
A horse can carry one person, so of course it's Yun Zhaoxue riding the horse.
She even let Xian'er sit in front of her.
Some people saw her riding a horse and were very dissatisfied, so they went to Lao Liao to complain.
"Smack!"
Old Liao lashed out with his whip, "You were supposed to stay behind to deal with the bandits who ran faster than rabbits. It was because they stayed behind to cover the retreat and help the guards repel the bandits that you're alive to talk to me. So what if she's riding a horse? She deserves it."
Last night, the couple helped the investigator a lot; they were both very clever and skilled. He guessed right.
The group continued onward, exhausted after walking all morning, panting heavily and dragging their weary bodies numbly forward.
After passing through the valley, there was a grove of trees ahead. Everyone guessed that they could rest there at noon, so they gritted their teeth and continued walking.
Xiao Xuance sensed danger and walked to Yun Zhaoxue's side, whispering, "There's danger, get down quickly."
Yun Zhaoxue also sensed that there seemed to be eyes watching them in the dark. She handed Xian'er, who was in front of her, to him.
A cold arrow shot from behind her.
"Whoosh!"
Yun Zhaoxue leaned forward on the horse's back to avoid it.
Xiao Xuance put the child down, supported himself under the child's armpits, and lifted him down.
The other guards on horseback were all hit by arrows. Two or three of them were shot in the chest and died instantly, falling off their horses with a "bang!"
Upon seeing this, everyone immediately covered their heads, squatted down, and cried out in alarm, "Ah! Someone's dead!"
"Assassin! Assassin! Guards, capture the assassin!"
An arrow was shot toward Lao Liao's heart.
He reacted quickly, drew his sword, and cleaved the blade in two with a clang!
The movement was too vigorous, causing the wound on my arm to reopen, "Ouch~"
Clutching his wound with one hand, he looked up at the mountains on either side and muttered, "Damn it, who shot me in the back?"
The words had barely left his mouth.
Suddenly, dozens of bandits appeared from the mountains on both sides, waving their weapons and making strange noises like "Oh! Hehehe—!"
Like the excited roars of wild beasts upon seeing their prey, each animal sings its own song, without any unified rhythm, until the next uncivilized beast or savage reaches the ears of the crowd.
Those who were too timid had already squatted down, covering their heads and ears with their arms, closing their eyes, too afraid to listen or look, trembling with fear.
Some people instinctively wanted to run away.
He had only run a few steps when a stray arrow shot from behind pierced his body, "Thud!"
Their family rushed over and shook them, "Ah! Sir, what's wrong? Sir, please wake up!"
"My child, open your eyes and look at your mother! Don't close your eyes, hold on! Mother will take you to see a doctor right now, sob sob sob..."
Old Liao shouted, "Stop right there! Don't run! Stay where you are!"
They were surrounded; no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't outrun an arrow.
He jumped down from the bandits on Ma Chao Mountain, cupped his hands and said loudly, "Gentlemen, we are ordered by the imperial court to escort an exile team to Lingnan. We are all criminals who have had their homes confiscated and have been exiled. We don't even have a copper coin on us. We are all poor ghosts. Please do us a favor and don't make things difficult for us."
Cao Yuanqing, the leader of Qingfeng Village, sneered, "Convenient? Last night you killed dozens of our brothers and even wanted to hand over the Second Brother to the prefectural government to torture him and force the government to send troops to wipe out Qingfeng Village. The hatred of destroying our village is irreconcilable!"
The man who spoke stood atop the cliff, his broad, tall, and muscular body wrapped in a coarse, gray linen robe. He carried a thick-backed nine-ringed sword on his shoulder, the blade reflecting the sun and scattering a cold, sharp light, revealing a fierce face that seemed to be smiling but wasn't.
The other bandits had already drawn their bows and aimed their arrows at them.
They would shoot arrows through them at the slightest sign of trouble.
Old Liao was curious as to how he knew they had sent the second-in-command to the prefectural capital.
The next second, they saw Pang Hualong, the second-in-command, appear next to Cao Yuanqing.
What's he doing here?
Didn't we send someone to the prefectural capital last night?
Pang Hualong slightly raised his chin towards Lao Liao and said, "What? You're surprised to see me? Since you're about to die, I'll tell you the truth: we have people in the prefectural government. They haven't released me since I arrived. Surprised?"
Old Liao shouted upwards, "The imperial court ordered us to escort them to exile in Lingnan. Aren't you afraid of being punished by the court for indiscriminately killing innocent people?"
"The imperial court? If we were afraid of the imperial court, would we have become bandits? Hahaha!!!"
Upon seeing Yun Zhaoxue's beauty, the leader exclaimed, "What a beautiful woman!"
"Brother, it was that woman. Last night, she used her beauty to lull those brothers into a false sense of security, and then she led a group of men to kill them. She even kicked me unconscious."
Remembering the grudge from last night's kick, Pang Hualong snatched a quiver of arrows from one of the henchmen, aimed at Yun Zhaoxue, and fired, "Whoosh!"
Yun Zhaoxue quickly dodged.
Xiao Xuance had already flashed in front of her, raised his hand and grasped the arrow, a trace of bright red blood seeping from between his fingers.
"Are you stupid? I already moved away, and you still held on with your hand." She quickly pulled a piece of gauze from the car and wrapped it around his palm to stop the bleeding.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
He knew she would dodge, but his body reacted faster than his mind, and he instinctively blocked her path in front of him.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
"Don't do such a stupid thing next time."
There's not a single undamaged spot on my body; if I injure my hand too, I'll really be a cripple.
"As a subordinate, one has an obligation to protect one's master."
Yun Zhaoxue thought it made sense, but something still felt off.
He only saved her because of the indenture? He only treated her as his master?
Only he knows what he's thinking; now is not the time to dwell on that.
She said to the people above her, "Second-in-command, your leader hasn't even given the order yet, what's your hurry? This is called insubordination, showing no respect for the leader and attempting to usurp his position!"
"We've been brothers for over a decade. You think you can sow discord between us with just a few words? Don't waste your energy, just prepare to die!"
Pang Hualong gritted his teeth and pulled three more arrows from the quiver of one of the henchmen next to him, drew his bow, and aimed.
The leader raised his hand, "Second brother, wait a minute."
Pang Hualong was blinded by rage. He vowed not to rest until he killed Yun Zhaoxue and Xiao Xuance to avenge his fallen brothers, and he held the arrows aloft, refusing to lower them.
"Brother, these people are cunning and will only cause trouble if we keep them around. We should get rid of them as soon as possible and complete the task assigned by the master!"
“We’ll tie them up and take them back to our stronghold. What trouble can they cause on our turf? I think you’ve been bitten by a snake once and are now afraid of ropes for ten years.”
"Brother, the Xiao family is not to be underestimated. A few years ago, our stronghold suffered a great loss at their hands. This time, we must strike first."
The one-eyed third leader said, "Second brother, I support the eldest brother. It's not too late to kill them after we force them to reveal the whereabouts of the silver. Recently, the palace and the mansions of several ministers in the capital have been emptied. The powerful and wealthy are tightening their belts, and there are fewer business people coming and going. At most, we can only rob a few taels of silver. If we continue like this, we will all starve. Also, most of our brothers in the stronghold have not had any meat for a long time. Let the brothers have some fun with so many women tonight."
The bandits stared at the woman below; even in their coarse linen clothes, their noble bearing and graceful figures were undeniable.
Waving his weapon and letting out a lewd laugh, he shouted, "Fun! Fun! Hahaha!!!"
The bandits set their sights on the women.
Xiao Xiuning covered her face with one hand and clutched her collar with the other, her face turning deathly pale with fright.
She pointed at Yun Zhaoxue and cursed, "Yun Zhaoxue, it's all your fault! If you hadn't been so attention-seeking and offended those bandits, we wouldn't have been captured and have to serve them. I'd rather be killed than serve them."
Ye Hongying also said, "I would rather die than submit."
The other women also blamed Yun Zhaoxue, scolding her for attracting bandits by showing off and implicating them...
Xie Wanyun retorted, "Don't go too far. If it weren't for our Xue'er, you would have been in the same situation last night. She saved you, and instead of being grateful, you blame her. Do you have any conscience?"
Xiao Mingshu said, "A small favor can turn into a big one. My third sister-in-law saved you all last night for nothing. You should have been captured by the bandits."
Yun Zhaoxue said, "It's not too late for you to die now. You can bite your tongues and commit suicide, or run out and let them shoot you dead with arrows!"
"Go on, why aren't you moving? A bunch of cowards who only know how to bully the weak and fear the strong!"
Xiao Xiuning and several other women were provoked by her. As soon as they rushed out, several arrows flew over them, their sharp arrowheads tearing through their clothes and skin.
The group of people were so frightened that their legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground.
Arrows continued to fall, embedding themselves in the ground beside them, grazing their heads and ears, terrifying them so much they froze on the spot, too scared to move, screaming, "Aaaaaah!!"
Death is simple.
But now, surrounded by a hail of arrows, enveloped in the fear that they could be pierced through the body at any moment, they screamed in terror, "Aaaaaah!!!"
"Stop shooting! I'm not running away anymore, please let me go! Ahhh!!!"
The bandits couldn't bear to kill the women; they wanted to keep them and take them back to serve them.
Yun Zhaoxue watched with great satisfaction.
Lady Yang couldn't bear to watch Xiao Xiuning be shot to death and wanted Xiao Xuance to go and save her, but seeing the dense rain of arrows, she couldn't speak and finally let out a sigh, turning her eyes away, unable to bear to look.
The bandits tied everyone up and took them back to their stronghold, where they were imprisoned.
Men and women were separated into different lockers.
The women were also imprisoned in five separate cells according to their age.
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