Before long, three horses appeared at a bend in the mountain path, followed by infantrymen carrying swords and spears.
Lin Yinan looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the group consisted of about thirty or forty people, all dressed in tattered clothes, not like a regular army.
The other party also saw them, and the leader was slightly taken aback.
He remembered that the villages ahead had been slaughtered by them long ago, so where did such a huge army come from?
Judging from their strength and size, could they be bandits from the mountains?
Yun Mo and Yun Ye exchanged a glance; they immediately recognized the origins of those people.
A group of scattered soldiers.
Yun Mo gave an order to Yun Yi, "Yun Yi, gather some of the better fighters and take them down."
The mountain path was narrow, and there was no way to avoid it, so Yun went straight to meet it.
The leader on horseback thought Yun Yi had come to make peace with them. Before he could even introduce himself, the man kicked him off his horse and he fell into the mud, his face covered in mud.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers behind turned around and ran.
The Yun family's secret guards gave them no chance, and in no time at all, they were all taken down.
A dozen or so fiercely resisted and refused to be captured, but their throats were slit on the spot by the guards. The rest of them instantly turned into quails, and along with the three leading men on horseback, they were brought before the Yun Mo brothers.
Yun Mo looked them up and down, "Where did you soldiers come from?"
The soldiers looked at each other, then finally focused their gaze on the man who had started riding the horse.
The leader raised his head helplessly and said, “My heroes, you may not know this, but a few days ago, Yicheng was breached by a coalition of Hu tribes. The Southern Route General and 100,000 soldiers died in battle, allowing the Hu people to advance unimpeded. All the garrison troops under Yicheng’s jurisdiction fled without a fight.”
"We had no choice. The imperial court stopped allocating grain, and our superiors had fled. We couldn't possibly fight the barbarians on an empty stomach!"
"Everyone has elderly or young children at home. It's pitiful that even going home has become a luxury for us. I'm afraid we'll never be able to reunite with our loved ones again in this lifetime."
Finally, with tears streaming down his face, the leader spoke in a very pitiful tone.
Upon hearing this, the other soldiers immediately lowered their heads.
I don't know if it's guilt or fear.
Yun Mo's lips curled into a cold smile. "The village behind, was it you who slaughtered it?"
The soldiers' heads, which were already bowed, were now practically drooping down to their crotches.
The leader paused for a moment, then said indignantly, "We risk our lives on the front lines, but these villagers treat us like wolves and tigers, refusing to even give us a bite to eat."
"Where are the women and children in the village?"
The leader's heart skipped a beat, and he stammered, "In, in our camp."
How many people are there?
"A dozen or so."
Yun Mo continued, "Why did you turn back?"
The leader glanced at Yun Mo, who had no expression on his face, and dared not hide anything.
“The weather is getting warmer, and there are refugees everywhere. I’m afraid the Hu people will find us sooner or later. We want to go up the mountain from the village and find a place to hide.”
Where is your camp?
The leader swallowed hard. The man before him had sharp eyes and an imposing presence; he didn't look like a bandit at all.
"It's less than ten miles from here."
Yun Mo waved his hand at Yun Yi, "Take him away."
The leader tried to struggle, but Yun Er pressed him down. "What should we do with these people?"
Yun Mo looked at Yun Ye, who nodded slightly.
"Kill it," Yun Mo said calmly, as if he were killing a chicken, not a human.
The leader struggled even more fiercely, desperately trying to find a glimmer of hope.
"My lord, please have mercy on me! Spare me! I don't want to die!"
Yun Mo glanced at him.
"When you killed those unarmed civilians, did you show any mercy?"
Yun San drew two swords from his waist and attacked with both hands, killing one person with each strike. He and his guards quickly dealt with the men.
Everyone craned their necks to look, and the line was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even though you can't see it, you can hear the sound of swords cutting through flesh, then they're pulled out, and blood splatters onto the mud.
The procession continued forward, and the villagers, seeing the blood stained the ground, trembled uncontrollably, clutching their chests.
The soldiers' camp was in a flat forest, and if they hadn't been constantly going in and out, treading a path through the mud, they might not have been able to find it.
A faint aroma of roasted meat wafted from the woods.
Lin Yinan is very sensitive to smells and immediately noticed that the meat smelled different.
Hearing the commotion, the soldiers inside assumed their leader had returned and were dealt with by the guards before they could come out to greet him.
Yun Yi, Yun Er, and Yun San led their men in and quickly tied up several soldiers. Several of them hadn't even had time to put on their clothes and shoes, and were only wearing underpants.
Yun Mo, seated on his horse, looked down at her and asked, "Is everyone here?"
Yun Er kicked one of them in the back of the knee, and the man's legs buckled and he knelt down in the mud.
The man said dejectedly, "Everyone except the ones the boss took out is here."
"What's the situation inside?"
The group remained silent. Yun Er raised his foot and kicked the naked men hard.
Seeing this, Yun Mo understood what was going on. He dismounted and wanted to go in and take a look for himself.
Lin Yiheng, who was behind, kept a close eye on the situation. When he saw Yun Mo about to go in, he gave a wink to Lin Tiezhuang, Lin Yuanzhi, and Su Yunzhi behind him.
The three understood each other and headed into the forest.
Seeing that the group had gone out with the Yun family's secret guards several times and returned with spoils each time, Lin Zhaohui quickly followed them. He knew that the family's food supplies were running low, but these soldiers should have some stored grain.
Lin Yinan handed the rope to Qianwu, wanting to go inside and see what was going on.
As he passed by Yun Er, he reached out to stop her, "Miss Lin, there's nothing to see inside. I suggest you don't go in."
Yunying suddenly appeared from the side and grabbed Lin Yinan's arm.
"Yun Er, what's wrong with us going to check this out now?"
Yun Er withdrew his hand. "Since you won't listen, then go ahead."
"What's inside? It's all so mysterious." Yun Ying pouted.
She's the type who won't turn back until she hits a wall, and she's known for refusing to listen to advice.
A dozen or so wooden huts were set up in the woods, and four or five skewers of meat were roasting over a large fire in the middle of the camp. The surface of the meat was roasted to a golden brown and glistening with oil, making it impossible to tell what kind of meat it was.
The aroma of meat wafting from outside the woods comes from here.
On another fire was a large pot, steaming out, and something was simmering inside.
No one else noticed, but Lin Zhaohui saw that the meat skewers were ready. He took out his handkerchief, intending to take the meat back to his mother and sister.
Yunying was very curious about what was stewing in the pot, so she took two steps forward and lifted the lid.
Lin Yinan quickly stopped her, "Don't open it..."
But it was too late. Before she could finish speaking, two screams pierced the entire forest, startling several owls that were sleeping soundly deep within the woods.
"Ah, ah! It's an arm..."
This was Lin Zhaohui's voice. The roasted meat he had thrown on the ground was a child's arm with two bent fingers still attached.
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