Chapter 30 Encountering Bandits
As the disaster victims were walking along the road, a sudden commotion arose ahead. The victims who were walking in front of Liu Ye and the others suddenly all ran backward. Liu Ye quickly turned the cart around and pulled them back as well.
"Good heavens, what's going on? Could it be that wolves have come down from the mountain?" Bai Zilin looked back in confusion, and what he saw was alarming. He saw a group of burly men behind them, all armed, chasing after them: "Liu Ye, run! Bandits are coming!"
Liu Ye realized why; the bandits had come down the mountain. But she couldn't run fast enough. The road was already narrow, and the panicked run of the refugees had blocked the way. The bandits were catching up, and many refugees were running into the woods. She quickly pulled the cart into the nearby woods, but because it was all trees, the cart couldn't move at all. There was no other way but to stay put!
Liu Ye angrily put the cart down on the ground: "Brother Bai, let's not run anymore. They're just bandits. I'll go hide the basket..."
Bai Zilin had barely opened his mouth when he saw Liu Ye already running off with her basket. He shook his head helplessly. That girl, she could at least have left him a wood-chopping knife! ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Seeing that the bandits had run away enough, Liu Ye quickly put the basket into her spatial storage and ran back: "Brother Bai, I've hidden the basket. We'll go out after the bandits leave."
Bai Zilin nodded, and the two of them listened intently to what was happening outside. The bandit Tian Laoba, with more than 50 men, intercepted about a hundred disaster victims on the road and robbed them of all their valuables, food, and water. The disaster victims, who had been robbed clean, sat on the ground and wailed, feeling utterly hopeless.
The bandit leader, Tian Laoba, was very dissatisfied when he saw that he hadn't robbed much stuff. They were all a bunch of poor bastards. He thought to himself, "How come there's so little stuff? These people are too poor. Damn it, it's not even enough for us brothers to eat for a day!"
"Brother, many refugees have run into the woods. They must have a lot of stuff on them. I'll take some men and go after them." The speaker was a bandit with a pointed snout and monkey-like face, named Rat.
Old Man Tian waved his hand and said, "Go after them quickly!"
Rat led a dozen or so bandits into the forest to search for people. As it turned out, Liu Ye and her group hadn't gone very far and were found in no time. They chased the car and its occupants onto the road.
With his hands on his hips, Tian Laoba swaggered up to the cart and said arrogantly, "Take out your valuables, or you'll upset me!"
Just as Liu Ye was about to speak, Bai Zilin grabbed her hand, forcing her to shut her mouth. Bai Zilin looked at Tian Laoba and said calmly, "It's not that we don't want to leave any toll money, but we siblings really have no money. I'm crippled, and my sister is mentally challenged. The only valuable thing we have is this cart. If you don't mind, you can take it."
After Bai Zilin finished speaking, he jumped off the cart with his cane. Liu Ye pretended to be scared and hid behind him. Tian Laoba curled his lips with disgust: "Hmph, an idiot and a good-for-nothing. I knew you were useless a long time ago. Alright, alright, I don't want your broken cart. You can go!"
Bai Zilin and Tian Laoba clasped their hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, elder brother."
Bai Zilin sat back on the cart, and Liu Ye quickly pulled the cart forward. After running a long distance, they turned into the woods next to them.
Liu Ye wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve: "Oh my god, that really scared me to death. Brother Bai, you're amazing. You managed to fool the bandits with just a few words. I'll go back and get my basket in a bit."
Bai Zilin frowned and nodded: "We'll go back after the bandits leave. I'm not comfortable with you going alone. The bandits have already robbed all the other refugees. The bolder ones might try to rob you. We need to get rid of these refugees as soon as possible. It's not safe to go with them."
Liu Ye nodded: "Oh." She understood what Brother Bai meant. About an hour later, Tian Laoba led a group of bandits across the road. Liu Ye quietly came out of the woods. Seeing that the bandits were no longer in sight, she pulled the cart out of the forest and pulled it back to the section of road where they had hidden their baskets.
They saw many disaster victims, some sitting on the ground crying, some sitting on the ground cursing, and some looking at them with hatred when they saw them return!
Instead of parking the cart by the roadside, Liu Ye pulled it directly into the woods: "Brother Bai, I'm going to get the basket. Be careful, I just saw some people with ill intentions."
Bai Zilin nodded. He had seen it too, which was why he had come along. Otherwise, if she came back alone to retrieve her basket, things would likely go terribly wrong.
Liu Ye walked until she could no longer see Bai Zilin, then took the basket out of her spatial storage and hurried back. She put the basket on the cart, and Bai Zilin took out a machete from the basket and held it in his hand. Liu Ye then pulled the cart out of the woods and walked briskly along the road.
The disaster victims behind them quickly got up from the ground and ran closely behind the two men's cart. Seeing this, Bai Zilin deliberately fiddled with the machete in his hand, revealing a sinister smile. The timid ones no longer dared to follow so closely, while the bold ones ran behind the cart with a defiant look on their faces.
Liu Ye glanced back and exclaimed, "Holy crap! So many people are following us! It seems we've been targeted!" She quickened her pace and ran as fast as she could, faster than the carriage. The disaster victims following the cart also tried their best to catch up, but they were no match for Liu Ye.
Not only was Liu Ye strong, but they also ate every day. They only ate one meal a day, and what they ate wasn't necessarily grain. Some gnawed on tree bark, and some ate tree leaves. In addition, it was hot, and they were exhausted like dogs. In no time, Liu Ye had left them behind. They were so angry that they didn't even dare to curse, for fear of wasting their breath.
Fearing that the disaster victims behind her would catch up, Liu Ye pulled the cart all the way until sunset, passing one group of disaster victims after another on the road before finding a place with not too many disaster victims. She stopped on the grass by the roadside to rest, drank some water, ate the chestnuts from yesterday, and that was how she solved her dinner problem.
"Brother Bai, do you think Village Chief Zhao and his men encountered any bandits?"
Bai Zilin shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. We might have encountered them, or we might not. What, are you worried that the Liu family will be robbed?"
Liu Ye said with a mischievous grin, "You're overthinking it. I'm worried that they're living too comfortably since they haven't encountered any bandits, hehehe."
Bai Zilin chuckled upon hearing this: "Hehehe, we're on the same page! Bai Shuisheng is a complete coward, a bully at home, but he'd wet his pants if he encountered bandits. I really want to go see for myself... (ω) Hey!"
Liu Ye nodded happily, "Hehehe, that's what I thought too, Brother Bai. We're really on the same wavelength, even our thoughts are almost identical!" (ω) Hey
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