Chapter 185 A Lamb Enters the Tiger's Mouth
Yi Qingxue slowly stepped into the courtyard, her steps abruptly halting. Her eyes, which had just been emitting an eerie red aura, were now clear. She frowned, shaking her head, trying desperately to recall what had just happened, but her memory was stuck on the moment she was humiliated by that tall, burly man…
She raised her hand to rub her throbbing temples, muttering to herself, "My memory... how did it get interrupted? Just now... could it be..." In the dim light of the night, she hurriedly checked her clothes, and seeing nothing amiss, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her gaze suddenly sharpened, and after a moment's thought, she turned and ran towards the hut.
"Hmm..." A soft moan escaped her throat, and she abruptly covered her mouth with her hand, which was bracing against the doorframe. In the torchlight on the ground, three corpses came into view, and she was filled with horror: "Dead...who killed them?" She was certain that the tall, strong man was dead and that her innocence was still intact, but her mind was filled with doubts—who had saved her? She had absolutely no clue.
"You damned bastards... that's my whole family's lifeline!..." A shrill cry came from the side. Yi Qingxue composed herself and looked through the fence. She saw the bandits gradually packing up, and a middle-aged woman lying on the ground, desperately tugging at a henchman's trouser leg and crying incessantly.
The henchman, with his pointed snout and monkey-like face, was carrying grain in his arms and holding a steel knife in his right hand. He impatiently kicked the woman hard and said, "Go to hell, you ugly freak! If you bother me again, believe me, I'll stab you to death!" As he spoke, he changed the way he held the knife.
"No...no..." An elderly woman in her fifties, not even having had time to put on her coat, rushed between the two men with trembling steps. She pleaded desperately, "Hero, please calm down...spare my wife...we don't need the grain...please calm down..." Tears streamed down her face as she bowed repeatedly.
The henchman curled his lip and sneered, "You're smart enough to know what's good for you! You really don't know what's good for you." He then sheathed his sword and turned to leave.
"What a terrible thing! You'll be struck by lightning..." The woman, kicked and injured, clutched at the mud and sand, crying and cursing as she lay on the ground, helplessly watching the bandits load the grain onto their horses. The old woman, while supporting her daughter-in-law, wept bitterly, unable to express her suffering.
Yi Qingxue's heart tightened. "What should I do? What should I do!" She was so anxious that she was at a loss. She looked around, trying to find a safe place to hide, but apart from the well, there was no other suitable place in the courtyard.
She tried to escape in the opposite direction, but the firewood fence blocked her way completely! She reached out and tried to push her way through, but her delicate hands were only cut by the sharp thorns. "Ouch..." she cried out in distress, looking at the sturdy, tall, and sharp firewood. With her frail body, she knew she couldn't possibly squeeze through. And the only exit was right across the main road the bandits had come from!
Just as chaos erupted in her courtyard, a deep, gruff voice rang out: "Where is Dazhuang? Where is he?" The man who spoke was around thirty years old, with a stubble beard and several small braids hanging over his shoulders. He rode a large red horse, carrying a cleaver on his shoulder, and walked arrogantly down the road.
A one-eyed man rode forward, holding a torch high in his hand: "Chief, we haven't seen him, but his mount is at the crossroads ahead!" Some things in this world are truly wondrous; though he only had one eye, his gaze was exceptionally sharp.
The chieftain craned his neck to look towards the crossroads and, sure enough, saw two fine horses. "Hmm?" he murmured, his brow furrowing slightly. "Damn it, where are they fooling around again! Let's go." With that, he spurred the horses and led his men toward the crossroads.
Seeing that waiting to die was not a good idea, Yi Qingxue hurriedly ran towards the two horses. "Whoa... let's go!" But these horses were not her gentle little white foal. She was weak and powerless, and even mounting them was difficult. She could only lead the horses around looking for something to stand on.
However, the flickering torches illuminated the surroundings as if it were daytime, making her pale green figure stand out vividly in the firelight. She had just laboriously climbed onto the horse's back when the one-eyed man with "discerning eyes" spotted her. "Chief! Someone's stealing our horse!" he shouted, waving a torch.
The chieftain glanced up and shouted, "Damn it! Giddy up!" He spurred the horse's flanks, and the sound of hooves suddenly quickened as it charged straight toward the crossroads. "...Giddy up, giddy up..." Dozens of his underlings urged their horses on to follow closely behind, and for a moment, the hooves clattered loudly, and the firelight flickered and danced in the night wind.
"Stop her!" the one-eyed man shouted again, and his henchmen rode off in a fan shape, some brandishing knives, others waving torches, trampling through the farmers' vegetable gardens with abandon, not caring about the damage, while making strange noises like "ee-ya-woo-ya".
Yi Qingxue frantically pulled on the reins, her voice already trembling with tears, "Go!" But the horse she was sitting on just snorted and shook its head, its hooves moving slowly, almost turning in circles.
“…Waaah…” “…Awooo…” “…Roar…”
Seeing that she was about to be caught and surrounded, she ruthlessly raised her hand and whipped the horse's body. "Crack!" The horse was in pain and suddenly reared up, letting out a long neigh. Then, with a flick of its tail, it threw her violently to the ground! Tears of grievance instantly streamed down her face. She struggled to sit up and looked up to see that several tall horses had surrounded her.
"Whoa!" The crowd cheered, swords raised, surrounding her, and then made way for her. The chieftain and the one-eyed man rode out through the gap.
"Where do you think you're going? The more you run, the more excited we get!" the one-eyed man yelled.
The chieftain's gaze, however, fell on Yi Qingxue, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He dismounted and slowly approached her. He gently lifted Yi Qingxue's chin with the back of his guillotine, forcing her tear-streaked, pitiful face to be fully revealed in the firelight. Her beautiful features were clearly visible: "Oh! What a pitiful little beauty!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a foot soldier came to report: "Chief, Dazhuang died in that thatched hut next door. There were also two brothers, but they didn't even leave behind any bones. There were only two black marks on the ground."
"Huh?! Damn it! Who did this?" The chieftain suddenly turned around and shouted.
"The brothers searched the house thoroughly, and apart from the bodies of a mother and child, there was no one else in sight. Only this woman managed to escape!" With that, he pointed to Yi Qingxue, who was sitting on the ground.
The chieftain frowned slightly, turned around to examine Yi Qingxue again, and a playful smile appeared on his lips: "Interesting!" He squatted down, his voice soft but carrying a sense of pressure: "Little beauty! Tell this uncle, who killed the person in the house?" His eyes flickered a few times, staring intently into her eyes, "It couldn't be...you, could it?!"
Although Yi Qingxue had stopped crying, tear tracks still clung to her cheeks, her eyes filled with grievance and fear. She gently shook her head: "...I don't know...I don't know..."
The chieftain took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. Her frightened and pitiful appearance stirred something inexplicably in his heart.
He took a half step back. "Fine! It doesn't matter if they die!" He stood up, his eyes flashing with a sharp look, and his tone suddenly changed: "But you... have to come back with me and be my wife!" With that, he gave the one-eyed man a wink.
The one-eyed man was adept at reading people's expressions. He immediately gave a fawning smile and waved to his henchman beside him: "Tie him up!"
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