Chapter 837: Chaos
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After pa.s.sing through a hidden mountain path, everything suddenly opened up.
This was actually a bowl-shaped valley surrounded by walls on all four sides. Just like the cliff outside, fortifications, sentry posts, arrow towers, residences, and so on were built on all four sides.
Once someone broke through the suspension bridge outside and entered the valley, the bandits could use the fortifications built on the mountain wall to occupy the high ground and attack.
They had the advantage.
From this alone, it could be seen that these mountain bandits were not simple.
The mountain bandits did not have any scruples and brought them up the mountain without hiding at all. They were not afraid of revealing their true location at all. It seemed that they had no intention of letting them leave alive from the beginning.
After entering the valley, Yu Youyao noticed that many straw huts and wooden houses had been built in the valley.
There were more than ten middle-aged women washing. A few mountain bandits were shouting at them with whips, and from time to time, they would whip them. Immediately, their skin and flesh were lacerated, and the women who had been beaten screamed in pain. However, they still had to get up and work, afraid that they would attract even more terrifying beatings.
Suddenly, a shrill cry came from the valley.
“Please, let my daughter go. She— She’s only eleven years old…” A woman in ragged clothes lay on the ground and hugged the legs of a mountain bandit tightly, begging and crying bitterly.
The mountain bandit was fat and strong. His face was fierce as he pulled a skinny girl. “d.a.m.n it, it’s her blessing that I’ve taken a fancy to your girl. If she serves me well, I can even reward her with an additional bowl of rice. You ungrateful b*tch.”
The mountain bandit kicked the woman away.
The woman was kicked in the heart and vomited blood. She fell to the ground and cried and begged, “Sanya, I beg you, let go of my Sanya…”
Anger rose in the bandit’s heart. He untied the whip at his waist and whipped the woman.
The sharp sound of flesh being lacerated and the woman’s miserable scream resounded throughout the entire valley. However, the others in the valley seemed to be used to it. They patrolled and kept watch. The others who had been captured like the woman also had wooden expressions. They did not even look at her and only buried their heads in their own matters.
Yin Shi, who was beside Yu Youyao, b.u.mped her with her shoulder. Yu Youyao quickly lowered her head, not daring to look anymore, but she felt suffocated.
After a while, the woman’s screams gradually weakened and became inaudible.
“Chief, she’s dead.”
“Throw her up the mountain to feed the wild beasts.” The mountain bandit who had killed someone looked like he did not care at all. He carried the thin girl and strode away. Behind him, the mountain bandits laughed wretchedly and spoke dirty words.
Yu Youyao suddenly clenched her fists and was escorted to a row of houses.
The mountain bandit who was escorting them instructed the mountain bandit guarding outside, “The young miss from the wealthy family inside is someone that the leader has taken a fancy to. The three of them will be locked up alone first.”
Yu Youyao and the other two were pushed by the mountain bandits and locked up in a room. The room was a little dark, and the sound of locks being locked came from outside.
Chun Xiao immediately said worriedly, “Young Miss, you…”
“Shh!” Yu Youyao stopped Chun Xiao. She glanced at the door, indicating that the walls had ears. They had to be careful.
Chun Xiao quickly fell silent and looked at the Young Miss’s feet. In order to make it easier to travel, Young Miss was wearing a pair of sheepskin boots. The soles of the boots were made of thick cow tendon soles, making it easier to walk.
However, after spraining her ankle, it was not suitable for her to wear such airtight shoes.
The three of them stayed in the house and said some sad and afraid words. In the end, there was a sobbing sound from the house. The mountain bandits who were listening from the corner did not notice anything amiss, so they did not pay much attention to it.
Even when the room was completely dark, no one brought food over.
Yu Youyao was tired and hungry. She leaned against the mountain wall. The numbness in her sprained ankle had subsided, and the pain was even worse than before. Her forehead and the tip of her nose were covered in sweat, and her face was a little pale.
Yin Shi listened to the commotion outside and lowered his voice. “If nothing goes wrong, someone will come over soon and bring me to the Chief’s house. I’ll try my best to knock him out and pretend to be a mountain bandit. Under the cover of the night, I’ll go out and investigate the situation in the stronghold. According to your plan, we’ll find the place where the hostages are locked up first and place the sachet there.”
“After that, when we meet up with Military Advisor Huang, he naturally has a way to send the news from the stronghold to General An Yuan. You and Chun Xiao can stay in the house first. If the stronghold is in chaos, no one will care about this place. Just wait for me to come and receive you.”
Yu Youyao nodded and quickly explained the problem she had noticed. “Don’t be in a hurry to attack the stronghold. I think this stronghold isn’t simple. Why are they catching manual laborers to go up the mountain? The mountain bandits rely on s.n.a.t.c.hing supplies. They often commit crimes, so food should be a little tight. If there aren’t greater benefits, it’s impossible for them to consume food and raise manual labor for nothing.”
Working hard required a lot of stamina. Even if they ate sparingly, the more people there were, the more food they would consume.
“Besides, have you noticed that other than the mountain bandits patrolling and keeping watch, almost all the people in the valley are women and children? There are no young men. However, according to the information we’ve previously obtained, there’s an entire village with more than 30 young men who have been captured and taken into the stronghold as hostages. There are almost 60 to 70 strong laborers. Since the valley lacks manual labor, it’s impossible to lock them up and raise them for nothing.”
Yin Shi also noticed this. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely investigate carefully.”
Yu Youyao instructed solemnly, “You have to be careful too. Don’t get injured.”
The house fell silent again.
After a while, a wretched voice came from outside. “Go and bring out the little girl who was caught up the mountain today. Time is precious. Chief is still waiting to be the groom.”
Accompanied by a burst of dirty laughter, the door was pushed open from the outside. Two mountain bandits on guard walked into the house. One held a torch, while the other rudely pulled Yin Shi up.
Yu Youyao looked horrified. “You, what are you doing? Let go of my young miss… Young miss…”
She wanted to rush forward to stop him, but she was pushed down by another mountain bandit.
Yin Shi was taken away by the bandits.
All Yu Youyao could do was wait.
After a long day, she leaned against Chun Xiao tiredly. She had originally only wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while, but her consciousness couldn’t help but sink.
She did not sleep well. Yu Youyao frowned and did not let go.
After an unknown period of time, there was a commotion outside.
“There’s a fire. There’s a fire in the Chief’s house…”
“There’s a fire. Hurry up and put it out…”
“Quick, put out the fire…”
“…”
Yu Youyao suddenly woke up with a start, her mind still in a mess. “What’s going on outside?”
Chun Xiao practiced martial arts, so her hearing was a little more sensitive than ordinary people. “There seems to be a fire, and it’s causing quite a commotion. Yin Shi’s plan should have succeeded. They’re creating chaos in the stronghold.”