Free Web NovelChapter 100: Chapter 101: My Dear Family
The bandits opened the large chests on the carts, dumped out the goods inside, and stuffed the corpses in.
Even so, there were still twenty to thirty bodies that wouldn’t fit.
The remaining survivors stood in the clearing, shaking like they had the plague. The bandits ordered them to clean up the aftermath, digging up the blood-soaked sand and dirt and tossing it into the lake.
About ten minutes later, the clearing by the lake was clean once more, except for the small mountain of corpses piled to the side.
A bandit suddenly pointed at the lake’s surface. "Someone’s escaping!"
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the water, and sure enough, they saw a man escaping in a boat. He must have run to the water’s edge during the chaos, hidden in the tall grass, and then untied a small boat.
The wind helped the boat along, and it quickly moved away from the shore.
On the shore, Mrs. Zhu bit her lip. She recognized the escaping man’s back as her husband’s.
The man rowed with all his might, heading for the center of the lake.
’Just a little farther and I’ll be safe.’ He wanted to get to the nearest town and report to the officials. He’d have the soldiers kill these sons of bitches!
But he soon heard laughter from the shore. Looking back, he saw the bandits pointing and chattering at him, not looking the least bit nervous. In fact, they were joking and laughing.
’Have these bastards lost their minds?’
Just a few breaths later, the calm lake water suddenly went SPLASH.
The boat capsized.
The man on the boat was gone.
Mrs. Zhu clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Her mother-in-law fainted outright.
After rocking violently, the small boat actually righted itself, but it was now desolate and empty.
The ripples lapped against the shore and vanished.
In the time it took to draw a dozen or so breaths, the lake was once again as smooth as a mirror.
The villagers on the shore were dumbfounded, not knowing what had just happened.
The bandits walked over to the waterside pier, untied a dozen or so boats, and loaded the chests onto them. Then they rowed the boats to the center of the lake and sank the chests.
They were boating too, yet they were relaxed, chatting and laughing, completely safe and sound.
The chests, containing corpses and large rocks, sank decisively to the bottom.
As for the bodies piled on the shore, the bandits tossed them all into the water.
Soon, the floating corpses vanished one by one, as if dragged to the bottom of the lake by something, never to be seen again.
A few rings of ripples and strings of bubbles appeared on the surface, which then returned to calm.
By now, the bandits had snatched the children from every family, and the scene was filled with crying and wailing.
The village chief slowly regained consciousness. The moment he opened his eyes, he was so terrified he choked. The caravan leader patted his shoulder and said, "Cooperate, and you won’t have to die. Understand?"
The village chief nodded hastily.
"I forgot to ask, do you have any children under eleven?"
The village chief nodded again.
The caravan leader smiled. "Good, that puts my mind at ease."
He coughed twice, then said to the remaining survivors with a broad smile, "From now on, we are your family! As long as you play your part in this act, you’ll get to live. You’ll even get your children back—your living, breathing children, folks!"
Half an hour later, two bandits found Mrs. Zhu hiding in the ancestral hall and dragged her out.
￥￥￥￥￥
"The sky’s getting dark. We’re not going to be spending the night on this Desolate Mountain, are we?" Madam Ying lifted the bamboo curtain of the carriage window to look at the sky, her voice full of worry.
The mountain scenery was beautiful, but it grew dull after a while. After a full day of traveling through the stuffy, humid mountains, all she wanted was a hot bath.
"Maybe we will," Hee Lingchuan said, leaning back against a soft pillow opposite her. The carriage was small, and with his long limbs, it wasn’t easy for him to find a comfortable position. "I hear there are plenty of bear dens deep in the mountains. If we poke around in the right places, we could have roasted bear paws for dinner tonight."
Madam Ying was displeased. "You have your own horse. Why are you still lounging in here?"
"Second Brother has a horse, and he’s in here too, isn’t he?" Riding a horse was bumpy, and long rides chafed the thighs. Of course, Hee Lingchuan would choose the comfortable carriage.
Hee Yue cleared his throat. "The mountain roads are muddy, which has slowed us down. The guide says Xianling Village is just ahead. We should be there in another fifteen to thirty minutes at most."
Hee Lingchuan sounded a little disappointed. "Looks like no roasted bear paws for dinner tonight."
Hee Yue smiled. "Big Brother can always go hunt in the mountains himself."
Hee Lingchuan grumbled, propping his head on his hand to watch the darkening sky outside.
For the past few days, he hadn’t been able to dream his way back to the Panlong Wasteland. His days were spent traveling and nothing but traveling. It was boring beyond belief.
It was as if the Broken Blade knew how anxious he was and was deliberately denying him his wish.
He could hear Madam Ying and Hee Yue discussing trivial matters—all about what they would do after arriving in Xiazhou.
Madam Ying loved the warm East. She hoped to buy a grand residence she liked in Xiazhou’s capital, Dunyi City, decorate it beautifully, and hire seventeen or eighteen servants... and so on and so forth.
Hee Lingchuan suddenly hissed, "Shh!" cutting off their conversation. "Not a sound!" frёewebnoѵēl.com
"What are you trying to scare me for?" Madam Ying shot him a glare. With over three hundred guards outside, she wasn’t about to be intimidated.
"Something’s wrong." Hee Lingchuan’s expression was serious. "At dusk, weary birds return to their nests. Why are the woods so quiet?"
In the evening, when birds returned to their nests after a day out, the trees and forests should be filled with chirping and twittering, loud enough to rival a human neighborhood squabble, but several times amplified.
Since when had the forests they were passing through become so deathly silent?
There was only the CLIP-CLOP of hooves and the RUMBLE of wheels. That kind of rhythmic sound was what made one nervous. Madam Ying swallowed. Just as Hee Yue was about to speak, Zeng Feixiong’s large face suddenly appeared at the carriage window.
"Madam, Young Masters, Xianling Village is just ahead."
Madam Ying stuck her head out to look. Ahead was a large lake, like a mirror, and by its shore were the indistinct silhouettes of houses.
’We’re here, aren’t we? What’s this nonsense about something being wrong?’
She let out a breath. Her mischievous eldest son had almost scared her for real.
...
Passing through a half-harvested wheat field, the procession soon arrived outside the village, and all the riders dismounted.
The Hee father and sons, along with Zeng Feixiong, went forward. Someone from the village quickly came out to greet them.
Hee Chunhua took out his Society Command to state his identity and explain their need for lodging, while the steward, Old Mo, took out the Accommodation Fee. The Society Command proved his official status, so the village chief readily agreed. The tall man beside him claimed to be the chief’s nephew, with the surname Lui, named Lui Han.
Lui Han was all smiles, saying that the village didn’t have enough houses, but the soldiers could spend the night in the threshing ground and granary behind the village.
The officials and their female family members would, of course, be lodged in the villagers’ homes.
By now, the sky had grown dark. Warm light shone through the paper-paned windows of every house, painting a picture of cozy, normal village life.
The Hee Family, Zeng Feixiong, and the others were housed in the best homes. The villagers brought them food, but they all seemed rather shy and wary of strangers, their gazes especially evasive. Madam Ying tried to make friendly small talk with the hostess, but the woman would only answer one question for every three asked, and her expression was painfully strained.
The husband made a sharp "Tch!" sound and scolded her, "Is that how you speak to our honored guests? You ignorant wench!" He then turned back to Madam Ying with an apologetic smile. "She’s never been out of the mountains, so she’s a bit timid. Please don’t mind her!"
Madam Ying waved her hand dismissively and gave them two pieces of broken silver. Then she turned to Hee Chunhua and said, "The night is cold and the dew is heavy. The guards should have hot water and a hot meal as well."
