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Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Chapter 42
The mountains were tall and the forests dense, often shrouded in fog.
Today, Mom Qin Luoxia still wanted to go search for another giant python.
So she trekked across the hills and streams, unconsciously reaching another remote mountain area.
She moved swiftly, estimating the time, as she still needed to return to nurse the baby.
In the dense forest, she moved as freely as on flat ground, running until she reached Qingyuan Mountain.
Qingyuan Mountain belonged to Mr. Zhao's family, and her husband didn't allow her daughter Jiang Feng to go there either, as she didn't want to cause trouble for her husband.
So she ran a bit farther away.
The area of Qingyuan Mountain was even larger, with a temple on the mountain that she had never visited, because she heard that worshipping the Buddha and burning incense required giving money.
Even when Mom was gravely ill, she had wanted to go pray to the Buddha, but had no money at all, with the little money she had going towards buying Mom's medicine and preparing for a coffin, so she was never able to visit the temple.
The Buddha doesn't deliver the poor, as the poor don't even have the donation tray money to visit the temple.
She had never visited Qingyuan Temple before, and now she actually wanted to hunt for giant pythons at Qingyuan Temple, which was somewhat disrespectful, as even the cats, dogs, birds, and snakes at temples carry the scent of incense offerings.
Qin Luoxia had never been there before.
So she had taken the wrong path.
Looking at the rugged cliffs, with scattered dwellings on top, she felt it didn't seem to be a temple.
She had heard that temples were very beautiful, very wealthy, with glittering golden adornments.
She decided to take a look around first, then think carefully about where she might find giant pythons when she returned.
As she was wandering, she unexpectedly encountered four men.
There were people in these deep mountain forests, strangers.
One carried an axe, two carried machetes, and one carried a long spear.
Qin Luoxia hid herself, not daring to move, as a virtuous married woman whose husband was present, she shouldn't casually appear before strange men, but in the village among familiar faces it didn't matter.
In these deep old forests, she still had some caution.
As she lay in ambush, she hid so naturally that in an instant she became one with the mountain forest.
When those four men came closest to her, they were only a few zhang away.
She saw that their axes were larger than her wood-chopping axe, and their machetes were larger than hers, but the spear of the man carrying the long spear wasn't as good as hers.
The man carrying the long spear seemed a bit clever, as he glanced in her direction a few times.
Qin Luoxia heard the four men speaking.
"Elder Brother Hu, what use are these idiots?"
"Sending them to their deaths, taking the blame."
"I have a bad feeling about this time, Elder Brother Hu. If there was really something good, the Second Master would have gone himself."
"Seeking wealth and fortune amid danger, whether it succeeds or not, we'll see."
Qin Luoxia was so frightened by what these people said that her milk almost let down - goodness, she had actually encountered mountain bandits!
With the mountain bandits appearing here, the dwellings on the cliff she had seen earlier must not be a temple, but a bandit lair!
How terrifying, how terrifying.
She hid even more securely, and after these people had walked far away, she turned and fled.
Because she was so tense and afraid, as she ran back, she accidentally knocked over a tree.
The four mountain bandits were walking normally behind, and when they passed by the fallen tree:
"Elder Brother Hu, something's not right about this tree, it seemed fine yesterday," the bandit carrying the long spear said curiously.
The two bandits carrying machetes also stopped, using their machetes to gesticulate that a tree this thick would take them a long time to chop down.
Elder Brother Hu, shouldering his axe, stood in thought before the fallen tree for three seconds, then said, "It must have been knocked over by the Blind Bear. There are Blind Bears in the mountains, but they didn't used to come to this area. You all watch out when patrolling the mountains, don't run into that thing, or it's certain death if you do."
The group of four continued forward.
The bandit carrying the long spear looked back at the fallen tree, feeling that something seemed off, but he couldn't put his finger on it - there were no Blind Bear footprints on the ground either, but if Elder Brother Hu said it was a Blind Bear, then it was.
Qin Luoxia ran all the way back home in a frenzy, the outside world truly was too dangerous, her husband was right.
As she neared home, she only then remembered to dig up some wild vegetables.
But the wild vegetables near home had already been dug up bare by everyone else, so after thinking it over, she uprooted a tree to take home instead, as her family seemed to enjoy sitting in the shade of trees to cool off.
One tree was still a bit too bare though, so she planted another one, making it more lush.
Qin Luoxia huffed and puffed as she carried the tree back home.
But there was no one at home.
She asked around in the village, and people said Elder Sister Yu had taken her little sister Mianmian along with Cui to go to the county town with the peddler to buy things.
Cui's mother was already scolding loudly at the village entrance: "They've been gone for so long and still haven't returned, they must be slacking off again. That lazy girl Elder Sister Yu is such a bad influence, leading my Cui astray."
Qin Luoxia felt that something was amiss - although greedy, Elder Sister Yu knew her limits, and with the sun already tilting west, how could they not have returned yet?
Her mischievous daughter, even if going out, would keep track of the time and definitely rush back home before she returned.
She hurried back home to get her long spear, then headed towards the county town.
Along the way, Qin Luoxia blamed herself more and more - it was all her fault, she hadn't watched over her family properly.
Her husband had gone to work, yet she had lost track of Elder Sister Yu and little Mianmian.
Her husband adored children so much, not minding at all that they were girls, doting on each and every child.
Qin Luoxia's heart raced with worry, but she kept reminding herself not to panic, not to panic, to think of her husband.
No matter what happened, her husband could always remain calm and composed.
She too must stay calm, stay calm.
Leaving the village, she examined the path carefully.
Scanning the surrounding mountains and forests.
She found a place where someone had been hiding, with signs that people had sat there, even leaving behind two baskets.
The peddler had accomplices; one person couldn't have abducted three children alone.
At the fork in the road, one path led into the county town, the other led out.
Without hesitation, Qin Luoxia took the path leading out of town.
Along the way, she could see carriage tracks, with some nobility also leaving town - she didn't know if she might encounter that peddler abductor, who had suspiciously kidnapped children, and if she did, whether she could rescue them or not.
Qin Luoxia could only try to think positively, to keep herself from panicking too much.
But her heart only sank further, as she kept seeing scraps of cloth strewn along the path, picking them up and smelling the scent of milk that little Mianmian carried from being nursed.
It was the same milk she had nursed, she could definitely recognize the smell.
Qin Luoxia walked faster and faster, her pace accelerating.
She didn't dare imagine what could have happened, only hoping for the best, that nothing bad had occurred - there were scraps of little Mianmian's clothing dropped along the way, leaving her a trail to follow.
Her heart was in turmoil, her figure becoming a blur as she retraced her path over and over.
The evening glow in the sky burned crimson red.
As red as Qin Luoxia's eyes.
Suddenly she heard the sounds of approaching hoof beats.
She stood in the middle of the path, not moving aside, intending to stop someone and ask if they had seen the peddler.
Qin Luoxia held her long spear, standing in the center of the path.
"Whoa!"
In the wilderness with no one around, horses generally galloped at top speed.
And it was dusk, with beautiful scenery on both sides of the mountains and forests.
The person in the very front didn't notice someone blocking the path at all.
Only seeing her at the last moment before reining in the horse, causing it to rear up in fright.
The rider was about to angrily rebuke why there was someone standing in the middle of the path in front of the horse caravan, courting death.
But horses are more sensitive than humans, and this person at the front gave off the aura of a ferocious python or grizzly bear, causing the horses not just to halt, but to retreat in unison.
In an instant, riders were thrown from horses in a pileup collision.
"Are we being waylaid by bandits?"
People from the rear of the caravan exclaimed in surprise.
Who would dare such a brazen act, so close to the county town?
A few ruffians, puffed up with bravado at first, only felt fear creeping in as their small minds finally grasped just what they had been intending to do - they weren't capable of anything, yet had come to waylay this massive caravan, a deathwish for sure.
The errand boy also realized that his acquaintance Elder Brother Hu hadn't really intended to let him join in some fun, but had simply sent him to his death.
Yet he hadn't expected to encounter bandits again right when they were almost home - could it be that Elder Brother Hu had brought the mountain stronghold's men to ambush them?
Jiang Feng protectively held her two younger sisters, looking around warily.
While the two peddlers, hovering between life and death, had a glimmer of hope in their eyes - if there really were bandits waylaying them, they could exploit the chaos and maybe survive.
He Chen and Meng Shaoxia's eyes lit up. They pretended to be fat sheep, luring many bandits along the way, and essentially cleared out the evildoers. They didn't expect to encounter this in the county town - it was too brazen! How exciting. Their horses were better to begin with, and they suddenly spurted ahead.
But they discovered it was just an old woman?
An old woman with a very large chest...
Qin Luoxia was also nervous upon seeing so many people, but she couldn't worry about being nervous now. She asked loudly, "Has anyone seen a dwarf peddler?"
He Chen, who rode up on his horse, didn't expect someone to be looking for that hunchback. Curious, he asked, "Who are you to that peddler? Why are you looking for him?"
Qin Luoxia heard his question and her heart raced. "That peddler is a kidnapper who took my child. I'm out looking for my child."
Meng Shaoxia's gaze fell on the old woman's long spear, finding it rather strange.
He saw the old woman standing alone in the middle of the road, with his entire escort squad strangely lined up a full zhang behind her, and there were traces of horses retreating on the ground.
"It's Mom!" Jiang Mianmian had good hearing and could hear Mom's voice from afar. She could also smell her familiar milky scent.
She cried out loudly, "Wah wah wah!"
As she kept crying, she started weeping, "Wah wah wah!"
Qin Luoxia also heard the baby crying. Not bothering to ask questions, she dashed straight into the middle of the squad.
She saw Fenger covered in blood, her foolish Elder Sister Yu, and the wailing Mianmian.
Qin Luoxia's saliva churned in her throat as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
She almost lost her child. How could she face her husband?
The escort squad and the two young noblemen looked at this family reunion in astonishment.
It was very moving, but they were still perplexed as to how this old woman had barged in.
Meanwhile, the hope in the peddler couple's eyes was extinguished once more.
Qin Luoxia comforted her little daughter as she embraced her. Jiang Mianmian cried tears of joy upon falling into Mom's arms.
The outside world was too dangerous. From now on, she wouldn't go anywhere. She would just cling to Mom - Mom's broad, sturdy body was the best place to be.
She cried until she hiccuped.
She wanted milk, but felt a bit shy.
Qin Luoxia hugged her child and first thanked the two young masters leading the squad.
Her gaze fell upon the peddler couple, and Qin Luoxia said, "I heard they resorted to this out of desperation to afford medicine for their sick child. A parent's heart for their child is pitiful. May I say a few words to them?"
Everyone saw this old woman holding a nursing baby, clearly having just given birth. Women at this stage were the most tender-hearted. That couple was even willing to sell her child, yet she said they were pitiful.
This round-faced, kind-eyed old woman looked very friendly.
No one objected.
Mom approached the peddler couple. Jiang Mianmian clung tightly to Mom in her arms, a bit scared. She pressed against Mom, tightly breathing in her scent.
Hope flickered in the peddler couple's eyes again. Yes, they had their difficulties.
The wife cried through tears and snot, "We had no choice. It's all for our child. We didn't want to do this."
Jiang Mianmian wanted to spit. Their child is a child, but others' children aren't?
Mom nodded in agreement. "I understand, I understand. I'm a mother too."
Mom leaned in close to the peddler's wife and whispered, "If you go to the county office, you'll definitely be executed. I know you can't bear to leave your child behind. Tomorrow, I'll send him to reunite with your family. I heard he's just a dimwitted pill-taker, but plump and healthy - he hasn't suffered any hardship, right? I won't let him suffer either. It'll just take me a moment to twist his neck, and he'll come find you. Remember to wait for him, otherwise that child will get lost on the Road to Underworld all alone."