"Yes, because I can't ride a horse."
Ding Yanshan pursed her lips, raised her head, and felt a little happy. She wasn't entirely useless. At least she could ride a horse, and this little girl still needed her.
Seeing her expression, Su Qing felt unconvinced and asked again, "I can ride a donkey, can you?"
Ding Yanshan glared at him: "Who wants to ride a little donkey? It's so embarrassing."
“That means you can’t.” Su Qing pursed her lips and raised her head.
Ding Yanshan glared at her again, annoyed: "What's so great about a little donkey? A horse is the real power."
Su Qing glared back: "The little donkey is much cuter than the horse. Anyway, listen to me, we'll go steal the horse first. When we get there, don't run around, stay behind me, and we'll act according to the situation."
Ding Yanshan nodded. She didn't know the way, so she wouldn't wander off. But she still thought it was cooler to ride a horse than a donkey.
Both girls were being silly; neither of them considered the difference between riding a horse and riding a donkey. Su Qing had already slipped out, stealthily searching around. After a while, Ding Yanshan saw her and, with a delighted expression, pulled a large branch from the bushes.
Ding Yanshan's heart skipped a beat. Could it be what she was thinking?
At this moment, Su Qing had already broken off the small branches from the big, thick branch. Then, she came back crouching down, carrying the big stick, and used her foot to erase the topographical map drawn on the ground. She waved to Ding Yanshan and said, "Let's go."
The two of them had lost the strength they had when they started running, and could only quicken their pace. After walking for a while, Su Qing suddenly said to Ding Yanshan, "If we get caught stealing the horse, I'll stop them with all my might. You ride the horse and run first. There's a carriage route down the mountain from that place, so the road should be easy to find. Just choose the direction down the mountain, and you'll definitely get down there no matter what. But you have to promise me that once you get down the mountain, the first thing you'll do is bring people to rescue me and my sister."
Ding Yanshan panicked when she heard what she said. She couldn't bear to think about the possibility of her running for her life alone in the mountains. Now that it was getting dark, who knew what she might encounter?
"Hey." Su Qing saw that she didn't answer and thought she wouldn't agree, so she pointed at her with the stick and said, "Don't you dare have any funny ideas. You're a bad person. Actually, I don't trust you, but there's no other way now. I'll reluctantly give you my chance to escape. If you go out and don't bring anyone to rescue you, I'll haunt you even as a ghost."
"I'm not that kind of person." Ding Yanshan was furious at these words. Who said she was bad-hearted? She was very good. Every winter she would give clothes and food to beggars and buy candy for poor children. Everyone praised her as a good girl.
"Hmph." Su Qing didn't stop walking, and even had time to roll her eyes at her.
Ding Yanshan was so angry that she took a few quick steps and walked ahead of her.
The two walked cautiously towards the place where the horses were hidden, still vying with each other. After passing through a dense forest, they could already hear the horses moving. Su Qing raised her hand in a practiced manner and hid behind a large tree.
Ding Yanshan was startled and quickly hid behind another tree. Then she peeked ahead and saw that in the woods ahead, someone had made a circle with vines and leaves, and several horses were tied up inside the circle. Looking around, she saw that there seemed to be no one there.
Ding Yanshan's heart pounded. She nervously bit her lip and glanced at Su Qing. Su Qing put a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, then crouched down, grabbed the stick she had picked up, and quickly hid behind another tree.
Ding Yanshan watched nervously as Su Qing moved from one tree to another, gradually disappearing from her sight. Ding Yanshan figured she must have gone to check on things, so she patiently waited.
But after waiting for a while and not seeing or hearing her return, he began to panic. Had something happened to that girl? Had she been captured by robbers?
Ding Yanshan wanted to run, but she didn't dare to. She didn't know how to get down the mountain, and having failed to steal a horse, she couldn't run very far on her own. It would soon be dark, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get down the mountain by herself.
And, and… Ding Yanshan clenched her fists. She couldn't just abandon that brat. The girl had said she'd give her a chance to escape, and although it didn't happen, the girl's intention was there—she was being kind to her. Now that the girl might be in trouble, wouldn't it be too much to just run away without a word?
Ding Yanshan became increasingly hesitant to run away, so she decided to sneak into the horse pen to check what was happening and then figure out a solution.
Ding Yanshan emerged from behind the tree and crouched down to the outer edge of the horse pen, peering through the gaps in the leaves. She saw no one except the horses. After a moment's thought, she crouched and crouched along the protective circle of vines and leaves, intending to find an entrance to steal the horses first.
She moved cautiously, her heart pounding with nervousness. Finally, she saw a small gap in the vines and, overjoyed, reached out to try and squeeze through. But as soon as she reached in, she was pricked by a thorn in the vine. She cried out in pain, then suddenly realized she had made a sound. She quickly shrank back, listening intently. Hearing no movement, she steeled herself and decided to try again. In the blink of an eye, she saw a large man standing not far to her side.
Ding Yanshan was so shocked that her face turned pale. The burly man strode over and shouted, "What are you doing here?"
Ding Yanshan's first instinct was to run, but she found that her legs were too weak to move. She opened her mouth wide, wanting to scream for help, but no sound came out.
She watched helplessly as the burly man stretched out his hand towards her with an angry expression. Ding Yanshan froze, her mind blank.
Just as the large hand was about to grab her, a loud "thud" came from behind the big man.
The burly man stopped abruptly, his face contorted in apparent pain, then he abruptly turned around. At that moment, Ding Yanshan saw Su Qing standing behind the burly man, holding a large stick. She opened her mouth wide to shout, but saw Su Qing raise the stick high, jump up, and whack the burly man on the head.
The burly man was struck twice and finally collapsed. Su Qingyou was still worried, so she hit him a few more times with the stick. Only when she saw that he really couldn't move did she stop, wiping away sweat and panting as she leaned on the stick.
Ding Yanshan stared in disbelief. Su Qing glanced at her, gave her a thumbs up, and said, "Well done."
Ding Yanshan shook her head. How could she be the one who did a good job? She didn't do anything; the one who was fiercely beating people just now wasn't her. She asked blankly, "Where did you come from?"
Su Qing pointed to the big tree behind her and said, "I was planning to go around and see if anyone was watching the horses. When I hid over here, I saw him, but he was just wandering around in front of me. I didn't dare to move. I was getting anxious because I was wondering why the horses in the circle weren't farting to lure him over. Then you came. You came just in time. Look, you've taken him down."
Ding Yanshan's face was covered in black ink. How could she compare her to a horse's fart?
Su Qing ignored her and said while pulling away the vines and branches, "There's no one around, it should only be him, hurry up and get on the horse."
Ding Yanshan quickly followed her into the stable, picked out the most spirited-looking horse, and untied its reins. Just as she was about to mount it, she saw Su Qing putting hay and feed piled up to the back of a horse.
"what you do?"
Su Qing glanced at her and replied, "I've changed my mind. I'm not going down the mountain with you." She walked over and gave Ding Yanshan directions: "On the path we just came from, there's a small dirt path leading down the mountain, right? Just follow that path downhill."
Ding Yanshan nodded, but she was very nervous: "But what if there are many forks in the road and I don't know them?"
Su Qing frowned: "There aren't many roads suitable for carriages. You won't get lost like this, will you?"
Ding Yanshan frowned as well: "When I was brought up here, I wasn't in a carriage, and I was unconscious. Who knows which road they came from?"
“But I saw some dry grass, and I thought I’d go back and burn the house down, then take advantage of the chaos to get my sister out. Once we’re in the woods, we’ll have somewhere to hide. I’m stalling for time, waiting for you to bring people to rescue us.” Ignoring Ding Yanshan’s wide-eyed surprise, Su Qing continued, “Even if I take you down the mountain and bring people back, it’ll be past midnight by then, and by then my sister…”
She bit her lip and said, "Anyway, it's definitely too late. Let's split up. I'll reluctantly trust you and leave finding help to you. I'll go and bring my sister out, and we'll hide in the woods, in the bushes where we were drawing the map, and wait for you to come and rescue her. If we don't do this, I'm afraid my sister will have already been killed by the time we get back..."
Ding Yanshan stood there, stunned. She knew Su Qing was right, but she wasn't confident about entrusting such an important matter to her, and she was afraid that she herself couldn't even protect herself.
At this moment, Su Qing continued to put hay onto the horse's back, planning to use the horse to carry the hay to the back of the house later and find an opportunity to make her move.
Just as Ding Yanshan was about to discuss it with her again, a sharp whistle rang out. Startled, Su Qing turned and grabbed her large wooden stick, shouting at Ding Yanshan, "Run! Just follow that path downhill. As long as you're going the right way, you'll definitely make it down the mountain. My sister and I are waiting for you!"
Just as she shouted this, a burly man leaped out of the woods and flew towards them.
Ding Yanshan felt a chill run through her body. She bit her lip hard, leaped onto her horse, spurred it on, and shouted, "Wait for me! I swear I'll bring back reinforcements! I swear!" Before she finished speaking, the horse had already galloped off, its hooves clattering wildly.
Su Qing was terrified, but she still held up the large stick to block the man's path. The man was in front of her in the blink of an eye, and she swung the stick with all her might, but the man, who knew martial arts, easily caught it. Su Qing quickly released her grip and switched to kicking attacks on his lower body.
The man was stunned, clearly not expecting a young girl to use such a despicable tactic.
Just as Su Qing was about to kick her target, someone suddenly appeared behind her, grabbed her, and pulled her back. The man almost got kicked and covered his face in fear.
Su Qing was pulled away and instinctively turned to throw a punch, but her fist was caught. In a panic, she kicked the other person in the lower abdomen. The person chuckled and reached down to grab her foot, saying, "Miss Su, it's me."
Su Qing was so frightened that her mind was a little confused. One of her hands and one of her feet were grabbed by the other person, so she didn't care about anything else, bent down and leaned forward to bite the other person's palm. By the time she heard the other person's voice, she had already bitten him.
With the large hand still in her mouth, Su Qing finally realized what the other person had said. She looked up and saw Li Ke's helpless yet pained face. She let go and cried out, "Brother Li, Brother Li..."
“It’s me.” Li Ke released Su Qing, who burst into tears and threw herself into his arms as she cried.
At that moment, several scouts heard the whistle signal and rushed over. Li Ke stood among them, a little girl embracing him. He was embarrassed and didn't know what to do. Su Qing, however, stood up straight, wiped away her tears, looked around, and shouted, "Come on, let's go save my sister!"
She turned around, picked up her big wooden stick, and, full of energy and confidence, took the lead and set off.
The spies looked at each other in confusion. Li Ke waved his hand, made a gesture, and ordered everyone to follow.
Meanwhile, Ding Yanshan rode her horse at breakneck speed. She was uncertain and panicked, but she knew she had to do it; she had to bring people back.
She had been traveling smoothly until she came to a fork in the road. Both roads were wide and led downhill. She hesitated, swaying back and forth, and before she could control herself, the horse threw her off.
Ding Yanshan screamed and fell to the ground with a thud. The horse ignored her and galloped away. It took Ding Yanshan a while to come to her senses, and she found that her left arm was so painful that she couldn't move it. She struggled to get up, and her left ankle seemed to be twisted as well.
Looking up, the horse was nowhere to be seen. Ding Yanshan wanted to cry, she told herself she couldn't, but her vision was already blurry, she couldn't control herself, and tears fell on their own.
Ding Yanshan wiped her eyes with her sleeve and found that her sleeve was covered in mud. Her arms hurt and her feet were also a little sore. She was all alone in this mountain where there were bandits and wolves. She had never been so pitiful and disheveled.
Ding Yanshan burst into tears. Night was falling, and she knew she couldn't do it. She couldn't get down the mountain; she couldn't keep her promise to Su Qing. She cried bitterly, hating herself for being so useless.
The wind blew through the woods, carrying eerie and unsettling sounds. Ding Yanshan remembered Ju Mu'er saying she couldn't run fast and she couldn't hold them back. She also remembered Su Qing saying she had desperately stopped them so she could ride away on her own. They had no other requests but hoped someone would bring reinforcements back to rescue them.
And what about her? She just tripped and fell, and she gave up?
Ding Yanshan sniffed, looked at the two paths in front of her, and chose the one where the horse had run away. She couldn't give up; perhaps she wasn't far from the bottom of the mountain. Even if the horse was gone, she still had her legs. She couldn't give up.
Despite the pain, Ding Yanshan forced herself to keep moving forward. She had sworn to Su Qing that she should try her best to the very end. If Su Qing wasn't afraid, and wasn't even young, then what did she, the second young lady of the Ding family, have to fear? She wasn't afraid at all!
Ding Yanshan encouraged herself and gritted her teeth to keep walking, but her arms and legs hurt more and more. She wanted to cry again. She thought that if her sister was here, her father was here, her brother-in-law was here... As she thought about it, she actually felt that she could see her father and brother-in-law.
She blinked and heard Ding Sheng calling her name, saw Yun Qingxian, and even saw Master Long. They were right in front of her in the blink of an eye, and Ding Yanshan couldn't hold back any longer, bursting into tears.
It turned out that Long Er had interrogated the coachman at the foot of the mountain. The coachman, fearing for his life, immediately confessed everything. He said he was hired to help those robbers, transporting them halfway up the mountain before returning down to await orders. He didn't know their background, where they came from, or where their dwelling was on the mountain.
Just as the coachman was confessing, Ding Sheng and Yun Qingxian arrived with their men, saying that they had received a report that Ding Yanshan had been kidnapped. This was naturally a very serious matter for the Ding family, and after a full investigation, they had found their way here.
Long Er didn't have time to waste words with them, and simply ordered the coachman to lead the way. Ding Sheng and Yun Qingxian, having heard that Ding Yanshan had indeed gone missing on this mountain, quickly followed. To everyone's surprise, halfway there they encountered a disheveled Ding Yanshan, covered in mud and injured.
Ding Sheng and Yun Qingxian rushed over to check on Ding Yanshan's injuries. Long Er, impatient, was about to question her when he saw his scout hurrying down the street. As soon as the scout saw Long Er, he shouted, "Second Master, we've found the place!"
Overjoyed, Long Er ignored everyone behind him and reached the scout in a flash.
The scout reported, "We found the young girl who was with Miss Ju. She knows the place and is leading Master Li and the others there. Master Li sent me to deliver the message."
Upon hearing that Su Qing had been rescued and was now leading people to rescue Ju Mu'er, Ding Yanshan felt a sense of relief. But once she relaxed, she couldn't hold on any longer and fainted after calling out "Father."
Long Er followed the scout, using his light-footed skills to run at top speed, wishing he could sprout wings and fly to Ju Mu'er's side immediately. He hurried along, with scouts waiting to lead the way, and soon they led Long Er to the house where the bandits were hiding.
However, Long Er had considered all sorts of possibilities and imagined all sorts of scenarios when he arrived and saw Ju Mu'er, but he had never thought of this one.
She's gone!
Author's Note: Ugh, I just can't seem to get to the part where Long Er finds Ju Mu'er in this chapter. It's already over 5,000 words, I can't go on, I'll save it for the next chapter.
Let them reunite tomorrow!
40 people survived death and were finally reunited
A blind woman, who could see nothing, vanished into thin air from a locked room.
Ryuji could hardly believe it.
Su Qing didn't believe it either.
When Long Er arrived, Su Qing was in the outer room of the robbers' house, swinging a chair at the two thugs who were being held on the ground, crying and shouting for them to hand over Ju Mu'er.
Li Ke and two other spies were stationed there, unable to get involved in interrogating the robbers. When Su Qing returned and saw that Ju Mu'er was gone, she suddenly became fiercer than anyone else. Fortunately, she was small and weak; although her beatings were aggressive, no one would die, so Li Ke let her be.
The two robbers yelled that they didn't know, but Su Qing kicked them a few times, determined to force them to tell her.
At this moment, Li Ke saw Long Er arrive and quickly went forward to report. He said that they had followed Su Qing to this place, and only the two robbers and two dying village girls remained in the house; the others were nowhere to be found. The room where Ju Mu'er had been imprisoned was now empty.
The two remaining robbers weren't tough to talk back to. After a few beatings, they confessed that the three girls had run away together, and the other robbers had gone out to search for them in order to bring them back.
Hearing Li Ke's report, Su Qing turned around, her eyes red from crying, and shouted, "He's lying! My sister can't see, how can she escape? She can't escape on her own. She told us to escape, saying she couldn't run fast and would be a burden to us. She told us to go first, and she was waiting for us to find someone to rescue her..." She became more and more upset as she spoke, and finally burst into tears.
Rescue arrived, but Ju Mu'er was nowhere to be found.
Seeing Long Er's demeanor, the two robbers knew he was in charge and quickly kowtowed, begging for mercy. One of them said, "Sir, spare us! Sir, spare us! We weren't lying. I went to check on the three girls, but when I opened the door, I found no one inside. The window was open, and a chair was placed under the window. So I immediately reported to the boss. The boss led his men into the house to check, and indeed, all three girls had run away. Later, someone found the blind girl's bamboo cane not far to the east of the window, so they concluded that they had run in that direction. So the boss ordered the two of us to stay here and he took the other brothers to chase after them in that direction."
Su Qing could no longer hold back and plopped down on the ground, bursting into tears: "My sister lied to me! She said she would wait for me to come back and save her, but she lied to me. It turns out she sent us away and then used herself to lure these villains away so they wouldn't chase us. We clearly went to the woods to the south, she knew that, she knew that, so she ran east, but she couldn't see us. Where could she have run to? It's already dark, and my sister is gone."
Long Er's face was dark and ugly. Li Ke quickly said, "I have already sent out all my brothers to capture those bandits and rescue Miss Ju."
Long Er nodded and asked in a deep voice, "Which room is she being held in?"