Chapter 12
I was captured by bandits.
Wei Donghe and I split up, taking a small path back to town, intending to go to the yamen and notify Magistrate Zhao.
Who would have thought there were even more bandits in the woods than we imagined, each one with a hawk-like nose and sharp eyes, their faces fierce and menacing.
After nightfall, the cave was dim and cold, and the fire they had lit was already extinguished.
The bandits all left with their knives. My hands and feet were tied behind my back, my mouth stuffed with cloth, and after writhing on the ground for a long time, I still couldn’t get up.
I cried.
Oh, and I was so scared I wet my pants.
That day was my thirteenth birthday. At dawn, Father made hand-pulled noodles for me, and I still had half a chicken leg left unfinished. I regretted it so much.
I didn’t know if Wei Donghe had made it down the mountain safely, or if he had gone to notify the County Magistrate.
I didn’t know what was happening in town. Father and Sister couldn’t find me; they must be worried sick.