Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Zhu Laosan, Li Si, and Xiao Jinghao followed the map Xiao Jingmo had drawn and reached the tent where their carriages were kept.
“Sirs, this is the place. Let’s see whether our belongings are still in the carts, then steal a few horses. They killed our mules, so they owe us replacements.”
Zhu Laosan and Li Si found Xiao Jinghao’s reasoning perfectly sound.
But after checking, all three were furious.
“Those animals stripped the carts bare. They didn’t leave a single hair! We’re finished. Our permits were in the bundles. They couldn’t have destroyed them, could they?”
The sight of the three empty carriages enraged Li Si.
“Second Brother predicted this. Let’s meet up with him.”
Only after Xiao Jinghao left the tent did he notice there were barely any guards nearby.
“No wonder security is so lax. There’s nothing valuable here.”
The Xiao Family’s women were ready to leave.
“Grandmother, Mother, follow Ye Qi out. I’ll collect some things, then meet you.”
“No! Baby wants to stay with Second Brother.”
Jin Bao clung to Xiao Jingmo’s leg.
“My good girl, listen. Let’s go first, all right?”
Pei Wanqing tried to pull her away.
Jin Bao rooted herself to the ground like a thousand-catty weight.
“No! Baby can help Second Brother fight. Baby is really strong!”
Remembering her strength, Pei Wanqing looked uncertainly at Xiao Jingmo.
“Mother, don’t worry. I’ll look after her. Let her stay if she wants.”
Even without divine strength, Jin Bao could run faster than ordinary people could chase.
Pei Wanqing sighed and released her.
But the moment Ye Qi led the women outside, more than a dozen guards surrounded them.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Broadswords blocked their path.
“Ye Qi, don’t waste words. End this quickly.”
Xiao Jingmo knew they would lose their chance once Tie He returned.
Ye Qi drew his sword and felled several men in moments.
The fighting drew the remaining guards.
Xiao Jingmo, Xiao Jinghao, Zhu Laosan, and Li Si shielded the women behind them.
Ye Qi and the Shadow Guards rapidly eliminated the enemy.
The noise awakened the tribe’s women and children.
“Listen. We won’t harm you. Pretend you saw nothing and return to your tents. Otherwise, to survive, we may do anything.”
Xiao Jingmo faced their furious gazes without fear and shouted his warning.
The older children glared at Xiao Jingmo and Ye Qi like wolf cubs.
No one moved.
Dawn was approaching, and further delay would hurt them.
Yet Xiao Jingmo could not slaughter defenseless women and children.
As he searched for a solution, a small figure shot from behind him.
“Ow!”
“Ah!”
In an instant, the women and children surrounding them collapsed in droves.
Every one of them clutched their stomach and groaned.
Jin Bao planted one hand on her hip and pointed at them with the other. Her baby-soft face was full of anger.
“Move away, or Baby won’t be nice anymore!”
Everyone stared at her.
The people of the Blackstone Tribe retreated in terror.
They had dared block the road only because they heard Xiao Jingmo promise not to harm them.
None expected this sudden opponent to be a three-year-old child capable of knocking down more than twenty people in a blink. They had never witnessed such fighting strength.
Blood trickled from the victims’ mouths, showing internal injuries. Her strength was truly divine.
Pei Wanqing’s expression shifted from worry to shock to pride.
Old Madam Xiao felt equally honored. Heaven had finally shown mercy to the Xiao Family.
It had sent them a benefactor.
Even Zhu Laosan wondered whether he had hallucinated.
The Shadow Guards were astonished too, though their training kept it from their faces.
With no one blocking them, Xiao Jingmo ordered Ye Qi to bring three warhorses.
In full view of the Blackstone Tribe’s women, he recovered all their supplies and took a portion of the tribe’s goods as well.
The goods included hides, dried meat, medicinal herbs, and silver.
The people of the Blackstone Tribe watched themselves being robbed but could do nothing.
An hour had passed by the time the Xiao Family departed.
The sun had already risen above the horizon.
Their carts were now pulled by warhorses with far greater endurance and strength than mules.
In less than half a day, they left the Blackstone Tribe’s territory. Even if Tie He returned, he could never catch them.
When Xiao Che and Tie He reached the Vulture Tribe, the situation matched Ye Qi’s report.
More than half the Vulture Tribe’s horses had died or been injured. Caught off guard by the Blackstone Tribe’s attack, they were defeated within half a day.
Xiao Che personally captured Zhou An and executed him before the tent.
Tie He was delighted with his victory.
He killed every adult man, seized all the women, and enslaved the children.
Every one of the Vulture Tribe’s supplies fell into his hands.
While Tie He gathered the spoils, Xiao Che escaped on horseback with Ye Ba.
By the time Tie He noticed, it was too late.
Realizing something was wrong, he rushed back to the Blackstone Tribe. Much of the camp had been looted, and all one hundred warriors left behind were dead.
“Xiao! I, Tie He, swear I will never coexist with you!”
He pursued them for a hundred miles without finding a trace. Ahead lay the Grey Wolf Tribe, a medium-sized power no small tribe like his could provoke.
Tie He returned unwillingly.
Xiao Che caught up with Xiao Jingmo’s group after dark.
Night was falling when Ye Qi came to report.
“Second Young Master, Tie He and his men didn’t catch up. They turned back. Everyone can rest.”
After a full day of desperate travel, the Xiao Family’s women felt as if their bones were falling apart.
Old Madam Xiao’s legs were weak when she stepped down.
Xiao Che checked the map. Three more days would take them out of Kaiyuan and to the edge of the Changbai Mountains. He only hoped they met no more grassland tribes.
“Ye Qi, scout ahead. Avoid every tribe. We must reach the Northern Frontier as quickly as possible.”
The remaining thousand-plus miles on the map filled him with worry.
Once they entered the Changbai Mountains, the environment alone would threaten survival even without Prince Cheng’s assassins.
For the next several days, Ye Qi’s scouts guided them around the tribes. At dusk on the fourth day, they finally entered the outer Changbai Mountains.
Zhu Laosan looked calm at the dense forest, but fear stirred inside him.
He had escorted exiles here before. None survived the forest. He alone escaped back to the Capital. Returning filled him with dread.
“Brother Xiao, this forest is full of danger. Our carriages may be useless from here onward.”
Xiao Che surveyed the endless ancient woods.
“All right. We’ll camp here tonight and discuss it later.”
Nanny Chen had already built a large fire.
Fallen branches and leaves were everywhere. Gathering a few would provide enough fuel to burn all night.
Jin Bao stared into the thick forest and went still.
“Second Brother, bad people are coming to rob us.”
After seeing the vision, she ran to Xiao Jingmo.
“Little Sister, do you mean bandits?”
“Mm-hmm. They’re really mean. But Baby knows where they live. Second Brother, should we rob them instead?”
She blinked and grinned.
“Do you know when they’ll come?”
Jin Bao tilted her head and looked at the moon.
“When the moon is over there.”
Xiao Jingmo estimated she meant around two in the morning.
That was when everyone would be sleeping. Yet why would bandits descend merely to rob such a small group?
Perhaps they had already planned a raid and happened across them.
If so, robbing the Xiao Family would be incidental.
A bolder plan formed in Xiao Jingmo’s mind.
Supporting the Xiao Family Army would require stockpiling supplies and silver. A bandit stronghold ought to be rich, making this an excellent chance to gain a windfall.
The bandits were hardly good people. Eliminating them would also rid the area of a scourge.