amaotonovel Chapter 408 Robbery
Chapter 408 Robbery
Time is tight and the task is heavy.
When buying grain, Li Shuchen didn't haggle at all, agreeing to the exorbitant price of five taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), leaving the girls looking at each other in disbelief.
Has Miss Li been possessed? How can she be so generous?
In the end, Li Shuchen bought more than 2,000 catties of grain and returned home fully loaded.
Halfway through the journey, Li Shuchen suddenly turned around.
Purple Pearl reminded
"Miss Li, we're going the wrong way. We should be heading west."
"I know, we're going to do something big."
"What big deal? Who would you do business with in this deserted area?" Zizhu asked疑惑地.
"Those bandits are all dead. There must be good stuff in their lair. Let's go and loot it all; at least we won't waste any resources."
Only Miss Li could describe robbery in such a refined and elegant way.
Zizhu and the other girls silently followed Li Shuchen.
Li Shuchen crouched on a rock as he made his way to the top of the mountain stronghold, listening for faint sounds coming from inside.
The commotion was not loud; it sounded like two or three people were arguing about something.
"There are still a few people inside. Zizhu, you take some men and flank them from behind. I'll charge in from the front myself to lower their guard."
"Yes"
Zizhu and three girls lay in ambush on both sides.
Li Shuchen flipped down and went straight into the mountain stronghold.
"Robbery"
The powerful shout sent a shiver down the spines of the robbers inside.
"Boss, there are robbers!" The man with the protruding mouth and thin face was so frightened that he dropped the gold bars he was carrying.
"What's the panic? We're the robbers!" the one-eyed man shouted, picking up the gold bars. "Aren't you going to share the loot with me now?"
"Hehe, boss, all the treasures are yours," the man with the protruding mouth and thin face said with a fawning smile, hiding behind the one-eyed man.
The one-eyed Tibetan, fond of treasures, swaggered out of the house and saw Li Shuchen standing alone in the courtyard. Suddenly, he laughed.
"You little brat who hasn't even grown a beard yet, how dare you make a move on me?"
"You're incredibly lucky to be alive; you fell down such a steep slope and didn't die."
"I'm just tough as nails," the one-eyed man said, sizing Li Shuchen up and down.
"She's not bad looking, and she seems to have a lucky face. Otherwise, you could be my bandit queen; it'd be nice to sleep with her plump and fair-skinned."
"The pig's squeal is really awful," Li Shuchen said, picking at his ear and glancing at Zizhu.
Zizhu and another girl instantly took action and killed two henchmen.
Li Shuchen threw his short sword, which the one-eyed man dodged to the side. But while he could dodge the short sword, he couldn't dodge Zizhu's longsword.
The longsword pierced the one-eyed man's abdomen, and the one-eyed man screamed in agony.
Li Shuchen stepped forward, kicked him to the ground, then pressed his foot against the man's face, pulled a short knife from the wall, and brandished it at the one-eyed man's face.
"Look at this dagger, isn't it gleaming and sharp? Wouldn't it feel good to stab you in the heart?"
The one-eyed man remained silent, staring at Li Shuchen with his only remaining eye.
"Thud!" The dagger pierced the one-eyed man's heart.
Why aren't you saying anything? Can't you speak?
With a "whoosh," the short knife was pulled from the one-eyed man's chest.
"If you can't speak, then cut off your tongue; it's useless anyway."
Li Shuchen held the dagger close to the one-eyed man's mouth.
The one-eyed man hurriedly said, "I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll tell you where the money is, just don't hit me."
Li Shuchen stopped upon hearing this.
Where's the money?
"There's a cellar in the right-hand corner as you enter the house. All the money is there. Spare my life, and all the money is yours."
Li Shuchen stood up and gestured for Zizhu to do it.
Zizhu didn't hesitate and directly slit her throat.
The one-eyed man died with his eyes open in disbelief.
"Search the house," Li Shuchen ordered, leading the way into the house. They arrived at the location the one-eyed man had indicated, lifted the tiger skin, and sure enough, there was a cellar.
"I'll go down and check," Zizhu said, reaching her hand towards the cellar entrance.
"Wait, move away, I'll drive," Li Shuchen said.
Zizhu stepped back
Li Shuchen used a wooden stick to pry open
With a roar, a huge tiger charged out and pounced on Li Shuchen.
Li Shuchen dodged, jumped up, and struck the tiger's head hard with a wooden stick.
Zizhu and the others followed closely behind and attacked.
It took a fierce battle to kill the tiger.
"That one-eyed man lied!" Zizhu kicked the one-eyed man hard.
"Yes, they're luring us down into the cellar. Once we go down, we're sure to die."
Li Shuchen also kicked at the one-eyed man.
"My life is tougher than yours," she said, then went back inside to continue her search.
A large brocade box was found hidden in a secret compartment in the wall. Upon opening it, what they saw dazzled everyone.
Inside, besides large, bright gemstones, there was also heavy, yellow gold.
"So many beautiful gems," Zizhu exclaimed.
"They probably robbed people from the Kingdom of Boyu," Li Shuchen said, emptying the contents of the box onto the tiger skin and dividing it into five portions.
"Everyone who sees this gets a share; each of you can choose one and take it."
"I don't want to," Zizhu shook her head.
The other girls also waved their hands in refusal.
"If none of you want them, then I'll take them all myself."
Li Shuchen chuckled as he packed the items into the box. As he packed, a black object peeked out.
Pick it up and look at it, then remain silent.
"A black jade thumb ring? How could a bandit have something like that?" Zizhu asked in surprise.
"Search the house," Li Shuchen ordered, packing up the treasure and joining the search.
Finally, they found two letters, had Zizhu keep them safe, and then gave them to Liang Yuying.
They emptied the stockade of grain and led a large contingent of ten cartloads of food to catch up with the main force.
It took two whole days to catch up.
"Why did you buy so much food? Running an inn is not easy, you should..." Liang Yuying said, her eyes filled with heartache.
"It's alright, I have money," Li Shuchen chuckled. On the way here, she had calculated that the valuables seized from the robbers were worth at least ten thousand taels of silver. This trip was more of a profit than a loss.
Liang Yuying's brows remained furrowed; she didn't want Shu Chen to spend money on her.
She understood that Shu Chen was worried about her having trouble with the supplies, which was why he did this.
Li Shuchen quietly squeezed Liang Yuying's palm and whispered...
"I raided the bandits' hideout and seized a considerable amount of loot, so Yuying doesn't need to worry."
Upon hearing this, Liang Yuying was first worried, then delighted, and finally felt helpless.
"I can never keep an eye on you."
"Hehe, let's get going!"
After ten days, we finally left the first mountain shrouded in mist.
But the sight of the second mountain made everyone gasp in horror.
If the first mountain is "wet," then this second mountain is "bald."
The vegetation was sparse, and the rocks were exposed, sculpted into various grotesque shapes by the wind.
It truly lives up to its name, "Bald Wind Ridge".
This place doesn't even bother to block the wind, letting it howl past and whip up clouds of yellow sand.
“This place…” the tenth prince said, covering his mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief, “is even more desolate than the courtyard where my uncle keeps vultures.”
"Your Highness is wise," Li Shuchen flattered listlessly.
She was snuggling close to Gu Ziying, pulling her cloak tighter around herself. The days here were scorching hot, like an oven, but the nights were freezing cold.
Liang Yuying chose a sheltered rocky hollow to set up camp.
As night fell, everyone gathered around the campfire, listening to the howling wind outside, and silently quickened their pace of eating.
"Who's keeping watch tonight?" the Tenth Prince asked, wiping his mouth with a silk handkerchief.
“I’ll keep watch for the first half of the night,” Liang Yuying stood up. “Zizhu will keep watch for the second half. The rest of you should get some rest; crossing this desolate land tomorrow won’t be easy.”
Li Shuchen didn't sleep well at night.
The wind was too loud, the ground was too hard, and she had a feeling that something was wrong.
Sure enough, just as dawn was breaking, a scream shattered the morning tranquility.
"Horse! Something's happened to the horse!"