306. Being KidnappedTranslator: 洋葱头
In the tribe, men were responsible for handling the bodies while women were responsible for preparing food for them.
After being so frightened during the day, they didn’t have much appetite, so they simply made some pancakes with pickles.
When Li Hongmei was about to eat, she was still very worried and kept on paying attention to the outside from time to time.
“Why isn’t Little Ye back yet?” Li Hongmei asked.
She knew that Little Ye was with Jin Xiaoyu but both of them were gone.
Would they be caught by the two soldiers. Would they be in danger?
Seeing that Li Hongmei was worried, Wang Mudan advised her not to worry too much. After all, Baoshan had chased after them.
Later, there was finally the sound of hoof steps coming from outside. Li Hongmei ran out in a hurry, only to see Little Black bringing back the Mcginon family and Little Xun.
“Where’s Baoshan? Why hasn’t he come back yet?” Li Hongmei and the rest asked.
Little Black told them the truth. When she heard that Xiao Baoshan was still looking for Little Ye, Li Hongmei was even more worried and started to cry anxiously.
“What sin have we done that all of a sudden such a big disaster came, God!”
The crowd helped her to calm down.
Seeing everyone like this, Little Black realized that the tribe had obviously became chaotic. Many things became a mess, so he could not help but hide behind Tarico.
He felt that these things were all because of him.
At first, Grandfather said that this was a game, but it was actually not. This was obviously a massacre, and many people used their lives to protect him.
Tarico did not go home this afternoon; he was at the tribe to help the others.
It had always been a clean land in the tribe. Now that there were so many bodies, he was sad and felt sorry for the Gods in Tianshan Mountains.
But seeing Little Black at a loss now, Tarico felt that he had to put away his sadness.
He held Little Black’s hand and said to him, “Little Black, you can’t blame these things on yourself.”
“If you want to blame someone, blame those bad guys. They won’t even let go of a child. What kind of motive did they have?!”
Little Black lowered his head and kept silent.
……
In the middle of the night, everyone fell silent and was ready to go to bed.
At this moment, the sound of hoof steps rang again. It was Xiao Baoshan.
Everyone was like a frightened bird. They would get up immediately if they heard anything. When they saw that Xiao Baoshan was the only one who came back, everyone’s mood became gloomy again.
“Where’s Little Ye? Can’t you find Little Ye?” Li Hongmei asked in a hoarse voice.
Xiao Baoshan shook his head and got down from the horse.
Li Hongmei cried again and so did everyone else.
Little Ye had been with them for so long, and everyone had been together like a family. Now that she had suddenly disappeared, everyone felt like something bad must have happened.
“She…was she caught or killed?” Li Hongmei asked in a hurry.
Xiao Baoshan calmed down his huge sorrow and said calmly, “I’m not sure. I need to investigate again. I will leave the tribe tomorrow. I won’t come back until I find her.”
The crowd couldn’t help but be immersed in grief.
……
Xiao Baoshan was leaving the next morning.
He left behind more than ten elites to guard the tribe.
Tarico originally wanted to go find Jin Xiaoyu but he couldn’t let go of Little Xun.
Ever since yesterday, Little Xun had been silent, not speaking a single word, and his appetite was bad. Tarico was worried that Little Xun was too depressed, so he stayed with him all day.
If Jin Xiaoyu suddenly came back and saw that Little Xun was not good, she would definitely blame Tarico.
Plus, Tarico was the tribal leader. After yesterday’s incident, he had to stay behind and arrange for them to move the tribe to another place. Otherwise, when everyone thought about how many bodies were buried on the hillside, they wouldn’t live in peace.
He still wanted to calm down the locals. Mahal’s family had been killed, so he had to tell the locals about his crimes.
In short, he couldn’t leave for the moment.
When Xiao Baoshan left, Li Hongmei prepared a lot of dry food for him to eat on the road.
“Baoshan, you must find Little Ye. If you find her…” Li Hongmei did not dare to say anything harsh, so she could only say, “You have to know, I’ve always treated her as my daughter. I’ve raised her for so many years and watched her grow up.”
Xiao Baoshan said, “Don’t worry, I won’t come back if I can’t find her.”
“No, you have to come back even if you can’t find her. You can’t let Mother lose her and you again,” Li Hongmei wiped her tears.
Xiao Baoshan said, “I won’t be in trouble. If I go far away, I’ll get someone bring back the news.”
“You have to bring back the news. Otherwise… alas, otherwise I will be worried.
“…”
After bidding everyone farewell, Xiao Baoshan and Little Black left.
They followed the road yesterday.
There were many stone paths on the side of the stall, so there were no traces of hoof steps and they could only speculate on the path where Jin Xiaoyu and Little Ye might have been taken to.
Those men were sent by the State Preceptor. Then, if they didn’t return to the tribe, where would they go?
The capital city?
What was their purpose in escorting Jin Xiaoyu and Little Ye to the capital?
Perhaps the purpose of kidnapping them was to protect themselves. As long as the two of them were in hand, the people chasing after them would not dare to kill them.
Xiao Baoshan decided to look in the direction of the capital.
It was a long way from here to the capital city. They would either travel through the desert or travel from one county to another from Da’an county.
It was also possible that they would walk through the official road, which was very nearby, but only those who had the identity of imperial court could do so.
The two of them were from Zhongyuan Area and they definitely didn’t have the courage to cross the desert. They could only go to Da’an county first and then go towards the official road.
So Xiao Baoshan led Little Black to Da’an county.
……
By the time they reached Da’an county, it was already dark. By this time, the city gates should be closed.
However, when Xiao Baoshan and the others arrived, the city gates were open.
A person guarding the city saw Xiao Baoshan and Little Black and unexpectedly came over to ask, “Sir, are you Xiao Baoshan, General Xiao?”
“Why do you know me?” Xiao Baoshan asked coldly.
The guard took out a letter to Xiao Baoshan, “County magistrate told me to wait for you here. He has a letter for you.”
Xiao Baoshan took the letter and quickly opened it.
There was only a line of words: If you want to see your wife, come to the State Preceptor residence in the capital.
With the name signed below: Wan Shijie.
Little Ye and the rest were indeed taken to the capital.
Xiao Baoshan’s brow was slightly relaxed. Although they couldn’t see each other for the moment, at least they were still alive.
Xiao Baoshan then said to Little Black, “Our route is right, let’s chase to the capital now.”
……
At a relay station in the official road.
Jin Xiaoyu and Ye Xiaoxian were tied up by chains. They could move and eat, but it was not easy to escape.
Furthermore, Little Ye did not know martial arts. Even though Jin Xiaoyu’s martial art skills were very good, she could not save Little Ye while being tied up.
Although Wan Shijie and his subordinate hated them, they did not curse and abuse them. They only tied them up and gave them food and necessities.
That night, when the commander came in to send food, Jin Xiaoyu couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you taking us to the capital? To threaten Xiao Baoshan? Isn’t he a general? The crime of treason back then had been removed. What else could he do for you?”
Wan Shijie despised women, so he didn’t bother to answer.
He put the food down on the table and said, “Just eat. Don’t ask so much. Rest early after eating and we have to continue on our journey early tomorrow morning.”
Wan Shijie realized yesterday that the person who killed them all should be Xiao Baoshan.
Apart from Xiao Baoshan, no one had such power.
Although Wan Shijie was sorry that so many of his people were killed at once, those killed people were not his familiar colleagues or his relatives.
They just worked on behalf of the imperial court and their job was to fight and kill, so they should have long expected that they would die someday.
However, Xiao Baoshan’s role was comparable to a thousand of such soldiers.
Wan Shijie worked for the State Preceptor. He knew the State Preceptor’s way of doing things and knew that Xiao Baoshan should be useful to him.
If he could lure Xiao Baoshan over and let Xiao Baoshan work for the State Preceptor, he might not be accused by the State Preceptor of the failure this time.
……
After Wan Shijie went out, Jin Xiaoyu and Ye Xiaoxian started eating.
Because the chains were tied to their hands and feet, they would make a loud noise whenever they moved. Jin Xiaoyu felt very annoyed.
She hated being restrained, and this feeling was not good at all.
Ye Xiaoxian was a little calmer than Jin Xiaoyu.
She picked up her chopsticks and took another bite of her meal.
She then commented on the dish, “The rice is too dry. If they added a little more water it would taste better. This dish should have come from a big pot. After being fried for a long time, the leafe will turn yellow and the taste will be greatly reduced. Fortunately, there is meat in it and its smell can slightly offset the vegetable’s unfresh taste.”
Jin Xiaoyu asked, “You still have the mood to eat now?”
“Or what? Should I stay hungry?” Ye Xiaoxian asked.
Jin Xiaoyu asked repeatedly, “Aren’t you worried about the tribe? Aren’t you worried about Bao… Xiao Baoshan would chase after us and get in danger? Aren’t you worried that State Preceptor would use Baoshan to do something that he doesn’t want to do?”
Ye Xiaoxian asked as she ate, “Is it useful to worry? What else can we do?”
“Are you not worried even if it’s useless?” Jin Xiaoyu asked.
Little Ye said, “Although I don’t know the schemes and intrigues of the imperial court and I don’t know what this commander wants to do, I am sure that the tribe is safe now because their people have been killed by Baoshan. Now it’s the time they should be worried about us, right?”
“It makes sense, go ahead,” Jin Xiaoyu said.
“The more they are worried about us, the more we have to eat and sleep well. We shouldn’t let them worry. If one day we really get saved and go back like two skinny people, wouldn’t they be more worried about us? They will think that we had nothing to eat, were abused, and would feel guilty for us. This is not what we want to see.”
Jin Xiaoyu said, “There seems to be a point.”
Little Ye added, “And the State Preceptor you mentioned. If he wants to use Baoshan, this is not something we can stop. I’ve thought that if he asks Baoshan to do something outrageous, I won’t allow it. I might…”
“What?” Jin Xiaoyu asked.