The sudden turn of events startled Lin Yang. Fortunately, his martial arts were solid. Seeing the opponent slide away, he knew it was bad. He retracted his body and quickly retreated.
With two whistling sounds, something flew past his scalp, and while he was retreating, Rossi had already darted seven or eight zhang away.
It was too late to chase again. So fast, he hadn't expected the opponent to have such a life-saving skill.
Fortunately, only one Rossi ran, and there were five others. Lin Yang ordered his subordinates to tie up these five securely, pull out the pre-hidden horse cart from the woods, and throw them onto it to return to the city and report.
At this time, Lin Yang was in the room talking with Yang Chun. After resting, Yang Chun's complexion had improved considerably.
Yang Chun appeared very anxious, "Brother, don't worry about me. You should go back to Hetou Village first, as there are too many things waiting for you."
"Brother Yang Chun, you don't need to worry. I've already asked Ru Mei to send a carrier pigeon to Liu Tie and the others who arrived in Hetou Village in advance. Let Tian Wenhao bring the supplies he wants to bring, as those supplies are all from the imperial court anyway."
Hearing this, Yang Chun sighed instead, "Originally, all of this should have been ours."
"No, I don't have such a big appetite." Chen Xiaobei smiled, "We don't need to rush back either. We'll walk back slowly after your injuries heal."
"No, Brother Xiaobei. If it really is Lin Yang, who led people to annihilate that bunch of dog-like bastards from the Da Lin Kingdom, we must be low-key when we return. Otherwise, the same fate on the road will befall us."
"Don't worry, they will only target the Crown Prince and won't do anything to us." Chen Xiaobei smiled and shook his head.
Just then, there was a sound of hurried footsteps. A young girl ran in, "Brother Xiaobei, Brother Yang Chun, someone from my senior brother came and said they caught five on their side and one escaped."
"After interrogation, the one who escaped is called Rossi, and he is the leader of these people."
Chen Xiaobei felt a sense of loss upon hearing this. The most important person escaped; could things be stable in the future?
Yang Chun, however, smiled slightly, "Alright, catching people is always a good thing. Let them be sent to the Crown Prince's mansion for the Crown Prince to interrogate thoroughly."
After speaking, he turned to look at Chen Xiaobei, "We really have to leave now. An escaped culprit is never good news."
Chen Xiaobei understood very well. As the saying goes, releasing a tiger back into the mountains will bring endless trouble. It wouldn't matter much if one person escaped, but it was the ringleader who escaped.
As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Alright, then I'll discuss it with Ru Mei."
Chen Xiaobei got up and returned to his room, briefly explaining what had happened. Liu Ru Mei also frowned after hearing it. Her thoughts were similar to Yang Chun's. The ringleader escaped; what would they encounter next? No one dared to say.
"Brother Xiaobei, you make sense. We do need to be careful, but I think their purpose in kidnapping you was just to lure out Ding Lao San."
"And now five of their six people have been caught. As you said earlier, these six people caught you, which is enough to show that the other party doesn't have extra manpower."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaobei's eyes lit up. Liu Ru Mei was so calm, and her analysis made sense.
"Yes, if they had enough manpower, they wouldn't be busy catching me here and then rushing to prepare to kill Ding Lao San over there."
"So, Brother Xiaobei, now there's only his ringleader, Rossi. If he has more important things to do, he won't have time to kill us. If he has nothing urgent to do, I think he'll mostly flee Wanniang City."
"So, you mean staying here is safer?" Chen Xiaobei retorted.
"Yes, we'll stay here and wait and see. Let's see how things develop in the next two days before deciding when to go back."
After speaking, Liu Ru Mei slowly stood up, "There's something I don't understand. Did he go to all this trouble just to kill Ding Lao San? Something seems wrong here."
Chen Xiaobei smiled, "There's nothing wrong with that. Don't forget, perhaps he always thought Ding Lao San would never speak even if he died."
Liu Ru Mei shook her head, "No, something is wrong. Think about what Brother Yang Chun said that day. Two groups were fighting, and Ding Lao San and another person were standing by, ignored, so Yang Chun took the opportunity to take them away."
"Didn't you say earlier that after catching the people, they were interrogated? Their purpose at the Farewell Pavilion was to kill Lao San. Even before they knew what would happen at the scene, their target was already clear."
"And I believe that the movements of the Crown Prince's mansion should be under the other party's control. Through these changes, they should also know that Ding Lao San must have confessed something."
"Oh, Ru Mei, your words have completely confused me. I think this is simply a matter of them wanting to silence him, perhaps believing that Ding Lao San hadn't revealed the core secrets yet."
"Then, if they had kidnapped you, the Crown Prince would have agreed to exchange you for Ding Lao San, wouldn't he?" Liu Ru Mei shook her head again, "The more I think about this, the stranger it feels, yet I can't pinpoint what is wrong."
Seeing Liu Ru Mei looking troubled, Chen Xiaobei smiled, stepped forward, gently put his hand on her shoulder, and guided her to sit in a chair.
"Alright, don't think about anything now. Just as you said, we'll wait here for a day. If everything is calm and peaceful, we'll leave, how about that?"
Liu Ru Mei looked at Chen Xiaobei and finally nodded slightly.
"Okay, let's do as you say."
At this time, Hetou Village became lively.
Liu Tie and others who arrived in Hetou Village earlier were exceptionally busy today. Yesterday, they received a carrier pigeon from the capital saying that the Crown Prince would send people to receive military supplies, so they had to distribute some to the villagers quickly. Of course, Liu Tie and Liu Ce were not idle either.
Grain and dried meat were what the villagers wanted most. Of course, distributing some of the grain from a house full of it was fine, but dried meat was different. Dried meat was a scarce commodity in those times, so each family could only get two or three jin.
Seeing Cui Hongyu's cautious look, Liu Tie couldn't help but advise, "Sister, don't worry, just give it to them boldly. Whatever is left is left."
Cui Hongyu shook her head, "That won't do. This is ultimately the imperial court's property. We've already given out too much."
After speaking, she said to the village guard captain, Chen Dayong, "I've instructed everyone to keep their mouths shut. Don't say anything when the official army arrives in a couple of days."
Chen Dayong laughed heartily, "Sister, don't worry, no one will dare to say an extra word."
"Besides, what a few hundred households like us receive is just a drop in the bucket. He still has so much left."
Cui Hongyu said no more. After seeing everyone receive their share, she quickly left.
Watching everyone busy, Liu Tie gently tugged Liu Ce's sleeve. The two left the four acres of land and turned towards the river.
"I never imagined that we would end up staying in a place like this in the future," Liu Ce couldn't help but sigh.