Chen Xiaobei remained unmoved. "No, even if someone really captured Da Chun Ge and the others, they would send someone to deliver a message to us to negotiate terms."
After speaking, he turned to look at everyone present. "Everyone, stop waiting. Let's transport the supplies down the mountain first, and take them to the Mountain God Temple. Be sure to stay close to each other, call out frequently, and report any accidents immediately."
They worked tirelessly until dawn, and more than half of the supplies were transported.
Just then, someone suddenly pointed into the distance and said, "Look, that seems to be Da Chun Ge."
Following the shouts of everyone, Chen Xiaobei looked over. Wasn't it him? In the distance, someone was jogging towards them. Judging by his posture, it was indeed Chen Dachun. Chen Dachun was back, and cheers erupted from the scene.
Chen Dachun, seeing them, tears welled up in his eyes. He shouted from afar, "Brother Xiaobei, Brother Da Yong, this is bad, this is really bad."
Chen Xiaobei quickly ran down the wooden ladder. "Brother Dachun, what exactly happened?"
"Brother Xiaobei, it was the imperial army, it was Zhu Meng's subordinates who captured us."
"He is called Zhu Ting, Zhu Meng's distant relative. He said that if we don't return all the supplies we took, he won't let us go, otherwise..."
At this moment, the villagers also chimed in, "Send them back quickly, we have to exchange them for Da Qiang and the others."
Chen Xiaobei, however, knew it clearly in his heart. How much had he taken?
Did the other party know? He had no idea. Sudansnovel.com
So what did it mean to send it all back? If he sent it all back, and the other party claimed it wasn't all, he would be helpless.
Therefore, the other party's goal was clearly not just these military provisions.
What exactly did they want? Chen Xiaobei couldn't quite figure it out.
"Brother Dachun, you should rest for a while. Let us think about this."
Meanwhile, in the dense forest in the distance, two scouts were quietly leaving. They had followed Chen Dachun all the way. There were many villagers on the steep slope, and they had seen enough.
So they had to hurry back and report the situation to Zhu Ting.
Chen Xiaobei and Chen Dayong looked at each other for a long time. Finally, Chen Xiaobei stood up. "Brother Da Yong, you stay here. I'll go exchange them."
Chen Dayong shook his head. "No, I'll go."
"No, I'll go. I'm the village chief, I'll talk to them and let them take me to exchange for you to go down the mountain. I think his goal is not to get back these military supplies, but something else."
Chen Xiaobei's guess was correct. Zhu Ting was by the Longyan pond, and he interrogated all the villagers one by one, asking about the situation down the mountain.
The villagers had been on the mountain for several days. Some well-informed people knew that Zhu Meng seemed to have left with the main army, but they couldn't be precise about the movements.
Hearing that Zhu Meng might have left, Zhu Ting became even more anxious.
Zhu Meng's departure meant he had been abandoned.
What to do with these more than two thousand subordinates was a headache for Zhu Ting.
At this moment, Chen Xiaobei had finally persuaded Chen Dayong, and he headed towards Longyan alone.
Fortunately, the distance was far enough. Chen Xiaobei walked until noon, covering only twenty li or so. After all, he was exhausted from the days of travel.
He found a tent, ate a few mouthfuls of food, and then found a sunny spot to bask in the sun and rest.
At this moment, Liu Rumei and Princess Zhaoning had already led their people to the steep slope.
Seeing them arrive, Chen Dayong and the others were overjoyed.
Liu Rumei scanned everyone present and asked impatiently, "Brother Xiaobei, where is Brother Xiaobei? Where did he go?"
Chen Dayong sighed and briefly explained the situation.
"He's been walking all morning, probably dozens of li, and should reach Longyan before dark."
Liu Rumei was anxious upon hearing this and clasped her hands to Princess Zhaoning. "Your Highness, please wait here. I'll go and bring Brother Xiaobei back."
Princess Zhaoning shook her head. "No, we'll go together."
Liu Rumei didn't want to delay any longer and agreed. "Alright, then we'll go together."
Liu Rumei and Princess Zhaoning used their lightness skills and moved at high speed.
The little maids and Chu Han behind them were not to be outdone.
However, Liu Tie remained very calm. He ordered one thousand soldiers to leave five hundred to protect the villagers and told them to wait in place and not to move around randomly.
The other five hundred quickly followed to protect the safety of the princess and Liu Rumei.
Just as they were frantically pursuing Chen Xiaobei, Xiao Jingyun was also making arrangements outside Qingniu County.
They were to go to the north gate at the third watch of the night to meet Ma Han. The most important thing was to confuse the enemy.
According to the arrangement of the Lotus Sect Leader, a feigned sneak attack would be launched outside the south gate at night to attract the enemy's attention.
Of course, the sneak attack would come at a cost, but the cost had to be minimized. Therefore, he had to set up some straw figures.
The straw figures were dressed in clothes and made to look like people. The real soldiers, holding shields, would hide behind them and use spears to prod the straw figures, making them move like people. This way, the people on the city wall would naturally shoot arrows.
As soon as the movement on this side started, the Lotus Sect Leader could take the opportunity to attack the north gate and meet Ma Han and the others.
At this moment, Ma Han and his group were also urgently discussing. Ma Han pretended to go out to buy vegetables and observed the enemy situation, getting a clear picture of the outside.
After last night's commotion by the Lotus Sect Leader, Wang Heng's attention was diverted, and the surveillance around Ma Han's house was somewhat relaxed.
At the entrance of their alley, there were about seven or eight soldiers.
Walking west from their alley entrance, not far away, there was a road that led directly to the north gate.
There were about three sentry posts on this road, with a group of sentries every one or two li.
After clarifying all this, Ma Han and the others began to discuss.
The men at the alley entrance were easy to deal with. They could rush out and resolve them instantly using their numerical advantage.
However, there were dozens of people at the other two sentry posts, and it was impossible to force their way through. Therefore, they had to make arrangements in advance.
After much deliberation, Ma Han and his group decided to climb over the wall and not use the main gate.
They would evacuate from the Ma family compound during the day.
They would disperse to various locations and rendezvous at a tavern not far from the north gate before nightfall.
Then, they would patiently wait in the tavern until the third watch of the night.
All arrangements were made.
Ma Han called out to everyone to quietly leave over the wall, heading east and west, while he himself chose to stay behind to deal with any unexpected inspections.
Rushing against time, Liu Rumei and Princess Zhaoning finally caught up with Chen Xiaobei.
As soon as she saw the figure in front of her, Liu Rumei eagerly waved and shouted, "Brother Xiaobei, Brother Xiaobei."
Hearing this shout, Chen Xiaobei's body paused.
This voice was too familiar.
Could it be an auditory hallucination?
Chen Xiaobei hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned around.
Two figures were rapidly approaching from a distance: one was Liu Rumei, and the other was Princess Zhaoning.
Was this real?
Chen Xiaobei rubbed his eyes again.