The posture was intimate and ambiguous, but Lin Yueru could not care less about that right now.
She was wide awake in an instant.
Even though she strained her ears and could not hear a thing, she did not doubt Han Yanqing’s words for a second.
“Can you tell roughly how many of them there are, which direction they’re coming from, and how far away they are from us?”
Han Yanqing pricked up his ears and listened intently for a moment, then pointed firmly in the direction they had come from.
“They’re coming from over there. There should be three or four of them, riding horses, and they’re…”
Han Yanqing suddenly got tongue-tied.
He did not know how to describe the distance.
Lin Yueru considerately phrased it differently. “Do you think they are far from us?”
“Not far! They’ll be here in a little bit!”
Lin Yueru’s brow furrowed.
She had a nagging feeling that the visitors bore ill intent.
Anyone who still possessed horses at a time like this was by no means an ordinary person!
Not to mention traveling by horseback through the dead of night.
No matter how one looked at it, this whole thing reeked of trouble!
After confirming once more with Han Yanqing, Lin Yueru tiptoed to the side and woke Old Madame Han.
They had been fleeing famine for days without a full night’s sleep, and Old Madame Han was in a daze when she suddenly felt someone repeatedly patting her hand in her dream.
Irritated, she opened her eyes, inting to unleash a scolding.
What met her gaze, however, was Lin Yueru’s pretty little face.
The old woman could not help but pause.
Her voice softened unconsciously. “Ru, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Seeing her awake, Lin Yueru leaned close and whispered, “Mother, Yanqing said someone is riding toward us on horseback. My heart won’t rest easy, so I had to come tell you.”
Hearing this, Old Madame Han’s sleepiness vanished instantly, and she sat up with a roll.
“What?! Someone riding horses over in the dead of night? Did Han Si hear right?!”
Han Yanqing nodded vigorously. “I heard right. People on horseback, coming from that way!”
When Old Madame Han saw that he was pointing precisely in the direction they had come from during the day, her expression soured.
Rushing here on horseback in the middle of the night—even if they were not coming for them, it was definitely bad news!
The old woman made a prompt decision and woke the whole family.
What Lin Yueru liked most about Old Madame Han was her decisiveness. Seeing that she was taking it seriously, Lin Yueru quietly shrank back to the side.
The others were all half-asleep when they were shaken awake.
Looking up and seeing that dawn was still far off, they closed their eyes and wanted to fall right back to sleep.
“Mother, it’s still so early. It won’t hurt to sleep a little longer before setting off!”
Old Madame Han glared at them. “Sleep? What are you sleeping for?! Villains are hot on our heels!”
“Villains?!”
“Where are the villains?!”
Han Laoda and Han Er’er were instantly wide awake. Rolling over, they sat up from their straw mats, their eyes bulging as wide as copper bells.
Zhao Shuangtao and Li Qiumei were no longer sleepy either, nervously shielding the children as they waited for their mother-in-law to explain.
Old Madame Han, on the other hand, waved her hand composedly.
“Don’t panic yet. They’re not here just yet.”
Seeing the crowd breathe a long sigh of relief, she added displeasedly, “Han Si heard it loud and clear. Three or four people on horseback heading this way along the road we came by. Think about it yourselves—could this possibly be anything good?”
Hearing that, everyone came to their senses.
Without needing Old Madame Han to push them, they packed up everything and sat on their straw mats, weapons in hand, ready for battle.
Han Laoda and Han Er’er gripped broadswords and scythes, while Han Yanqing also held a short knife in his hand.
Under the moonlight, the short knife radiated a frosty gleam; one look was enough to tell it was no ordinary weapon!
Noticing her looking, Old Madame Han explained softly, “This was tucked away on Han Si’s person when he came back.”
Lin Yueru nodded in understanding.
As time passed without a sound, everyone had let their guard down somewhat, dozing off while holding their children.
But then came Han Yanqing’s voice: “They’re here.”
Outside, the thud of galloping hooves suddenly sounded, drawing from far to near!
The Han family’s hearts leaped into their throats instantly, and they huddled in the cave, not daring to move a muscle.
“Whoa—!”
Sure enough!
Several horses came to a halt outside the cave.
A few men dismounted and held torches as they walked in to search, prompting a chorus of discontented curses inside the cave.
“Who is it?! In the dead of night, won’t you let anyone sleep!”
Immediately after, someone recognized that these men were the very same mountain bandits who had robbed them before!
The cave was instantly thrown into chaos!
“It’s the mountain bandits! Father, the mountain bandits are back—”
“Run! Hurry and escape!”
Screams, weeps, curses, and pleas for mercy—the cave dissolved into utter bedlam in a flash!
Suddenly, the whistling sound of a blade tearing through the air rang out!
A booming voice roared, “Every damn one of you, shut the hell up!”
The cave fell dead silent in an instant; even crying children had their mouths muffled by their families.
The man swept an intimidating glare across the crowd. “Today’s business has nothing to do with you lot. We’re here looking for someone! Any family with young men or women, stay put and let our brothers check you!”
“If I find out you dare harbor them…”
Before his voice faded, he swung his blade at an arm-thick sapling nearby, slicing the young tree clean in two!
Lin Yueru’s heart pounded relentlessly.
She finally knew why she had felt so uneasy!
That night, in order to protect themselves, she and Han Yanqing had teamed up and killed that mountain bandit!
In the chaos back then, no one had paid attention to them. Now that the mountain bandits had come to their senses, they were here to settle scores!
As the mountain bandits began searching the cave from the other side, Lin Yueru made up her mind immediately.
She grabbed Han Yanqing’s hand.
Han Yanqing looked back at her in confusion. “Wife, what’s wrong? Don’t be afraid, Yanqing is here.”
Lin Yueru shook her head.
Seeing Old Madame Han looking over, she succinctly explained what had happened that day and her suspicion.
After hearing it, Old Madame Han’s face turned grim.
Her voice trembled. “Eight out of ten, they’re here for you two! Ru, this won’t do, you two have to run! Take Yanqing and run, fast!”
Even if she hadn’t said it, Lin Yueru had already resolved to leave.
Running now was the best choice—it would avoid being at the mercy of others, and it would also avoid implicating the Han family.
After exchanging a nod with Old Madame Han, she took Han Yanqing’s hand and bolted toward the cave entrance.
Han Yanqing did not understand, assuming his wife was taking him out to play, and gripped her hand tightly in high spirits.
Before the rest of the Han family could react, the two of them had already slipped out of the cave.
Han Er’er spoke up, “Mother? What’s going on?!”
“Didn’t Ru and Han Si knock out a mountain bandit that day…”
Old Madame Han explained in a low voice while nervously watching the situation outside.
Hearing Old Madame Han’s explanation, everyone’s hearts were wrenched with worry.
There was nothing they could do except pray silently inside the cave that the two could get far away and never be spotted by those mountain bandits!
Yet Heaven did not grant their wish!
The moment Lin Yueru pulled Han Yanqing out of the cave, they collided head-on with a tall, burly mountain bandit holding a torch!
Seeing two people emerge from the cave, the mountain bandit was taken aback at first.
Then, his eyes narrowed as he recognized Lin Yueru.
“It’s you!”