Shen Yuehua grabbed Su Ping’an and spun him around twice. Only after seeing that his injuries weren’t serious did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Second Son, you’re hurt too? Hurry up and get a doctor to treat you! What are you doing here? Don’t you have any sense at all?”
Su Ping’an muttered, “There are too many injured people. There’s only one doctor, and everyone’s lined up over there waiting. I didn’t want to wait, and when I saw you guys here, I came over to take a look.”
“What is there to look at? Haven’t you seen your mother before? Or your father? Go, go, go! Get over there and wait your turn.”
Shen Yuehua grabbed father and son with one hand each and dragged them away, not forgetting to call back to Shen Shuli,
“Sweetheart, keep an eye on these two for me. Your father and I will get our wounds treated and come right back.”
Shen Shuli understood why her father had deliberately kept the two horse bandits alive.
The two bandits tried to secretly crawl away while no one was paying attention, but Shen Shuli kicked one and then the other, sending both of them sprawling back where they had been.
“Talk. Which mountain stronghold are you from? Why did you come to Peach Blossom Village today?”
Shen Shuli looked down coldly at the two men.
The villagers had already stabbed them several times. Their injuries were severe, but thankfully not fatal.
The two men were completely terrified. At this point, they would answer anything they were asked, as long as these people would spare their lives.
“It’s Liu Laizi from your village. He tipped off our boss.”
“He told us that Peach Blossom Village and several nearby villages were planning to flee, and that someone from the village had gone outside and bought a large amount of grain.”
“Our boss was worried that all the sheep he’d raised would get away, so he sent us down the mountain to slaughter the nearby villages. That way, you fat sheep wouldn’t escape and end up benefiting someone else.”
Shen Shuli hadn’t expected things to change because of her actions.
The bandits had come down the mountain ahead of schedule because they’d heard that the villagers were preparing to flee the famine early.
Her feelings were complicated.
“Where’s Liu Laizi? And how many groups did your stronghold send out? What are their missions?”
Shen Shuli continued interrogating them, pressing her foot hard onto one man’s wound.
She didn’t know whether the village where her maternal grandfather lived had also been targeted by these bandits. As for all the other villages, there was no way she could protect every single one.
“Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! I’ll cooperate! Please, miss, take your foot off me!”
“Then talk!”
“Liu Laizi is still in your village. He’s an informant for our Azure Dragon Stronghold. He often sends us information, and we give him some grain in return.”
“Our boss only sent this one group. We’re the vanguard. Our job is to wipe out all the nearby villages first. There’s also a logistics team responsible for transporting the grain. There are more than a hundred men in that group. They should arrive in about two hours.”
“That’s all I know! I really don’t know anything else! Please let me go! I didn’t have a choice!”
Hearing that more than a hundred bandits were still on their way, Shen Shuli’s heart sank.
She had to make preparations immediately.
Shen Shuli dragged the two men over to the old village chief and handed them over.
The villagers needed an explanation.
“Chief, I just learned from these two bandits that the reason they came to our village today was because someone named Liu Laizi from our own village secretly tipped them off.”
“And these aren’t the only bandits coming. Another group of more than a hundred is on its way to our village to seize our grain. We need to make preparations now!”
The old village chief’s face changed dramatically.
He had never imagined that the bandits had been summoned by his nephew—the very nephew he was only distantly related to.
If he’d known that Liu Laizi would bring such a disaster upon the village, he would never have taken him and his mother in out of pity.
What a menace!
He had thought Peach Blossom Village might finally escape this disaster, only to discover that another massive group of bandits was still on its way.
Just thinking about those savage horse bandits made his legs go weak again.
Fortunately, his son beside him caught him in time.
As he watched Shen Shuli walk away, the village chief asked his son,
“Rui, what are we going to do? There’s another huge group of bandits coming. How are we supposed to survive this one?”
“Dad, no matter what, we have to give it everything we’ve got. I’ll go find Brother Dahai and discuss a plan. He’s a scholar, after all. Given the situation we’re in now, perhaps he’s the only one who can think of a way to deal with this.”
If Su Yunhai hadn’t reacted quickly and led everyone in resisting the bandits today, Peach Blossom Village would probably have already been slaughtered.
“All right. We’ll do as you say.”
The old village chief couldn’t even stand, so he simply dropped onto the ground and leaned against the earthen wall.
“First, tie these two men up. Oh, and we need to hurry and take Liu Laizi and his mother into custody too. Don’t let either of them escape!”
“Yes, Dad!”
Li Rui immediately got to work.
Su Yunhai and Su Ping’an had already had their wounds treated.
Shen Shuli pulled her parents aside and told them what she’d learned.
Seeing this, Su Ping’an also came over and pricked up his ears, eager to hear the latest gossip.
“What? There’s another hundred-plus bandits coming?”
Su Ping’an’s eyes widened in fright, and his voice rose involuntarily.
Every villager nearby heard him.
Their expressions changed one after another, and cries of alarm erupted.
“There are still a huge number of bandits coming to our village?”
“Heavens! Is the heavens themselves determined not to leave us a way to live?”
“Waaah! My husband was just killed by the horse bandits. How are us orphans and widows supposed to survive?”
“Those thirty horse bandits were already so difficult to deal with. How could we possibly fight another hundred? We’d better run while we still have time!”
Realizing he’d let the cat out of the bag, Su Ping’an immediately crouched down, curling himself into a ball and covering his head with both hands as he waited for his father’s slap.
Su Yunhai only glanced at his son and said nothing, but his expression was exceptionally grave.
The villagers would have to learn about this sooner or later. It was better for them to know now and prepare themselves mentally.
Just then, Li Rui hurried over.
“Dahai, are you free? There’s something important I need to discuss with you.”
Li Rui’s voice reached them before he did.
Su Yunhai knew what he wanted to discuss and nodded.
“I am. As it happens, I have something to discuss with you too.”
Li Rui had originally intended to pull Su Yunhai away from the crowd, but Su Yunhai stopped him.
“Brother Rui, we don’t have much time left. We might as well let everyone hear what we have to say.”
Li Rui thought about it and realized he was right. He looked at Su Yunhai with hopeful eyes.
“Dahai, do you have a plan? There are more than a hundred bandits coming. Even if we gathered every able-bodied man in the village, we’d barely have twice their number.”
“But we’re ordinary villagers. On a normal day, the most we’d ever do is slaughter chickens and pigs. How could we possibly stand against those murderous bandits?”
“And we already suffered so many injuries fighting those thirty earlier. This… this is impossible! What are we going to do? Do you have any way to deal with them?”
No matter how hard Li Rui racked his brains, he couldn’t see any chance of Peach Blossom Village winning this time. He was so anxious that beads of sweat the size of beans covered his forehead.
Su Yunhai hadn’t come up with a good plan yet.
Seeing this, Shen Shuli quickly spoke up.
“Dad, I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?”
Su Yunhai’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Tell us. Let’s hear it.”
Shen Yuehua, Su Ping’an, and the surrounding villagers had heard that they were discussing how to fight the bandits, and they couldn’t help gathering around.
At that moment, every villager’s gaze fell on Su Yunhai’s long-lost daughter, the girl who had only recently been reunited with her biological family after being switched at birth.
They were all eager to see what kind of solution this young girl could possibly come up with.