Chapter 17: Bandit
Jin Sui chased two mountain hollows, but still hadn’t seen Jin An’s figure. This kid ran faster than a rabbit!
Once I catch him, I’ll give him a good beating. In a place like this, can you just run around recklessly? He’ll know his mistake when a wolf chases him.
While running, she suddenly heard Jin An’s shout: “Don’t come over, there’s a bad guy!”
Looking in surprise, she saw Jin An tied up with ropes and hanging from a tree.
Before Jin Sui could react to what was happening, her feet suddenly lost their footing, and she fell into a hole with a thud.
She struggled to get up and saw two strong men with scimitars at the edge of the hole, stroking their chins and chuckling:
“Caught another one! We’re really lucky today, brother. No one has ever come through Black Mountain Pass, at most we catch a roe deer or a muntjac, but today we’ve caught two fat sheep!”
The strong man reached out and grabbed Jin Sui’s collar, pulling her out of the hole. He threw her heavily at Jin An’s feet and pressed the back of his blade against her face:
“How many accomplices do you have?”
Jin Sui said obsequiously, “Sir, spare my life, it’s just us brothers.”
After following Grandpa Ling in Jianghu for so long, she had learned a thing or two about speaking appropriately to different people.
The great Han looked her up and down and sneered, “Why do I not think so? Did your brother come into the mountains without any gear?”
At this moment, a whistle sounded from the tree. The strong man kicked Jin Sui down fiercely, “He really is a slippery kid!”
He then said to another strong man, “Get ready, there’s one more person coming.”
Soon, Jin Sui’s hands and feet were bound, and she was hung up with Jin An.
Jin An’s face was full of guilt, and he said with a crying voice, “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, brother.”
Jin Sui scolded him in a low voice without any mercy:
“Now you know how difficult it is to get to Chang’an, right? If you know you’re wrong, you must correct it. From now on, listen to Grandpa’s arrangements for everything.”
“Father is your biological father, and he is also my father. He is also Grandpa’s biological son, so how can we not care?”
Jin An’s eyes reddened, and he held back tears. He had overheard Grandpa and his sister talking that night and was afraid that neither of them wanted to go to Chang’an to clear their father’s name.
He had run off impulsively just now because he thought that if he ran, they would definitely chase after him. As long as he was firm, Grandpa and his sister would have to follow his wishes and go to Chang’an.
Who would have thought that they would encounter wolves and tigers in the mountains, and upon leaving the mountains, they would encounter not woodcutters and hunters, but bandits!
Jin Sui didn’t shout to inform Grandpa Ling because it would be useless. Grandpa Ling’s legs and feet were inconvenient, and he couldn’t escape. It was better for all three of them to be captured by the bandits, and then she could use her space to find a way to escape.
Soon, the bandit came over carrying Grandpa Ling, but he looked displeased, “A lame old man, useless, just kill him on the spot!”
Jin Sui quickly shouted, “My grandfather is a Celestial Master of Qingyun Mountain, with amazing calculations, he is best at divination and fortune-telling, he is very useful!”
The great Han with a tiger’s beard and round eyes laughed heartily, “If you’re so good at calculating, why didn’t you calculate that you’d meet us today?”
Jin Sui was speechless. Why did these bandits all know this line?
Grandpa Ling, however, smiled and said, “This old Taoist calculated that he would meet noble people when leaving the mountain today. It can be seen that this divination applies to you gentlemen.”
The three bandits laughed heartily upon hearing this, “You old Taoist speaks well. Come, calculate a divination for me, and if it’s accurate, I’ll spare your life.”
Grandpa Ling said regretfully, “This old Taoist is governed by heavenly mandate, and can only perform one divination a day…”
Seeing the bandit’s expression change drastically, he changed his tune:
“However, this old Taoist is also good at physiognomy. Looking at your face, sir, you must have lost your parents in your youth and had your assets taken by villains.”
“But your luck will turn around at the age of thirty, and from then on, you will turn misfortune into good fortune. As long as…”
The bandit indeed believed him and quickly asked, “As long as what?”
Grandpa Ling glanced at Jin Sui and her brother, stroked his beard, and said:
“As long as you commit fewer evil deeds, sir will surely achieve great success and establish a career in one area.”
These words greatly pleased the bandit, especially when he said that he had lost his parents in his youth and had his property stolen by villains, he believed it by three parts.
Coupled with the fact that those in their line of work also had taboos, and killing monks and Taoists was feared to bring retribution, he waved his hand and said:
“This old Taoist has some skills. Take him back to the mountain stronghold first, and let the Head of the Mountain Stronghold decide.”
Jin Sui quickly said, “My grandfather’s legs and feet are inconvenient, please let me help him walk.”
The bandit didn’t object, but put his saber to Jin An’s neck, “If you dare to run or shout, I’ll kill this kid first.”
Jin Sui intentionally wanted Jin An to learn a lesson and deliberately didn’t save him.
This child is too stubborn and deep-thinking. She hoped that today’s incident would make him less impulsive in the future.
Grandpa Ling looked around, trying to remember the way, but before they had walked far, the bandits blindfolded the three of them and led them along with ropes.
Jin Sui carefully supported Grandpa Ling and couldn’t help but ask in a low voice out of curiosity, “Grandpa, can you really read faces?”
Grandpa Ling scoffed, “For those who engage in murder and arson, how many have both parents alive? If these people lose something carelessly, they will blame others.”
“In any case, the saying about losing parents in childhood and being wronged by villains, for people in Jianghu, nine out of ten will fit.”
Jin Sui was greatly impressed. If the timing were right, she would have really wanted to give Grandpa Ling a thumbs-up.
Fortune-telling in Jianghu, what was it calculating? It was calculating human relationships and affairs.
The bandit escorting Jin An, after Jin An stumbled three times, stopped paying attention to him and just pulled him along by the rope.
When he reached Jin Sui and Grandpa Ling, Jin Sui noticed that the cloth covering his eyes was wet. His tone was self-reproaching and guilty as he said:
“I’m sorry, Grandpa, it’s all my fault.”
Grandpa Ling quickly comforted him, “It’s okay, Grandpa and sister don’t blame you. Even if you hadn’t run, the three of us grandchildren wouldn’t have escaped today.”
The bandit pulled the rope, “Hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, I’ll kill you.”
The three dared not speak further and followed carefully.
When they heard the clamor of voices, the cloth over their eyes was pulled off by the bandits. They saw a mountain stronghold built of wood and bamboo, situated in a valley.
There were two types of people coming and going: one was bandits carrying whips or scimitars, and more were ordinary people in ragged clothes.
The ordinary people included old and young, men and women, who were ordered by the bandits to mine and reclaim land.
For some reason, when looking at a single bandit, she didn’t feel much, but upon arriving at this mountain stronghold, Jin Sui instinctively felt that these bandits were organized.
They were organized and disciplined; they were not ordinary bandits who robbed passing merchants.
She suddenly thought of the black mole bandit who had captured Grandpa Ling earlier; he also captured ordinary people.
This was hundreds of miles away. Had bandits stopped robbing merchants and instead become popular for human trafficking?
The bandits escorting them pushed the three into the woodshed and sternly warned them:
“Wait obediently, if you dare to run, we’ll break your legs!” With that, they locked the door and left.
Jin Sui hurried to see if the back window could be opened, but then she heard Jin An exclaim, pointing at a haystack, “There’s someone here!”
Jin Sui quickly went to check, mainly to see if the person was alive or dead.
Moving the haystack aside, she saw that the person was covered in wounds, with two blood marks from whipping on his face. His clothes were torn, and the exposed skin was covered in blood marks.
Especially his ankles, which were chained and chafed to the bone.
Jin Sui cautiously reached out to check his nose, but he suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Jin Sui’s wrist.
Jin Sui’s first reaction was to turn to Grandpa Ling and Jin An and say:
“Great, he’s alive.”
Grandpa Ling was stamping his feet anxiously nearby, pointing at the person and saying, “Let go quickly! Don’t hurt my grandson.”
The ‘living person’ slowly sat up, glanced at the three of them, confirmed they were not bandits, and then released Jin Sui’s hand.
Jin Sui rubbed her wrist and looked at him. With slender eyebrows, phoenix eyes, a high nose, and thin lips, even covered in blood and dirt, his handsome appearance could not be concealed.
However, the more she looked, the more familiar he seemed. Since she had transmigrated, there weren’t many people who seemed familiar. When had she ever seen such a handsome man?
If she had seen him, she would definitely remember.
At this moment, Grandpa Ling stepped forward and pulled her behind him, whispering, “On the wanted order, have you forgotten?”
Jin Sui suddenly realized. Not only had she seen him on the wanted order!
This was the man she and Grandpa Ling had found in the reed bed that night!
Uh, no, they hadn’t picked him up then, they had just applied medicine and bandaged him.
