Dong Si understood after a moment of thought, It is still the Lord who thinks things through thoroughly.
Jiang Jin shook her head and smiled, Are the miners all arranged?
Speaking of this, Dong Si sighed with emotion, Yes, we pulled a hundred people from the construction team, but we are still short on hands.
The weather turned slightly cool, and in the blink of an eye, it was October.
A merchant caravan appeared on the official road. It was not a large group, just over ten guards and two horse-drawn carriages.
Trailing behind the carriages were ten handcarts piled high with bulging burlap sacks, which looked to be filled with grain.
Each cart was pushed and pulled by three to four people. Judging by the deep wheel ruts, their cargo was quite heavy.
What was highly unusual was that the entire caravan of fifty or sixty people, guards and cart-pullers alike, consisted entirely of women.
The guards weapons were merely long wooden sticks, making them look thoroughly unprofessional.
Suddenly, a dozen or so strapping young men leaped out onto the road ahead, shouting at the caravan, If you want to pass this way, leave behind a toll!
Dozens more men swarmed out from both sides of the road, completely surrounding the caravan.
Jiang Jin, disguised as a delicate and pretty young woman, poked her head out of the carriage. She asked, timidly yet without hesitation, How much?
Zhao Er did not recognize her and stated his price, I do not want much, just half of your goods. By the way, is that grain in your carts?
Jiang Jin answered honestly, It is grain. Half is too much. What happens if we do not give it to you?
Hearing that it was grain, Zhao Ers eyes lit up. He tightened his grip on his blade, You must pay the toll, otherwise, you know the consequences.
Jiang Jin really wanted to say she did not know, but remembering her plan, she held back and acted as if she was conceding.
Then we surrender. This grain belongs to our boss, and we are just poor folks hired to transport it. If we are robbed by you now, we will not be able to explain it when we go back.
How about this, why do you not just capture us and take us up the mountain? Then you can have our boss pay a ransom for us. That way, the boss will not blame us for losing the goods.
Zhao Er was dumbfounded. Wh-what did you say?
In all his years of robbing, this was the very first time a client had ever requested to be taken up the mountain as a hostage!
Seeing his bewildered expression, Jiang Jin thought to herself that this guy did not seem very bright. She looked up, her eyes impeccably sincere.
I said we surrender. Not only can you get this grain, but you can also get ransom money, and we will not be punished. It is a win-win situation, so why not?
Although Zhao Er was not too bright, he felt something was off. He gritted his teeth and decided to voluntarily lower his price, Then, then just give us two carts of grain, that is fine too.
Taking people up the mountain was impossible. Their mountain stronghold was so poor they could barely afford to eat.
Bringing these people up the mountain would just mean more mouths fighting for their limited food.
Jiang Jin could not help but twitch the corner of her eye. You do not understand what I mean. No matter how much grain you take, as long as there is less grain, we will be punished when we go back. You either do not rob us at all, or you kidnap us and take us up the mountain together.
Saying this, she let out a heavy sigh, I know things are not easy for you, and we have no choice either. We are all ordinary, oppressed people, so let us be considerate of each other.
Zhao Er felt even more weirded out. He instinctively took a step back, Then for-forget it. Seeing as it is not easy for you either, I will, I will just let you go.
This time it was Jiang Jins turn to be dumbfounded. Wait, what was wrong with the bandits of Wuhu Mountain?
Where was their bandit swagger?
Where was their domineering attitude?
Why were they acting so cowardly?
Or had she overacted? Were the bandits actually moved?
Her head full of question marks, she decided to stop pretending. She turned around, pulled a stick from inside the carriage, and pointed it at Zhao Er, What do you mean? You are not robbing us anymore? On what grounds are you not robbing us?
Zhao Er looked at the suddenly fierce woman and took another step back, feeling that todays events were extremely bizarre. I, is it a crime for me to not rob you?
Jiang Jin was furious. Of course it is! You stopped us but are not robbing us, wasting our time. Our boss will definitely punish us when we get back. We even voluntarily surrendered, what more do you want?
Zhao Er hurriedly waved his hands. No, I did not mean to. I apologize to you. I do not want you to surrender. Hurry up and leave, you should still make it in time.
Jiang Jin ground her teeth, gripping her stick, and charged straight at Zhao Er.
Before Zhao Er could even react, his wrist was struck by the stick, sending his blade flying.
Then, blows rained down on him like a storm as the woman cursed at him, I told you I surrender! Why will you not let me surrender?
Why on earth will you not let me surrender? You stopped us for a robbery, so why are you not robbing us? I want to surrender, so why will you not let me? You have to accept my surrender!
Zhao Er had already been beaten to the ground without any power to fight back, only able to wrap his arms around his head to protect his vitals.
The other bandits were completely bewildered by this sudden turn of events. Wait, if you are this fierce, why were you surrendering? We should be the ones surrendering, right?
Besides, who voluntarily surrenders? No, wait, who chases people down demanding to surrender!
Seeing their boss beaten into the dirt, the bandits could not overthink it and immediately rushed forward to help.
Xia Chanyi had already vaulted off her horse. Attack! Remember not to kill them.
With that said, she took the lead and swung her stick at a bandit.
Thwack! The bandit was hit squarely on the head and immediately rolled his eyes back, passing out on the spot.
Xia Chanyi was speechless. She really did not mean to. Honestly, the Lord was making things too difficult for them, this was much harder than just killing people.
Just as she was thinking this, she sensed movement behind her. Without time to turn around, she thrust her stick backward, and a scream rang out from behind.
The other female soldiers quickly joined the fray.
Shuangjiang, who had been pushing a cart, pulled a long stick from it and swept it outward. Instantly, two bandits were forcefully lifted and swept away by her.
They were truly swept away, their feet leaving the ground entirely. They flew several meters before crashing heavily into the dirt, so dizzy they could not tell north from south.
Luo Aman drew her stick and charged at another bandit.
The bandit also rushed at her, swinging his own stick at Luo Aman.
Their sticks met in mid-air with a loud crack.
The bandit felt a sharp pain radiating through the webbing of his hand, thinking to himself that this woman had incredible strength!
Before he could swing a second time, a turbulent, earth-shattering sensation erupted in his stomach. He yelled, Stop!
Luo Aman was startled and halted her stick mid-swing. What is it?
The bandit felt like he was going to lose it. He clamped his legs tightly together, his expression twisting. I, I ate something bad today. I will fight you in a bit. I, I need to go first, ahhh, remember to wait for me, ah.
Before he even finished speaking, he had already scampered off in a contorted posture, vanishing into the dense grass and woods in the blink of an eye.
Luo Aman was speechless.
Another bandit rushed at her, bringing his stick down toward her.
The recent period of hellish training had not been for nothing. Luo Amans body reacted faster than her brain, raising her stick to block.
However, the bandit did not actually hit her.
For some unknown reason, the bandit tripped over his own feet. He stumbled and pitched forward, tumbling several meters past her.
He happened to land right at the feet of another female soldier, who unceremoniously brought her stick down on him.
Thwack! Before the bandit could even get up, he took a hit from the stick and collapsed once more.
