Zhou Yu waved the dagger in front of the man, “You’re still not being honest.”

The man was frightened but insisted, “We’re just after money. This is our first time robbing anyone.”

Yang Xi didn’t believe him. Seeing how well they worked together, it was obvious they had done this before. In the freezing weather, she grew impatient. “You’re after people, not money. Tell me, how many have you sold?”

The man’s pupils shrank, but he still bit his nails and tried to make money.

Wu Shan reacted and realized that they had never lost any money. The most valuable thing was not people. There were two young women in the Zhou family and four people in his family including his daughter-in-law. If they were all sold to dirty places, they were worth a lot of silver. He was filled with anger when he realized it. It was normal to sell children on the road to escape. No matter how difficult the time was, he never thought of selling his daughter.

Wu Shan kicked him and said, “You bastards.”

Zhou Yu said: “The villagers didn’t welcome us. They probably knew the immoral things these people did.”

Wu Shan then recalled the village head’s hesitation and frowned, “How should we deal with these people?”

Report to the police? Don’t be ridiculous. Not to mention that the Zhou family couldn’t see the officials, and even if there was no Zhou family, no one would care if he reported to the yamen. Moreover, in this mountain village, every family protected each other. They were weak and worried that they would not be able to leave the village.

Yang Xi said leisurely: “We are refugees and no one cares if we report to the authorities. They also don’t dare to report to the authorities.”

In the minds of the people, the government office in ancient times was not the modern police station. The people were afraid of the government office, and many matters were handled by the village head and within the family.

Zhou Yu replied: “They are our hostages.”

Yang Xi smiled and said, “We are short of everything. Look at the thick cotton-padded clothes on the people. Their families are well-off. I think they will redeem them.”

Wu Shan swallowed nervously. Were all officials’ wives this formidable? How could Madam Zhou calmly joke about turning the tables on the robbers?

Still, Wu Shan felt pleased. With Lady Yang being so clever, they stood to benefit as well.

Then they all went back to sleep, not caring about the few people who were freezing, as long as they were sure they wouldn’t die.

After a few hours, everyone woke up, packed their things, and put them on the sled.

The eight men, wearing borrowed cotton coats they had to return, were freezing to the bone. At this point, all they wanted was to stay alive. No matter how much hatred they harbored, they had to endure it, obediently revealing the location of their hideout.

The two families pulled the sled out of the village first, leaving behind Zhou’s younger brother and Wu’s two younger sons, while Zhou Yu and his party pulled the two hostages into the village.

In Brother Zhou’s heart, his sister-in-law’s image became taller overnight, “Sister-in-law, will my brother and the others be successful?”

Yang Xi looked at the remaining six hostages and said, “Yes.”

It was obvious that these eight people were the pillars of their families, and none of the people in these eight families were good people.

Zhou Xiaomei was a little scared, “Sister-in-law, when can we reach our destination?”

Yang Xi patted Zhou Xiaomei on the shoulder. They had just set out on a journey, and she felt like she was on a quest for knowledge, so she had to unite with the Wu family.

Zhou Yu and his companions came back quickly, each of them carrying a bag, and they also brought back two hostages. There were torches behind them, and it was obvious that everyone in the village was awake. The one walking in front was the village head.

Zhou Xiaomei grabbed her sister-in-law’s hand and said, “Sister-in-law.”

Yang Xi was very calm. They were confident with the hostages in their hands.

Zhou Yu put down the two bags in his hand, “One bag of fine grains, one bag of miscellaneous items.”

Yang Xi thought that a bag of fine grains was not light, at least thirty or forty kilograms, and smiled, “Ok.”

As expected, people make their fortunes by robbing. They tried their best to buy food but couldn’t buy many fine grains, yet they managed to get thirty or forty kilograms by robbing. The fact that these families were living well showed that they had long lost their conscience.

The Wu family sent another bag. Wu Shan was in a very good mood. Even Third Yang carried two bags.

The village head asked, “Can we redeem them now?”

Zhou Yu smiled, “We are weak and you are more in number. Who knows if you will detain us? Let us take them for a walk and then we will release them.”

Yang Xi looked at Zhou Yu, and the two of them looked at each other and understood each other’s thoughts. How could they let these beasts go back intact? Wouldn’t that harm more people?

(End of this chapter)

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