Chapter 35 - 035: Elder Cao

In fact, what he heard was even more unsavory.

Qian Li’er told those evil attackers that Mrs. Cui, Gu Jinxiu, and even ten-year-old Gu Jinli from Gu Dashan’s family were all great beauties, far more attractive than she was by untold multiples, which made those villains drool with desire and swear to capture them and defile the great beauties described by Qian Li’er.

Qian Li’er also disclosed to those evil attackers about how Gu Dashan’s family saved the young master of Qi Mansion and stated that they possessed two treasures given by Qi Mansion; one was a dagger inlaid with gemstones, and the other was an imperial gift, the specifics of which were unknown, but it was definitely something valuable.

Treasure and beauty, these two things made those evil attackers’ eyes turn red with greed, as they searched everywhere throughout the mountains for Gu Dashan’s family, vowing to find them, kill off all the males, and then take away the beauties and treasures.

However, these words involved the three women of the Gu Family, and Qin San Lang found it inappropriate to speak them, so he compromised by telling them what Qian Li’er said about wanting the lives of their entire family of six.

As for what Qian Li’er said, Qin San Lang didn’t believe a word of it. The Gu Family women were indeed prettier than average farmer girls but far from being considered great beauties.

The story about the treasure was even more nonsensical. What time was it now that treasures could be eaten as food? If Qi Mansion were to give thanks, it would only be in the form of life-saving supplies like food, water, and salt.

But those evil attackers had been stirred up by Qian Li’er and were searching for the Gu Family People, which led Qin San Lang to say, "Don’t go out yet. Hide here for a few more days, and after those evil attackers leave, then you can depart."

Qian Li’er was following a minor leader with only a few dozen underlings, but Brother Jin, who came from a background of bandits and was accustomed to robbing on the road, was someone who could kill without blinking an eye.

Gu Dashan and his family listened until they turned pale, and Third Grandma cursed out loud, "How could Sister Li be so malicious, actually wanting the life of all six in Dashan’s family?"

Third Grandpa asked Qin San Lang out of concern, "Brother Qin, those evil attackers won’t find us here, will they?"

If those evildoers found this place, all of their several families would have to die.

The people from the Luo and Gu families, upon hearing this, all turned their frightened gazes towards Qin San Lang.

Elder Qin said, "Brother Gu, there’s no need to worry. This cave is on a cliff, those evil attackers can’t come down." They wouldn’t even think of us hiding here.

Elder Qin wasn’t too worried about the situation of Qian Li’er inciting evil attackers to search for Gu Dashan’s family; those villains would search for a couple of days at most and wouldn’t ransack every place just because of a word from a teenage girl.

Elder Qin’s estimation was not wrong. After searching at the foot of the mountains for two days without finding Gu Dashan’s family, Brother Jin’s subordinates started to become discontent and were no longer willing to look for them.

Qian Li’er, having not seen the bodies of Gu Dashan’s family, knew they were not dead and was unwilling to easily let them go, so she repeated how remarkably beautiful Mrs. Cui and her daughters were and how invaluable the treasures given by Qi Mansion were.

Unfortunately, this time no evil attackers believed her anymore.

Limp Zhang complained to a few of his companions, "A little girl with yellow hair still wants to boss us around as if she could, does she really think we only think with that bit of meat between our legs? Besides, we haven’t taken advantage of her in any way, why should we work for her?"

A few companions had long been unhappy with Qian Li’er; they didn’t know what tricks she had used to prevent Brother Jin from sharing her with them.

"Screw that, she acts all important after being with Brother Jin for a few days—it’s like she wants us to do her bidding. Fine, let her sleep with me, and I’ll pull up my pants afterward and go catch people for her."

These Evil Men spoke without any regard for propriety, complaining a bit before starting to speak lewdly about Qian Li’er.

Seeing that these Evil Men no longer believed in the beauty and treasure, Qian Li’er coquettishly pleaded with Brother Jin, "Brother Jin, you can’t let your men disobey you. If it happens once, there will be a second time, and after the third, they will dare to pull you down from your position as the big brother."

Hearing this, Brother Jin’s face, missing half a nose, turned cold. With a slap, he struck Qian Li’er across the face and cursed, "Stinky wench, if you keep stirring trouble between us brothers again, this old man will throw you to the men for their enjoyment."

Brother Jin had lived over forty years and had long been used to women’s tricks. A fourteen-year-old girl like Qian Li’er daring to show off her wiles in front of him was just asking for trouble.

Qian Li’er’s cheek swelled from the slap, and for the first time since that night, she felt the fear of death once again. She quickly suppressed the resentment in her heart, looked at Brother Jin with tearful eyes and sobbed, "Brother Jin, Li’er was wrong. Please don’t be angry. Li’er just wanted to do things for Brother Jin. You don’t know how beautiful Gu Jinxiu is. Even the eldest young master of Qi Mansion could hardly contain himself when he saw her."

Brother Jin was lustful, and these past few days he had coveted Gu Jinxiu because of Qian Li’er’s words, but we can’t waste any more time on the Gu Dashan family: "Let’s drop this matter. Elder Cao has already sent a message, we need to hit the road again at dawn tomorrow."

When Qian Li’er heard the name Elder Cao, she quickly lowered her head, but a glint shot across her eyes in the moment she did.

Over the past couple of days, she had learned that there was a boss of these bandits called Elder Cao. Elder Cao was originally a military general who had committed crimes and was to be executed, but he had been lucky. He encountered a drought and troubles with the Northwest Border Army, seized the chance to kill a prison guard, released the criminals from the jail, and then led those criminals on a rampaging journey of arson, murder, and looting, growing from a hundred men to now over a thousand - a man worth attaching herself to.

Right, Qian Li’er had set her sights on Elder Cao. Anyway, she wasn’t clean anymore and couldn’t possibly marry into a decent family. Since she was going to be with these bandits, why not choose the most powerful one?

Qian Li’er knew they had to leave this time and could only temporarily forget about Gu Dashan’s family. She began to sweet-talk Brother Jin again, coaxing him into liking her once more.

Before hooking up with Elder Cao, she had to get on Brother Jin’s good side, or else she might end up like the other women who were captured and tortured to death by these smelly bandits.

The next day at sunrise, all the bandits resting at the foot of the mountain began moving, loading all the plundered food and goods onto carts; then they tied up the kidnapped women and children with ropes, dragging them to continue on the march.

Before these bandits even got up, Elder Cao had already sent out a hundred men to scout ahead.

This was always their method: to send people ahead to scout. If they came across refugees, those men would return to report, and Elder Cao would lead the main force to attack the refugees and steal from them.

But now, the things they robbed from the refugees were getting less and less. Elder Cao was already planning to rob the next passing Prefecture.

Qian Li’er, following among these bandits, kept looking around, searching for Elder Cao’s figure...

In a clump of grass in the distance, Qin San Lang hid within the grass, looking grimly at the receding bandits... Their numbers were growing; if they continued to expand, a disaster would surely ensue.

Qin San Lang hid in the grass for more than a quarter of an hour until the bandits were no longer in sight. He then left the grass and returned to the cave beneath the cliff to report.

As soon as he arrived, everyone gathered around him.

Knowing they were anxious, Qin San Lang said with a smile, "Those bandits have left; everyone can go out now."

Hearing this, the people from several families were overjoyed, with Third Grandma and Mrs. Cui’s eyes brimming with tears, crying with happiness. After living in a state of fear and shock for three days, the bandits had finally gone.