Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 650: Chapter 650: Life and Death in Two Days and Two Nights (Part 7)
 

The setting sun gradually sank below the horizon.

The drawbridge of Macheng County was being slowly raised, preparing to close the city gate.

At this moment, a young girl, under the protection of a young master and several servants, sprinted out from the South City Gate. In the rolling dust, they quickly disappeared into a sea of yellow sand.

The soldiers guarding the city watched the fading figures and whispered to each other.

“Wasn’t the one who left the city earlier a servant of Lord Di’s family?”

“That’s right. The young girl in the middle seems to be the miss of Lord Di’s family, and who is that young man?”

“Didn’t they say that the Second Young Master of Di family went missing last night? I’m afraid the man next to their miss might be her fiancé, the son of Constable Zhang in our governmental office. But, at the moment, what is she doing leaving the city?”

“Who knows? It’s better for us common folks not to meddle in what these nobles are doing, lest we bring trouble upon ourselves.”

“Indeed…”

South City.

“Your Honor, there’s a new discovery!”

There was a sudden commotion ahead, and someone soon brought a small silk flower, handing it to Di Yelei.

“Our brothers found it up there and discovered a cave halfway up the mountain. It seems like people have been coming in and out. Moreover, many large stones seem to have been piled up at the entrance of the cave. Fearing the bandits might still be inside, our brothers did not take the initiative to act without orders, so they came to report immediately!”

As expected from men born as constables, their judgment in sizing up the situation was strong.

Di Yelei looked at the small silk flower and silently put it away: “What is this cave used for? Is it natural or man-made? How deep is it? How many people can it hold inside? Have you investigated carefully?”

“There’s a brother on our team who lives nearby. He said this cave is a naturally formed karst cave, which the locals call Qinglong Cave or Nine Connected Rings.”

“This cave is Qinglong Cave?” Di Yelei was surprised! He couldn’t help but look up.

“Yelei, have you heard of this cave?” Zhang Peng, who was beside him, was also surprised.

“Of course, I have, although I don’t know much about it.”

Di Yelei nodded affirmatively, with a worried expression on his face: “It is said that there is a rock cave inside that can accommodate about twenty people. If you continue further in, only one person can crawl through, passing through nine different sized caves along the way. There are also two large underground rivers in the middle, and one can leave through an exit on the other side of the North Mountain.”

“Your Honor is correct; the Qinglong Cave is indeed as you describe.”

The soldier also hastily added: “But the terrain inside the cave is very complex, and it is easy for people to get lost. In addition to the dense stalactites and rock bamboos, there are many poisonous insects, countless waterholes of varying depths, and hot and cold caves with different temperatures. It is terrifying to stay inside. If it’s the rainy season, the rising water levels of the underground rivers will cause flooding in the cave. So…”

“In other words, if the bandits have food, hiding for ten days or half a month inside without coming out would be quite easy?” Zhang Peng asked in surprise.

“…I’m afraid so!”

Di Yelei looked up at the direction of the cave entrance on the mountain above, his lips tightly pressed as he remained silent for a while.

“Give the order to rest in place. Without my command, no one is allowed to act rashly! Otherwise, there will be strict punishment!”

“Yes, Your Honor!”

It was only then that everyone stopped searching and rested where they were.

Zhang Peng walked silently over to Di Yelei’s side and picked a spot to sit down casually, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Yelei, we can’t just sit here and do nothing. We need to think of a good plan!”

Di Yelei, who had been quietly lost in thought, looked up at Zhang Peng, raised his hand, and casually wiped his face.

“We really need to do something! Da Niu, go find a few brothers who are good at running and have fast speeds.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Da Niu quickly left with his orders.

Zhang Peng came over: “What’s your plan?”

Di Yelei looked at the surrounding terrain: “We can’t just go head-on like this. Look, I’m planning to have a few brothers attack from the rear while we’ll be a distraction at the front. We’ll attack on two fronts, and we’ll definitely succeed!”

As Di Yelei spoke, he pointed out the surrounding terrain with his hands.

However, this plan wasn’t foolproof. After all, the situation inside the mountain cave was too complicated, and they didn’t know how many people were inside, let alone whether or not they had weapons.

But YingEr was a girl, and every moment she was in danger.

Di Yelei couldn’t afford to wait any longer and decided to take the risk!

“Alright! Although I’m old, I watched YingEr grow up from a child. Count me in!”

Zhang Peng said seriously.

Di Yelei sighed, not refusing: “Alright! Sigh!”

“However, what excuse should we use to have these people go around without alerting the bandits on the mountain?”

This was indeed a problem!

When Zhang Yun and Di Xuan rushed over, they saw everyone sitting around leisurely.

Di Xuan jumped off the horse and hurriedly ran towards Di Yelei.

“Uncle Di! Uncle Di!”

Zhang Yun, in a hurry, had sweat all over his head: “Uncle Di, why are you still resting here? Aren’t you going to go find YingEr? Uncle Di!”

“Zhang Yun, Xuan’er, why did you come here?”

Di Yelei frowned instinctively! He secretly motioned to the side with his eyes.

Zhang Yun was so anxious that he shouted: “Uncle Di, have you found YingEr’s whereabouts? Uncle Di, tell me, tell me!”

He grabbed Di Yelei’s sleeve and shook it continuously.

“Zhang Yun, stop making a fuss! Isn’t your Uncle Di trying to figure something out now? You fussing around here won’t help.”

Zhang Peng came over, nodded at Di Yelei, and whispered something in Zhang Yun’s ear.

Inside the mountain cave, Old Man Li, with his lame leg, lay next to the cave, carefully observing the movements around him.

Jiang Xiaocai still hadn’t come back, and his big brother was worried, so he had already gone in to look for him. Looking at the people below who were tightly surrounded, Old Man Li couldn’t help but curse in his heart!

No wonder the other party dare to leave him alone and leave with peace of mind. Even if he wanted to run, he couldn’t!

There were piles of irregular stones the size of watermelons beside the cave, with a rope buried underneath.

As soon as he noticed anything wrong, he would immediately pull the rope, and the chaotic stones would rain down on anyone who came to search the mountain.

By then, hehehe…

As Old Man Li was enjoying his cunning plan, a commotion suddenly came from below, and it seemed that people were fighting.

He stretched his neck to take a closer look, quickly recognizing the two men fighting.