"Officer... you must be mistaken, I'm the one who saved him. Mr. Li is weak and defenseless, how could he possibly have a chance to save anyone, you see?"
"Get lost. Trying to fool me again? Guards, search them! Take all the valuables and grain."
At this moment, everyone understood. The young man surnamed Zheng was clearly right about Meng Shaode's prediction; there was no reasoning with a scoundrel.
At his command, the four or five men on horseback behind the young man surnamed Zheng dismounted and drew their long sabers.
"Ah! Don't hurt my children."
Luo Xiuying's pupils contracted in fear. "The oldest is only eight, they can't be conscripted. Please, officer, spare them."
"Who the hell wants children your age? They can't fight. Get down."
The young man surnamed Zheng, one by one, directly pulled the two children from the cart.
"Ah, ah,呜呜呜, Mother, I'm scared."
Luo Xiuying lunged forward, hugging her children tightly, her eyes filled with terror.
Meng Shaokang's lips were devoid of color. He stammered, "We don't... we don't have anything."
"Why is this old lady sitting there? Get down."
A furious roar.
Meng Shaode then realized that the brother he had once risked his life to save, the one who almost cost him an arm, had now brought him to such a despairing reality.
"That's my mother, her legs aren't good." A surge of malevolence rose inexplicably in Meng Shaode's heart. It was a pity he was so tall but lacked the courage to fight back.
Cai Lihua instinctively hid behind her husband, who shielded his wife and daughters.
"I don't believe Zheng Sangou doesn't remember. For him, I received such a deep gash that nearly cost me an arm. Forget it, I'll just consider myself blind back then."
"You're absolutely right, consider yourself blind."
The young man surnamed Zheng angrily hauled the old woman seated in the cart down.
The moment she was pulled down, her leg, injured when the ox cart overturned, pained her even more. Madam Wang pushed away the young man surnamed Zheng who was pulling her.
"How dare you lay hands on this venerable one! I shall ensure you commoners repay this debt in full one day."
As she spoke, Meng Shaode, who had been holding onto a shred of dignity, his knees buckled. Oh heavens, Mother, please stop spouting such wild words, what time is this?
A Jiu saw that he and his men had discovered dozens of catties of grain in the cart and, completely ignoring Madam Wang's rambling, directly carried away the sacks.
"These two women are quite attractive, though that girl is too skinny. Boss, let's take them back," a subordinate suggested with a lecherous grin.
A Jiu's heart sank. She knew what being taken away meant: being discarded in the military camp as a reward for the soldiers, to be trampled upon.
She glanced again at her terrified uncle, who was slowly shrinking behind his wife.
"Grandma." A Jiu took her water pouch from her waist and, behind her mother's protective embrace, dangled it in front of her grandmother. She deliberately pulled out the stopper and waved it near her nose, then quickly sealed it and guarded it carefully. "Don't you have a jade ring?"
Madam Wang, thrown to the ground, endured the pain in her leg and sat cross-legged. She immediately sniffed the spiritual energy left in the air and quickly detected the water pouch hanging from the girl's waist. Her eyes lit up.
"All of you, stop! I have a treasure here. If it can be exchanged for spirit stones, it would fetch a good price. Uh, for silver."
Saying this, the old lady, with evident pain, took it from her embrace. This time, she had finally faced reality.
A tiger fallen to the plains is bullied by dogs. Alas, she was now utterly devoid of spiritual energy and could only grit her teeth and curse this wild land.
The jade ring was wide, more like a thumb ring, its interior crystal clear and exuding a pure emerald hue.
"Boss, this is a good item. When I worked for Master Wang, I saw jade of this color, but the luster of this one is far superior to what I saw."