Liu Rumei finished her lament and said in a low voice, "Arrange for people to secretly keep an eye on Chen Xiaobei and see who he associates with."
Liu Ce bowed and replied, "I will arrange it immediately and monitor Chen Xiaobei around the clock."
At this time, Chen Xiaobei returned home and told Cui Hongyu about his plan to take Liu Rumei and the others up the mountain.
Cui Hongyu appeared very anxious, "Husband, are you sure you can handle going up the mountain repeatedly? Why don't you ask them to postpone it until tomorrow?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head, "They've come all the way here, how can I refuse? By the way, whether I return tonight or not, you absolutely must not go into the mountains tonight. If I'm not back by noon tomorrow, then you can go. I'll leave some markers along the way."
Chen Xiaobei gestured on Cui Hongyu's hand, telling her the symbol he would use to indicate his direction of travel was '>'.
Cui Hongyu nodded, "I've noted it. You also need to be careful and don't let anyone notice your secret markings, lest it look like you're doing something shady."
Since he was going into the mountains with Liu Rumei, Chen Xiaobei didn't bring his repeating crossbow, only a water pouch.
Along the way, Liu Ce seemed exceptionally interested in Qingniu Mountain, pointing and asking questions frequently, as if wanting to understand it thoroughly. Su Dan Novel Network.
Chen Xiaobei answered all his questions truthfully and comprehensively.
As they talked and walked, time flew by, and so did the distance. They soon arrived at the place where Yang Zhi and his group had been ambushed.
Chen Xiaobei didn't hide anything and pointed towards Hulu Valley, "I was collecting herbs in there when I encountered the unconscious Yang Zhi."
Liu Rumei waved her hand, and Liu Ce immediately led his men to disperse, searching high and low, left and right. They only returned when the sun was starting to set.
Liu Ce pointed to a small, steep slope ahead and said, "There are signs of an ambush there, and also traces of people having been at the bottom of the cliff." He then pointed to Hulu Valley, "There are bloodstains there too."
After explaining this, he changed the subject, "However, one thing is very strange. There are messy footprints near the Mountain God Temple, likely from those trying to flank. But there are no signs of a fight there."
Hearing this, Liu Rumei's brows furrowed, "That shouldn't be. This clearly looks like a ruthless pursuit, so why would they spare them near the Mountain God Temple?"
Suddenly, her eyebrows shot up, "I understand. It's because of the mole."
Liu Ce slapped his thigh, "That's the only explanation. The mole must have reached some kind of understanding with the ambushers, which is why they were spared."
Liu Rumei nodded, "Yes, find out who survived, or who brought them back. Everything will become clear then."
Liu Ce bowed, "I'll arrange for someone to investigate. Also, we can no longer count on the people from Tianzhu Country. What should we do next?"
Liu Rumei's expression suddenly turned stern, "If someone plays the first hand, someone else must play the second. They destroyed the Vermillion Bird Gang, and we cannot let them get away with it."
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Chen Xiaobei in the distance, her eyes filled with a deep meaning.
"Miss, are you relying on him? What can a few mountain folk do?"
Liu Rumei smiled slightly, "I actually find this Chen Xiaobei rather interesting. If we keep an eye on him, we will surely gain something."
By the time Chen Xiaobei returned home, it was completely dark.
Seeing him return, Cui Hongyu was overjoyed and busied herself with preparing dinner. Tonight's dinner included a fish.
Chen Qiao'er patted her chest proudly and said, "Brother, brother, I helped sister-in-law catch this big fish."
Chen Xiaobei smiled and tapped her little head, "Is that so? Qiao'er is the best."
Cui Hongyu smiled, "We had good luck today. We caught several big fish with one cast. We'll keep the biggest one for ourselves and put the rest back in the pond."
Chen Xiaobei looked at her with concern, "In the future, don't do such strenuous work. Leave it to the men. You just need to be beautiful."
Hearing this, Cui Hongyu felt a surge of happiness. She knew this was Chen Xiaobei's genuine concern, and it was real.
After dinner, Li Dong returned, bringing some good news for Chen Xiaobei.
The two hundred taels of silver and the gold ingot could buy five curved sabers, five spears, and also two bows with a bag of arrows.
"Brother Xiaobei, this is the lowest price I could get. I..." Li Dong hesitated, clearly feeling that the items were too expensive for over two hundred taels of silver.
However, in Chen Xiaobei's opinion, buying ten weapons for two hundred taels of silver was an acceptable price. "It's alright, Brother Li Dong. This is enough. I'll distribute these to the team members tomorrow, and I'll find an opportunity to hire an instructor to teach them properly."
...
Meanwhile, Yang Zhi and Yang Bo were walking aimlessly through the streets of Xiaojia Town. They had come from the county town to Xiaojia Town with no idea what to do next.
Liu Rumei's denial was within their expectations. But then again, they had no evidence, and everything was based on speculation.
"Brother, what should we do next?" Yang Bo asked with confusion.
Not only was he confused, but Yang Zhi was also very lost.
"Let's find a place to stay first. We still need to find those surviving brothers!"
"Yes, I wonder where Third Master took them."
"Given Third Brother's nature, he will definitely track down our enemies!" Yang Zhi said with confidence, unaware that his third brother, Latour, had already met his end.
The next day, Chen Xiaobei woke up early. Taking advantage of the cool weather, he first went to the river to cast his nets.
After casting a net, he waited for a long time but saw no activity. Finally, Chen Xiaobei lost his patience and pulled up the net.
The net contained only a few small fish, about three inches long.
He cast two more nets, and they were all the same. Chen Xiaobei felt a little discouraged. It seemed like his luck was bad today.
Never mind. He would go home and make fishing nets. He had acquired so many nets but hadn't started modifying them yet.
As he approached his doorstep, he heard hurried footsteps. Chen Xiaowen ran over, "Brother Xiaobei, that... that strange man has woken up!"
Chen Xiaobei quickly put down the fishing net and rushed over with him.
When he arrived at the scene, the sight before him surprised and shocked him. Lardô stared blankly at the ceiling, motionless like a statue.
Chen Xiaobei coughed twice, and Lardô's gaze slowly shifted back. He glanced at Chen Xiaobei, then closed his eyes again.
"Kill me or torture me, whatever you wish. Just give me a quick end."
So that's it. He mistook me for his enemy. Chen Xiaobei smiled calmly, "Your name is Lardô, and Yang Zhi is your brother, right?"