“I-I-I wasn’t stealing it, just borrowing the light!” Bai Shuo hastily offered the wooden figure back to the young man, but there was no response. When she looked down, he was still unconscious, his eyes tightly closed, though one hand held her pant leg, and his lips were pressed together in a determined, even defiant, line, as if deeply displeased.
Feeling guilty, Bai Shuo hesitated, but glancing at the dark forest outside, she clutched the glowing wooden pig tightly. In one swift motion, she pried his hand off, kicked him lightly away, quickly pushed open the half-closed door, and ran toward the edge of the camp, vanishing into the night.
Meanwhile, in the main hall, the bandits were in high spirits, drinking and playing games, reveling in the night. Wu Yong, the second-in-command, suddenly remembered the two captives locked in the woodshed and asked, somewhat drunkenly:
“Boss, those two delicate-looking kids in the woodshed—they’re not exactly capable of fighting or working. Why didn’t we just rob them and be done with it? Why bring them here to waste food?”
“What do you know? The better-looking they are, the better! Tomorrow, go gather some medicinal herbs for the injured one, get him healed up, clean him up nicely, and we can sell him at a good price in the city’s Ying Chun Pavilion,” Zhang Chao replied, taking a big gulp of wine and laughing loudly.
Hearing this, Wu Yong frowned with a trace of concern. “Boss, the outsiders can’t usually get into the depths of Mount Mu Xiao. Where exactly did this kid come from?”
Zhang Chao paused, gripping his wine bottle. “Have we checked the entire mountain?”
“We’ve checked. The brothers combed every inch—no sign of anyone else. This kid just… appeared out of nowhere. It’s eerie.” Wu Yong glanced around, lowering his voice. “You don’t think he knows our hideout’s secrets, do you?”
Mount Mu Xiao lay not far from the capital, yet for years, the governor of Wei City had been unable to eradicate the bandits here. It wasn’t because the bandits were exceptionally fierce; rather, no matter how often the imperial soldiers searched the mountain, they could never find the bandits’ stronghold. The situation was indeed strange, and because these bandits only robbed merchant caravans without taking lives, the local officials, fearing the matter would reach the Emperor’s ears and bring severe punishment, had decided to cover it up.
Zhang Chao and Wu Yong were originally villagers from Mu Xiao Mountain’s Mu Family Village. Growing up in the isolated, shadowy depths of the mountain, the villagers had fled deep into the forest centuries ago to escape the chaos of war. Hidden from the outside world, the villagers of Mu Family Village rarely ventured out and remained unknown to others. Zhang Chao was the village chief’s son, and on his deathbed, the old chief had told him that their ancestors, upon fleeing to this place, had inadvertently extinguished a great forest fire. In return, the mountain itself had granted them protection: only the native-born of Mu Family Village could find their way to the stronghold, while outsiders would be lost in the mist, left to wander aimlessly.
Zhang Chao, now the village chief, knew this secret. As the older generation passed away and the village’s situation grew increasingly dire, he decided to gather the village’s able-bodied men and turn to banditry, using the mountain’s natural barriers to their advantage. Every few weeks, they would raid, bringing back enough to keep the village comfortable. This was why Mu Family Village, despite being a bandit den, had no guards or lookouts.
Wu Yong’s reminder immediately made Zhang Chao tense. He stood up and commanded, “The one we captured today came from below the mountain, so he doesn’t matter. Go wake up the unconscious one and bring him here.”
“Yes, Boss.” Wu Yong hurried off with his men.
With a loud “rip,” the woodshed door was pushed open, and torchlight illuminated the inside. But seeing the shed empty, Wu Yong’s face turned dark.
Under the dim moonlight, Bai Shuo was trudging through the dense forest, burdened by the unconscious young man she had tightly bound to her back with her rough outer coat. A small, glowing wooden pig pendant hung from her chest, illuminating their path faintly. She moved slowly, marking each tree with a small moon symbol to remember her way.
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