Chapter 16

Ying Yue did not answer her question. Instead, once the girl finally stood up, she softly said, “Let’s leave this underground secret room first.”

Then she looked at another girl, who had just stood up by herself with the help of the wall. “This girl too. Before leaving this village and going home, let’s go up, have something to eat together, and regain our strength.”

The people in this secret room had clearly been hungry for a long time. Judging by their faces, they hadn’t eaten. Even if the bandits had offered food, they had been in the village for over a day and hadn’t had any food or water in that time.

If she let them go like this, Ying Yue feared the girl might faint on the road and encounter unknown dangers.

“Okay,” the girl responded first, thanking Ying Yue. “Thank you, miss.”

The beautiful girl gently shook her head, saying, “It’s fine.” Then she extended her other hand. After a couple of seconds, the girl placed her hand on Ying Yue’s, accepting her kindness. Given her weakness, she had to rely on the wall to stand.

Seeing that Ying Yue was preparing to leave, Zhao Kuo quickly asked a few boys nearby to stand. The two weakest couldn’t get up, so he simply picked them up, carrying one in each hand like they were light as feathers.

Jia Xu, who had been standing silently, turned around and took the lead, heading toward the exit.

This secret room was built in the warehouse where the riches of the mountain stronghold were stored. Gold, silver, and other valuables were piled everywhere, and the place had been made even messier by Zhao Kuo. It was clearly not a good place to rest.

Zhao Kuo led the group through two corridors to a room with tables and chairs. This room seemed to have been where the bandits held their meetings to divide their spoils.

Afterward, he brought them some dry food ^[1]refers to simple and easily preserved food like bread. and explained, “This is all we have right now, so you’ll have to make do.”

Given the current situation, they couldn’t prepare any hot meals, so dry food was all they could offer.

However, perhaps due to their long imprisonment and suffering, even the children ate the dry food Zhao Kuo handed out without complaint, focusing seriously on their meal. This made Zhao Kuo feel relieved.

If a child had caused trouble, it would’ve been a headache.

_

Since Zhao Kuo came from a military family, he wasn’t overly strict about the rule of not talking while eating. So he chatted with the boys as they ate, asking them where they lived, planning to send them back afterward.

Considering the children’s age, they should remember where their homes were.

Although the village was short of manpower, and the progress on Task 2 for the young master had only moved slightly, they weren’t desperate enough to rely on children to make up the numbers.

Besides, raising children was very difficult.

So, to avoid any complications, it was better to send them back as soon as possible.

_

After dinner, another girl in a plain dress thanked Ying Yue again. She said that if she had the chance in the future, she would repay her for saving her life. Then, she turned and went down the mountain by herself.

Watching the thin, lonely figure leaving, Ying Yue suddenly felt that there was a story behind this girl, and it probably wasn’t a happy one.

At the same time as the girl left, Zhao Kuo had already asked the boys for their home addresses.

Fortunately, all of them were from Jilongxi County, which was close to their Heifeng Village—though it had now been renamed Bianchun Village. 

Bianchun Mountain was located between Beidi County and Jilongxi County, so it wouldn’t take long to send them back.

It just so happened that their carriage was still available. Although the fine horse from the palace had been ridden away by someone else, they could still take the boys back to Longxi County by simply using another horse from the stable.

However, while sending the children home quickly was important to avoid further trouble, the most pressing issue was…

Zhao Kuo looked at the girl who had claimed to be the daughter of the prefect of Beidi County.

If they could seize an entire county, why start from this small, run-down village?

But since this matter involved fighting for territory and action, Bai Qi would need to be called back to discuss it—whether he liked it or not.

With this thought, Zhao Kuo poked Jia Xu and whispered in his ear, “Please look after our lord and make sure she isn’t deceived by that girl. I’ll go find someone and come back quickly.”

Although there was no one protecting Ying Yue directly, Zhao Kuo felt a bit worried.

However, since the one to be wary of was just a girl—a weak girl who had been locked up for days and recently rescued—Zhao Kuo thought the main danger would come from her words. And Jia Xu, though only an N card in the system, should be able to handle this kind of situation.

After all, Jia Xu was a civil official who had been selected into the system card pool, so it would be strange if he couldn’t outthink a young girl in her twenties.

After greeting Jia Xu and receiving his response, Zhao Kuo took a few well-fed children to find a room for them to sleep, then hurried to find Bai Qi.

_

When Zhao Kuo mentioned he was going to look for someone, Jia Xu understood that it was another general he hadn’t met yet. He was curious about which SSR general Ying Yue had drawn.

Jia Xu knew that Zhao Kuo alone was capable of capturing a mountain stronghold. There weren’t many historical generals able to do this. He also wondered if the general might be someone from a later generation. However, no matter what the situation was, he felt confident he could handle it.

_

The girl, contrary to Zhao Kuo’s expectations, remained calm after he left. She didn’t try to win Ying Yue over with words, but instead waited quietly for Zhao Kuo to return and talk about the matters she had mentioned before.

Seeing her nervous and cautious demeanor, Ying Yue felt a bit sorry for her and began chatting. Their conversation was simple, more like a casual talk between women, with Ying Yue telling her not to be so tense.

Jia Xu kept reading a book that Ying Yue had given him. Although the title was inappropriate, the content was very useful and practical.

Zhao Kuo took more than an hour to return. As the sky outside changed from bright blue to dark, Zhao Kuo finally returned with Bai Qi.

Seeing the two return, the girl couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you take so long?” 

Little did she know, her question touched on an embarrassing truth for Zhao Kuo.

The reason Zhao Kuo was gone so long was that, when he left to find Bai Qi, he went in the wrong direction. He missed Bai Qi several times along the way. Just before he lost his temper, Bai Qi, who had remembered something, returned to find him.

Naturally, Zhao Kuo didn’t want to admit this to Ying Yue. Besides, with his new “little brother,” Jia Xu, there, he couldn’t risk embarrassing himself.

When Zhao Kuo spoke, Bai Qi glanced at Jia Xu but remained silent. He didn’t reveal the truth and instead focused on Jia Xu.

On the way back, Zhao Kuo had already told Bai Qi that Ying Yue had drawn a civil official card and rescued several people from the secret room, one of whom claimed to be the daughter of the county magistrate.

Bai Qi wasn’t surprised to see strangers in the room. After briefly nodding to Jia Xu as a greeting, he glanced at the girl and then ignored her.