Chapter 577: Chapter 359 Danger Eliminated
Ye Shiqi winked at her father and said,
“Daddy, now that we are already here, let’s do as I say. Our two carriages will proceed forward, quickly, with Brother Wang and his guard.
As for the other cars and the food, after we pass, send a message for them to go back.”
Hongji… How had he forgotten that his young daughter had special abilities? He had hired the caravans precisely to be less conspicuous. If there really were thieves ahead, their small group might just avoid the crisis!
Hongji turned and instructed Li Zhihao to do as his daughter had suggested.
“Okay,” Li Zhihao went to arrange for the employees sitting in the carriage to get down and share a horse with their group of guards.
He also called down his young son to sit in the carriage with his aunt.
Li Zhihao paid in full, instructing the caravan that once they sent the signal after leaving, they should head back without concerning themselves with anything else that happened on the road.
The people from the caravan were confused, but since their employer had paid in full and they would get their wages without going far, they were willing to comply.
Zhong Xingwang had also already instructed the driver of his carriage.
His coachman was confused upon hearing that they were to return to Ye Manor to wait for the young master, questioning, “If there’s no danger, why worry?”
“Do as I say; everyone is to escort the Ye family’s carriages!”
“Yes,” they responded.
Those who needed to mount horses did so, and those who needed to get into the carriages did the same, and thus their group swiftly advanced, while the others and the caravan waited for the signal.
As the carriage drew nearer to the mountain road, Ye Shiqi felt the breaths of people hiding on the mountain growing heavier—it was the sight of them that made their breathing more labored, perhaps because she was so close, her senses were clearer.
Ye Shiqi… These people were desperate criminals, and if they attacked, her group might not fare well!
An idea struck her—to collect all their belongings, leaving them without any harmful weapons, so they couldn’t harm her group.
Ye Shiqi thought this and acted quickly and secretly.
In just a blink of an eye, the carriage reached the side of the mountain, and the group of people who saw them seemed less numerous than those described by the messenger.
Hesitating briefly upon seeing only two carriages approach without any noise from behind.
“Doesn’t look like an easy target,” said a mountain bandit standing next to the leader.
“Could the real prize be further back?” suggested the mountain bandit leader.
“It’s odd. All these horses just to escort two carriages,” commented another bandit.
“Never mind that, push the trees down, drop the rocks,” the mountain bandit leader commanded, only to feel his weapon disappear from his hand.
The other bandits, following their leader’s orders, put their weapons down to push trees and throw rocks.
Trees tumbled down the mountainside and rocks fell, startling the people in and around the carriages.
The drivers quickly whipped their horses to speed up, while those who could wielded their weapons defensively.
Ye Shiqi… “I told you to throw, to act so boldly,” she thought as the tree that had tumbled down the mountainside suddenly vanished, and the rocks that were about to hit them also disappeared.
The group was startled and defensive, but in that instant, they had already passed that stretch of road, too late to wonder why the trees had vanished and the rocks hadn’t hit them.
The mountain bandit leader and his men were stunned; the rocks they dropped disappeared, the tree that had rolled to the roadside was gone, and when they tried to pick up their weapons to charge down, those were gone too—those left on the ground had also disappeared.
“Did we see a ghost?” the mountain bandit leader was shocked.
“Did we encounter a ghost?”
“It’s not July 15th today!”
The mountain bandits were all dumbfounded. While they stood frozen, one of them felt around his body. His weapon was gone. Could it be that his other belongings had disappeared too?
“Oh no, my money pouch is gone!”
“Good heavens, it’s haunted!”
This group of mountain bandits was actually fleeing from somewhere else and had just settled here. They lived in caves on the mountain, with too many murders on their hands, they could only flee here to resume their old ways.
After Zhong Xingwang had escorted the carriage for a while, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt scared inside. Fortunately, his sister-in-law was alert; otherwise, they all would have been in danger.
The target was too big, the caravan couldn’t get through quickly. Now with a smaller target, they rapidly crossed the dangerous area.
He instructed the guard to send a message, signaling with fireworks in the sky.
On receiving the message, those on the other side, obeying their employer’s words, prepared to return. Accidentally, someone lifted the curtain of the carriage.
“Oh, man, how did the food disappear?”
The others, upon hearing this, all quickly lifted the curtains of their carriages. They were stunned and their mouths gaped wide open, unable to believe what they were seeing.
“It’s haunted! What do we do now?”
“It seems like the employer said, no matter what happens, to return first. Could it be that the employer had anticipated something happening?”
The coachman left by Zhong Xingwang carefully lifted the curtain of his own carriage, and what he saw also made him shiver.
“Where are the gifts that young Master placed in the carriage?”
Those invited attendees had seen workers loading things onto the carriage, and the horses had struggled to pull the carriages all the way. It certainly wasn’t a dream—thus, the items had disappeared.
Not just their carriages, but the young master’s carriage as well had the same issue. It was truly like seeing ghosts in broad daylight.
This group of people could no longer question their employer; they had no choice but to return first and ask about the reasons few days after the employer returned.
The cargo handlers felt that since they had already received their payment, regardless of such strange events, they could go back and report their task as completed.
By omitting such a lengthy stretch of the journey, they saved a night and a half’s day of effort, which could be considered a win for everyone.
The coachman from Zhong Xingwang could only first return to Ye Manor, awaiting the young Master’s return. However, when he arrived at the county, he went to meet Lady Luoqi first to tell her what had happened.
The group that encountered the mountain bandits continuously sped up the horses in shock.
Li Zhihao… also broke out in a cold sweat; he had never encountered such a dangerous situation in his life.
Ye Jiaxing… what is going on here?
Wasn’t it a robbery by mountain bandits? How could these bandits be so foolish!?
Ye Jiaxing was actually frightened too. He glanced at the carriage only to see the running carriages with their curtains still drawn… He hoped Ye Luoqi wasn’t too scared.
Hongji… thankfully he listened to the little girl, or else their entire group and family could have been in mortal danger.
Mrs. Li… clung tightly, briefly shocked, to the two little boys—her son and nephew.
Her heart pounded intensely; as a farmer’s wife, she had never seen such a dangerous scene, though she had heard that the outside world was complex and perilous.
She thought that such bandits would commit their acts at night, never expecting them to act so boldly in broad daylight!