In the carriage of the five sisters, the elder sisters witnessed a thrilling scene and thought the mountain bandits were scared silly. They saw it all clearly from the carriage window.
"Qing, you’re awesome!" Ye Fengqi gave a big thumbs up!
The other sisters also giggled and laughed, still young girls after all, a bit scared earlier but now feeling a bit thrilled, so they laughed happily!
Ye Shiqi showed a helpless smile, she actually didn’t want to be so high-profile, thinking she could let the convoy cover the transportation of the food she delivered.
Now selling this food, the sudden appearance of the food, might become big news in the Capital and attract attention.
Thinking about these things now was useless, as long as everyone was safe, not selling this food, not doing this food business was also an option.
So, the only option was to buy a house as a warehouse when it was time to buy more shops and houses.
They continued on their journey and reached a more open area where there was a marketplace ahead.
There were a few people on the road, probably because it was market day. Those walking were all carrying something on their backs.
They stopped here, and the guards and those on horseback all dismounted. Everyone had backpacks with provisions.
The people in the carriage had prepared dry food in the morning, after all, with the hot weather, other things couldn’t be kept for long as they would spoil.
In the carriage, there were water pots and stoves for boiling water, and several boxes of snacks had also been prepared.
Ye Shiqi, like everyone else, ate dry food, which were fried food items to last a bit longer.
She actually didn’t want to eat it and thought about picking some corn from space to cook, but she knew eating anything on the road wasn’t good.
Recalling the watermelons in space, she then conjured up a few large watermelons with her mind.
Then she conjured a bottle of honey for her elder sisters to brew honey tea with some freshly grown chrysanthemums from the space they were cultivating.
In the sweaty heat of summer, with the midday sun likely reaching thirty or forty degrees Celsius, they all sought out some cool shade under the trees to sit.
The Ye family’s four sisters, under Qing’s provisioning, cut watermelons for everyone and brewed chrysanthemum honey tea, delighting the weary and hungry guards and hometown men.
Eating a piece of watermelon, they felt chillingly refreshed, cooling down a great deal, then drank a cup of honey tea, inhaling the rich floral aroma.
As men, some of whom did not drink tea, felt the fatigue washing off their bodies after drinking this tea.
Rich young master Zhong Xingwang, who drank tea, also liked the strong aroma of this chrysanthemum tea.
Hongji and Madam were also eating dry food and drinking tea while enjoying some watermelon. Although they were sitting in the carriage without the need to ride, the journey was still quite exhausting.
Ye Wenjie and his cousin Li Anning ate and drank joyfully. The two young men found everything very fresh, not at all affected by the earlier events.
Ye Jiaxing, accompanying his father and friends, along with the fellow villagers, also discussed in low voices the recent events, not daring to speak loudly for fear of passersby overhearing.
Ye Jiaxing occasionally glanced at Ye Luoqi, captivated by the beauty of the young girl, admiring her just with his eyes.
He dared not make any moves. Among these sisters providing food and drinks, he, like a fellow villager, simply said thank you!
Then he realized Ye Luoqi treated him just like any other villager, with a faint smile, nothing special, not even a direct look.
Ye Luoqi indeed had no interest in looking at others; the only one she occasionally glanced at was her future husband, Zhong Xingwang.
The mountain bandits, stunned, discovered that the stones and large trees they threw all vanished into thin air, and then their weapons disappeared too.
What angered them most was that their silver taels and belongings had vanished as well.
It was as if they’d seen a ghost; they thought they were seeing ghosts in broad daylight. They had just settled on this mountaintop and hadn’t even really scored big yet, only believing that the Mountain God protected this place.
The bandits who relayed messages saw some of the caravan people return, and then some more disappeared.
They foolishly watched as these people and carriages seemed to have nothing loaded, what on earth was happening?
So, they rushed back to consult the mountain bandit king and reported what they had seen.
"Great King, that person said how come some people returned and some are missing? Their carriage’s food is gone; could someone have helped them?"
The mountain bandit leader, whose weapons and silver taels had disappeared, said, "You ask me, and I ask who? Weren’t you supposed to gather intelligence? Don’t you know the situation?"
"Great King, it’s not just what I saw, Xiao Hao also saw that group when they passed through the county. The carriage wheels scraped heavily on the ground, which clearly indicated the carriages were loaded with items.
We were following from a distance and didn’t see anyone meet them to move the food!"
The Great King... is it necessary to mention such embarrassing stuff? It’s truly unfavorable to start off ; they hadn’t stolen any food or silver taels, and the money on their bodies is gone, but fortunately they didn’t carry it all with them.
The Great King remained silent, his face gloomy. Those with him, who had failed in today’s endeavors, started recounting their unsuccessful experiences!
"Today, something bizarre happened. Of the people we intercepted, only two horse-drawn carriages got through; we threw stones and pushed large trees, but they disappeared mid-air."
"And that’s not all; we thought about going down with our weapons to kill them, but our weapons suddenly vanished from our hands, and those placed on the ground disappeared too, it was really like seeing a ghost!"
The scene was very noisy. Some mountain bandits had carried all their money on them, and now their money bags were gone, which was the most unfortunate thing.
Robbery and looting is tough; they do it for the money, to eat well, to live well.
Having fled here, they still hadn’t settled, living in natural caves and hesitating whether they could stay here for long.
If every robbery from now on failed, they’d wind up eating the northwestern wind.
Thus, they kept discussing that next time they must target someone who is alone, and when going out to work, they should not carry money.
Mountain bandit king... being a bandit is tough indeed!
Seeing that the food was running low, they might not catch a big score today. Possibly, they already spooked the targets. By noon, they could only eat a few buns.
Without a piece of meat, they could only order their men to hunt in the mountains.
Mountain bandits... aren’t we supposed to be robbing? When did we get so distressed we had to hunt ourselves!
The cook... there’s no flour left to make buns, only enough food for two more days. With these 100 people, being a bandit is worrisome indeed!
The mountain bandit king was also troubled; they had fled here and hadn’t settled in yet. In the haste, they only brought a few things and didn’t even take anything from the storage.
Only the cook was alert enough not to bring clothes but carried a bag of food instead.
It was fortunate that these few cooks carried some food; otherwise, they would have had to eat hot air on the mountain these past two days.
Currently, it’s summer so it’s alright not to have blankets or change clothes, but what will happen in winter?
Should they continue to be risk-taking bandits or not?