Old man Jiang methodically instructed his two grandsons to draw their bows and aim the arrows in the direction where the bandits would appear.
"Hold the bow steady, and don't let the arrow slant. Be careful not to accidentally hurt your second uncle or third uncle."
"Yeah." Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan responded and pulled the bow to its full height with a creaking sound.
With the help of her eldest daughter-in-law, Jiang Liu finally climbed up the steep slope and sat on the ground gasping for breath.
The little granddaughter Yingbao untied the rope around Wen Shu's waist, and then she held the rope and slid down the slope.
"Bao'er!" Chunniang exclaimed and looked down quickly. She saw that her daughter tied the rope around Youyou's waist after going down the slope, and asked A Niang, the eldest aunt and the second aunt on the slope to pull her up.
You must not lose Yoyo, it still has great use.
Chunniang, Yanru and Zhou worked together to drag the rope upwards. Plus Youyou was smart and knew how to climb up, so she pulled it up quickly.
"Baoer! It's your turn!" Chunniang called.
Yingbao took the rope that was thrown down and quickly went to tie the mule again.
"Bao'er, come up quickly!" Chunniang was almost dying of anxiety, "We don't want the mule anymore!"
Yingbao shook her head: "No! Without a mule, we can't take many things away."
"Let me do it!" Jiang Cheng also slid down, took the rope from his little cousin and started tying the mule.
There were two large bags of grain on the mule, which were lifted off by Jiang Cheng in two handfuls.
You can give up the food, but you can't give up this mule.
Although Chunniang on the slope was angry, she did not dare to hesitate, and she and her sisters-in-law worked hard to pull the mule up.
Now only the Wen family’s horses are left.
At this time, Jiang Sanlang and others had already left the bamboo forest, and the bandits behind them appeared shortly afterwards.
Old man Jiang, who had taken over the bow and arrow from his eldest grandson, shot several arrows at the bandits. Together with the arrows from his second grandson, they forced them back into the bamboo forest where they dared not show their heads.
"Come up quickly!" Chunniang almost screamed.
Yingbao looked at the Wen family's horse and the food on the ground with regret, and together with her eldest cousin, she grabbed the rope and was pulled up by A Niang and the others.
As soon as Jiang Cheng went up, he picked up the bow and arrow that his grandfather had made last night and shot continuously at the bandits who showed up, buying time for his third uncle and second uncle to retreat.
Fortunately, Old Man Jiang and his sons sharpened a lot of bamboo arrows last night, otherwise they would not have been able to stop those bandits.
Finally, when Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Erlang were pulled up, they were still holding the baskets that Dani, Erni, Yanru and the others had dropped.
Wen Fu was more calm. He pushed the things off the horse's back, tied a rope around the horse's belly, and asked the people on top to pull the horse up first.
Later, he saw Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Erlang shooting arrows from above, so he tied the sacks with the ropes he threw down and asked them to pull up the sacks, bedding and other items one by one.
Finally he loaded up his belongings and climbed up the rope.
Chunniang and the others were exhausted, but they also felt very relieved.
All the food and bedding from their own family and the Wen family were brought up, even mules and horses were brought up.
After several bandits were shot and injured, they retreated into the bamboo forest and never emerged again.
But the Jiang family did not relax and kept an eye on what was happening below.
Chunniang and the others untied the ropes, took a short rest, and put the two sacks of grain back on the mule's back and let it carry it.
This steep slope is actually the ridge of the south slope. After crossing it, you will go down to the other side and see a vast wilderness.
The Jiang family was worried that the bandits would also climb up, and they would have no chance of winning at all, so they did not stop and continued to move down.
Seeing that her father, second uncle and Uncle Wen were all injured, Yingbao quickly took out the medicine she had prepared and gave it to them, and then took out some pills to distribute to others.
A Niang and the others' clothes were soaked. If they didn't take some medicine to ward off the cold, someone might get sick soon.
In fact, the Jiang family is still in good health and can handle being a little tired. Even Jiang Liu is still strong and steady in her old age, just like her children and grandchildren.
But Mrs. Wen, her daughter and the wet nurse seemed to be unable to hold on any longer. They walked slower and slower and were almost unable to keep up with the group.
"Why don't we find a place to rest first." Chunniang saw this and was quite worried.
Jiang Sanlang looked back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no bandits chasing him. "Let's talk about it in the woods ahead."
It would be troublesome if we were caught by bandits in this uncovered place.
At least the woods can conceal your whereabouts and you can hide from the rain under the trees.
Yingbao led Youyou and walked quickly forward, while Youyou carried Jiang Jie and Jiang Wu on their backs. The two boys had their little black and big yellow dogs in their pockets.
Seeing that Wen Shu could hardly walk anymore, Ying Bao stuffed some cooked water chestnuts into her mouth and said, "Sister Wen, you'll have more energy after eating something."
After cooking the water chestnuts, she soaked them in Wudingzhi for a long time. Eating them should help relieve fatigue.
Wen Shu's face turned pale. He took the water chestnuts, thanked him softly, and started to eat slowly.
Yingbao handed a few more to Mrs. Wen and the wet nurse.
After eating the water chestnuts, their legs and feet seemed to have some strength back and they managed to walk into the woods ahead.
The good news is that there were no bandits chasing after them, which made everyone feel relieved.
After entering the woods, Jiang Sanlang walked around and found an old tree.
The branches of the old tree are gnarled, and we can take shelter from the rain under it.
So everyone rested under the tree. Chunniang took out steamed buns and pickles and distributed them to everyone. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan both carried water gourds and poured some water for everyone.
Jiang Quan raised the gourd and shook it, muttering, "The water is almost gone."
Yingbao glanced at her second cousin and said nothing.
There was plenty of water in her cave, so she was not worried about this problem at all.
The only thing they were worried about was whether their house would be burned down by bandits. After all, Dad and his men had injured quite a few bandits.
I walked over to the fawn, quietly took out some dried golden ears and stuffed them into its mouth, letting it chew slowly to restore its strength.
The mules and horses were carrying heavy loads and were nibbling on the grass and moss on the ground. Yingbao also stuffed a handful of broken golden ears into them.
Jiang Sanlang climbed up the tree, stood at the highest point and looked into the distance.
There were no bandits on the other side of the ridge, maybe they really retreated.
"Where are we going next?" Jiang Dalang asked his second brother.
Jiang Erlang was also undecided, "Why not ask Sanlang?"
Since they couldn't go back to the village for the time being, they had to find a safe place to live first.
They didn't know that another large number of bandits had entered Chuanhe Town. These bandits were stationed here, preparing to attack Qinchuan County once they had enough manpower.
When there are too many people, feeding becomes a problem. Hundreds or thousands of people will consume at least hundreds of kilograms of food a day, so the bandits searched everywhere for the villagers who had escaped with the food and livestock.
Hundreds of bandits followed the mountain path into Beishan and began a dragnet search.
At this moment, the villagers hiding in the North Mountain panicked and fled deep into the forest for their lives, leaving their cattle and sheep behind.
Some elderly people were caught up by the bandits because they were slow on their feet and were killed with just one stab.
…
After resting, everyone finally decided to head east to Jiangjia Village in Ershilipu.
Jiangjia Village is located in a remote area and far away from the official road, so the chance of being invaded by bandits is relatively small, so it is safer for them to go there.
"Follow me, I know the way to Jiangjia Village best." Old man Jiang took the lead and walked in front. "I traveled to all the villages around here in the past."
In the evening, the group finally arrived near Jiangjia Village.
Jiang Sanlang was worried and suggested going to take a look first.
"Then you should be careful. If anything goes wrong in the village, run away quickly." Chunniang was very worried about her husband.
"I know." Jiang Sanlang tightened his belt and tied his leggings again before running towards Jiangjia Village.
Before I reached the village entrance, I heard the village dogs barking.
Jiang Sanlang slowed down his pace and observed the surrounding situation as he walked.
Jiangjia Village is a real mountain village, built on the mountain and surrounded by numerous forests.
From a distance, you can only see woods but no houses. The entire village is hidden in the woods. Only when the smoke rises can you tell that there is a village here.
The rain had stopped at this moment, but the road was muddy and the soles of Jiang Sanlang's shoes were soon covered with thick mud, making it difficult to walk.
Scraping the mud off the soles of his shoes on a stone, Jiang Sanlang arrived at his uncle's house.