But before Old Man Jiang arrived, someone had already gone to meet Madam Wen and her servants.
Yingbao did not stop. Under the light of the torch, she took Youyou and walked quickly into the depths of the forest.
She had to find the cave described in the book as soon as possible, settle everyone down, and then make plans.
Chunniang carried Jiang Jie on her back, Jiang Cheng carried Jiang Wu on his back, Yanru followed closely with Huzi and Yuanbao, and Wei Zhan and Dani and Erni were not far behind.
Old man Jiang and his wife Jiang Liu were also not left behind, leading the mule.
Jiang Quan was in front holding a torch to light the way for his little cousin.
Xiao Zhenniang and her daughter's wet nurse followed the Jiang family hand in hand. Their own horse was carrying heavy items such as food and bedding, and was led by Wen Fu, so it was not slow.
Dozens of elderly, weak, women and children followed the team silently without making any noise or complaining.
Of course, except for the third wife of Wen, Mrs. Lin, and her daughter Wen Tian.
"Mom, I can't walk anymore." Wen Tian said with a sad face, "My shoes keep falling off."
"You have to keep going even if you can't walk anymore!" Mrs. Lin couldn't see clearly in front of her due to the rain and she felt very annoyed. Although she felt sorry for her daughter, she had to keep up with the crowd.
Wen Tian finally cried and squatted on the ground, refusing to move: "Wuwuwu... Mom, I really can't walk anymore."
Lin had no choice but to call the servant: "Ah Qiu, carry her on your back."
Aqiu was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and it was really hard for him to walk at night with eight-year-old Wentian on his back.
Coupled with the misty autumn rain, Lin's mother and daughter soon fell far behind the crowd.
Lin was anxious, and urged the maid who was supporting Wen Jiao and Aqiu who was carrying Wen Tian to hurry up. She herself kept shouting to Xiao Zhenniang in front of her, "Fourth brother's wife! Wait, don't walk so fast, wait for us..."
At this time, Xiao Zhenniang was unwilling to pay attention to her.
Even with the help of Lin's three servants, they couldn't walk fast enough, so waiting for her would be like waiting for death.
After much hurrying, Yingbao was the first to find the cave mentioned in the book, but the plank path leading up the mountain was narrow, making it a little difficult to climb up.
Plus, the ground is slippery on rainy days and one can easily fall off the cliff if one is not careful.
That’s right, the cave is halfway up the mountain. It’s a natural cave. All they have to do is get in there and find someone to guard the path. No one else can climb up.
"Mom, you and your brother should be careful." Yingbao told her, "I'll go up and take a look first."
She is small and agile, and she exercises regularly, so it is not difficult for her to walk on this mountain path.
Yingbao took the torch from Jiang Quan's hand and walked directly onto the plank road. The Jiang family members didn't react for a while.
Wei Zhan liked this kind of adventure activity the most, and he followed Ying Bao quickly onto the plank road.
Yoyo couldn't see its little master and was so anxious that it turned around in circles. It tried several times to catch up but failed. It had a lot of things on its back and was pushed down when it touched the mountain wall.
In the end, Yoyo could only stay with the mule and horse, watching everyone climb up the narrow plank road one by one.
Wen Fu did not go up. He stayed to look after the horses, mules and deer. These animals were carrying food and bedding for the whole family, and not a single thing could be lost.
Without food, they would not be able to hold out for a few days even if the place up there was safe, so he had to stay there until all the old, weak, women and children had gone up, and then let Jiang Quan, Jiang Cheng and others come down to transport the things up in batches.
After walking along the plank road for a long time, Yingbao was the first to reach the entrance of the cave. She saw that it was dark and scary inside.
Fortunately, Wei Zhan and Jiang Quan followed closely, shone the torches in their hands inside, and said, "Let's go in and take a look first."
Seeing that someone was accompanying her, Yingbao also bravely walked in.
The cave here is very spacious, more than seven meters long and wide, with an open entrance, and wind and rain blowing in from time to time.
But the cave is not deep, only about four or five meters, and if they squeeze together, it can easily accommodate one or two hundred people.
The ground was very flat, as if it had been repaired, and there were a few piles of burnt ashes in the corners, indicating that someone had lived here before.
At this time, people came in one after another holding torches, illuminating the cave.
Old man Jiang, his wife and others also came up, looked around and sighed from time to time: "I haven't been here for many years, and it's still the same."
"This place is really good. One man can block a thousand men. It's a good place to take refuge." Patriarch Chen sat on a rock with the help of his eldest son and said to Old Man Jiang, "How did you know there was a cave here?"
Old Man Jiang: "I often came here when I was young. This place is called Tiger's Mouth." Decades have passed, and I didn't even think about it until I saw the plank road.
He was very confused and wondered how his granddaughter knew there was a cave here.
On second thought, these children were looking for firewood in the forest yesterday, and my granddaughter must have walked far and accidentally discovered this cave.
The refugees came up one after another. Someone looked around the cave, found two gray snakes, cut them in half with a sickle, and carried them out of the cave.
Chunniang came up with her son, found a clean place to put down the package and basket, and asked her daughter: "Baoer, is it really safe here?"
Yingbao nodded: "It's safe for now. I'll ask the clan leader to find two people to guard the entrance of the plank road so that no one can get up."
The book says that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan stayed at the intersection until the imperial troops went into the mountains to suppress the bandits.
"Are there really bandits surrounding the mountain?" Someone couldn't help but question, "We didn't encounter anything along the way."
Staying up late at night and running in the wind and rain for so long would be a joke if something went wrong.
Yingbao ignored the man and was busy helping her mother make a bed on the floor for her younger brothers to sleep on.
"Who cares whether it exists or not." Most people would rather believe it exists than believe it doesn't.
"It's not a loss for us to come here. After all, the cave can shelter us from the rain, which is better than staying in a bamboo shed. Let's go down the mountain to find some food and water tomorrow, and wait until the imperial court arrives to suppress the bandits."
"That's right!" someone echoed.
They all expressed satisfaction at entering the cave.
The running around these past few days had exhausted them both physically and mentally, and now they could finally get a good night's sleep.
After everyone entered the cave, Yingbao walked to the entrance of the plank road and tried to look down.
The Lin family's master and servants were seen holding torches and still standing at the entrance below, hesitating. The eight-year-old Wen Tian refused to step onto the narrow plank road.
"Wuuu, wuuu, I don't want to go. I'm going to fall." Wen Tian refused to walk onto the shaky plank road and kept pulling at Lin's sleeve.
Lin was helpless, but she didn't dare to ask Aqiu to carry her up.
The plank road is so narrow, it would be terrible if Aqiu accidentally dropped his daughter off the mountain.
Lin saw Wen Fu not far away, walked over and said, "Wen Fu, take the lady upstairs."
Wen Fu looked at her and refused: "Sorry, Third Madam, Wen Fu still has to guard the food."
"You! How dare you, a dog slave, disobey your master's orders?" Mrs. Lin was very angry. She had been married to the Wen family for so many years, and no servant had dared to disobey her orders.
Wen Fu said neither arrogantly nor humbly, "I am the servant of the Fourth Madam and I only obey the Fourth Madam's orders."
Lin was so angry that she almost died, but she also understood that she really couldn't do anything to this damn dog slave at this moment.
At this moment, the grandson of Patriarch Chen came over with a torch and held out his hand to Wen Tian: "Hold on to me, I'll take you up."
Wen Tian still shook her head and stepped back repeatedly: "No!"