The carriage sped along, gradually moving away from the bustling city and heading towards the countryside.
The sky gradually darkened, and there seemed to be dark clouds pressing down.
If you can't see the sun, you can't tell the time. In this kind of weather, it feels like it's already dusk.
Jiang Sanlang drove the carriage and felt more and more that something was wrong.
This is a government road and it is the end of the year. It is impossible that after traveling for half a day, we don't meet anyone.
But it wouldn't be wise to go back now.
"Erquan, hold the machete and tell the brothers and sisters not to lift the car curtain." Jiang Sanlang said.
There was an undulating slope ahead, and every time the carriage passed by, it had to slow down, and sometimes it had to get off and push it up.
When Jiang Quan heard what his uncle said, he immediately became alert and quickly pulled out a machete from under the car board.
He prepared this specially for self-defense, but it has never been used.
I hope it won’t be used this time.
Yingbao also realized that something was wrong. In order to reduce the weight of the car, she quietly put some of the apples and melons in the bamboo basket into the cave.
Jiang Yunniang also became nervous and pushed her children into the car, hiding them behind her.
The carriage went down a steep slope and when it was going uphill, it was suddenly blocked by an obstacle made of small stones.
The stones are not big and cannot be seen clearly from a distance, but if you encounter them when going uphill, the wooden wheels will be blocked by these small stones and will definitely not be able to move up.
If you push hard, the wheels might break.
Jiang Sanlang slowly stopped the car, looked around, jumped out and went to clean up the small stones.
At this moment, several figures suddenly emerged from the bushes in the distance. They were four men and one woman, and they rushed towards Jiang Sanlang with sticks in their hands.
"Leave some money for passage!" these people shouted and ran towards this side.
Jiang Sanlang immediately retreated to the side of the carriage, took the machete from his second nephew, pointed at the man and shouted, "Who are you! Back off!"
Jiang Yunniang almost screamed and looked around quickly, trying to find a weapon for self-defense.
Xiao Hei also barked loudly and tried to jump off the carriage again and again.
Yingbao quickly calmed it down, immediately put a sickle in her aunt's hand, and handed another one to her second cousin.
The fight hasn't started yet, and Xiao Hei has to get out of the car. There are five robbers, and they all have various weapons in their hands.
There were wooden sticks, hoes, chisels and other objects, and one of them was holding a sickle with a sharp blade.
It's three against five now. Even if I have Xiao Hei's help, I don't think I have much chance of winning.
Yingbao took out a small cowhide slingshot and took out a stone and held it in his hand.
She guessed that there must be more than five robbers, and there must be someone hiding behind the bushes.
So she had to pay close attention to what was going on over there.
Several robbers rushed forward, their eyes wandering over Dama with greedy looks on their faces.
"Leave the carriage! Let you live!" the leading man shouted sternly.
Jiang Sanlang frowned in thought, glanced at a few people, and then glanced at the bushes.
If these kidnappers really only wanted money, it was not impossible for me to abandon the carriage for the sake of my children.
But if these people didn't keep their word and he lost his carriage, wouldn't his family be at the mercy of others in this remote area
"I can give you all my money, but not the carriage. We still have a long way to go, and we can't be without a carriage." Jiang Sanlang looked at the five people in front of him vigilantly, and he gripped the machete tightly as he spoke.
After hearing what her father said, Ying Bao gritted her teeth, took out several strings of copper coins, handed them to Jiang Quan, and whispered, "Throw them back, as far as you can!"
Jiang Quan understood, took the coin and threw it to the roadside behind.
Several people looked at the copper coin but did not move. The leader sneered and said, "I want you to get off the car! Get out of the way! Do you hear me? Otherwise, I will not be polite!"
Hongxiao and Xiaolang in the car were already crying with fear, and twelve-year-old Zhang Yuying was also trembling with fear.
Jiang Sanlang didn't say anything, but just looked at the other person warily.
All five of them were dressed in rags, and two of them were even wearing straw sandals. In such cold weather, those who were dressed like this must be either refugees or a group of desperate criminals.
No matter what kind of person you meet, you will never be able to escape unscathed.
Jiang Sanlang suddenly said, "Enlarge the black!"
Yingbao immediately understood what her father meant, and immediately loosened the rope around Xiaohei's neck and patted it: "Go bite the bad guys!"
Then Xiao Hei rushed out and rushed towards the five robbers roaring.
At the same time, Jiang Sanlang rushed towards the robbers with a machete in hand and shouted, "Hurry up and leave!"
Jiang Quan already understood what his uncle meant. He jumped off the carriage and ran to the front to clean the road.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunniang also jumped down, holding a sickle to help her third brother.
Yingbao sat on the shaft of the cart, shook the reins, and drove the big horse to pull the cart forward.
There was suddenly a lot less weight on the car, and the big horse found it unusually easy to pull it, and soon the car drove up the slope.
At this time, Jiang Quan had kicked away the stones on the road, turned back and rushed towards the robbers with a sickle in hand, fighting side by side with his uncle.
But two female robbers rushed out from the bushes, waving sticks and hitting Xiao Hei, making him scream.
Jiang Sanlang and his men were obviously outnumbered, and even though he had a machete in his hand, it could only serve as a deterrent for a while.
On the carriage side, two young robbers suddenly jumped out from the bushes and rushed towards Yingbao.
They held wooden sticks in their hands and smashed them down with them raised high.
A bamboo basket suddenly appeared in Yingbao's hand, just enough to block the heavy blow from the stick.
The young robber was startled by the sudden turn of events, and before he could react, he was hit in the face by something.
"Ahhh..." The young robber fell to the ground, covering his face and screaming. Many spikes suddenly appeared on his face.
The other young man had a fierce look in his eyes and hit Yingbao with the stick again.
However, Yingbao had already pounced on him, grabbed his hair, and threw him heavily to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
He then strangled him, pressed the thin dagger in his hand against his neck, and shouted, "Tell them to stop! Otherwise, I will kill you!"
She was certain that the two young men were the biological sons of someone among the people at the bottom of the slope, so as long as she could subdue him, she could force those people to retreat.
Sure enough, several adult robbers were shocked by this sudden change and quickly dragged their injured bodies back. One of them even shouted, "Stop! If you dare to kill him! I will definitely kill your entire family!"
Yingbao was not to be outdone and shouted, "Let us leave safely! Just let him go! Otherwise, we will both die!"
The leading robber was unwilling to give in, but he could only grit his teeth and said, "Okay! I'll let you go! But you must let him go immediately!"
"Let us go first, I swear I will spare his life!" Ying Bao placed the thin-bladed dagger in her hand against the main vein on the boy's neck.
The boy felt very embarrassed and wanted to struggle and resist, but as soon as he moved, his neck felt a sharp pain and blood flowed out.
Yingbao whispered, "I advise you not to move. It doesn't matter if you die, but your brothers and sisters hiding in the bushes can't escape! Remember! If anyone in my family dies, none of you little brats will survive! Believe it or not, before I die, I will definitely send you to heaven first."
In the bushes not far from them, there were several children of a few years old crying quietly. They were obviously the children of the robbers.
One of the girls cried the loudest when she saw Yingbao restraining the boy. She must be the boy’s sister.
As expected, the young man did not move, but his eyes were full of murderous intent.
But he couldn't see the girl's face because she was strangling his neck from behind and pressing her knees against his spine.
The boy was half lying on the ground, still stubborn: "If you dare to touch my brother and sister, I won't let you go even if I become a ghost!"