Unexpectedly, before Old Man Jiang came over, someone had already gone to meet Mrs. Wen's master and servant.
Ying Bao did not stop, and under the care of the torch, she quickly walked deep into the forest with Youyou.
She wanted to quickly find the cave described in the book, let everyone settle down, and then make her own plans.
Chun Niang was carrying Jiang Jie on her back, Jiang Cheng was carrying Jiang Wu, Yan Ru was holding Hu Zi Yuan Bao, and Wei Zhan and Dani Erni were not willing to give in.
Old man Jiang and his wife Jiang Liu were not left behind while holding the mule.
Jiang Quan was in front holding a torch to light up his little cousin.
Xiao Zhenniang and her daughter's nanny followed the Jiang family hand in hand. Their big horse was carrying food, bedding and other heavy objects, and Wen Fu was leading them. They were not slow at all.
There were dozens of old, weak, women and children, no one made any noise or complained, they all followed the procession silently.
Of course, except for Wen's third wife, 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 walk even if you can't walk!" Mrs. Lin couldn't see what was ahead due to the rain, and she was extremely irritated. Although she felt sorry for her daughter, she had to follow everyone's footsteps.
Wen Tian finally cried, squatting on the ground and refusing to move: "Ooooh...Mom, I really can't walk anymore."
Mrs. Lin had no choice but to stop her servant: "Aqiu, carry her on your back."
Ah Qiu is only a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old, and it is really difficult for him to carry eight-year-old Wen Tian on his back at night.
Coupled with the misty autumn rain, Lin's mother and daughter soon fell far behind the others.
Mrs. Lin was anxious and urged the maid who was supporting the gentle and charming Aqiu to hurry up. She kept calling Xiao Zhenniang in front of her, "Fourth brother and sister! Wait, don't go so fast, wait for us...
"
How could Xiao Zhenniang be willing to pay attention to her at this time?
Lin had three servants to help her, but they couldn't walk fast. She was waiting for death by waiting for her.
Hurrying slowly, Yingbao was the first to find the cave mentioned in the book, but the plank road up the mountain was narrow and it was a bit difficult to climb up.
In addition, it is slippery on rainy days, and you can fall off the cliff if you are not careful.
That's right, the cave is halfway up the mountain. It's a natural cave. You and your group only need to go to the top and find someone to guard the mountain path. No one 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 nimble, and she often exercises herself. It is not difficult to walk on this mountain trail.
Yingbao took the torch from Jiang Quan's hand and walked directly onto the plank road. The Jiang family didn't react for a moment.
Wei Zhan liked this kind of adventurous activity the most. He followed Yingbao three steps at a time and stepped on the plank road.
Youyou couldn't see her little master, so she ran around in circles in a hurry. She tried to follow him several times but failed. She was carrying a lot of things on her back and was squeezed down as soon as she hit the mountain wall.
In the end, Yoyou could only stay with the mules and horses, watching helplessly as everyone climbed onto the narrow plank road one by one.
Wen Fu did not go up. He stayed behind to take care of the horses, mules, and deer. These animals carried the entire family's rations, bedding, and other items on their backs, and they must not throw away any of them.
If there was no food, no matter how safe it was up there, they wouldn't be able to survive for a few days, so he had to wait until all the old, weak, women and children had gone up, and then let Jiang Quan and Jiang Cheng come down to transport the things up in batches.
After walking along the plank road for a long time, Yingbao took the lead to climb to the entrance of the cave, and saw that it was dark and scary inside.
Fortunately, Wei Zhan and Jiang Quan followed closely, shining their torches inside and saying, "Let's go in and take a look."
When Ying Bao saw someone accompanying her, she boldly walked inside.
The cave here is very wide, with a length and width of more than seven feet. The entrance of the cave is open, and wind and rain blow in from time to time.
But the cave is not deep, only about four to five feet. If you squeeze in, it won't be a problem to accommodate one or two hundred people.
The ground was very flat, as if it had been chiseled, and there were a few piles of burned ashes in the corners. It looked like someone had lived here.
At this time, people came in one after another holding torches, illuminating the cave.
Old man Jiang, his wife and others also came up, looking around and sighing 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 shut it down and ten thousand people can't open it. It's a good place to take refuge." Patriarch Chen sat on a rock with the support of his eldest son and said to Old Man Jiang: "How do you know there is a cave here?"
Old Man Jiang: "I often came here when I was young. This place is called Tiger Mouth." Decades passed by and I didn't think of it until I saw the plank road.
He was quite puzzled, how did his little granddaughter know that there was a cave here?
Then I thought about it, yesterday these children were looking for firewood in the forest. My granddaughter must have walked far away and accidentally discovered this cave.
Refugees came up one after another. Some people looked around in the cave and found two gray snakes. They cut them in half with a sickle and took them out of the cave.
Chun Niang came up with her son, found a clean place to put down the package and basket, and asked her daughter: "Bao'er, is it really safe here?"
Ying Bao nodded: "It's safe for now. Let's go back and ask the clan leader to find two people to guard the entrance of the plank road. No one can get up."
That book said that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan stayed at the crossing until the imperial team entered the mountain to suppress the bandits.
"Are there really wandering bandits surrounding the mountain?" Someone couldn't help but question: "We didn't encounter anything along the way."
It would be a joke if I didn't sleep at night and ran for so long in the wind and rain. It would be a joke.
Yingbao ignored this person and was busy helping her mother make a bed on the floor for her brothers to sleep on.
"It doesn't matter if he has it or not." Most people would rather believe that they have it than that they don't.
"It's not a bad thing for us to come here. After all, the cave can provide shelter from the rain, which is better than staying in a bamboo shed. We can go down the mountain tomorrow to find some food and water, and it won't be a problem to go to the court to suppress the bandits."
"That's right!" someone echoed.
They all expressed satisfaction with entering the cave.
The past few days of running around had left them physically and mentally exhausted, and now they could finally have a sound sleep.
After everyone entered the cave, Yingbao walked to the entrance of the plank road and tried to look down.
I saw several masters and servants of the Lin family holding a torch and still standing at the intersection below. Eight-year-old Wen Tian refused to step onto the narrow plank road.
"Ooooooo, I don't want to leave, I will fall." Wen Tian refused to walk on the shaky plank road, and kept holding on to Mrs. Lin's sleeve and not letting go.
Mrs. 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 threw her daughter down the mountain.
Mrs. Lin saw Wen Fu not far away, walked over and said, "Wen Fu, take the eldest lady up."
Wen Fu glanced at her and refused: "I'm sorry, third lady, 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, but no slave had dared to disobey her orders.
Wen Fu, neither arrogant nor humble, said: "This slave is the fourth lady's domestic slave, and he only obeys the orders of the fourth lady."
Mrs. Lin was almost furious, but she also understood that at this time, there was really nothing she could do about this damn dog slave.
At this moment, Patriarch Chen's grandson came over holding a torch and extended his hand to Wen Tian: "Hold on to me, I'll take you up."
Wen Tian still shook her head and backed away: "No!"
