The group was unguarded towards me, but I couldn't fight more than thirty people alone, so I was exceptionally well-behaved the entire journey.
After two quarters of an hour, they abandoned the cart, and I was escorted up the mountain by two men. A few lingered behind, meticulously covering their tracks.
As we reached halfway up the slope, a dilapidated mountain god temple appeared before me, and I was shoved inside.
Soon, a wave of people descended the mountain, leaving only the leader and five burly men behind. I was quite frustrated. The knots they used to tie me up showed they didn't take me, a weak woman, seriously. Now, they'd become cautious and left so many to guard me.
I held my breath, confirming there was no one else outside the temple, but dared not relax.
The other five were alright; they had martial arts, but nothing exceptional. Only the leader, with his deep, steady breathing and noiseless steps, was clearly a master.
The mountain god temple was drafty, and I was sitting on the cold ground, quickly becoming unbearable. I exhaled to warm myself and struggled to get up. Before I could steady myself, a large saber was pointed at me: "What are you doing? Stay put."
"I can't stay put," I said, pulling my fox fur cloak tighter. "It's too cold. Don't you feel it?"
Naturally, they could feel it. Except for the leader, I saw the others visibly shiver.
The leader snorted with displeasure, "Women are such a bother."
But one of them said, "Boss, this isn't sustainable. It'd be fine if we could get down the mountain before dark, but if we have to wait until tomorrow. This mountain wind at night, let alone for this delicate little lady, even we can't endure it."
In the early hours of a northern winter, water would freeze, capable of freezing a person to death.
I quickly chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. You didn't capture me for ransom, you certainly don't want a frozen corpse, right?"
"Boss, how about I go down the mountain to get a few quilts?"
"Why don't you move the whole bed?" the leader retorted, giving him a rap on the head. "You few, go pick up firewood, lots of it. If you encounter any pheasants or rabbits, catch them too."
The man's mouth twitched. "Boss, when the snow seals the mountain, where are we going to catch rabbits?"
The leader hadn't realized he'd made a fool of himself and angrily kicked him in the rear. "Get going."
Just then, another man sidled up. "Boss, what's the point of staying in this broken temple? Leave guarding this woman to me, Hao Laosan. You go out for some air."
As soon as he spoke, he was met with a burst of laughter.
"Hao Laosan, your lust has struck again?"
"Tsk, look at your scheming, the abacus beads are flying right at the boss's face."
"You lecherous fiend, you dare to touch any woman. The higher-ups ordered that if the bait has a problem before the fish is caught, we'll all lose our heads."
Hao Laosan claimed to be wronged. "Boss, don't listen to them. This girl doesn't look like she weighs more than two pounds, I'm not interested."
The other four all scoffed at him.
The leader glanced at his lower half. "Hao Laosan, if you don't want that thing, I don't mind chopping it off and feeding it to the dogs. Go pick up firewood."
The group quickly dispersed, leaving only the leader behind.
I secretly despaired.
If it were anyone else, I'd have confidence in escaping. But this man here, I truly had no certainty. While I was pondering how to make my move, he had already walked over. "Do you drink?"
How could a proper young lady drink?
I immediately shook my head.
But he still pushed the wine flask towards me. "Even if you don't drink, you have to have some. Otherwise, you'll freeze to death before the fire is lit. Open your mouth."
I obediently took a sip. It was strong.
I grimaced, then persuaded, "A hero like you doesn't seem like a villain, why have you become a bandit?"
"Who told you I'm a bandit?"
"Aren't you? Then why did you kidnap me?"
"Little girl, giving you a drink makes me a good person. Let me tell you, I was afraid you'd freeze to death and I wouldn't get paid." He sat on the ground opposite me and took another swig of wine. Thinking we had shared the same wine flask, I quickly spat twice.
He was even more displeased. "Women are so finicky."
I ignored him and secretly loosened the ropes binding me.
As he took his second sip of wine, I threw a punch straight at his face.
But he reacted quickly, blocking it with the wine flask.
My full force struck the wine flask, which instantly shattered, spilling wine all over the ground, filling the temple with its aroma.
He stared blankly at the half-empty wine flask in his hand. "I really underestimated you. Looking so delicate, you're actually a practitioner."
I ignored him, raised my fist, and attacked him again. He drew his saber and, while grappling with me, blocked my escape routes. However, I never intended to flee. My martial arts were good, but my Qinggong was average. With his noiseless footwork, I definitely couldn't outrun him.
Fortunately, this man was very confident, so confident that he didn't even think to call back his subordinates.
In the dilapidated mountain god temple, two figures moved back and forth. Twenty exchanges later, no victor had emerged. He became interested. "In a different setting, I'd truly want to spar with you properly, but not today."
As he spoke, his movements suddenly became more ferocious.
I pulled out my hairpin, gave it a flick, and it transformed into a soft sword, meeting his Xiu Chun dao.
Damn, Xiu Chun dao. I knew these skills couldn't belong to an ordinary mountain lord. He was a constable. If someone from the official ranks was after me, this matter was likely related to His Highness the Crown Prince. It's a pity I don't know what task the Crown Prince is handling, I can't even pry any information out of him.