However, He Lianyun covered his wound and refused to let Han Yue take a look. His face was tense as he stammered, "This... this. I can handle it myself. There should be propriety between men and women."
Since He Lianyun was so insistent, Han Yue didn't force him.
Han Yue put the kettle aside and said, "I'll leave these things here for you."
He Lianyun nodded, then hid behind a tree. He lifted his clothes, wiped his body with the clean water, tidied his clothes, and walked out from behind the tree.
The clothes on both of them were already tattered. But since they had rushed out and were directly dragged here, they didn't have any spare clothes to change into. They could only wear these tattered clothes for these few days.
After taking a short rest, Han Yue coldly looked at everything around, glanced at He Lianyun, and asked, "So what should we do now?"
He Lianyun's face looked a bit pale. Maybe it was because he hadn't taken a bath for a long time and was still wearing the clothes from a few days ago. He always felt there was a strange smell, which was rather unpleasant.
"I don't know," He Lianyun said with a blank look on his face.
Then he jumped into the lake to wash off the dust on his body.
Hearing He Lianyun's confused tone and that he didn't know what to do, Han Yue got angry. She shouted at He Lianyun in the lake, "Aren't you from the Western Yue State? This is your territory. How come you don't know anything!"
He Lianyun was as agile as a fish in the water. He didn't seem to be seriously injured at all. He said carelessly in the water, "Let's take it one step at a time. There's no use being anxious now."
Hearing He Lianyun's tone, Han Yue picked up a small stone beside her and threw it at He Lianyun. She said coldly, "You're being unreasonable!"
...
The scenery slowly passed by before their eyes, just like floating clouds. Just as Shen Li was about to take a leisurely rest, an unfriendly voice interrupted her peace.
"I built this road, I planted this tree. If you want to pass this way, leave your toll."
Such a cliché opening line even made the coachman stunned. When he came to his senses, a knife was already on his neck. He clasped his hands and pleaded, "Gentlemen, please don't kill me. I... I'll give you all my savings."
The big - scarred - faced man just snorted coldly, obviously not impressed. He punched the coachman off the carriage.
"So what if it's your savings? I don't even look down on such a small amount of money. Hurry up! Call out all the people in your carriage. Line them up and squat down. Otherwise, I'll take your lives."
The coachman got up shakily, then lifted the curtain of the carriage and asked tremblingly, "Miss, please come out. Otherwise, our lives will be in danger."
But Shen Li remained still and sat in her original seat. Jiao Yue got out of the carriage with the coachman.
Jiao Yue also put on a kind smile. She looked at the scar - faced man and said, "Our miss has accidentally caught measles. It's not convenient for her to show herself now. She's also afraid of infecting everyone with this disease. If you want money, we'll give it to you. We just beg you to let us go."
Before getting out of the carriage, Shen Li had told Jiao Yue not to let her show herself if possible. So she was looking for an excuse to prevent Shen Li from getting out.
Fortunately, the scar - faced man looked impatient. He tightened his grip on the knife in his hand and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Then quickly hand over all your silver. If we find out that you've hidden even a single copper coin, we'll take your lives!"
Jiao Yue nodded repeatedly, then got on the carriage to get her package. She dumped all the money to the person who was reaching out beside her. She said with a smiling face, "All the money is here. You can check. There's definitely no shortage. Can you let us go now?"
The scar - faced man weighed the package, then opened it and looked at the thick stack of silver notes inside. Finally, he nodded. Jiao Yue turned around. A cold light flashed in her eyes. She thought that after leaving here, she must find someone to get the things back.
Just as Jiao Yue got on the carriage, a rough voice shouted, "I haven't even come yet, and you're already letting them go after getting the goods? You don't take me and the second - in - command seriously! Da Hu."
Da Hu's body obviously paused. The knife in his hand almost fell. He turned around fearfully and explained, "Second - in - command, third - in - command, it's not like that. I was just afraid of causing you trouble."
Zhuang Yusheng was the second - in - command of the Panhu Stronghold. He looked tall and valiant. He had a full beard, looking like a difficult person to get along with. And Mu Wulin was the third - in - command. He had a sharp - mouthed and monkey - cheeked face, looking rather shrewd. Jiao Yue sized up the two of them. It seemed that these two were not easy to deal with.
Mu Wulin was a bit shorter. He looked up at Zhuang Yusheng with a smiling face and said, "Second brother, those people in the carriage won't come out. I'm afraid they have peerless looks and don't want us to see them. This makes me even more interested."
He Lianyun had long instructed Zhuang Yusheng not to let anyone passing by go and to check carefully. So he just snorted coldly and said, "We're guarding this pass. Whether they come out to see us or not is up to us!"
Jiao Yue's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't confident that she could defeat so many bandits in front of her. After all, her martial arts skills were just average. But her miss's face couldn't be seen by them, or she would definitely be recognized.
Just when she was in a dilemma, Shen Li suddenly lifted the curtain and said, "We've already given you all the money. Why are you still making things difficult for us? We have some connections with the Lin Mansion in the city. If the second - in - command and the third - in - command can be satisfied with what they've got this time, the Lin family won't make things difficult for you."
Shen Li's heart was beating very fast at this moment. In fact, she had no connection with the Lin family at all. She just heard that the head of the Lin family was the county magistrate in the city.
Mu Wulin squinted his eyes. He had never seen anyone dare to threaten him. So he smiled and said, "I wonder what illness the young lady has? Is a case of measles really that serious that you need to wear a veil? We rough guys are in good health and won't be infected."
The meaning of his words was obvious. He just wanted Shen Li to take off her veil. Jiao Yue suddenly spoke up to stop him, "How can you be so disrespectful to our miss? A girl's appearance is not something that can be shown to others casually."
Obviously, Zhuang Yusheng was a bit impatient and roared, "Grab this talkative maid! She's giving me a headache. When did you get the right to speak? If you say one more word, I'll sell you to a brothel."
As soon as he finished speaking, several strong men surrounded Jiao Yue. Jiao Yue almost took out the dagger she had hidden when she saw the situation was serious, in order to teach these people a lesson!