Chapter Fifty-Five: A Robbery Too Absurd to Believe

Now, as for little Ling Shunuo, by the time Ling Zetian and the others realized he was missing, he had already wandered far away. At this moment, the donkey cart was jolting along a muddy mountain path. The driver was an unassuming old man in his fifties. After traveling for so long, the old man grew bored and struck up a conversation. “Young master, where are you heading all alone?” Noticing Ling Shunuo’s clothing was not the coarse hemp of common folk, the old man was certain he was a young master from a wealthy family.

“I don’t know.” Ling Shunuo sat atop a pile of straw, gazing silently up at the sky.

“Then why are you all by yourself?”

“I don’t know.” At this point, he had no other answer to give.

Seeing this, the old man didn’t press further. He thought the child pitiful and worried something unfortunate might happen to him. So he said, “Young master, my home isn’t far ahead. Would you like to come and have a meal, maybe stay a few days before moving on?”

“No, thank you.” Ling Shunuo refused outright. However, upon hearing the offer, he realized he was indeed a bit hungry. “How much longer until the next town?”

“It’ll be another half day’s journey, but I can’t take you that far. You’ll have to go on your own.”

“What?” Ling Shunuo nearly jumped up at this. With his short legs, who knew how long it would take him to walk that distance?

“My house is just up ahead. I can’t take you any further,” the old man said, glancing back with a kindly smile.

“All right, then. Let me eat a meal at your place before I figure out my next step.” Ling Shunuo thought he didn’t have much choice, so he agreed.

*

At this time, Feng Qiuji was miserably preparing lunch in the Hatchet Gang’s kitchen. Today was her first day on the job—all thanks to Yang Siyuan saying she could cook. Now she found herself in this predicament. The thought of a dozen or more people outside waiting on her meal filled her with sorrow. If the food was bad, would they beat her?

“Qiuqiu.” No sooner had Feng Qiuji thought of Yang Siyuan than he appeared at the door.

“Brother Yang, what brings you here?”

“I passed by and saw smoke coming out. I thought you’d set the kitchen on fire.”

“Heh…” Feng Qiuji laughed awkwardly. “It’s my first time cooking…”

Yang Siyuan had expected her cooking might not be good, but he hadn’t realized this was her very first attempt. It was truly unfair to her. After a moment’s thought, he went out and called someone in. “Qiuqiu, this is Big Brother Ergou, who’s helped cook for the gang before. Since you’re inexperienced, just learn from him.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Feng Qiuji was nearly in tears with relief. Cooking a whole meal alone was simply impossible.

After Yang Siyuan left, Feng Qiuji hurried over and tugged at Ergou’s sleeve. “Big brother, you’d better do the cooking from now on—I’ll just help out.”

“Sure,” Ergou replied. Though he looked a bit slow-witted, he was simple and honest—a well-known good man in the gang. Feng Qiuji was lucky indeed to have encountered him. Otherwise, if the brothers returned from a day’s hard labor and couldn’t eat their fill, they might have chopped her up.

With Ergou’s help, Feng Qiuji managed to ‘finish’ her first meal as a cook. In truth, Ergou had done all the work; she had only lent a hand.

The brothers neither praised nor complained about the meal, which left Feng Qiuji satisfied enough.

*

After the meal, Feng Qiuji set about washing the dishes. A few of the men, full and content, began chatting.

“With the new year coming, and today’s big score, I’ll finally have money to take home for a good celebration,” said Bandit A.

“Yeah, I can finally have a proper meal at home, and buy something nice for the folks, the wife, and the kids,” said Bandit B.

Hearing this, Feng Qiuji grew curious and sidled over. “Big brothers, who did you rob today?”

“No idea. We not only grabbed a big shipment, but also brought back a man—judging by his clothes, he must be some young master from a rich family. We’ve already sent a ransom note to his family.”

“Oh.” Feng Qiuji wondered which unfortunate young master had been caught this time. Still, it wasn’t such a bad thing to rob the rich and share some wealth with the poor. She asked offhandedly, “What’s the young master’s name?”

“Something with Ying… Hey, what was his name?” Bandit B nudged Bandit A.

“Ying Xuanyu,” Bandit A replied impatiently, rolling his eyes.

The instant she heard those three words, Feng Qiuji was petrified. The plate in her hand slipped to the floor with a loud crash.

What?! Ying Xuanyu?!

She was about to lose her mind. She’d only been with the Hatchet Gang a few days—how had they managed to kidnap Ying Xuanyu of all people? She had to go see for herself if he was half-dead from their treatment.

Bandits A and B watched her rush out, puzzled, wondering if they’d said something wrong.

Feng Qiuji had barely run outside when she bumped into someone.

“Qiuqiu, where are you rushing off to?” Yang Siyuan asked, curiosity in his eyes.

“I… Second Brother Yang, I wanted to ask where the young master you captured this morning is being held?”

“Why? Do you know him?”

“No… I just wanted to check on him.” She nearly blurted out that Ying Xuanyu was her acquaintance, but decided it was best to see him first and then think about how to help.

“Oh, I’ll take you,” Yang Siyuan said, leading her to a room at the end of the corridor. He opened the door, revealing a man in brocade robes bound hand and foot to a chair, a black cloth over his eyes and a wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

A textbook case of kidnapping and ransom.

Feng Qiuji’s first instinct was to rush over and untie him, but as she reached Ying Xuanyu, she realized she couldn’t do that. She glanced back and saw Yang Siyuan watching her quizzically, so she smiled awkwardly. “Second Brother Yang, I’d like to speak with this young master alone for a moment. Could you give us some privacy?”

“Of course,” Yang Siyuan replied, leaving and closing the door behind him.

“How did you get caught?” Feng Qiuji pulled the cloth from his mouth and spoke in a hushed tone.

“Hm?” Ying Xuanyu cocked his ear, then asked curiously, “Do I know you?”

At this, Feng Qiuji quickly covered her mouth. She mustn’t let him recognize her voice, or there’d be trouble. She forced her voice lower. “No, we’ve never met. I just want to ask about your identity.”

“My identity?” Ying Xuanyu was confused—hadn’t a group of people already questioned him about this?

After some probing, Feng Qiuji learned the story: He’d been heading to the capital to return betrothal gifts, traveling quietly with only a few attendants and personally overseeing the journey. He also hoped to search for Sakura Luo in the capital.

Only then did Feng Qiuji realize Sakura Luo had run away from home—because she refused to marry the Right Vice Minister of Rites’ son, Qin Han, she had fled from the wedding.

Wait—who did he say? Qin Han?!

The name suddenly struck her as familiar. After a moment’s thought, she remembered—it was the very person she’d robbed during her first highway ambush…

Ah, her luck was truly abysmal. She’d finally become a bandit, finally done something bad, finally robbed someone—only to keep running into acquaintances. Last time it was Qin Han, this time Ying Xuanyu. Next time, would it be Ling Zetian?

The thought made her break out in a cold sweat. If Ling Zetian caught her as a bandit, would he have her entire family executed?

“You may have had few men, but how could you be captured so easily?!”

“You don’t know how wretched these bandits are. They run an inn not far from their ambush point—a black inn. They investigate each guest’s background and numbers, then drug them as needed. My servants were all given laxatives and spent the whole time running back and forth to the privy, nearly collapsing from exhaustion…” Ying Xuanyu’s face was full of frustration. He’d never met such seasoned bandits before.

“I see.” Now Feng Qiuji finally understood where their intelligence came from. “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. I’m starving.”

“Wait here, I’ll get you something.” With that, she opened the door and hurried to the kitchen.

As her footsteps faded, a faint smile appeared on Ying Xuanyu’s lips. He’d recognized Feng Qiuji’s voice immediately—there was no mistaking it. He played along, pretending not to know her, since she clearly didn’t want to be recognized.

He wasn’t too worried about his own predicament—the bandits wouldn’t dare go too far—but he was deeply concerned for Sakura Luo. She was his beloved sister, inexperienced and innocent. If anything happened to her, no one could bear the responsibility.

The only comfort was finding Feng Qiuji among the bandits. Otherwise, he’d have to seriously consider how to escape.

Now, his only hope was that Feng Qiuji could help him get away. He wasn’t sure why she had become a bandit—perhaps she’d been forced into it. If so, he’d take her with him when he left.

———Author’s Note———
This is the third update today! The story is now officially serialized—thank you all for your support.
The updates will continue steadily!