Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 39 Encounter on a narrow road

The female thief said, "There have been a lot of people around here these days. We can't stay here any longer. We're leaving today."

After hearing this, Jia Cong thought about where she was going to take him when she left. Although he was full of doubts, he had saved his life after all, so he could only take it one step at a time.

What he was most worried about was Zhishao. He had not been seen for several days. When Guo Zhigui and the two servants went back, everyone knew that he had been robbed, but Zhishao was so worried that she didn't know how to deal with it.

I have been detained in the cave by the female thief for the past few days. Either my hands and feet are tied or I am knocked unconscious. I have never left the cave and I don't know whether it is day or night outside.

When the two men walked out of the cave, it was already getting dark, and the west was covered with red sunset clouds. Jia Cong looked at the scene and thought it was probably the You hour.

It is late winter now, the days are short, and it will soon be dark at this time.

They walked down the mountain along the path they had come from and returned to the grove, both of them paying close attention to the movements around them.

The female thief needed to conceal her tracks, so she naturally had to be cautious; as for Jia Cong, who met someone at this time, he couldn't explain why he was able to live peacefully with the remnants of the Hidden Sect.

After walking a few steps, Jia Cong suddenly stopped the female thief and pointed at the snow in front.

The female thief looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a half circle of black object with some sharp teeth on it emerging from the snow-covered ground.

Jia Cong walked in carefully and saw that it was an iron trap. If he had not been careful, he would have broken his foot if he stepped on it.

The female thief said casually: "There are a lot of wild animals around here. We encountered hunters when we came here. They must have set the traps."

Jia Cong discovered that since this female thief had carefully examined him in the cave, she had become much gentler towards him. She was no longer as ferocious as she had been a few days ago, and would knock him out with the handle of her knife at any time.

He stood up and looked around. The grove was silent and he felt uneasy. He picked up a short thick branch and swept some snow to cover the exposed part of the trap.

The female thief saw his actions and remained silent. She waited until he finished his work before setting off together. After walking for a few dozen steps, when they were about to leave the forest, two figures suddenly appeared from behind a tree in front of them.

Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart. After all, something had happened. Judging from the behavior of these two men, it was obvious that they were coming for them.

One of the men in black was someone Jia Cong had seen at Shuyun Villa. He was Zhou Junxing's subordinate and had colluded with the prefect of Zhen'an to discuss the results of the investigation.

The man in black sneered, "Lord Zhou asked us to take turns searching these places. I thought it was just like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I didn't expect to have such luck that we brothers came out on top."

"Isn't this the Young Master Jia Cong from Rongguo Mansion who made a big splash at literary gatherings?"

"If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, who would have believed that a young master from the Duke's Mansion would actually be in cahoots with a female thief from the Hidden Sect."

"Colluding with the remnants of the Hidden Sect, could it be that the Jia family is planning a rebellion?"

Jia Cong's face turned pale. It would have been fine if he had just met someone else, but it happened to be a subordinate of Zhou Junxing from the Court of Magistrates. Zhou Junxing was the best at fabricating and framing people. Now he couldn't clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

It would also bring misfortune to the Jia family. He did not think the Jia family was that important, but now as a member of the Jia family, he and the Jia family would suffer together.
He said to the female thief, "They set a trap and took us as prey."

The female thief glanced at him, and the words sounded a little strange.

Before she could think more, she saw Jia Cong turn around and run away. She was angry and contemptuous in her heart: Cowardly coward, those who study, no matter adults or children, are not good people.

The man in black said to his companions, "Go and catch the boy quickly. Don't let him run away. He is a big fish." The man in black was originally a gangster. He was recruited by Zhou Junxing by chance and followed him for several years. How could he not know what the other party was thinking?

For his master, the fact that such a powerful and military family had been involved with the Hidden Sect was like the smell of blood to a shark, and it was what he wanted most.

If I could help him accomplish this, I would be more respected by him.

Thinking of his proud moment, he drew out his long sword, and the sword light swept towards the female thief like a streak of silk.

This female thief was stabbed in the back by him on the snow a few days ago. Although it was not fatal, the injury was serious. It has only been a few days, and the injury must not have healed yet. It saved some effort to capture her.

The black-clothed man was very powerful and his moves were powerful, making a shocking noise. The female thief was good at assassination with small movements, and frontal slashing was not her forte.
She gritted her teeth and held up her two swords to block the attack, but her wounds had not yet healed and her strength was not as good as before. She staggered back two steps, feeling a piercing pain in her left shoulder and back; the wound had already burst.

He forced himself to fight a few more sword strikes with the man in black. The clothes on his left shoulder were already wet, and his movements became a little sluggish unconsciously.

The man in black swung his knife back, and she dodged it desperately. The scarf on her face was cut by the knife. If she had been a step slower, her whole face would have been ruined.

The man in black was amazed when he saw the thief's tattered mask being cut open, revealing her extremely beautiful face. No one who saw such a face would ever forget it.

"I've seen you in Texas. I didn't expect that you, a fish that escaped the net, would dare to come to Shenjing to kill people!"

The female thief said fiercely: "Wu Jinrong has killed more than 300 people in Dezhou Hidden Sect. He deserves to die. Zhou Junxing and running dogs like you will be killed sooner or later!"

The man in black grinned: "It's a pity you can't see it."

He had seen that the back of the female thief's shoulder was covered in blood, as if an old wound had been broken and she had lost a lot of blood. She was at the end of her strength and there was no way she could escape from his grasp.

The female thief was no longer able to fight back and could only dodge and move around by relying on the trees in the forest. Just when she was about to be unable to hold on, a shrill scream was heard not far away.

Both of the men in the fight were startled. The female thief knew that Jia Cong was a weak boy who could not even tie a chicken and could not stand up to a strong man, so she thought that he had been killed.

She was a little panicked. Ever since she saw Jia Cong's face clearly in the cave, she thought of something very related. She didn't want anything to happen to Jia Cong.

She ran a few steps to put some distance between herself and the man in black, then ran towards the place where the scream came from.

But the man in black's face changed drastically when he heard the scream, but he recognized that the voice came from his brother, and definitely not from the boy from the Jia family.

He just couldn't understand why a weak boy could scream so miserably when he was just trying to catch him.

Moreover, that man was not his so-called brother, but his biological brother from the same mother. They were recruited together by Zhou Junxing in Dezhou. His brother was quite capable and would never be such a coward.

When the female thief arrived, she saw an unbelievable scene.

The man in black who was chasing Jia Cong was lying on the ground. He stepped on a trap and one of his feet was caught tightly, leaving a bloody mess. The strange thing was that he was lying there with a broken head and blood all over his body.

Jia Cong stood not far from the man in black, holding a thick branch in his hand, one end of which was stained with blood.

(End of this chapter)