The Skinny Black Woman's eyes flickered, not daring to look at the person opposite her. She said weakly, "The most handsome man in the middle, his daughter is in the carriage."
You can't really blame her though, who doesn't want to live? They were just trying to save themselves.
Old Gu Six frowned slightly, he didn't recognize the woman opposite him, why would she want to harm him?
The leader immediately noticed Old Gu Six standing out with his exceptional looks.
Their eyes met, Old Gu Six's gaze was devoid of any emotion as he looked at them calmly, yet those slightly upturned phoenix eyes carried an aura of sharpness.
The leader regretted coming over. At a glance, this was no easy target, but since they were already here, there was no turning back.
"Old Gu Six, I heard you have silver and food supplies, and your daughter is quite beautiful too. Why don't you bring her out for us to take a look?"
The followers behind him chimed in, chanting "Bring her out, bring her out."
Old Gu Six's eyes narrowed, his gaze turning cold and dark. They could covet anything of his, but they must not lay a hand on his daughter.
In a flash, the soft sword at his waist was drawn, and without a word, he charged forward. The bandit leader was caught off guard, and the jeering followers also rushed towards Yang Poxiao and the others.
Among the followers, the bandit leader was the most skilled in martial arts, but he was still no match for Old Gu Six. In just over ten moves, Old Gu Six pierced his shoulder and kicked him three meters away, leaving him on the ground with no ability to retaliate.
The bandit followers didn't even reach Chang'an before being struck down one by one by Old Gu Six's ruthless sword strikes.
The two women who had betrayed Old Gu Six's location were pale and huddled together, not daring to move for fear of being killed by his sword.
At the same time, they resented him, wondering why he didn't stay with the group at night, so they wouldn't have been robbed.
The remaining followers who didn't charge forward were trembling, helping their leader up as he said a single word: "Leave."
They didn't care about the severely injured followers or the two women anymore.
"Did I say you could leave?" Old Gu Six's voice rang out, cold as winter snow.
The leader lowered his head in apology, "I'm sorry, we failed to recognize your greatness. Please, Brother Gu, spare us."
"How many people are in your mountain stronghold?" If there were few people, he would just take his daughter to raid for supplies, since they didn't have much either.
"Fifteen hundred."
The leader had a bad feeling - they might meet their end here today. Blood gushed from his shoulder wound, and he was already feeling dizzy and unsteady.
Old Gu Six pondered for a moment. A stronghold of fifteen hundred people - they didn't know the layout, were there any deadly traps? Of course, he could have these petty thieves lead the way, but could they be trusted? What if they were being led into a trap?
On this side, he was the only capable fighter. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn't slaughter over a thousand people single-handedly. Who could guarantee that none of them were formidable martial artists?
He had no intention of letting his daughter fight. Who knew what side effects might occur if she used her powers too much?
And with her powers manifesting so suddenly and in the same place, even a fool could tell something was amiss. The people behind them appeared friendly, but he couldn't let his guard down.
Besides, were the people of Qingfang Village even worth saving? Just look at those two women.
Still, he asked one more question, "Why did you capture these women?"
One of the followers immediately replied, "It was their own husbands who didn't want them. If their husbands had insisted on taking them, we would have returned the supplies and let them go.
We didn't mistreat the women either, we just sold them to rich families to be servants, which is better than staying with those heartless husbands."
After hearing this, Old Gu Six decided not to get involved. Since they weren't doing anything indecent, he couldn't be bothered to interfere.
He wasn't a hero of the Martial World, fighting for justice wasn't his responsibility. The bandits had a code, and the victims weren't good people either, so why should he care?
The two women huddled nearby suddenly found the courage to shout, "Old Gu Six, save us! We don't want to be enslaved!"
Old Gu Six ignored them, not even considering rescuing them. Sparing their lives was already merciful enough.
He told the bandit leader, "Give me four donkey carts or ox carts, and two carts of supplies - one cart of food grains and one cart of thick cotton clothes and bedding. If you provide the supplies, I'll let you go."
The leader leaned against his follower, already too weak to stand. He gritted his teeth and replied, "Alright, we'll get them right away."
The followers poured their hemostatic medicine onto his wound, using up their own supplies and even taking some from their comrades.
The leader ordered his men to fetch the supplies and carts, "Four of you, get Brother Gu the supplies and vehicles he demanded."
Only five men remained by his side, one staying to care for him.
Old Gu Six added, "The cotton clothes and bedding must be of good quality."
The leader waved his hand weakly, urging his men to hurry. He sat slumped against a withered tree by the roadside, his wound hastily bandaged to stop the bleeding for now.
Seeing everyone's attention diverted, the two women tried to sneak away, but they had only taken two steps before being spotted by the follower guarding the leader.
The follower was furious - if not for these two women, the leader wouldn't have been injured. He vented his anger on them, there was no way he could let them escape now.
He picked up a large blade from the ground and held it horizontally in front of them. "If you dare try to run away, I'll kill you both right now."
His icy, murderous voice froze the two women in fear. They nodded frantically and obediently squatted back down, no longer hoping for Old Gu Six to save them. He was just a cold-blooded, heartless scoundrel.
Half an hour later, the leader's followers returned, driving four donkey carts. Two carts were loaded with supplies, while the other two were empty.
With the help of his followers, the leader stood up. "Brother Gu, we've brought the supplies and carts. Can we leave now?"
If he didn't return soon, he wouldn't be able to hold on.
Old Gu Six nodded, allowing them to depart. Then he called to Yu San behind him, "Yu San, take the supplies and donkey carts back. Give two sacks of grains to Brother Yang's family."
He thought that by providing them with cotton clothes and food grains, these people wouldn't follow him and his daughter anymore, right?
He added, "Give them one of the donkey carts too. Load the other three carts with the remaining supplies and let the children, women, and elderly ride in the empty cart."
See, he was being so accommodating in dividing the resources.
"Yes," Old Gu Six and his companions from their troupe unloaded two bags of grain and left a donkey cart for the brothers Yang Poxiao.
In Old Gu Six's troupe, there were two elderly people, four children, and five women, all skinny and looking unwell. The donkey cart was enough to carry them.
As for Yang Poxiao's side, the two brothers didn't have much in the way of household possessions, and they didn't receive much grain either. They didn't refuse the grain that was given to them.
All of this was lifesaving grain, and now was not the time to be pretentious.
They loaded their belongings onto the donkey cart, and Yang Poxiao's eight-year-old son could now ride in the cart. However, their two wives still had to walk.
The two women exchanged a smile and said, "Husband, don't worry, we can keep up."
Chang'an opened the cart's curtain and looked around, saying, "Father, let's leave quickly. There's a bloody smell here, and I'm afraid it might attract birds of prey."
"Daughter, sit tight, we'll be leaving right away."
Old Gu Six and his daughter led the way, with a lit torch stuck into the donkey cart.
Seeing them depart, Yang Poxiao and his brothers followed behind with their family, also carrying lit torches.
Next came the troupe of Old Gu Six.
Originally, Chang'an had planned to escape the famine with just her father Old Gu Six, but she didn't expect a whole string of people to tag along behind them.
