TSWPF -Chapter 207 The Bad Guys

After a moment, three men walked in. The tall one in the lead quickly swept his gaze over Li Qingling and the others. Seeing that there were mostly children among them, a dark glint flashed through his eyes. Without drawing attention, he exchanged a look with the other two, then went to the other side and sat down.

Traveling outside, Li Qingling was already very alert. Seeing these three men, she became even more vigilant.

She squeezed Liu Zhiming’s hand. He understood at once and gave a slight nod.

With so many children on their side, they absolutely could not afford even the slightest lapse.

“Elder Sister, I’m hungry.” Li Qingning tugged gently at Li Qingling’s sleeve and whispered.

After rushing along the road, they hadn’t eaten much in the carriage. As soon as they reached the temple, her stomach began to growl.

Hearing this, Li Qingling took out some dry rations from her bundle and began handing them out.

The three men watched as Li Qingling and the others ate. They swallowed unconsciously and exchanged glances again. One of them—the short one—stood up and walked over with a smile.

“Hey, miss, do you still have some food? Could you spare a bit for the three of us brothers? We haven’t eaten all day and we’re starving.”

They had thought they would return empty-handed, but who would have guessed that the rain would force them to take shelter in this temple—and run into such a group of people. Now their money problem had a solution again.

Heaven was really helping them.

Li Qingling lifted her head and gave the man a quick glance. He looked somewhat familiar, though she couldn’t recall where she had seen him.

“We still have to continue our journey, and we don’t have much food. There are only these three flatbreads left. If you don’t mind, big brother, you can take them and share. There’s no more than this.”

The man smiled again, took the three flatbreads from her hand, thanked her, then returned to his companions. The three of them split the flatbreads and ate slowly.

After finishing, the short man turned to Zeng Tietou, smiling as he spoke, “Brother, where is your whole family headed?”

Zeng Tietou wasn’t as honest as he looked. He kept his guard up and replied with a smile, “To the prefectural city. And you brothers—where are you going? With rain like this, the road won’t be easy.”

The man looked sneaky at first glance—definitely not a good sort.

With so many elderly and children in their group, he had to be extra cautious.

“What a coincidence!” The short man clapped his hands and laughed cheerfully. “The three of us are also heading to the prefectural city. That carriage outside is yours, right? I wonder if there’s any room to give us brothers a ride?”

From the look of them, these people didn’t seem rich, but they probably weren’t too poor either. There should still be some money on them.

Whatever they could get was fine—no matter how small, meat was still meat.

As soon as he said this, Zeng Tietou frowned in embarrassment and apologized, saying there was no space left. The carriage was small and already crowded.

The short man waved his hand indifferently. “No worries. I was just asking. If there’s no room, there’s nothing to be done. We brothers can just walk.”

Zeng Tietou smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

The short man wanted to pry information from Zeng Tietou, and Zeng Tietou also wanted to sound him out. The two chatted cautiously back and forth, and for a time the atmosphere seemed quite pleasant.

“This rain just won’t stop. Looks like we’ll have to spend the night here. Brother, what are your plans?” The short man rolled his eyes, glanced outside, and sighed worriedly, pretending concern as the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping.

Zeng Tietou truly was worried. If the rain didn’t stop, they wouldn’t dare rush onward.

“Let’s wait and see. Maybe it’ll stop later.”

“That’s true. Then let’s wait,” the short man said, glancing at the tall one. The tall man’s lips curved slightly upward. They were hoping the rain would keep falling—it would make things easier for them.

Zeng Tietou no longer felt like chatting. He quietly moved over to Li Qingling and asked her in a low voice what they should do.

Li Qingling looked up at the weather outside, bit her lower lip, and said they should wait a bit longer. If it really didn’t stop, they would have no choice but to stay the night here.

Traveling in heavy rain was dangerous. Spending the night in the temple would be much safer.

Zeng Tietou nodded. “Boss, I don’t know what those three men are up to. We need to be careful.”

“One can never be too careful when traveling,” she replied. “If we stay here tonight, don’t sleep too deeply.”

“Alright…”

No one knew how long it had been raining. The rain continued to pour, and the sky gradually darkened. In the end, Li Qingling and the others had no choice but to spend the night in the temple.

“Brother, looks like we really are fated to stay here overnight,” the short man said cheerfully, genuinely pleased this time. Staying the night would make things much easier for them.

Zeng Tietou gave a noncommittal hum and ignored him, then asked Li Qingling whether they should bring the carriage inside. Leaving it outside might invite thieves.

“Alright. Trouble you, uncle, to bring the horse into the room next door and tie it up.” She was worried the three men might steal the carriage. Bringing it inside would be safer.

Zeng Tietou and the driver brought the carriage in, tied it up, then returned to sit down. “Boss, you all get some sleep. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

He felt uneasy. If he didn’t stand guard, he wouldn’t feel at ease.

Li Qingling thought for a moment, then nodded, quietly telling him that he would take the first half of the night, and she would take the second.

“No need. Boss, you sleep properly. I can stay up all night—it’s fine. I’ll make it up during the day tomorrow.”

How could he let the boss take watch? This kind of thing was his responsibility.

Li Qingling glanced at him and said firmly, “Listen to me. I’ll take the second half.” With that, without giving him a chance to object, she hugged Li Qingning and closed her eyes.

Seeing this, Zeng Tietou sighed helplessly in his heart and decided that he wouldn’t wake her for the second half of the night. He would let her rest properly.

Outside, Li Qingling had no intention of sleeping at all. On top of that, three strangers were sitting across from them—how could she sleep?

She merely closed her eyes to rest.

Watching the people opposite slump and sleep, the three men exchanged glances again, signaling with their fingers. Smiles curled up at the corners of their mouths. They hadn’t come for nothing—this trip was worth it.

Time passed bit by bit. Around midnight, Zeng Tietou yawned softly. He glanced at the three men opposite and, hearing their steady snoring, hesitated before standing up and walking outside.

He needed to relieve himself—he really couldn’t hold it anymore.

As soon as he left, the three men opened their eyes at the same time, not a trace of sleepiness in them. The snoring earlier had been deliberate, meant to deceive Zeng Tietou.

“Big brother, we need to deal with that man first,” one said. “He’s the main threat. If we don’t take him out, things might go wrong.”

“Alright. Sixth, you take care of that man. I’ll handle the kids with Third.”

“Got it.”

The short man nodded, picked up a stick from the ground, and tiptoed outside.

The man called Third chuckled, rubbing his hands. “Big brother, those kids look pretty good. Why don’t we tie them up and sell them? We’d definitely get a good price.”

He had been thinking about this ever since he saw the children.

They probably didn’t have much money on them anyway. It would be better to kidnap the kids and sell them—then they’d strike it rich.

The tall man thought it was a good idea as well and nodded. “Keep it quiet. Don’t wake anyone.”

He went to a corner, picked up two sticks, handed one to Third, and said, “Knock out the man in the corner. The kids will be easy after that.”

“Leave that to me.”

The tall man crept quietly up to Li Qingling. Looking at her delicate face, he swallowed. This was a fine piece of goods. If she were sold to a brothel, she’d fetch a high price.

The more he looked, the more tempted he became. He reached out to touch her face.

Just as his hand was about to make contact, something sharp pressed against his neck. The person who had been “asleep” opened her eyes, her gaze sharp and cold.

“Don’t move. Tell your people to stop, or else—”

She pressed the crossbow in her hand harder into his neck. A sharp pain followed, and blood trickled out.

In the quiet temple, Li Qingling’s icy voice rang out, startling Third. He turned around and saw her holding something against the tall man’s neck.

“Big brother?”

“Three…” Li Qingling began to count.

A dark look flashed through the tall man’s eyes. “Third, put it down.”

He hadn’t expected to underestimate this woman—and end up in her hands.

Liu Zhimou quickly took Li Qingning from Li Qingling’s arms, woke him up, then woke the others.

When the driver saw the stick in Third’s hand, everything became clear.

“Damn bastard! Almost fell for it!” The driver kicked Third angrily, snatched the stick from his hand, and struck him repeatedly. “How dare you sneak attack me? How dare you try to hit me? I’ll beat you to death, you bastard!”

“Ah! Stop hitting me! Stop!” If he weren’t worried about something happening to his big brother, he would have fought back long ago.

Li Qingling studied the tall man in front of her, frowning slightly. The more she looked at him, the more familiar he seemed.

After a moment, a flash of realization crossed her mind.

She remembered.

Years ago, this tall man and that same short one had tried to break into her house to steal. She had shot an arrow and scared them off.

She never expected to run into them again—here of all places.