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Chapter 369. Escaping the Huang Mansion 35

369. Escaping the Huang Mansion 35

Upon hearing that Huang Muyan and the others had headed towards the town, Huang Shuiyun, who had been worried about losing face, immediately relaxed: "That will make it easier to find them. There has been fighting in the town for the past few days, so Xiyang Town is not very peaceful and has been sealed off. There are almost no vehicles or horses that can get out."

We'll just send people to town to look for her; we're sure we can find her.

Hearing Huang Shuiyun say that, Wang Shi felt a little relieved, but Huang Huoli's next words made her heart jump to her throat again.

“We can’t escape now, but finding Xiaomei is still a problem—the Communist army has recently come to this area. I fought with them before, and it’s hard to imagine that a bunch of farmers could fight us to a standstill.” Huang Huoli tapped the armrest of his chair with his right index finger. “Moreover, a brother of mine who is an official in Xiyang Town recently told me that the situation at the front line in Xiyang Town is very bad. If we lose again today, then Xiyang Town will be captured by the Communist army.”

"The situation at the front is so tense, isn't Second Brother going to help?" Huang Yihan sneered. "I heard Second Brother is a high-ranking official under Commander Wu, isn't he going to Xiyang Town to take command?"

"Why should I take command?" Huang Huoli said, taking a sip of the tea beside him. "My brother just made a mistake before. If he doesn't make a mistake today, we can drive those Communists back. It will be much easier to find my little sister then. I'm going to write a letter to my brother now. Tell him to lock the city gates tightly so that my little sister doesn't run away."

"Write! Write quickly!" Seeing that there was hope of finding Huang Muyan, Wang quickly asked someone to find paper and pen so that Huang Huoli could write a letter to his brother who was an official in Xiyang Town.

"What about the servants kneeling on the ground now?" Huang Yihan, seeing that there seemed to be nothing more to say, turned his attention to the servants kneeling on the ground.

"What else can we do? A bunch of freeloaders. Drag each of them down and give them ten strokes of the cane, then let them continue looking for the little sister. If they don't find her, give them another twenty strokes of the cane!" Huang Shuiyun waved his hand at the servants on the ground.

The servants timidly said "Thank you, young master," and then went one by one to the place where they were to be punished with caning.

Huang Huoli wrote a short letter and handed it to a servant who was in charge of delivering messages. The servant then mounted his horse and rode off towards Sunset Town.

The rain outside got heavier again, and patches of gray-white clouds stretched out together. The moisture content in the air was so high that it would make you grow gills.

Huang Muyan, Mu Baiyuan, and Mu Wanqing continued walking along the riverbank among the tall reeds.

"Haven't we arrived yet?" Huang Muyan asked, noticing that Mu Wanqing seemed to be reaching her limit.

Mu Baiyuan noticed this too. He bent down, squatted down, and carried Mu Wanqing on his back. After standing up, Mu Baiyuan tiptoed, raised his head, and made himself able to see the houses peeking through the reeds. He said, "I can see the houses in Sunset Town now. We're almost there."

Upon hearing that they were almost there, Huang Muyan felt that she could walk a little longer. She took a deep breath, letting herself, who was about to lose strength, absorb some fresh air to regain some energy.

Mu Wanqing lay on Mu Baiyuan's back. The long walk had left her feeling tired. With Mu Baiyuan carrying her on his back, Mu Wanqing's body rose and fell with his movements, making her feel like a laundry tub that had accidentally drifted into the middle of a pool.

Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and with the slight shaking, Mu Wanqing felt sleepy, but soon, a voice made the hairs on her body stand on end.

Mu Baiyuan felt Mu Wanqing gripping his shoulders tightly. He was puzzled and asked, "Xiao Wan, what's wrong?"

“There’s someone there,” Mu Wanqing whispered in Mu Baiyuan’s ear. “I heard it. It’s in the reeds, nearby.”

Hearing Mu Wanqing say this, Mu Baiyuan, who was also a little tired from walking, forced himself to cheer up and looked warily at the reeds all around.

Seeing the brother and sister in front of her both in a wary posture, Huang Muyan could also sense a hint of tension. She took a big step and walked to Mu Baiyuan, who was carrying Mu Wanqing on his back, and together they nervously looked around.

The three walked carefully. Halfway there, Huang Muyan kicked a small stone on the ground. She picked it up and held it in her hand, trying to see who was in the reeds. If it was someone chasing them, she would have to throw the stone away.

Huang Muyan wondered how long they could hold out. After walking for so long, their stamina was probably not as good as that of the servants. She should have eaten something first.

Mu Wanqing pointed in the direction the sound came from, and Mu Baiyuan and Huang Muyan walked in the opposite direction.

Mu Wanqing mustered her strength to try and identify the footsteps in the reeds that did not belong to them.

"Gurgle~" At this moment, someone's stomach rumbled. Perhaps all three of them had stomachs rumbling, after all, they hadn't eaten anything for so long, and their stomachs had been protesting for a while.

Hearing the rumbling of hunger, all three felt a pang of anxiety. Huang Muyan gripped the stone tightly in her hand and ran with Mu Baiyuan toward Sunset Town.

"Hey! Hey!" A voice came from the reeds, sounding like it didn't quite belong to Sunset Town. "Fellow villagers! Fellow villagers! Don't run away! We're not bad people!"

Upon hearing the strange accent, all three stopped in their tracks, feeling a slight sense of relief—finally, it wasn't the servants who had come to chase them.

However, the three of them still dared not relax—if the people on the other side were not good people, they would probably be in trouble.

The three watched as a pair of large, sun-darkened hands parted the reeds. Then, a soldier wearing a grass-gray uniform and a cap of similar color, carrying a rifle on his back, appeared before them.

Moreover, it wasn't just one soldier; two other people dressed similarly also poked their heads out from the reeds.

Mu Baiyuan and Huang Muyan both swallowed hard as they looked at the guns slung over the three men's shoulders. Huang Muyan spoke first, adopting a humble tone, and asked, "Gentlemen, is there anything I can help you with?"