ebookland Chapter 146 Forest Fog
Chapter 146 Forest Fog
As a result, not only did they not see anyone, but someone else triggered the mechanism of the red poisonous fog, and half of the people who came out of the secret passage died, including Yang Dacai.
Left with no other choice, the remaining members risked their lives to escape from the imperial tomb by the same route, telling the outside world that everyone else had perished inside the tomb.
Originally, the bandit was unwilling to reveal the part about trapping the people of Mengjia Village in the secret passage, but after the white wolf gave him another bite, he stammered out the story.
After saying that, he immediately said, "Miss Meng, they can even betray their own families, so their existence is just a waste of food. We are doing this to rid your Meng Family Village of this scourge..."
His words abruptly ceased as he slowly looked down at his chest, where a crossbow bolt was embedded. Then he lost consciousness.
Meng Fuqing withdrew her hand and said softly, "What kind of good people are you?"
After saying that, she looked at Xie Jin and said, "I'll trouble your men to tell Meng Ruilin and the others about this, so they can fight amongst themselves and avoid causing trouble for the convoy."
Seeing that Meng Fuqing's face was calm and indifferent, Xie Jin understood that Meng Fuqing did not care about the people in Mengjia Village, so he nodded with relief: "Okay."
Meng Fuqing was not surprised that the bandits of Black Tiger Stronghold could do such things. They had all seen blood on their hands, and their nature was inherently wicked. They could refrain from evil if they had a good leader, but they could commit all sorts of evil deeds if they had a bad leader.
Those few families in Mengjia Village were unknowingly making deals with a tiger.
The two did not return to their lodgings at the same time. Xie Jin went back first, while Meng Fuqing found a secluded place to wash up, then took out a wild rabbit from her spatial storage before leading her horse back.
Many people at the place where she had settled had already woken up and started to get busy, so they didn't think much of it when they saw her bringing back wild animals from outside.
When Yao Shanyun saw that Meng Fuqing had brought back another rabbit, she couldn't help but exclaim, "It's amazing you could see through such thick fog!"
Meng Fuqing smiled and said, "Let's try our luck."
On their way back, she and Xie Jin noticed that the fog was getting thicker and thicker. Even though it was already bright outside, they could only see about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) of the ground.
Back at his resting place, Meng Fuqing put down the rabbit and found Yan He circling around Shan Qiyu again.
Upon seeing Meng Fuqing return, Yan He stared at her strangely for a moment before approaching her and pulling her to a place far away from the crowd.
She lowered her voice and asked, "Where did you go last night? Did you go to Emperor Jingyuan's mausoleum with Xie Jin?"
Meng Fuqing didn't hide anything, "I was just scouting ahead. The entrance to the tomb is blocked by a huge rock, and we can't get in without enough people."
She paused, then added, "And there were strange noises coming from inside."
Yan He had a peculiar thought process: "What was that sound? Has Emperor Jingyuan risen from the dead?"
Meng Fuqing glanced at her speechlessly: "On the way back, I ran into a bandit who had been inside the fake imperial tomb and asked him some questions."
Meng Fuqing briefly explained the situation: "The people from Mengjia Village who were trapped in the secret passage may have stumbled into the True Emperor's Mausoleum by accident. Since there is a secret passage, it's possible that the treasures inside have already been stolen."
She said this without even blinking, because the imperial tomb had indeed been robbed, by her and Xie Jin last night.
Yan He believed it to be true, stomped his foot, and said angrily, "It's all for nothing again."
Meng Fuqing glanced at her again, and, feeling a pang of conscience, comforted her, "Young Master Xie will return here with his men in the future, and you will certainly receive your share of the benefits then."
Yan He accepted the offer without hesitation.
Seeing her like this, Meng Fuqing felt relieved.
Then she heard Yan He recount what had happened the night before, and she felt that it was the right thing to do to have the expelled bandits and the people of Mengjia Village keep each other in check.
If there is no conflict between them, the blame will be directed at the people in the convoy who are trying to drive them away.
Unless you completely eliminate the threat, you must be on guard all the way.
Breakfast was simple: pickled vegetables, rice porridge, and slices of venison left over from yesterday, grilled on a clean thin stone slab.
After a quick meal, Meng Bochang's eldest son took a gong and loudly urged everyone to stay close to the group.
Getting lost in dense fog could easily lead to being lost in the forest.
To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Meng Fuqing instructed everyone to tie the hemp rope together, with those walking standing cross-legged on either side of the rope, and simply tugging on it while traveling.
As for those pushing carts and driving carts, they walk on either side of the pedestrians, and as long as someone is pulling them along with a rope, they will not get lost.
With everything ready, the caravan set off. Just as Meng Fuqing was about to crawl into the carriage to rest, Meng Wan'er walked up to her and said, "Qingqing, my grandfather wants to see you. He has something to say to you. He's resting in Grandpa Zheng's carriage."
Meng Fuqing thought it must be because of what happened last night, so he nodded and strode forward.
Because of the thick fog, the convoy did not notice that about 30 feet away, several furtive people were following them along the tire tracks.
"Brother Qiang, have those people from Mengjia Village gone mad? How dare they attack us? Aren't you really going to go back and teach them a lesson?"
The man known as Brother Qiang, who had a deep scar on his cheek, snorted with a gloomy expression upon hearing this.
“How many days can those old, weak, sick and disabled people live without Meng Fuqing? We will definitely live longer than them, and that is enough. It is Meng Fuqing who has a grudge against us.”
He coughed and spat out a mouthful of phlegm, his eyes filled with gloom, and continued, "What Meng Fuqing said that day was clearly an attempt to lure us into a trap."
If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be in this predicament, living a life of plenty. We were tricked by a girl..."
Brother Qiang looked at the five men who had followed him and asked, "Are you willing to accept this?"
The five immediately shook their heads and said, "We are not willing to accept this!"
"Brother Qiang, whatever you say, we'll do it!"
"The best way to vent our anger is to torture her to the point of near death!"
Brother Qiang chuckled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, "Follow me, and I guarantee you'll all feel better!"
Inside the convoy, when Meng Fuqing heard Meng Bochang say that he was going to entrust the heavy responsibility of the Meng family village chief to him, he felt like he had misheard.
"You want me to be the clan leader?"
Meng Bochang nodded solemnly.
Meng Fuqing hesitated before speaking, "Isn't this a decision that goes against our ancestors' wishes?"
She believed she was capable of anything and could shoulder any responsibility, it all depended on whether she wanted to or not. She just didn't expect that the ancient people, who were considered old-fashioned, would not mind her being the head of a clan as a woman.
At least in the original owner's memory, there had never been a case of a woman serving as a clan leader in this world.
“Our clan rules don’t say that girls can’t be clan leaders, so how is that going against our ancestors?”
After saying that, Meng Bochang said earnestly, "Grandpa Village Chief doesn't necessarily want to put you in this position. I blurted it out in a moment of panic last night, but after thinking about it, it's not a bad idea. Now, who in our village doesn't trust you?"
This morning, quite a few people came to me asking about this. They all thought it was a good idea, but whether or not to do it is entirely up to you, since it's a mentally and physically demanding task.
Meng Fuqing recalled his initial thoughts when he first arrived here—to lie down and live a peaceful life. However, he was constantly plagued by difficult people and then by war and natural disasters, and he never had a peaceful day.
Most importantly, aside from Yao Shanyun's family and the village chief's family, she had absolutely no desire to get close to anyone else in Mengjia Village. Taking them to escape was one thing, since she needed manpower and to look after them…
A hint of resistance appeared on Meng Fuqing's face.
So she opened her mouth to refuse, but then Meng Bochang said, "This is not the time to discuss these things while fleeing. Why don't you think about it on the way and we can discuss it when we get to Jing'an Prefecture?"
Before leaving, Meng Fuqing reminded him, "Grandpa Village Chief, don't have too much faith in me."
After Meng Fuqing left, Zheng Yi gave his old friend a half-smile, "If only you had known this would happen!"
Knowing he was referring to things from the past, Meng Bochang gave a bitter smile, "I wouldn't want that either."