"Daohua, use the restroom if you need to, I'll keep watch for you over here."
After getting off the carriage, Daohua pulled Yan Wentao and dived into the woods by the road.
"Shh!"
Crouching, Daohua made a silent gesture, signaling Yan Wentao not to speak, and pointed toward the road ahead.
"What's the matter?"
Yan Wentao subconsciously lowered his voice.
Daohua whispered, "See that carriage over there? Doesn't it look like the one we saw at the temple ruins? Let's go have a look."
Without thinking, Yan Wentao immediately shook his head, "No! Daohua, listen to Big Brother Three, once you're done, let's hurry back. Grandmother is waiting for us, and we mustn't worry her. Other matters are not our concern."
He was no longer a child; he had heard plenty about the hardships of life.
In the temple ruins, even those capable folks from the Escort Bureau didn't meddle much. It would be best if they stayed clear of this muddy water.
Daohua fell silent.
Logically, she knew she should not be nosy;
but the thought of the children in the carriage being trafficked to all sorts of unspeakable places tormented her greatly.
"Big Brother Three, let's just sneak over for a look. I've carefully observed them, and those two strong men from yesterday aren't there, only that woman guarding the carriage. I can handle her by myself."
"You?" Yan Wentao looked at the petite Daohua with undisguised skepticism in his eyes and on his face.
Daohua puffed out her chest, "You know how strong I am."
Yan Wentao replied irritably, "What kind of strength is that? You're only slightly stronger than the average girl. I could pin you down with one hand."
"Oh, come on, Big Brother Three, let's not talk about this now. Opportunities slip by in an instant. If those two men return, we'll truly be unable to do anything. Think about it, the children caught in the carriage, they are the same age as me, as Wen Hui. Can you bear to watch them get trafficked?"
Ultimately a kind-hearted person, Yan Wentao, upon hearing this, scratched his head in frustration and said helplessly, "Let's just take a quick look then. If we can help, we will; if not, we'll immediately retreat."
Daohua nodded vigorously, "I know, I promise."
It seemed the heavens were helping them; right as they approached the carriage, it actually drove into the woods by itself.
And then, the carriage started to shake violently.
Before long, two boys, around the age of ten with their hands tied behind their backs, jumped down from the carriage and stumbled into the deeper parts of the forest.
"Damn little brats, daring to ambush me! I'll tear your skins apart if I catch you!"
The burly woman also jumped down from the carriage and chased after them quickly.
Witnessing this scene, a gleam appeared in Daohua's eyes, and she stood up swiftly, running towards the carriage.
Yan Wentao didn't have time to stop her and could only follow.
"Bang!"
Daohua opened the carriage and saw seven or eight children bound inside the crowded cabin, looking at them with terrified faces.
"Big Brother Three, quick, untie them."
Daohua swiftly took the dagger strapped to her calf, jumped onto the carriage, and began to cut the ropes binding the children.
Yan Wentao, upon seeing Daohua take out a dagger, paused, "Daohua, why are you carrying a dagger?"
Without turning her head, Daohua replied, "Who goes out without having one or two self-defense weapons? Big Brother Three, don't talk now, hurry up, the woman will be back soon." Then she turned towards the children in the carriage, "Do you remember where your homes are?"
The children in the carriage first nodded, then shook their heads.
Seeing this, Daohua felt a bit of a headache.
These children were older, over ten years old, and the youngest were only seven or eight.
After thinking it over, Daohua quickly took off the pouch she was carrying and gave each child a Silver Barley, "After you get off the horse cart, run towards the crowded places. If you see a town, enter it, then go to the Government Office and ask them to send you home. Make sure you don't get caught again."
By then, Yan Wentao had already untied all the ropes on the children, "Daohua, it's time for us to go." Saying that, he grabbed Daohua and jumped down from the horse cart.
"We can only help you this much, now you must also hurry and escape." After saying this to the children, without waiting for any response, Yan Wentao pulled Daohua and ran away.
"Third Brother, run a little slower."
Daohua was being pulled by Yan Wentao and ran while turning her head to look back.
Seeing that the children were smart enough to run away, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ancient times were not like modern ones, and she didn't know if what she had done could truly help them.
She could only pray that they would all be able to return to their parents.
Suddenly, a sharp scream came from a nearby forest.
Yan Wentao paused hesitantly, Daohua pulling him, "Third Brother, there are two more."
"We can't take care of those two; didn't you see the woman chasing after them?" Yan Wentao said resolutely, intent on pulling Daohua away.
"Third Brother, let's go and see, maybe we can help in some way."
"You, ah!"
Yan Wentao, having been relentlessly pursued by Daohua, had no choice but to steel himself and took her towards the direction of the noise.
Quickly, behind a clump of bushes, the two of them saw three people wrestling each other.
A muscular woman was straddling a young boy, gripping his neck tightly.
The young boy's eyes bulged out due to difficulty in breathing; his face turned red and veins throbbed visibly.
Another boy lay on the ground, his legs tightly wrapped around the woman's neck.
The three were tangled up like this.
Seeing this scene, Daohua didn't say a word and picked up a stone the size of a basketball from her feet, throwing it at the woman's head.
By the time Yan Wentao realized what was happening, the woman had already collapsed to the ground with a bleeding head.
Blood sprayed out from the woman's head, the bright scarlet color causing Daohua to flinch slightly, but quickly she discarded the stone, ran over, pushed the woman away, and rescued the boy who had been pinned beneath her.
"Third Brother, don't just stand there, hurry up and save him!"
Yan Wentao snapped out of it and quickly went to help the other boy. Just as he propped him up, he heard Daohua's cry of alarm.
"Ah, you've been stabbed?"
Daohua stared blankly at the boy's abdomen, soaked with blood.
The boy was extremely weak, "You guys go quickly, those two men are coming back."
Daohua glanced at the other boy, then at Yan Wentao, unsure of what to do.
Leaving this boy behind, it seemed he would certainly die.
At that moment, calling voices came from the side of the road.
The other boy's complexion changed drastically, "Those two are coming back. Thank you for trying to save us, you should get away. I will take him into the woods to hide." Saying this, he went to help the stabbed boy.
Looking at his feeble limbs, Daohua shifted her feet, "Third Brother, put the boy on your back, we're going back."
Yan Wentao looked at Daohua and, gritting his teeth, bent down to lift the stabbed boy onto his back and hurried towards their own horse cart.
Daohua supported the other one and quickly followed.