Chapter 495: Feeding Her to the Wolves?
Even though Qin Er Lang's speed was fast, he was still a step too late. The moment he grabbed the rope on Luo Huiniang's body, she had already slid down the slope, falling towards the deep pit.
"Mmm! Mmm!" Luo Huiniang's eyes were wide with urgency as she looked at him. She wanted to gallantly tell him not to save her, not to risk his life, but all she could muster were muffled sounds.
Qin Er Lang didn't even look at her. With one hand, he held onto the rope binding her, while with the other, he untied the rope from around his waist. Seizing the opportunity, he threw the rope, with its hook and claw, toward a pine tree growing on the cliff. The hook caught onto the tree trunk, suspending them both in mid-air, saving them from plummeting to the bottom of the pit and smashing to death.
Qin Er Lang sighed with relief, but realized hanging there was not a solution. Within half an hour, both his arms would be dislocated, and without the support of the bones, the immense pressure would tear him apart.
Or perhaps the pine tree would snap, and he and Luo Family's country girl would fall into the pit and die.
Qin Er Lang didn't want to die, especially not now. He deeply regretted his impulsive rescue of Luo Huiniang... What did the few families fleeing famine have to do with him? There was absolutely no need for him to save Luo Huiniang. He still had a great vengeance to exact; if he were to die like this, especially for a lowly country girl, he would truly be letting down his ancestors!
"Mmm! Mmm!" Luo Huiniang, her mouth still gagged with a rough cloth, called out to Qin Er Lang above her, trying to thank him but instead provoking his rage: "Shut up, you country girl! Stop wriggling or you'll break the rope, and then we'll both die!"
Any sway would increase the load on his arms; yet that idiot below kept moving. What was she moving for? Did she think she was so light, that he could hold her with ease?
Luo Huiniang was stunned by the scolding, and then she started making noises again, trying to say that it wasn't her fault, that if necessary, he could throw her down – he shouldn't die because of her.
Qin Er Lang's face was green with torment, his teeth clenched, teetering on the brink of eruption. He couldn't take it anymore; lowering his head, he roared at Luo Huiniang below, "Shut up! One more peep, and I'll throw you down and watch you splatter!"
Luo Huiniang was a kind and loyal girl. To her, dying was her own business; she couldn't drag Qin Er Lang down with her. Hearing his words, she immediately went silent: "Mmm! Mmm!" It's okay if I die, I can't burden you. If you really can't hold on, then let go.
Qin Er Lang was nearly driven mad. What kind of girls were these refugees raising? Gu Jinli at least had some shame; he knew to respond to a cold face with a cold face in return. But this Luo Family's country girl was utterly oblivious, torturing him with her constant muffled noise, even when his face had turned black.
Suppressing the urge to snap Luo Huiniang's neck that was bubbling up inside him, Qin Er Lang squinted, surveying the cliff around them, looking for any protruding rocks or caves in the cliff face where they might take shelter instead of dangling in mid-air.
But, within his line of sight, there were no such rocks or caves.
Qin Er Lang was not one to resign himself to fate. The rope around his waist was quite long, about fifteen meters. Boldly, he began to loosen the rope, allowing their bodies to slowly descend as he continued to scan the cliff face.
Luo Huiniang had no idea what he was doing. All she knew was that they were dropping, thinking he couldn't hold on, she urgently began to make noise, wanting him to let go quickly and not to save her anymore. But Qin Er Lang didn't pay any attention to her; all she could do was fret.
Luo Huiniang thought they were going to die, but they were fortunate. By the cliff edge, they found a protruding rock.
Qin Er Lang was overjoyed. Because the rock was closer to Luo Huiniang, he wanted her to swing her body and leap onto it. But after thinking it over, he decided that given Luo Huiniang's intelligence, she might botch the attempt. So, he resolved to exert himself a bit more: he would get onto the rock first, then pull Luo Huiniang up after.
Qin Er Lang continued to let out the rope, but tragically, when he was about half a meter away from the rock, the rope reached its end.
Qin Er Lang was a resolute man. He said to Luo Huiniang below, "I'm going to jump onto the rock. Don't move, or we'll both die."
Having said that, he took a deep breath while looking at the rock right before his eyes, released the rope connected to the pine tree, and lunged towards the rock...
He dared not exert too much force, fearing that an overly forceful leap would dislodge the entire rock from the cliff. Fortunately, his luck held, and the rock did not fall when he landed on it. However, he began to slide towards the edge of the rock.
In a panic, he exerted all his strength, grabbing onto the rock with one hand. Just as he was about to fall off, he steadied himself and, with a final push, quickly climbed towards the inner side of the rock using one hand and both feet.
Finally reaching the inner side of the rock, Qin Er Lang was soaked in cold sweat.
The hand that he used to pull the rope binding Luo Huiniang's body had been injured in the collision. His fingers were so tightly wound that the bone was visible, and blood gushed out, nearly losing all sensation.
Qin Er Lang, relying on his formidable grip, held firmly onto the rope that was tied around Luo Huiniang's body, and then pulled her up using both hands.
Luo Huiniang was stunned. After being pulled up, she stared blankly at Qin Er Lang, and as soon as he removed the coarse burlap from her mouth, she immediately said with admiration, "Brother Qin Er, you're too amazing! To think you could pull me up, and even leap onto the rock from midair, how did you do that? Could you teach..."
Before she could finish, her mouth was gagged with the burlap again.
Qin Er Lang's eardrums ached from her noise, and to have a moment of tranquility, he decided not to untie this country girl for now. He would wait for half an hour before doing so.
"Mmmph!" Luo Huiniang was somewhat angry and wanted Qin Er Lang to release her, but he ignored her. After dragging her to the inner side of the rock, he warned her with a cold tone, "This rock is only so big. Don't move around, or if you fall and die, it won't be my fault."
Having said that, he rested against the inner side of the rock and pressed his numb arm, hoping to restore its sensation as quickly as possible.
...
In the mountains, Yang Laosan and Yang Laowu, after discarding Luo Huiniang, immediately pursued Yang Laoda and the others. It didn't take long to catch up, and the group was dragging Gu Yumei deeper into the mountains.
Not knowing how long they had wandered in the mountains, the sounds of the search party grew fainter and fainter until finally, Yang Laoda let out a sigh of relief, "Damn it, we finally shook those people off."
He raised his hand and slapped Gu Yumei, "You wretched girl, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have lost two brothers."
He was extremely furious about Old Si and Lao Liu's deaths.
Yang Laosan had a weakness for beauty, and seeing they had thrown off the villagers, he said to Yang Laoda, "Big brother, this wretched girl is a curse. Keeping her will only bring us disaster. Why don't we brothers have our way with her a few times and then toss her into the mountains to feed the wolves? What do you think?"
Nanny Yao glared at Yang Laosan, displeased, "Old San, are you having those crooked thoughts again? This girl is still young, and she doesn't look bad either. If we take her out of the mountains and sell her, she could fetch us several dozen taels of silver."