My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 115 Going Up the Mountain

Lin Ziping trembled like a leaf, and shouted with his eyes closed, "There are two men and one woman, and one of them has a broken leg!"

Thinking of the portrait of Gao Chi that Inspector Chai had shown him, he started making things up on the spot.

A man next to him approached the leader.

After the man whispered something, the leader said, "Stop! Take him back to the mountain and let the head of the family decide what to do."

“Brother, this kid is very cunning. I clearly saw him ride a donkey into the village just now, but the donkey is gone now. He must have made a ruse—” the man wielding the knife stammered.

"Lure the tiger away from the mountain," the person behind him cautiously reminded him.

“Yes, it was a diversionary tactic. If it weren’t for your brilliant leadership, brother, that kid would have gotten away,” the man continued.

Lin Ziping looked frightened, but glanced at the ten people surrounding him out of the corner of his eye.

Just as the leader was about to speak, the person who had just approached him said something else. The leader's brows furrowed, then relaxed, and then furrowed again.

"Big—Big Brother—" The man wielding the knife looked at the leader.

The leader waved his hand and said, "Tie him up and take him away. Don't delay the boss's business!"

"Yes!"

The man glared at the man who had just spoken to the leader, then found a rope and tied Lin Ziping's hands together: "Behave yourself!"

Lin Ziping trembled, looking terrified.

"Go!" the leader shouted as he mounted his horse.

The man shoved Lin Ziping, mounted his horse, and rode away, pulling on the rope binding Lin Ziping.

The group headed towards the outskirts of Maomao Village. Lin Ziping ran quickly, trying to keep up with the horse's speed.

Passing by the dilapidated thatched hut, the cloth bag I had just left behind was gone; the girl inside must have taken it inside.

Thinking about the food inside, I decided to thank her for reminding me.

The village was eerily quiet except for the sound of horses' hooves on the ground.

I wonder if there was anyone else there, and what the situation is now. There was such a commotion just now, and no one came out to check.

Once outside the village, we took another path and soon saw a parked carriage.

The carriage was somewhat damaged, with the paint chipped off the edges of both sides, and the carriage appeared slightly deformed from a distance.

As they drew closer, Lin Ziping noticed that the carriage looked somewhat familiar. Wasn't this Gao Chi's carriage?

Lin Ziping thought of the portrait given to him by Inspector Gao and his instructions, and it seemed that the county government's intelligence on this matter was quite accurate.

Two men stood guard beside the carriage, and they greeted the approaching person with excited expressions.

"Big brother, you're back."

Upon seeing Lin Ziping, his excitement intensified: "Little Si is so clever! Sure enough, someone has entered the village!"

"It's all thanks to Big Brother's trust!" the man holding Lin Ziping replied.

"Yes, yes, as expected of the eldest brother!"

People around him began to praise him.

After a long pause, the leader's face turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Take them with you, let's go up the mountain!"

Lin Ziping pushed forward, and the man called Xiao Si opened the carriage door. Inside, there were two people, a man and a woman, with their hands and feet bound and their mouths covered. They were looking at the people outside the carriage with terrified expressions and making whimpering sounds.

"Come up quickly."

Lin Ziping was pushed hard again, and stumbled, crashing into the carriage.

Xiao Si frowned upon seeing this and shouted, "Go up!"

Lin Ziping said timidly, "Okay, okay, big brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

After saying that, he hurriedly climbed onto the carriage.

"boom--"

The carriage door was slammed shut.

"Da da—"

The carriage began its journey, and silence fell over the interior.

After an unknown amount of time, a commotion arose outside the car.

"Open the gate!"

"Big brother and the others are back. How many people did they bring back this time?"

"I don't know if they're sick or not. Some of the villagers around here are sick, some have died, and some have run away. There aren't many people left."

"Will there be government officials involved this time?"

"The government officials are all afraid of death, who would dare to come?"

……

With a creak, the carriage door opened.

Lin Ziping stepped out of the carriage and was greeted by a mountain stronghold. The stronghold was surrounded by mountains covered with dense forests, and had high walls and watchtowers.

"What are you looking at? Get out of here!"

With another heavy push, Lin Zi regained his balance and moved forward.

"Snapped--"

A crack of a whip followed by shouts of cursing rang out: "What are you looking at? Get to work!"

Lin Ziping looked over and saw a group of ragged, emaciated old people, among whom were a few familiar faces.

These—these are the villagers of Maomao Village! Lin Ziping was horrified; so they had been captured and brought here.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" A shout rang out. Lin Ziping looked over and saw a group of people wielding wooden sticks in unison. Was someone training troops?

"The government is ignoring us, what should we do?" A man standing on the high platform shouted to the people below.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The man holding the wooden stick seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, his eyes bloodshot, as he shouted back while swinging the stick in his hand.

Seeing this scene, Lin Ziping felt a sense of déjà vu, like seeing a foreign fraud park in a movie.

At this moment, the people nearby also noticed Lin Ziping and his group, and whistled, "Little Si, you've had a good day! Three people actually showed up!"

"Yeah, yeah, two men and one woman, just like the other day, but this woman isn't as pretty as the one from a few days ago!" Someone pointed at Lin Ziping and his group.

Lin Ziping's heart skipped a beat. Could this be referring to Li Qiongying? A sense of worry welled up in his heart.

"Take this woman to the kitchen, and lock these two men up first. We'll see what the boss does with them later!" the leader ordered.

"Yes!" Xiao Si and the other men who had captured Lin Ziping together replied.

After he finished speaking, a man stepped forward and tried to grab the woman.

Seeing someone approaching to grab her, the woman suddenly and violently resisted. During the struggle, the rag in her mouth fell off, and the woman cried out loudly, "Don't come any closer! Help! Brother De, help me!"

The man with the woman also began to resist fiercely; this should be the so-called "Brother De".

Brother De stood in front of the woman, the gag in his mouth falling out, and turned to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, Rongrong."

It was obvious that the two were a couple, but strangely, the woman was dressed elegantly and wore a jade bracelet on her wrist, while the man, although good-looking, was dressed in a short brown robe.

The scene attracted the attention of others, and the people practicing stopped what they were doing and walked over.

Seeing this, the woman named Rongrong looked anxious and worried as she looked at the man, murmuring, "Brother De."

"Catch them!"

At the command, the first to move were the dozen or so men who had captured Lin Ziping at the foot of the mountain, who slowly surrounded him.

Two fists can't fight four hands, not to mention that De Ge and Rong Rong's hands were tied with ropes, so the two of them were powerless to resist. A group of people surrounded them and started punching and kicking them.

"Waaah, stop it, Brother De—ah—" Rongrong cried out.

The scene was somewhat chaotic, filled with cries, wails, and curses.

"Run! Run!"

"Stop hitting me! My family is rich! I'll have my dad bring me money!" Rongrong screamed.

"stop!"