While those women were eating, Su Muqing took a tour of the entire stockade from beginning to end.
To be honest, this place was quite good. The location was hidden, the mountain body was sturdy, and it was warm in winter and cool in summer. The most important thing was that there was still a water source inside the mountain that had not dried up.
Although the mountain caves were not suitable for farming and weaving, there was a very large area on the back of the mountain at the foot of the mountain, which was enough to build a large village.
There was plenty of wasteland around. As long as they were diligent enough, each family could cultivate ten to eight mu, which was no problem. It was adjacent to the official road, and the transportation was developed, not far from Songlin County.
After the drought passed, the geographical environment here was very suitable for living. Moreover, it was unbearably hot outside now, and there was drought and water shortage everywhere. No one knew what the situation would be like in Suining Prefecture.
A thought suddenly arose in Su Muqing's mind. So she found Lu Yuzhi and the others. "Brother Lu, what do you think about letting the villagers settle here temporarily?"
Lu Yuzhi didn't quite understand her idea. They had carefully discussed it before, thinking about rushing to Suining Prefecture as soon as possible, and then setting off to find the antidote in Tianzhao Kingdom after settling the villagers. "Why do you want to settle here?"
"The weather outside is so hot now. Although we don't lack food and drink, there are so many elderly and children in the team. If it goes on for a long time, their bodies definitely won't be able to stand it. I want to let them settle here for a while, and we'll go to Tianzhao Kingdom directly to find the medicine. We'll make a trip to Suining Prefecture on the way back. If we find a suitable place, we'll come back to pick them up. If we don't find a suitable place, this place is not very far from Suining Prefecture, so let's have them build a village next to Songlin County and settle down directly." Su Muqing explained her idea to them.
Anyway, Songlin County was separated from Suining Prefecture by only Yongcang County, and after Yongcang County was Suining Prefecture's capital. It would take three to five days to ride a horse from here.
If it were Su Muqing and the others, and they used modern means of transportation, it would probably take less than a day.
"Okay! Then I'll have the third one go after the village chief and discuss it with them. If they also agree, then we'll settle here temporarily." Lu Yuzhi thought carefully about Su Muqing's analysis and found it feasible.
Although Suining Prefecture was rich, Houxi Village was an outsider after all. If local officials were unwilling to accept too many refugees, even if they were allocated in the end, they probably wouldn't be given very good places.
It might as well be settled here temporarily. Even if they finally decided to go to Suining Prefecture, they could at least avoid the scorching heat for now. They could set off when the weather was slightly cooler.
No sooner said than done! The third one listened to Lu Yuzhi's instructions and went alone to chase the people of Houxi Village.
After those women finished eating, they specifically ran to the hall to kowtow and thank Su Muqing. Hearing that they were planning to settle here, a woman in her twenties, mustering her courage, stood out to persuade them.
"Benefactors, you can't stay here for long! Song Biao and his two brothers went out a while ago and haven't returned. They have more than a hundred people in total, let's flee quickly!"
Su Muqing stepped forward and helped the women up one by one. "Don't kneel, get up and talk! What's your name? How much do you know about his two brothers?"
After being helped up, the women were arranged to sit down by Su Muqing. Then the woman who had been there for a longer time began to talk about what she knew about this Fierce Tiger Stockade.
"My name is Li Xiaomei, and my original residence was in Guangyue County, Suining Prefecture. My father was a well-known鏢頭 (bodyguard) locally. More than three months ago, my family and I went to Guang'an Prefecture to visit relatives. Unexpectedly, we encountered these bandits on the road. They used treachery to kill my father and brother, and kidnapped me and my mother here. In the end, my mother could not bear the torment and bit her tongue to commit suicide..." The woman couldn't help but sob when she reached the sad part. After her emotions stabilized a little, she continued.
"The chief, Song Biao, has a fiery temper and is not very cunning, but he kills without batting an eye. The second chief, Song Bao, has a gloomy personality, is cunning and treacherous, and is best at using those unorthodox techniques. The third chief, Song Gang, is violent, emotionally volatile, and likes to abuse others, regardless of gender. So benefactors must be more vigilant about his two younger brothers."
Su Muqing then asked Li Xiaomei, "What about that woman who was holding the clothes just now? Why are you all so afraid of her?"
When it came to that woman, Li Xiaomei seemed to have thought of something, and her eyes turned red with anger. "That woman is called Liu Ya'er. She is not human, no different from those beasts. Not only does she help the bandits, thinking of ways to torment us, but she has also caused the deaths of many girls. She stepped on their corpses to gain favor with the Song brothers."
The other women listened to Li Xiaomei's words, and their faces were also full of anger. Some of them, recalling the inhuman torture, wished they could cut that woman into a thousand pieces.
After roughly understanding the information about the other two, Su Muqing used some healing techniques on Song Biao, and then had Lu Yuzhi carry him to go through all the mechanisms and passages in the stockade.
The main exit of this stockade was at the foot of the mountain on the back of the wasteland. No wonder they arrived at the resting place of Houxi Village so quickly that day.
This place was like a natural large cave. It was divided into two parts. On the right, there were still a few bandits guarding the door, leaning against each other and dozing off. It seemed that their rank was too low to attend the meeting.
In the middle, there was a passage wide enough for two ox carts to pass. On the other side of the passage was a large stable, with at least thirty to forty horses inside.
At the connecting point outside, there was also a heavy drawbridge. When the drawbridge was pulled up, from the outside of the mountain, one could not see that there was so much inside.
With this natural environmental advantage, this group of bandits had been entrenched here since their fathers' generation. They had not been discovered for more than twenty years.
After figuring out the terrain and environment, Lu Yuzhi dealt with the few guards at the door. Su Muqing threw a lightning bolt, which directly killed Song Biao. As for Liu Ya'er, Su Muqing threw her to Li Xiaomei and the others.
At first, Li Xiaomei and the others only used their small fists to lightly punch, or they would pull hair, and they didn't even dare to slap.
Finally, perhaps they got into the rhythm of hitting, or perhaps they had been suppressed for too long. They punched and kicked her, Liu Ya'er, to death.
Since they had chosen to let the villagers stay here temporarily, so many corpses were definitely not acceptable. Su Muqing, while the women were not paying attention, collected all the bodies of the bandits into the open space separated in the space, and then threw them into the abyss next to the pit where Su Cuiping and the others had fallen.
Then she brought water from the space to wash away the bloodstains in the cave. After finishing everything, she just waited for Su Minghui and the others to arrive.