The small snake, though not large, had very sharp fangs.
The venom that paralyzed the nerves entered her body, causing Xia Sijie to tremble and fall backward onto the ground.
"You... you stop right there!"
"Hee hee, big bad guy, you can sleep with the snake now!"
Xiao Xitian stuck out her tongue at her, her eyes sparkling.
Suddenly, she saw a small wooden box roll out from Xia Sijie's embrace.
She picked it up and opened it, finding a silver hairpin inside.
Xiao Xitian put away the silver hairpin and looked at Xiao Jinheng, "Let's go!"
"Okay!"
The four little buns ran out of the house one after another, arriving at the main entrance.
The dilapidated door was tightly shut, and a copper lock hung on the door bolt...
"Oh no, we don't have the key!" Xiao Xitian blinked.
Xiao Jinheng looked around. "The key should be on One-Eyed Dragon. Let's think of another way to get out!"
One-Eyed Dragon had been knocked unconscious in the vegetable cellar, and another human trafficker had just passed by.
So the little buns dared not go back to find the key.
But with high walls on all four sides, escaping was not easy.
"Look, there's a pile of wood!" Qin Yiyi pointed to the west wall, her eyes lighting up.
A stack of wooden blocks was neatly arranged, presumably for burning.
Xiao Jinheng was the first to climb onto the wall, pulling the three girls up one by one.
Xiao Xitian looked out the wall, a chill rising in her heart.
Good heavens, another courtyard appeared before her.
It was dark, and the house had no lights. She didn't know if anyone lived there.
Just then, a shout came from the direction of the vegetable cellar, "The person ran away! Someone, quickly catch them!"
Two human traffickers rushed out and into the courtyard, "Where did they go?"
"Don't know, search quickly!"
One-Eyed Dragon also woke up, two large bumps on his forehead.
He looked like a monster with horns.
Xiao Jinheng dared not delay, grabbing Xiao Xitian and jumping into the neighboring courtyard.
Qin Yiyi and Qin Fenglan, suffering from acrophobia, were trembling all over, their sweat pouring down...
Xiao Xitian waved her hand, "Hurry and come down!"
If they were discovered by One-Eyed Dragon, they would surely be beaten severely.
Xiao Jinheng berated, "If you don't come down, the human traffickers will catch you and sell you to a brothel!"
The truth was revealed.
Xia Sijie intended to sell these delicate young girls into brothels.
As for the boys, they would be sold to wealthy merchants as 'playthings'!
Qin Yiyi bit her lip and jumped down with her eyes closed.
She did not want to become a brothel woman.
Qin Fenglan hesitated for two seconds before following.
However, she twisted her ankle upon landing.
"Ah!"
"Shush!" Xiao Jinheng covered her mouth and whispered, "Don't make a sound."
He felt that this dark courtyard was even more eerie than the human traffickers'.
Xiao Xitian twitched her nose. A captivating fragrance wafted through the air.
She seemed to have smelled this scent somewhere before...
"Let's hide first!" Xiao Xitian suggested.
This large mansion was spacious and quiet. There were no dogs in the courtyard, making it a good place to hide.
Moreover, the familiar scent was too strong.
Xiao Xitian wanted to investigate.
"Come on, let's hide in the house."
Xiao Jinheng helped Qin Fenglan walk towards the nearest storage shed.
The door was locked, and the window lattice was tightly shut. They couldn't get in.
They walked past three storage sheds, but all the doors and windows were sealed tight.
Not to mention people, even flies couldn't get in.
Shouts came from the neighboring courtyard.
"Damn it, you can't even keep track of four little brats! Why don't you go eat shit?"
"This, this isn't my fault either. Didn't you see Sister Four also fainted?"
"They must be hiding in some corner. Go, search carefully!"
"Could they have hidden next door?"
"If so, do you dare to go look for them?"
"Yeah, last time one of our brothers climbed over to steal wine and got stabbed seven or eight times. It was too scary!"
"..."
The human traffickers mobilized collectively, searching the courtyard.
Only they dared not search next door.
The four little buns slipped to the front of the main house. There was no lock here, so they quietly slipped inside.
It was pitch black inside.
The air was filled with a pungent fragrance.
Qin Fenglan limped back two steps, only to hear a 'click'. She seemed to have stepped on something.
Xiao Xitian turned around, rubbed her eyes, and scanned the main hall.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was stunned by the sight before her.
It was stacks of neatly arranged agarwood.
The entire room was used as a super large storeroom, with wood of all lengths everywhere.
Some were cut into small pieces the length of chopsticks, while others were as long as carrying poles.
Such precious wood, once sold, how much silver would it be worth?
It could be millions of taels...
Xiao Jinheng clearly recognized the agarwood.
When Yun Erman was hunting wolves before, he had asked his hidden guards to investigate the mountain.
They discovered that the back mountain of Dashui Village actually had many primeval agarwood forests.
To avoid complications and leaks, the loggers
did not dare to pile the wood on the mountain.
Instead, they dug a storage space over four zhang deep on the bank of Gou Gou Lake.
Then, in the dead of night, they quietly transported the agarwood out of the village and sold it outside.
This was the fundamental reason why there were wolves in the mountains and earth dragons by the river.
These two beasts were tamed by the loggers.
They could prevent villagers from entering the mountain and also keep them away from Gou Gou Lake, protecting the agarwood...
The foundation on the lake shore had never had a house built on it; it was the ventilation shaft for the underground wood storage.
"Hmph, so they were all moved here!" Xiao Jinheng snorted coldly.
He had anonymously written a letter to Magistrate Chen back then, asking him to send people into the mountain to apprehend the loggers.
But after the soldiers entered the mountain, they found it deserted.
The agarwood stored in Gou Gou Lake had also been moved.
Qin Yiyi was stunned and asked, "What was moved?"
Why couldn't she understand?
"Nothing!" Xiao Jinheng's face darkened.
If he caught the illegal loggers, he would not let them off lightly.
Just then, footsteps were heard from outside the door.
Xiao Xitian's eyes lit up, "Quick, hide!"
The methods of these illegal loggers were much more ruthless than those of the human traffickers.
If they were discovered, it would mean certain death with no room for negotiation.
The four little buns had just hidden behind the wooden shelves when the door was pushed open with a 'clang'.
Two burly men, carrying gleaming sabers, strode in.
"Are you sure there's someone here?" asked Man A.
Man B was also unsure, "We definitely heard a noise just now."
"Could it be mice or wild cats?" Man A lit a fire starter and stepped forward.
Man B shook his head, "There's rat poison everywhere here, there can't be any mice!"
Rats liked to damage wood.
To eliminate them, they had sprinkled rat poison all over this room.
"Be sharp, Shopkeeper He asked us to guard here for a few more days. Once a buyer is found, this wood will be sold."
Man A extinguished the fire starter and instructed.
Xiao Xitian, hiding in the darkness, frowned slightly.
Shopkeeper He?
Why did this name sound so familiar...