Chapter 00100: Family, Oh Family
# Family, Oh Family
Chapter 100
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 100: Family, Oh Family
The bandits opened the large chests on the carts, dumped out the miscellaneous goods inside, and stuffed the corpses in instead.
Even so, there were still twenty or thirty bodies that couldn’t fit.
The remaining survivors stood on the open ground, trembling like sick chickens.
The bandits ordered them to clean up the aftermath, instructing them to dig up the blood-soaked sand and toss it into the lake.
In less than half an hour, the lakeside clearing was spotless again, except for the small mountain of corpses piled to the side.
Suddenly, one of the bandits pointed at the lake and shouted, “Someone’s escaped!”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the water, where they indeed spotted a man rowing away in a small boat.
He must have taken advantage of the chaos to run to the water’s edge, hidden in the tall grass, and then untied a boat.
With the wind aiding his escape, the small boat quickly moved away from the shore.
On the shore, Madam Zhu bit her lip.
She recognized the fleeing figure as her husband.
The man rowed with all his might, heading toward the center of the lake.
Just a little farther, and he’d be safe.
He planned to reach the nearest town, report to the authorities, and beg the soldiers to kill these scoundrels!
But soon, he heard laughter from the shore.
Turning back, he saw the bandits pointing and laughing at him, not a trace of tension on their faces.
Were these dogs out of their minds?
A few breaths later, the calm lake suddenly rippled with a loud splash.
The boat capsized.
The man on the boat was gone.
Madam Zhu covered her mouth to stifle a scream, while her mother-in-law fainted on the spot.
After a violent shake, the boat righted itself, but it was empty, drifting alone.
The waves soon reached the shore and disappeared without a trace.
In just a dozen breaths, the lake was smooth as a mirror again.
The villagers on the shore were dumbfounded, unsure of what had just happened.
The bandits walked to the dock, untied a dozen boats, loaded the chests onto them, and rowed to the center of the lake, where they sank the chests.
Despite being on the water, they were relaxed, chatting and laughing, completely unharmed.
The chests, filled with corpses and large stones, sank firmly to the bottom.
As for the bodies piled on the shore, the bandits tossed them into the water as well.
Soon, the floating corpses disappeared one by one, as if something had dragged them to the bottom of the lake, never to resurface.
A few ripples and bubbles appeared on the water’s surface before it returned to stillness.
By then, the bandits had seized the children from each family, and the scene was filled with cries and wails.
The village chief slowly regained consciousness, only to choke on his own breath in terror the moment he opened his eyes.
The leader of the merchant caravan patted his shoulder and said, “Cooperate well, and you won’t die. Understand?”
The village chief nodded frantically.
“I forgot to ask, do you have any children under eleven?”
The village chief nodded again.
The caravan leader smiled. “Then I’m relieved.”
He cleared his throat and addressed the remaining survivors with a grin, “From now on, we’re your family! As long as you play your part in this act, you’ll live, and you’ll get your children back—alive and well, family!”
Half an hour later, two bandits discovered Madam Zhu hiding in the ancestral hall and dragged her out.
---
“It’s getting dark. Are we really going to spend the night in this desolate mountain?” Lady Ying lifted the bamboo curtain of the carriage to look at the sky, her face filled with worry.
The mountain scenery was beautiful, but after a while, it became monotonous.
After a long, stuffy, and humid day in the mountains, all she wanted was a hot bath.
“Maybe,” He Lingchuan leaned lazily across from her, a soft pillow propped behind his back.
The carriage was cramped, and with his long limbs, finding a comfortable position wasn’t easy. “I’ve heard there are plenty of caves in these deep mountains. If we find the right one, we might have roasted bear paws for dinner tonight.”
Lady Ying frowned. “You have your own horse. Why are you still here?”
“Second Brother has a horse too, and he’s also here,” He Lingchuan retorted.
Riding a horse was bumpy and chafed his thighs after a while, so of course, he preferred the comfort of the carriage.
He Yue coughed lightly. “The muddy mountain roads have delayed us. The guide says we’re close to Xianling Village. We should arrive in no more than half an hour.”
He Lingchuan sighed in disappointment. “Looks like we won’t be having roasted bear paws tonight.”
He Yue smiled. “Elder Brother could always go hunting in the mountains.”
He Lingchuan grumbled, resting his head on his hand as he gazed at the darkening sky outside.
For the past few days, he hadn’t been able to dream of returning to the Panlong Wilderness.
His days were filled with nothing but travel, and it was utterly boring.
The broken saber seemed to sense his impatience, deliberately thwarting his wishes.
Beside him, Lady Ying and He Yue were chatting about trivial matters, discussing what they would do once they arrived in Xiazhou.
Lady Ying loved the warm eastern regions and hoped to buy a large, desirable mansion in Dunyi City, the capital of Xiazhou.
She wanted to decorate it beautifully and hire seventeen or eighteen servants… and so on.
Suddenly, He Lingchuan shushed them, interrupting their conversation. “Quiet!”
“What are you trying to scare us for?” Lady Ying glared at him.
With over three hundred guards outside, she wasn’t afraid.
“Something’s off,” He Lingchuan said seriously. “At dusk, birds return to their nests, so why is the forest so quiet?”
In the evening, birds returning to their nests usually filled the trees with noisy chatter, louder than a human neighborhood quarrel.
But when had the forests they passed through become so eerily silent?
Only the rhythmic sounds of hooves and the creaking of the carriage wheels remained, and it was unnerving.
Lady Ying swallowed hard, and just as He Yue was about to speak, Zeng Feixiong’s face suddenly appeared outside the carriage window.
“Madam, Young Masters, Xianling Village is just ahead.”
Lady Ying leaned out to look.
Ahead lay a large, mirror-like lake, with the faint outlines of houses along the shore.
They had arrived.
What was all this talk about something being off?
She let out a sigh of relief, almost frightened by her eldest son’s penchant for drama.
---
After passing through half-harvested wheat fields, the group soon reached the outskirts of the village, where all the riders dismounted.
The He family and Zeng Feixiong stepped forward, and soon, someone from the village came out to greet them.
He Chunhua presented his official token, introduced himself, and explained their intention to stay the night.
The steward, Old Mo, handed over the lodging fee.
The village chief, recognizing the official token, readily agreed.
A tall man beside the chief introduced himself as the chief’s nephew, surnamed Lu, named Lu Han.
Lu Han smiled warmly, explaining that the village didn’t have enough housing, so the soldiers could stay in the threshing ground and granary behind the village.
The officials and women, of course, would stay in the village houses.
By then, it was already dark, and the warm glow from the windows of each house painted a cozy, normal picture of rural life.
The He family and Zeng Feixiong were given the best houses in the village.
The villagers brought out food for them, but their expressions were timid, their eyes darting around nervously.
Lady Ying tried to strike up a friendly conversation with the hostess, but the woman answered only one question out of three, her demeanor strained.
The husband scolded her, “How are you speaking to our guests? You ignorant woman!” He then turned to Lady Ying with an apologetic smile. “She’s never left the mountains, so she’s a bit shy. Please don’t mind her.”
Lady Ying waved it off, handing them two small silver ingots.
She then turned to He Chunhua and said, “The night is cold and damp. The guards should have hot water and warm food too.”
(End of Chapter)