Chapter 158 - 154: Going Down the Mountain, _1

Translator: 549690339

Her crying and kneeling not only embarrassed Chunniang but also Jiang Lao Han.

After all, Lin’s wife and Lady Wen were sisters-in-law, and Lin’s daughter was also Lady Wen’s niece. Now that Lady Wen had taken her own grandson down the mountain without caring for her own niece, if this was heard by others, people wouldn’t listen to any disputes between the sisters-in-law. They would only say that Lady Wen was heartless.

Chunniang quickly helped Lin’s wife up with Zhou’s help, not knowing how to console her.

At this moment, Xiu Zhenniang slid down the mountain with an emotionless expression, without even giving Lin’s wife a glance.

Seeing Lin’s wife still crying loudly, Jiang Lao Han had to step forward and say, “Lady Wen the Third, don’t worry. I, an old man, will take your child down the mountain. Lady Wen the Fourth can’t carry your child as she is a woman, so…”

Even though she resented at heart, Lin’s wife dared not lash out at this moment. She bowed to Jiang Lao Han, “Thank you Jiang Weng, sob sobI just pity the two children, who are being neglected by their Aunt Fourth…”

Yingbao didn’t want to listen to her tea words, so she went to the cliff edge to look down by herself.

Lady Wen, carrying Xiaojie, quickly descended to the bottom of the cliff. With Wen Fu’s help, she climbed up the gentle slope and retreated to the edge of the woods with Wen Shu and Nanny.

Yingbao let out a sigh of relief and turned back to see that her grandmother, Jiang Liu, also held on to the rope and slid down the cliff.

Although Jiang Liu was already in her sixties, she was still able-bodied, sliding down to the bottom of the cliff quite quickly with her hands and feet.

Then Er Bo Niang Yanru went down with Huzi.

Dani and Erni didn’t need to be pushed, they went down the cliff smoothly.

Da Bo Niang first threw down the family’s bedding and belongings, and with the help of her eldest son, slowly lowered the grain with a rope.

Several young and strong men assisted in delivering the food to the ground, even stepping forward a few paces.

Xiaolu and Youyou were also bound by ropes and lowered down the cliff where there were naturally people to untie them.

In the end, only Wei Zhan and Yingbao were left among the children from Jiang Lao Han’s family.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wu had already been carried on Chunniang’s back.

When Chunniang came to carry Yingbao, she refused: “I can go down by myself. You can’t possibly carry both of us. Better take Xiaowu down the cliff first.”

“No! You are still a young child, how can you go down the cliff by yourself?” This time Chunniang refused to obey her daughter’s wishes. “You’re not heavy; I can carry both you and your younger brother.”

Yingbao said: “I really can.” She turned her head to ask Wei Zhan, “Can you go down by yourself?”

Wei Zhan dared not say no. He shouted, “This is nothing. I have been down cliffs even higher than this!”

“Alright, you go down first and show me.” As soon as Yingbao finished speaking, she kept her eyes on him.

Wei Zhan twitched the corner of his eyes, wrapped his hands tightly, and grabbed the rope resolutely, saying to Yingbao: “Watch closely!”

“Be careful. You must grip the rope firmly, otherwise, if you fall, you’ll become a meat pie,” Yingbao warned him emotionlessly.

“Humph!” Wei Zhan snorted, but dared not glance down the mountain, and slowly slid down a little at a time.

Several young men easily pulled a child. They even kindly moved forward a few steps to ensure Wei Zhan reached the ground.

“Did you see that?” Wei Zhan shouted triumphantly from the bottom.

Yingbao glanced at him and then turned back to her mother, saying, “See, Mother? It’s quite easy. I don’t need your help.”

After considering for a while, Chunniang was still uneasy.

At this time, Lin’s wife brought her daughter, Wen Tian, over to Jiang Lao Han, saying, “Please take care of her, Jiang Weng.”

After the incident, Wen Tian had become much more obedient and hadn’t dared to make a fuss in the past few days. At this moment, she quietly lay on Jiang Lao Han’s back, letting others secure her tightly with a rope.

However, when Jiang Lao Han took her down the cliff, she resorted to her old tricks. She kicked and screamed violently, which caused the rope to swing uncontrollably.

This situation scared everyone. They quickly pulled Jiang Lao Han up.

Yingbao also broke into a cold sweat. She immediately stepped forward to release Wen Tian’s bonds and shoved her aside.

“Grandpa! Just leave her alone!”

She’s clearly asking for trouble and doesn’t deserve anyone’s help.

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan are equally furious and unanimously tell their grandfather to stop carrying her.

Lin’s mother gets frustrated and slaps Wen Tian. “What are you getting on with?”

Wen Tian covers her face and sobs: “I am scaredwuu wuumother, I am really scared.”

Lin’s mother feels like slapping her again, but then she sees old Mr. Jiang ready to carry Yingbao. She runs over immediately and questions him, “How can you break your promise? You promised to help us, and now you’ve gone back on your word!”

Jiang Cheng responds coldly: “Who broke the promise? Your daughter almost killed my Grandpa. How do you ignore that? Now, my grandfather is going to carry Yingbao, we don’t have time for your child.”

And then he turns to Jiang Quan, “You go first, Grandpa and I will cover the rear.”

He does not wish to leave first and then have Lin’s mother persuade his grandfather to carry her daughter again.

Jiang Quan doesn’t hesitate. He descends the cliff with two large gourds on his back, while leaving the two puppies to his older brother, Jiangcheng.

Eventually, old Mr. Jiang also successfully reaches the bottom of the cliff carrying Yingbao on his back.

Originally, Yingbao could have come down on her own, but to deny Lin’s daughter a place, she insisted on having her grandpa carry her.

Next, Jiang Cheng goes down carrying the two little puppies.

Once all the members of Jiang family have gathered, they immediately head towards the forest.

Everyone shares the load of carrying the food and bedding, so it doesn’t feel very heavy.

By now, many people have gone far away. Most of them have gone looking for water sources nearby, while some have gone back to Jiang village to investigate the situation.

Residents of Dongchen Village are still gathered around old Mr. Jiang’s house, asking where he plans to go.

“Shall we go back to the village?” Old Mr. Jiang turns to ask the Clan Leader, “What do you think?”

The Clan Leader nods: “Let’s go back to the village, but we shouldn’t take the main road.”

Who knows whether there are bandits on the main road?

“Alright, let’s take the small road back to the village.” Old Mr. Jiang looks towards the cave, “Is there anyone who hasn’t come down yet?”

“Yes.” The Clan Leader replies: “Sanyou and a few villagers are still on the mountain, and it seems that Mrs. Wen and her daughters have not come down yet.”

Old Mr. Jiang sighs and says, “Since we are going back to the village, let’s wait for those who are still on the mountain.” In times of difficulty, we shouldn’t abandon anyone.

The Clan Leader nods: “In the meantime, let’s send someone clever to take a look around, so we aren’t caught unaware if more bandits come.”

“Wang Ke’s child has already gone to investigate the situation, he should be back soon.”

Before it gets dark, Yingbao, along with her two cousins, follows some of the villagers to strip bark from pine trees in the forest and make fire torches.

They scrape some pine resin and rub it onto the bark so that when it’s rolled up, it easily catches fire.

Yingbao touches the tree trunks from which the bark has been stripped and writes several large characters on them using a charcoal pen: Mum, brother, and Baobao have returned to the village.

If her father is around, he will probably see these words.

After writing on more than a dozen trees, Yingbao follows her cousins back to the camp.

Two hours have passed, and people are still coming down from the cave. However, Chen Sanyou and Lin’s mother and daughters have already been carried down by the villagers.

Chen Sanyou is helped to a sitting position by his eldest son, near the Clan Leader. Lin’s mother, with her two daughters and three servants, also comes over, but they don’t get close to the Jiang family, instead they sit with Chen Sanyou’s oldest daughter-in-law.

Mr. Wen’s servants have gone into the forest to look for the mules and horses. It’s uncertain if they will find them,” says Mrs. Jiang Liu with a sigh.

Old Mr. Jiang is not very hopeful: “Most likely, they won’t find them. There were many bones at the foot of the mountain; the bandits have probably eaten them already.”

Even if they didn’t eat the animals, mules and horses are excellent for carrying goods and people. How could the bandits possibly let them go?