"You need not shout anymore. In these deep mountains and forests, shouting is useless. We will be leaving soon, and if you keep shouting and attract wolves and leopards, you'll have only yourselves to blame."

Listening to their insincere cries for help, Lin Yi felt annoyed.

"White Tiger, go and gag them for me, they are really bothersome."

The sky darkened, and the moon came out.

When the clear moonlight shone on the girl's delicate face, the splattered bloodstains filled Lin Yi with heartache.

"Miss, where are you from? I will take you home."

A girl as lovely as a flower in bloom should be kept safe at home, awaiting a matchmaker to suggest a marriage proposal, to find a good match and live a happy and ordinary life.

When mentioned going home, the girl went from softly crying to suddenly panicking, frantically waving her hands and picking up a large stone beside her to defend herself.

"No, I don't want to go home, I have no home!"

The girl was frantic and flustered, with a somewhat vacant look in her eyes, because she was not looking at Lin Yi's face at all.

Could it be that she is blind?

"Miss? Miss?"

In order to confirm his guess, Lin Yi deliberately waved his hand in front of the girl's eyes, trying to catch her attention.

However, the girl looked around aimlessly, not even blinking, and in her panic, she grabbed Lin Yi's hand, pleading.

"Please, could you take me away, I don't want to go back home, I don't want to."

The more the girl spoke, the more frightened she became, her whole body couldn't help but tremble.

Seeing this, Lin Yi gently embraced the girl, comforting her softly.

"Alright, alright, don't be afraid. Since you don't want to go home, I won't take you back. Can you stop crying, please?"

Lin Yi found it unbearable to listen to a girl's crying, especially when it was as poignant as a pear blossom bathed in rain.

Feeling the safety Lin Yi provided, the girl even burrowed into his arms, excitedly saying,

"Sir, thank you for saving me. I can feel that you are a good person, can you take me with you?"

"Although I cannot see, my singing is very delightful. If you take me with you, I will belong to you, I can wash clothes, cook, warm your bed, and when you are tired, I can sing for you."

The girl clung to Lin Yi as if he were a life-saving straw, unwilling to let go.

This sudden fragrance of the girl caught Lin Yi unexpectedly, and to say he was unmoved would be a lie.

Honestly, it had been a long time since he had enjoyed such pleasures, he had been busy and had almost forgotten what it tasted like.

If Bai Lu and the five robust men weren't watching, Lin Yi couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't have taken advantage of the girl right then and there.

But that was just a fleeting thought. However impatient Lin Yi was, he still had to consider that the girl in his arms was still covered in injuries.

Bai Lu widened his eyes, dumbfounded as he watched the girl wrap her hands around Lin Yi's neck, his eyes filled with disbelief.

'Lord Lin, but, but you don't have the means. Even if you can warm the bed, it's pointless, miss.'

Feeling Bai Lu's unusual gaze, Lin Yi straightened up.

"Cough cough, miss, calm down for a moment, I will take you with me, stand up first, let's talk properly about what happened tonight."

It turned out the girl's name was Yin Niange, who had become separated from her family during a trip a few years ago and was then adopted by an old couple.

The old couple had thought Niange was a good girl who would grow up and marry their simple-minded son. However, half a month ago, Niange suddenly became blind.

The old couple did not want to waste their food supply, and skimping on inviting a doctor, decided to wait half a month to see if Niange's vision might recover by itself.

Eventually, when Niange remained unable to see, the old couple gave up, quickly resolving the matter by collecting ten taels of silver from five mountain butchers who were passing by, and sold Niange.

This is where the scene of Niange calling for help started.

Upon understanding the situation, Lin Yi always felt that there was more to it.

These five men with unkempt beards didn't look like butchers from the foothills, they appeared more like barbarians.

"You fellows, come clean, who exactly are you?"

Lin Yi scrutinized them carefully, none had the temperament of a butcher, so he removed the cloths stuffed in their mouths.

"Hmph, you have no right to question us!"

The oldest among the five men said disdainfully.

"Brothers, let's call for help loudly, I don't believe no one will come to rescue us!"

Lin Yi thought they were joking, a desperate struggle, but soon, he was faced with a reality check.

A group of people with torches appeared at the foot of the mountain, marching towards them aggressively.

"Help, help, we've encountered mountain bandits."

"That's right, look, they even abducted the girl to make her their bandit chief's wife."

The torchbearers were simple and honest villagers; they saw the five men tied to the tree, furious, and took Lin Yi and Bai Lu for mountain bandits.

So, they surrounded Lin Yi and Bai Lu, pointing shovels at them.

This wave of crying thief while being the thief dumbfounded Lin Yi.

After all, both he and Bai Lu were well-dressed, has anyone ever seen such handsome and proper bandits?

"You two young thieves, release them, or else don't blame the whole village for being impolite."

An old man with white hair tremblingly stepped forward, issuing a warning to Lin Yi.

This truly put Lin Yi in a tough spot; he didn't want to bully a group of powerless and innocent villagers.

Just then, Niange suddenly stepped forward, shielding Lin Yi, and loudly addressed the villagers.

"Headman Tang, these two are not the bad guys; the five who are tied up are the bad ones! You've got it wrong."

"Headman Tang? You know him?"

Lin Yi was deeply curious, Niange was blind, yet recognized him just by voice.

Niange explained that her home was just behind the woods, and the five butchers' confidence in summoning help had a reason.

The villagers had long known that Niange would be sold off, so they chose to ignore her cries for help, but immediately assembled when hearing the cries from the butchers.

Niange's adoptive parents took ten taels of silver to sell her away, while the entire Tang Village took fifty taels of silver and chose to remain silent.

"Heh, so that's how it is."

Lin Yi sneered derisively, unable to believe that a mere Tang Village under White Horse Temple would dare commit such an outrageously unjust act.

They simply bullied Niange because she was alone and helpless, then blatantly switched black and white, turning these five bullies of Niange into heroes of the village.

Seeing the villagers arrive, the five butchers grew even more arrogant: "The eyes of the people are sharp. We advise you to release us quickly, or else, the villagers' hoes and shovels won't be merciful."

"Headman Tang, come let me down, once I'm safely on the ground, I will give Tang Village another 100 taels of silver!"

This was the temptation of 100 taels; Headman Tang greedily nodded, even going forward personally to untie the butchers.

To get the most money, Headman Tang even risked his old bones, completely disregarding the slippery moss on the ground that could cause a fall.

Lin Yi couldn't help but shake his head, pulling out a row of Flying Needles from his sleeve, accurately hitting the top of the heads of the five butchers.

"Old man, take it easy, at your age, daring to confront bandits head-on, aren't you afraid of earning money but losing your life to spend it?"

…End of chapter…

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