Xiaotao cautiously asked if he needed a massage anywhere else. Zheng Xiu wasn't sore, so he declined and told her to get an early night's rest.
The little girl left, crestfallen.
「The next day.」
A burst of hurried hoofbeats woke Zheng Xiu.
As Xiaotao helped him wash up, Zheng Xiu asked about the bandits' movements.
Judging by the sound, Zheng Xiu estimated that over two hundred men had ridden out.
Xiaotao didn't hide the truth. She said that food was scarce in the village, so the second-in-command had personally taken some men out to hunt.
"Hunting?"
Zheng Xiu frowned.
Usually, when Xie Yunliu spoke of "hunting," it was just a euphemism for going out on a raid.
Yunhe Village hadn't had a score in half a month, ever since winter set in. Zheng Xiu wondered if Xie Yunliu had caught wind of something. Some unfortunate merchant caravan was probably about to have its luck run out.
That evening, Xie Yunliu finally returned with a band of men, all of them looking rushed.
