Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 521 - 488: Negotiating Terms with Them (1)
Guoguo walked into the cotton field, through the thicket, and continued until she reached the path beside the village.
She didn’t go onto the village path; perhaps tired from walking, she plopped down in the thicket, panting heavily, and through the gaps in the grass, she spotted the leopard on the village path.
The leopard seemed to have noticed her and lazily started walking towards her.
At this moment, four riders were swiftly approaching from the right direction on the village path. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
The thirteen people stuck in the mire heard the sound of hooves and looked in that direction.
"Qi Cheng, quickly save the lord!"
"Qi Cheng, shoot the leopard!"
The thirteen people called out loudly upon seeing their companions arrive.
Guoguo quickly blew the golden whistle.
The leopard let out a low growl and leaped into the thicket.
At the same time, several arrows flew over, but they missed, embedding into the mud by the roadside.
"Quick, chase it, don’t let the leopard escape!" Eunuch An shouted shrilly.
"Yes, sir."
Two riders dismounted to check on those in the mire.
The other two riders raised their bows and pursued into the thicket.
In the thicket ahead, Guoguo clung onto the leopard, gripping the skin on its neck tightly with both hands.
"Big kitty, quick! Run fast!" Guoguo urged into the leopard’s ear.
"Over there! The grass is moving over there." a rider shouted.
"Shoot!"
Arrows flew past Guoguo’s head and body.
Guoguo turned back, patted the leopard’s head, and tugged one of its ears, "Stop, go this way."
Sure enough, the leopard stopped running, turned, and began walking left.
The leopard didn’t run, so the wild grass didn’t sway much. The two riders on horseback couldn’t see the swaying grass and didn’t know where to aim their arrows.
The leopard carried Guoguo, walking lightly through the grass. After circling a few times, they returned to the thicket beside the village path.
Both the leopard and the child made no sound, silently watching the mire from the grass.
The two riders who didn’t pursue the leopard fetched ropes from their saddles and threw them into the mire, pulling the people out one by one.
The first they rescued was Eunuch An.
Covered in mud, with even half of his face smeared with it, Eunuch An sat on the ground, gasping in shock.
"Sir, are you alright?" someone asked.
Eunuch An snorted coldly, "Aren’t you blind? Can’t you see whether I’m alright or not?"
The person quickly lowered their hands, "Sir, it’s freezing; we should leave here quickly."
Eunuch An looked at the Li Family’s house located a mile ahead, "According to reports, that’s Prince Luling’s house. Let’s go take a look."
"Yes, sir." This person helped Eunuch An up and headed towards the Li Mansion.
Another person continued pulling people out of the mire.
Just then, the leopard in the grass suddenly charged at Eunuch An, mouth open to bite.
Eunuch An was knocked down, his left shoulder caught in the leopard’s jaws.
He let out a miserable scream from the pain.
The person supporting him came to their senses, drew their sword, and stabbed.
The leopard let go of Eunuch An and lunged at this person, mouth open to bite.
Another miserable scream followed, and this person, shaking their bleeding hand, dropped the sword in pain.
Another one who was rescuing people drew their sword to stab the leopard.
The leopard left this person and dashed over, biting the hand holding the sword.
Three people were bitten, their screams grew louder and louder, quickly alerting the two in the thicket searching for the leopard.
They immediately rode their horses back to the road.
The leopard, however, let go of the bitten individuals, dashed into the thicket, and swiftly left with Guoguo.
The pursuers didn’t keep chasing the leopard this time; they heard Eunuch An’s scream and didn’t dare to leave their superior behind, all returning to the road.
Sure enough, Eunuch An was seriously injured, with a large chunk of his shoulder flesh bitten off, blood gushing like a fountain, leaving his already pale face white as a corpse.
The two other riders had their hands badly bitten, uncertain whether their fingers were broken.
Terrified, the two were stunned.
"Fools, why are you standing there? Hurry up and save me, do you want to see me in pain?" Eunuch An angrily cursed.
"Sir, this place is not safe; that leopard was too cunning, even knowing how to attack on two sides," a rider said, tearing a piece of cloth from his cloak to bandage Eunuch An quickly.
"Help me onto the horse, let’s go to the house ahead to seek assistance," Eunuch An pointed towards the Li Mansion.
"Yes, sir." The two horsemen helped Eunuch An onto the horseback.
But because Eunuch An’s shoulder ached severely, the guard dared not let the horse go fast, fearing that the bumping would cause him to faint away.
In the bushes.
The leopard carried Guoguo through the bushes and cotton field, arriving at the back door of the Li Family’s house.
As the leopard crouched down, Guoguo slid off its back and ran to open the back door.
The leopard followed her through the door.
On both sides of the back door, there were sheds without doors. On the left, there was firewood the Li brothers chopped and some cotton stalks and straw pulled from the cotton field. With New Year approaching, the firewood cut in January didn’t look good, so the Li brothers had stored over a month’s worth, filling the shed.
In the right shed, there were some farming tools and fishing nets and baskets. Nowadays, it was too cold to work, and the farming and fishing tools were washed clean and neatly placed in the corner.
Guoguo moved the old fish basket over, closing the door just as she had opened it.
She grabbed the skin at the leopard’s neck and dragged it towards the haystack, "Come, come, you hide here."
The leopard obediently burrowed into the straw pile, lying down to rest.
It half-closed its eyes, very content.
Guoguo was exhausted, exhaled heavily, shaking her little short legs as she ran toward the North Courtyard Main House.
In the main house, Prince Luling was listening to Li Xingmao speak.
Li Xing’an stood aside, attentively listening.
The father and sons’ expressions were solemn.
"Bit three people?" Prince Luling furrowed his brows, "Then ran away?"
"Ran into the bushes, no idea where it went." Li Xingmao said.
"This leopard comes and goes strangely." Prince Luling pondered with a frown.
Guoguo ran over, panting, "Grandpa."
Li Xingmao turned, seeing his daughter run in with her face flushed from the back door, surprised, he asked, "Where did you go hiding?"
He walked over and picked Guoguo up.
"The leopard bit the bad guys," Guoguo said with a smile.
Li Xingmao was amazed, "You went outside to watch?"
All three looked at Guoguo in surprise.
"Yes," Guoguo nodded.
Li Xingmao took a breath of cold air; how could his daughter be so brave! "Guoguo, don’t run around recklessly anymore, understand? There are bad people outside."
"The bad people are coming to our home," Guoguo added.
Li Xing’an sneered, "They still dare to come?"
Li Xingmao then said, "Father, third brother, I have an idea."
Prince Luling said gravely, "Speak freely, eldest son."
"Eunuch An and the others have come from afar and are seriously injured; they must urgently need medical treatment. How about we step in to help?" Li Xingmao suggested.
Li Xing’an bristled, "What? Help them? I’d rather they were all dead."
Li Xingmao said, "They have already found their way here, so they are bound to come to us for help. Dare you not help? But helping, it doesn’t come without conditions."
Prince Luling understood what Li Xingmao meant.
He said, "Third brother, the eldest is right, this leopard has done us a great favor. We cannot kill or injure Eunuch An and the others, it would bring trouble to us and County Magistrate Li. But if they’re injured by the leopard, it’s unrelated to us. If they can find the leopard, it’s no fault of ours. If we help them, it won’t be without conditions. Eunuch An’s fear of death will fall into our hands if he begs for help."
Li Xing’an’s eyes shone, "Father, elder brother, I understand."
"Third brother, go to the front gate and check the situation; they should be approaching," Prince Luling said.
"Got it, father." Li Xing’an ran forward quickly.
The cries of Eunuch An and his two companions did not reach the Li Family.
Firstly, the distance was too far, about one or two miles away.
Secondly, the wind was strong, the north wind whooshing, making the wild grass and trees around the mansion rustle loudly.
At this time, aside from the Li Family’s father and sons, the other people in the mansion were either napping or in their rooms by the stove, warming themselves.
Li Xingmao knew about Eunuch An and his two companions being bitten not because he heard the sound, but because he had been quietly watching that direction.
There were no obstructions on the village road; Li Xingmao saw from afar as the leopard leapt forward, biting them before running away again.
Li Xing’an opened the mansion door and indeed saw horses carrying three bloody individuals approaching.
Behind them were several more mud-covered people.
Li Xing’an sneered at the audacity of these people coming to ask for help.
If they dared to ask, he dared to make demands.
If they asked about his daughter’s whereabouts, then they could wait for their death.
His family could even save on medicinal supplies.
