The group left the inn and got into the carriage. Three men closely followed the Dongfang sisters, constantly on guard against their escape on the way.
After all, this was a bustling street. If the two sisters escaped, they would quickly blend into the crowd, just like a needle in a haystack. It would be extremely difficult to find them then.
The carriage left the main street. Due to the long journey, it could only travel on the official road. The road became more and more secluded and desolate as they went on.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked out of the desolate window and suddenly felt a sense of unease in her heart.
Suddenly, a sharp sword came flying through the air but missed its target. With a "ding" sound, it stabbed into the carriage wheel, and the blade vibrated for a long time.
Qimiao quickly pulled open the carriage curtain, took a quick look outside, and then quickly put it down. "Someone is attacking! They mean no good!"
The three men glanced at each other. "Get a rope and tie them up!" Zhili was the first to speak. He was calm and intelligent, with sharp eyes fixed on Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan.
Dongfang Huaizhu had no choice but to watch helplessly as Sister Mei took out a rope and tied her and Dongfang Qinlan up.
The other two men stepped out of the carriage in big strides, leaving only the two sisters in the carriage, guarded by Sister Mei in case they escaped.
Dongfang Huaizhu glanced at the ropes tied around her and Qinlan. While Sister Mei was looking out of the window, she groped around trying to untie it, but to no avail. The ropes remained firmly in place.
Dongfang Huaizhu listened carefully to the sounds of the fight outside the carriage and told herself to stay calm.
Outside the carriage, a group of black - clothed men wearing strange masks surrounded Zhili and Qimiao. The attackers meant business and there were quite a few of them. Zhili quickly looked around, and after making sure there were no ambushes, he nodded to Qimiao.
The two rushed forward in perfect harmony. Qimiao was extremely strong and young and impulsive. Without hesitation, he picked up a black - clothed man and threw him at his comrades, knocking down a bunch of them.
Zhili drew his sword and engaged in a fierce fight with the black - clothed men. His movements were smooth and decisive, and his attacks were fierce.
But the black - clothed men were no ordinary opponents. It was obvious that they had received strict training. Their long - term practice had given them muscle memory for their movements, making them hard to defeat.
Qimiao had a sudden inspiration. He quickly darted through the crowd, making the black - clothed men dizzy. In a hurry, they could only slash and hack randomly, accidentally injuring many of their own people. Zhili watched the chaotic scene of the strangely - masked black - clothed men and then rushed into the crowd again with his sword.
With Qimiao's disruption and Zhili's strong attack, the large number of black - clothed men gradually began to lose and were forced to retreat.
Inside the carriage, the atmosphere among the three was tense. Suddenly, an arrow came flying through the air, pierced the carriage, and directly hit Dongfang Huaizhu's right shoulder.
"Ouch." Dongfang Huaizhu let out a muffled groan and lowered her head to see blood flowing from her right shoulder.
"Sister!" Dongfang Qinlan exclaimed. Seeing her sister bleeding, she seemed at a loss.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked at her sister's rapidly pale face and shouted at the stunned Sister Mei. "Untie me! Can't you see my sister is injured?"
Sister Mei was only stunned for a moment. Then she quickly reacted, glared at the little girl, and deftly tore off a piece of her own clothes. Then she pulled out the arrow from Dongfang Huaizhu's right shoulder.
Thanks to the carriage's obstruction, the arrow hadn't penetrated deeply into her shoulder. But once it was pulled out, the blood flowed even faster. Sister Mei quickly wrapped the torn piece of cloth around Dongfang Huaizhu's shoulder.
She wrapped it many times until the bleeding stopped. Sister Mei felt relieved. Although their business was not exactly honorable, they still didn't want Dongfang Huaizhu to get injured here.
"How is it?" The carriage curtain was suddenly lifted. The three people inside the carriage were all startled. Looking up, they saw Zhili and Qimiao. Sister Mei didn't expect them to finish off the attacking black - clothed men so quickly.
"She was hit by an arrow." Sister Mei nodded in the direction of Dongfang Huaizhu.
Zhili and Qimiao sized up Dongfang Huaizhu. After a while, Zhili said, "Let's find a nearby inn to rest first. We can discuss the rest later."
The others nodded, thinking this was a reliable plan. They continued driving the carriage towards the nearest inn. This place was remote and desolate. It took the carriage a while to find an old and dilapidated inn.
The group got off the carriage, tied up the horses, and walked into the inn. The innkeeper was an old man, slovenly and unkempt. When he saw them come in, he slowly got up from his chair.
"Are you here to stay, folks?" The man asked knowingly and didn't bother to look at this somewhat strange group like most people would. He just continued doing his own thing, wiping the dusty table.
He made some strange gestures with his other hand behind his back, but the group was too preoccupied to notice.
"Four rooms." Sister Mei didn't want to say anything extra and just asked the innkeeper for four rooms.
"Sure. Please follow me." The innkeeper hung the blackened rag on his shoulder and got up to lead the four of them.
As they stepped on the wooden stairs, the stairs creaked as if they couldn't bear the weight. The innkeeper's hair was slightly gray, and his walking posture was strange. But the group had no intention of observing. They just let him lead them to their respective rooms.
Everyone had their own hidden motives. Dongfang Huaizhu was injured and didn't want to talk. She silently went into her room and closed the door.
Dongfang Qinlan helped Dongfang Huaizhu sit down at the table. "How is your injury, sister?"
Dongfang Huaizhu looked around. The environment here was okay, not as dilapidated as she had imagined.
"It's okay. But Qinlan, you have to be careful these days. Don't get hurt."
"Okay, okay! Sister, you should rest and recover quickly!" Dongfang Qinlan said as she helped Dongfang Huaizhu onto the bed. She carefully examined the bandaged wound and was relieved when she was sure no blood was seeping out.
The two lay on the bed in silence. The little girl was very sleepy and soon fell asleep.
Dongfang Huaizhu endured the pain from her shoulder. The wound hadn't been properly treated, and she didn't know if it would get infected. Her mind was full of thoughts, but she was extremely awake. After an unknown amount of time, she finally felt sleepy and fell into a light sleep.
Sometime later, Dongfang Huaizhu was woken up by a rustling sound just a few meters away outside the door.
The sound grew louder and louder.
Dongfang Huaizhu was startled. She lay still, listening to the movement outside. The wooden floor made a "creaking" sound.
Dongfang Huaizhu listened as the sound came and went. A sense of unknown fear welled up in her heart. She looked at Dongfang Qinlan's sleeping profile beside her, cheered herself up, and quietly got out of bed.
She walked towards the door. The closer she got to the sound, the more afraid she became. She endured the trembling of her body and poked a hole in the thin window paper with her finger.
Through the hole, Dongfang Huaizhu wanted to see what was going on outside. Before she could even get her eye close to the hole, a pungent smell of rotting corpses wafted in. It probably came from a long - dead body.
The smell of rotting corpses!