A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

When Gui'er was carried into the house, she found that it was just an ordinary house with a patio inside the door. The person carrying Gui'er came to the main room on the right, walked in and threw her and Sha Lili to the ground.

Gui'er's head hit the ground, and for a moment she felt dizzy, but she gritted her teeth and refused to scream. Then she threw the daughters of the fifth and sixth concubines in and locked the door.

After lying on the ground for a few seconds and hearing no more movement, Guier got up. As she sat up, she found that Sally was also sitting there rubbing her head. When they noticed each other, they said "hush" at the same time.

After listening nervously for a while, they breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that no one outside had heard them. Sally asked, "Are you awake too?"

It seemed she hadn't drunk enough tea, so she woke up halfway. Gui'er didn't feel like explaining too much, so she nodded. Sally said, "Don't be afraid. I've been dropping things on the ground along the way. Father will find us soon."

Guier didn't expect that Sha Lili would do the same. She was just a child, but inside she was an adult in her 20s. It seemed that although Sha Lili was arrogant and domineering, she was also very smart.

Guier showed her sleeve and said, "I lost mine too."

Sally smiled and said, "Who would notice your rags? I have lost my pearls and my silk handkerchief."

Gui'er also smiled and didn't bother with her. The more clues they had, the higher their chances of being rescued.

The two listened for a moment and heard footsteps outside, so they quietly walked over and lay down on the crack of the door to look out.

It turned out that it was indeed done by the little monks in the temple. Guier recognized the one who poured tea for them. They had first put the children in the main room next door, and now they were moving the adults to the main room one by one.

Although they were young monks, they were actually about seventeen or eighteen years old, and their stature was exactly the same as that of an adult. Guier noticed that the one leading them was a big man in his forties. He did not wear a monk's robe, nor did he shave his head. Instead, he had a crew cut and wore a black silk gown, looking a bit like a loan shark or a gangster.

Guier understood that this person and this group of young monks must have colluded with each other to do this.

As he was watching, a monk who was carrying the fifth concubine halfway down the road, probably too tired, dropped her to the ground. The fifth concubine rolled on the ground, groaned, and slowly woke up.

When she struggled to get up and saw the strangers in front of her, she screamed four times in fright.

"Pa" a loud slap sound was heard.

"You, who are you?" The fifth concubine didn't dare to call out anymore and spoke cautiously.

A monk asked the leader: "Boss, she saw us, should we kill her?"

When the Fifth Concubine heard this, she was so frightened that she begged for mercy: "I can pretend that I saw nothing. Please don't kill me. I still have a child."

The middle-aged man in the lead, without saying a word, suddenly grabbed the fifth concubine's hair and walked forward. Then came heart-wrenching screams and pleas for mercy, which lasted for more than ten or twenty minutes before stopping.

Gui'er and Sally couldn't see what happened, and didn't know whether the fifth concubine was killed by them or what.

Their eyes met, and he silently walked back to where he was lying, lay down, and pretended to be unconscious.

In this way, after an unknown amount of time, the two felt that the room was getting darker and darker, and they felt that something was wrong, so they quietly got up again, tiptoed to the door, and looked out through the crack.

The yard was quiet, no one was seen and no sound was heard. The two men walked back to where they were lying.

Sally said, "Should we run?"

Gui'er thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, it's too risky. Even if they only leave one person to guard us, we can't defeat him."

Sha Lili said anxiously: "But the longer it takes, the more dangerous we will be."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "I don't think they'd leave anyone behind to guard us. If we run out, we'll be walking into a trap. Now we're inside, and even if they kill us, no one outside will know. Why don't we look inside the house for anything we can use to protect ourselves?"

At this moment, Guier really regretted not bringing the pocket pistol with her. She decided to carry it with her every time she went out.

The two of them then sneaked around, trying not to make any noise, and searched the house for things.

This house is actually equivalent to an idle room for storing miscellaneous items. There are not many things in it. There is a square table, two benches, and a wooden shelf. On the wooden shelf are some miscellaneous things, including bamboo baskets, dustpans, chopping boards, and other utensils.

Sha Lili found a rolling pin and Guier found a small hammer. They looked at each other, both very happy, and at the same time quietly stuffed the things into their sleeves.

Just as the two were about to lie down and pretend to be unconscious, suddenly, there was a knock on the door from outside. It came from the gate of the courtyard, and someone asked, "Is Miss Gui'er here?"

The two were very surprised when they heard this. Just as they were about to open the door and rush out, the leader suddenly came out, opened the gate, and asked politely, "Sir, who are you looking for?"

The person knocking on the door asked politely, "Excuse me, is Miss Wu here?"

The leader said naturally, "I'm sorry, my family's surname is not Wu."

The knocker paused and replied, "Oh, maybe I misread the address. I'm so sorry."

Then the sound of a door closing was heard. Gui'er and Sha Lili were both extremely anxious. Sha Lili wanted to call for help several times, but was stopped by Gui'er.

Sha Lili said anxiously: "If you don't call him, he will leave."

Gui'er said, "Do you know the person knocking on the door? I have a feeling they're not from the Sha Mansion. Even if they were really here to find us, I can't defeat them alone. I'd just die in vain."

The two listened and found no sound outside, so they had to lie down again. Gui'er was actually very anxious. From the way they treated the fifth concubine, she could feel that they would kill her. Sha Lili was right. The longer it dragged on, the more dangerous it would be.

Just when the two didn't know what to do, they suddenly heard the sound of a door opening, and they could only pretend to faint.

The door opened and they heard the footsteps of a man who walked in and came straight up to them.

The man just stopped there, neither moving nor making a sound. Suddenly, he squatted down, muttering, "Gui'er, Gui'er."

Then Guier felt her neck tighten, someone was pinching her. She couldn't pretend anymore, so she opened her eyes and saw it was the leader.

The leader was startled when he saw her open her eyes. Guier took the opportunity to pull out the hammer hidden in her sleeve and hit the leader's head hard. Sha Lili also jumped up and hit the leader's head hard with a rolling pin.

The leader yelled in pain, "Ah." Then he reached for his waist. Gui'er looked down and saw that he had a revolver on his waist. She hit his hand with a hammer, and he yelled again in pain.

Guier took the opportunity to pull out the pistol, held it in his hand, and hit him on the head with a hammer again.

"Boss, what's wrong?" A voice was heard outside, and then a monk walked in. He was shocked to see the situation in front of him and was about to step forward to help. Guier saw him approaching and shot him in the head.

The "bang" sound was quite loud, and the monk fell down with a round hole on his head, from which blood was oozing out.

Guier looked back at the leader and found that he looked dazed, probably because of a heavy blow to the head. In this case, he temporarily lost his ability to attack.

There were other monks outside who wanted to come in. When they walked to the door, they saw the monk lying on the ground, the gun in Guier's hand, and the boss lying on the ground, so they didn't dare to go forward. Guier guessed that they probably didn't have guns.

Gui'er and Sha Lili were also extremely nervous. They didn't know how many bullets were left in the gun, nor did they know how many people were there in total. If they rushed in and ran out of bullets, it would probably be the end of them.

The two sides were in a silent confrontation when suddenly, with a bang, the gate of the courtyard was kicked open, and policemen and soldiers in black police uniforms and army green uniforms rushed in at the same time, pointing their rifles and short guns at the remaining monks, "Don't move."

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the monks raised their hands in surrender. Gui'er and Sha Lili both breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they were saved.