Chapter 44: Looting the Bandits’ Corpses
Despite the short crossbow bolt still lodged in Yu Meiyao’s shoulder blade, Lady Lan couldn’t afford to waste any time. She had clearly seen the flash of killing intent in Yu Luo’s eyes.
Although the surrounding firelight was dim, Lady Lan was certain that if those two guards hadn’t arrived in time, Yu Luo would have killed them all without hesitation to silence them—no matter how much they knelt and begged.
The way Yu Luo released that arrow toward her daughter, without the slightest hesitation, made Lady Lan realize how ruthless she had become. It was as if Yu Luo was a completely different person!
“Mother, it hurts!”
Not far from the rock, Yu Meiyao, who had been pampered since childhood, couldn’t endure the pain in her shoulder any longer. With tears streaming down her face, she whimpered to Lady Lan.
“Bear with it! I need to grab more clothes from the corpses. If I move any slower, Second and Third House will take everything, and we’ll be left to freeze to death on the road!”
Without waiting for a response, Lady Lan ignored her daughter’s pained expression and rushed towards the corpses of the bandits lying on the ground.
When they emerged from behind the rock, the people of Second and Third House—including Chang Huilan and Yu Zhengqing with his three children—were already stripping clothes off the bodies with no hesitation or disgust.
Though they had made a brief stop earlier to buy winter clothes, it was too rushed. Lady Lan only managed to buy each family member one cotton coat. In the freezing cold of the Northern Wilderness, one coat would never be enough.
Seeing Lady Lan strip clothes off the corpses without a second thought, Yu Meiyao was stunned. For the first time, she truly realized that things would never return to the way they were in the Marquis’s Mansion.
Not just her mother—even the usually dignified Chang Huilan was swiftly stripping the bloody clothes off the dead without any sign of hesitation.
And her once noble father—whom she could only look up to—was now doing the same, leading Yu Yingying and the two legitimate sons to loot the bodies.
“Why are you two standing there? There’s another body over there! Meiyao, take Xiaoyun and strip it! Move quickly!”
As they stood in shock, Lady Lan turned back and barked orders at them. Startled, Yu Meiyao took two steps back in fear.
“Sis, I… I don’t dare. I’m scared of dead people!”
Hearing her mother’s command, Yu Xiaoyun clung to Yu Meiyao’s leg, trembling as he sobbed.
“I… I’m scared too.”
Seeing her children frozen in place, Lady Lan lost all hope in them. After stripping one body, she moved swiftly to the next, showing no fear of the dead.
Fortunately, there were plenty of bandit corpses, and despite the speed of Second and Third House’s people, many bodies remained untouched.
In less than a quarter-hour, the dozens of bandits had been stripped down to their underclothes. Those who looted also managed to pocket some coins, though not much—it was still better than nothing.
The people of Second House, who had been seething with jealousy just a half-hour earlier over the supplies Third House had found, were now discreetly stuffing coin pouches into their inner pockets, their previous resentment quickly melting away.
Even the Third House people, who had just received a whole basket of new clothes, showed no disgust. In the icy wilderness, the more layers of clothing, the warmer they would be.
“Father, Mother, look what I found!”
Back at their campfire, Yu Qiao’er returned with a wide grin, pulling a coin pouch from her sleeve and presenting it to Yu Qiang and Shu Suhua, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Shh! Keep it down and give it to your father!”
Shu Suhua’s eyes glinted with delight. She snatched the coin pouch and scolded Yu Qiao’er in a hushed voice.
Watching the busy scene, Yu Luo’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Father, Mother, don’t you think it’s strange that Commander Wu would let us take all these clothes so easily?”
Not only Yu Luo, but even Ye Jiamai and Yu Haojie were puzzled.
Even Yu Zhengqing was confused. But now, with so many mouths to feed, he had no time to think—he just wanted to grab as much as possible.
“I don’t know. This Commander Wu is getting harder to figure out. He used to love money—anything was possible if you had silver. Now, even if these corpses don’t have much, there should be a few taels of silver. Just because he doesn’t care doesn’t mean his men don’t, right?”
Yu Haojie muttered in confusion, his eyes narrowed.
“Who cares about them. Let’s just pack our things quickly. I bet Commander Wu will order us to move soon. With so many bodies here, there’s no way we’re staying overnight.”
Ye Jiamai’s suggestion proved right. Moments later, a guard came over, ordering everyone to pack up and move to a new campsite.
Despite being exhausted and some even injured, the promise of new clothes and a little silver filled the crowd with unexpected energy. They hurried to gather their belongings, a mix of fatigue and excitement.
Yu Xiangxiang, who had been unconscious since the attack, was finally remembered by the Second House members after they’d finished looting.
Luckily, when her father, Yu Shanhai, pressed down on her injury, she woke up with a groan. Though her head was spinning and her wounds ached, she was grateful to have survived.
They marched another five or six miles before stopping by a small creek.
To no one’s surprise, the hardworking Third House men immediately began trying to fish, hoping to catch something for breakfast.
The next morning, before dawn, the aroma of fish soup woke Yu Luo’s family of three.
“Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, Xiao Luo! My husband and my brother-in-law caught a lot of fish last night, so I made a big pot of fish soup early this morning. I didn’t want to wake you since you were sleeping soundly, so I left some in your pot. You can have it with some bread later!”
Opening her eyes, Yu Luo was greeted by the cheerful face of Wang Ying, the wife of Yu Yongcai. Her enthusiasm left Yu Luo’s family feeling both grateful and a bit embarrassed.
“Wang Shi, you’ve worked hard. Why not get some more sleep? Your family has so many people to feed—no need to trouble yourself for us in the future.”
Wang Ying’s warm smile only grew wider.
“It’s no trouble at all! Without you saving my children, we wouldn’t even be here to drink this fish soup. You can save the thanks—just make sure to eat while it’s hot!”
