Chapter 173: Lin Xiaodou Wants to Save Liu Yan'er

Outside the cave, the torrential rain poured down, making a ceaseless pattering sound.

The rain had been falling for a full hour already, with not the slightest sign of stopping.

Everyone's cotton-padded clothes had dried, and they had put them back on.

Leaning against the campfire, their bodies felt warm, but everyone was distracted and ill at ease.

Zhu Damei sighed and said, "It's been raining for almost an hour. Why won't it stop? It's so annoying!"

Batu glanced outside. "It's already completely dark out there. Even if the rain stops, it won't be convenient for us to search for people in the mountain forest at night."

Xiao Kaile touched his stomach. "The crucial thing is that we fought fires all day today without eating anything, and now our stomachs are killing us..."

Zhou Qinglang said, "No matter what, we must rescue Comrade Liu Yan'er as soon as tonight, otherwise..."

He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

A delicate, tender young girl falling into the hands of a group of vicious bandits—what good could possibly come of it?

Naturally, the sooner they found her, the better.

Clearly, everyone had thought of this and nodded in unison. "Right, what you said is true."

Despite the pouring rain, the dangers of the mountain forest at night, and their empty stomachs, they had to rescue her!

Lin Xiaodou, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly said, "I'm going out for a while."

Zhu Damei's heart tightened. "Xiaodou, where are you going?"

Lin Xiaodou replied, "I'm going to look for some wild fruits nearby. You must all be hungry."

Batu hurriedly spoke up, "If anyone goes, it should be us men. It's dark now, and it's so dangerous out there..."

Lin Xiaodou glanced at him. "You seem to have forgotten that you lost to me in wrestling last time."

"Uh..." Batu scratched his head awkwardly.

Zhou Qinglang spoke up, "Comrade Lin, I'll go with you."

"No need. I also want to go relieve myself, so don't follow me."

Without waiting for the others to react, Lin Xiaodou stood up and walked straight outside.

The little Tibetan Mastiff hurriedly and obediently followed behind her.

Lin Xiaodou truly had no mood to deal with everyone right now.

The mere thought of the miserable situation Yan'er might be facing made her heart ache terribly.

Yan'er was her best friend in this era, no different from a younger sister of her own.

No matter the cost, she had to find her as quickly as possible—even at the risk of exposing her dimensional space.

It was because of hesitation earlier that a whole hour had passed.

Lin Xiaodou could no longer hold back now.

She had so many life-saving equipment and immensely powerful weapons stored in her space.

Pulling out just one of them would be enough to blow that pack of bastard bandits to smithereens with a single shell.

She didn't want Zhu Damei and the others to take risks, which was why she decided to go alone.

Lin Xiaodou stroked the fur of the little Tibetan Mastiff and instructed it:

"Good boy, if you can help me find those people, I'll give you extra portions of delicious food when we get back!"

"Woof!" The little Tibetan Mastiff wagged its tail happily.

The person and the dog had not walked far into the rain before footsteps sounded from behind.

"Comrade Lin, wait!"

Zhou Qinglang's tall figure walked over in quick strides. "I'm going with you!"

Lin Xiaodou raised an eyebrow. It seemed he had figured out her intention and deliberately followed her out.

Could the others have...

As if reading Lin Xiaodou's thoughts, Zhou Qinglang smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, I knocked them all unconscious just now. They won't follow, and they won't hold us back."

Lin Xiaodou: ......

Why hadn't she thought of that method herself just now?

"Are you sure you want to come with me? There could be mortal danger, you know."

After all, walking through a mountain forest in the rain late at night was extremely perilous.

Zhou Qinglang looked at her with a smile. "What is there for me to fear? My life was saved by you..."

In the rainy night, his eyes were exceptionally bright.

Lin Xiaodou's heart fluttered involuntarily, and an indescribable, lingering feeling filled her chest.

"Here, this is a raincoat I previously put in my bag. I forgot it was in here earlier, but it happens to have two sets. I'll give you one."

Lin Xiaodou pulled two military-green waterproof raincoats from her cross-body bag.

She had transferred these from her spatial dimension into the bag.

Earlier, after walking out of the cave, she had intended to put one on at a distance.

Now that Zhou Qinglang had come along as well, she simply took out both sets.

Anyway, she had already offered an explanation; whether he believed it or not was up to him.

Zhou Qinglang didn't doubt it at all and directly took one to put on.

He took a pistol from his waist and handed it to Lin Xiaodou.

"Kaile and I are both armed with pistols. This is Kaile's; take it to defend yourself."

Lin Xiaodou's eyes lit up.

Originally, she had planned to retrieve weapons from her space later on, but now she wouldn't even need to.

Lin Xiaodou said, "Alright, thank you!"

"Let's go. As we walk, I'll explain how to operate the pistol."

Zhou Qinglang assumed she didn't know how to shoot, and Lin Xiaodou naturally had no intention of exposing herself.

In modern times, she truly hadn't known how, but sometimes inside her space, she liked to play around in the weapon armory.

She had read the manuals and watched operation videos for thousands of armaments and various weapons stored inside.

Though she wasn't exceptionally skilled with them, she could basically handle them.

In the rainy night, a little Tibetan Mastiff darted through the mountain forest, trailed closely by two figures moving like shadows.

After a little over an hour, the little Tibetan Mastiff suddenly let out a bark.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Master~ I smell Sister Yan'er's scent!

The tension on Lin Xiaodou's face finally gave way to pleasant surprise. "Little Tibetan Mastiff! Quick, take us there!"

The two humans and the dog ran swiftly through the muddy mountain forest.

After running for perhaps another hour, they finally discovered traces of Liu Yan'er.

......

In a hiding spot beneath a rocky cliff, a pile of firewood was burning high.

More than ten bandits, several holding firearms, stood guard on the perimeter, keeping a sharp lookout all around.

Others lounged lazily against the cliff face, while some had set up a wooden rack near the campfire and were roasting a whole lamb.

The golden, crispy roasted lamb sizzled as drops of fat hit the fire, and an alluring aroma drifted through the air.

Liu Yan'er hid pathetically in a corner, swallowing frantically as she caught the scent.

So hungry... She wanted so badly to eat the roasted lamb...

Liu Yan'er quickly averted her gaze from the roasted lamb.

She couldn't look anymore, or she really might lose control and pounce on it.

A burly man nearby noticed her movement and sneered.

"Stinky bitch, this roasted sheep isn't for you. If you're hungry, get out and drink rainwater!"

Liu Yan'er hurriedly shook her head. "I'm not hungry... I'm not hungry..."

Her stomach was still aching faintly, and if she went out to get soaked in the rain, the pain would probably be excruciating.

"Oh, Third Brother, you really don't know how to cherish jade and pity flowers. Such a tender, delicate young girl—we ought to treat her well."

Another sharp-faced, monkey-cheeked skinny fellow looked at Liu Yan'er with a cheeky grin and said,

"Little girl, big brother will treat you to a sheep's whip later. You've surely never had that before; taste it in advance so you get familiar with the operation for later."

At these words, all the bandits present burst into loud laughter.

Liu Yan'er didn't understand what they were laughing at, but she seemed to grasp the meaning from their lewd gazes.

Terrified, she shrank her head back and pressed her body tightly against the rock wall, trying to find a shred of safety.

Yet after only a moment, the skinny man from earlier walked toward her with a smirk,

holding... a charred, blackened sheep's whip in his hand.

Liu Yan'er lowered her head, her delicate body trembling. "I... I'm not hungry... I won't eat it..."

Impatiently, the skinny man grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her head up.

Then, he crudely shoved the foul-smelling, unpalatable sheep's whip into her mouth.

"Eat! Eat it! If you can't even stomach this, how are you going to eat other things later?!"

"Mmph, mmph, mmph......"

Tears filled Liu Yan'er's eyes as she struggled incessantly.

Following the little Tibetan Mastiff, Lin Xiaodou arrived just in time to witness this scene...