He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 72 Mountain Bandits: Who's touching me?

The light in the forest was too dim, and they were quite far away, so even with Meng Fuqing's eyesight, he couldn't tell who they were.

Just as the tendrils of the vines began to peek out from the fingertips, Meng Ranran made a rustling sound behind her.

"Ah..."

Meng Fuqing turned around, covered her mouth, and shook her head at her.

Meng Ranran, being quite clever, immediately realized that Meng Fuqing might have discovered something. She immediately raised one hand to cover her mouth and tightly gripped Meng Fuqing's clothes with the other, frozen in place, not daring to move.

Meng Fuqing leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Do you see our campfire? Ranran, are you brave enough to go back by yourself?"

Having seen so much along the way, Meng Ranran understood that their current situation was very unsafe. Although she was afraid, she nodded and held Meng Fuqing's hand tightly without letting go.

Meng Fuqing patted her head, "Sister will be back soon, don't be afraid. When you get back, tell Brother Huzi who's on night watch that if you hear any unusual noises, wake up the villagers immediately, and only tell him. Do you understand?"

Meng Ranran nodded heavily again, tears glistening in her eyes, but she still walked step by step toward the fire where she had landed, not daring to look back even once.

Seeing that she had successfully returned to her lodging and walked to the campfire, Meng Fuqing immediately stretched out a vine to search into the mountains opposite the official road. The vine quickly moved through the weeds and soon found the place where Meng Fuqing had seen the figure earlier.

Meng Fuqing did not sense the presence of any living creature through the vines, so the vines continued to probe deeper.

She quickly sensed a signal in the roadside weeds—'carriages and horses' and 'many people'.

Then they sensed a new signal on a tree—'robbery'.

Meng Fuqing thought, "I'm being watched."

They could sense that the other party was not a Hu person, otherwise, given the Hu people's horses and superior weapons, they shouldn't be afraid of these people.

While pondering, the vines finally found the gathering place of those people. Judging from the images they sensed, there were more of them than there were, and they looked like a group of refugees fleeing together.

Unlike ordinary refugees, they were divided into two groups. One group consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children, who huddled together to rest, with two men holding large knives guarding them.

The other group consisted of young adults, some tall and somewhat grown, some carrying weapons and others not. They were gathered together, with a bonfire burning in the middle, talking about something with slightly excited expressions.

Meng Fuqing felt that the elderly, women and children were not like those being protected, but rather like hostages being monitored.

As if they had agreed on something, they pointed out two burly men carrying weapons, gave them some instructions, and then the two men headed toward the main road.

Meng Fuqing manipulated the vines to follow behind them, watching them hide by the official road, their eyes fixed on the direction where the Meng family villagers had settled, as if waiting for some opportunity.

Another vine emerged, circled around to the back of the two men, and Meng Fuqing manipulated one of them to gently touch the back of one of the men with a thick beard.

The bearded man scratched the spot that had been touched and then ignored it.

The next moment, he was touched on the back of the neck again, and he impatiently raised his hand and slapped it.

When his head was bumped again, he finally couldn't take it anymore.

He glared angrily at his companion, "Why are you always poking at me?"

His companion looked bewildered. "Who the hell touched you?"

Just then, his face was touched again.

The bearded man was furious and disgusted at the same time. He wiped his face hard. "See, you still won't admit it..."

He suddenly realized that his companion hadn't reached out to him.

He looked at his companion, whose utterly horrified expression caught his eye in the pale moonlight.

In an instant, goosebumps rose all over his body. He stiffened his neck and looked at the side of his face that had been touched, but saw nothing.

Just as he thought it might be an insect that had landed on him, he heard his companion say, "A snake? Is it a snake?"

The bearded man's companion only saw a thin, long thing touch his face, and it shrank back very quickly. He instinctively thought it was a snake.

The next moment, the bearded man felt a sharp pain in his neck.

A moment later, piercing screams rang out one after another.

On the other side, Hu Zi had been feeling uneasy ever since he learned the news from Meng Ranran, but he still managed to remain calm.

Meng Fuqing didn't let Meng Ranran tell anyone else, only him, which showed that he trusted him, and he couldn't betray that trust.

At the sound of screams, he jumped to his feet and said to the watchmen, "Wake everyone up!"

After he finished speaking, he first called everyone to their feet.

Xie Jin's men were the first to react. In the darkness, two dark figures rushed toward the source of the sound.

After retracting the vines, Meng Fuqing remained standing behind the hillside and did not go out.

She only reappeared after Xie Jin's men had tied the two burly men up and brought them back to their lodgings, when everyone's attention had been diverted.

Meng Ranran, who had been restless, spotted Meng Fuqing immediately. She rushed over, her eyes red, and called out, "Sister!"

Meng Fuqing praised her, "You did a good job."

After the initial fear subsided, Meng Ranran sniffed and couldn't help but say, "My mother asked me where you went, but I didn't tell her."

Meng Fuqing nodded in satisfaction and was about to say "Keep it up" when Shan Qiyu walked over and said helplessly to Meng Ranran, "Shouldn't Mother praise you again?"

"My sister only told me to tell Brother Hu." Meng Ranran grinned. "Mother, don't be angry."

Shan Qiyu wasn't angry, just a little worried.

The mother and her two daughters returned to their lodgings, where everyone, awakened by the commotion, surrounded the two burly men, their eyes fixed on them menacingly.

The two burly men had their knives taken away and their mouths gagged; they were curled up on the ground, looking utterly pathetic.

Tiger is recounting what happened before they caught the person.

After learning that Meng Fuqing had discovered it first, everyone's attention turned to the mother and her two daughters.

"What exactly happened, Qing'er?"

Meng Fuqing looked at the two people on the ground and said, "Why don't we ask them first?"

Mu Feng stepped forward and removed the objects from their mouths. "Tell me, who are you people?"

The two of them gritted their teeth and refused to say anything.

They had a really bad night. First, the bearded man seemed to have been bitten by something like a snake. Worried that it was poisonous, he screamed and ran back, hoping that the boss could help him think of a solution.

He had barely run a few steps when he was knocked down, got up, and was knocked down again... Not only him, but his companions were also like that, it was really weird.

The two men were thrown around and their heads were bleeding. They dared not go any further. When they felt they could walk again, they were caught up with and, before they could even exchange a single blow, they were tied up like pigs.

Could it be that I've encountered a ghost?

These were the thoughts that filled their minds at that moment.

At this moment, they could only hope that their leader heard their screams and would rescue them.

Xie Jin glanced at Meng Fuqing and ordered his men, "Take them both away for questioning. Be careful not to kill them."

Everyone was shocked, and by the time they realized what was happening, the two had already been taken away.