"How long will it take to get to the end?" Shi Lang asked when he saw that the woman stopped talking.

"The water flows downstream of this river is relatively fast, and it is very dangerous to move rashly at night. There is an indigenous mountain village not far ahead. Then we go to the dock to stay. They are still very hospitable. We will find a way when it will dawn tomorrow." The woman seemed to have planned the route.

Shi Lang was not familiar with the local area and could only follow the woman's arrangements.

The raft moved forward for less than a quarter of an hour, and a simple wooden platform similar to a dock appeared on the bank on the right side of the river.

"We'll get the raft to the platform on the shore." The woman pointed to the platform and said.

After the raft landed, Shi Lang climbed to the shore first, and the woman followed closely behind and got on the shore. The two worked together to pull the raft up from the river and put them and two oars into the grass by the river.

At the innermost end of the platform is connected to a winding stone steps path. Shi Lang followed the woman up the stone steps.

"I have been to this indigenous village once, and they are very hospitable. However, the young master must prepare for drinking. According to their customs, it is considered sincere to drink each of them toasts. I wonder how much the young master can drink?" The woman said to Shi Lang as she walked.

"That's a problem. It seems that I have to make a fool of myself tonight." Shi Lang was as drunk as he heard the woman's speech and looked timid.

Shi Lang's active weakness once again aroused the woman's desire to protect Shi Lang. She turned around and looked at Shi Lang and said, "Young Master, don't worry too much. Then you just need to look at my eyes and act without getting drunk."

"Then I'll rely on the help of the girl."

While the two of them were talking, they had already walked to the top of the stone steps. A primitive forest land appeared in front of them. There was a small path that was artificially stepped out in the forest land.

"Follow this path and you'll arrive soon." The woman took the lead in the forest path, and Shi Lang followed closely behind.

"When did the girl come here?" Shi Lang asked.

"I came once half a year ago. But that time came during the day and left that day. I only stayed for a while, and I guess the people in the village wouldn't remember me any longer."

"It seems that the girl is very familiar with the local mountains and rivers."

"It's okay, after all, I've lived here for more than twenty years."

"It seems that there is a fire in front." Shi Lang found a fire in the forest ahead about a hundred meters away, and reminded the woman.

"That must be the people in the village are dancing and having fun around the bonfire. They will gather together to dance and sing around the bonfire whenever they have a happy event. The atmosphere is very lively. I guess there will be something happy in the village today. Well, we can ask for a cup of wedding wine." The woman said, unable to help but speed up.

The two walked forward for more than ten steps, but found something was wrong in the flash of the bonfire in front. If the people in the village were dancing and caring, at the distance between the two, they should be able to clearly hear singing or cheering, but at this time the bonfire was silent.

The two hid behind the tree alertly and looked forward carefully.

"Hurry up and hand over your young women and money, otherwise you will be cut alive one by one. Did you hear that? You old guys."

There were clearly screams and scoldings from the bonfire ahead. Shi Lang and the woman found more than a dozen men wearing black cloaks and holding long swords were forcing a group of indigenous residents to kneel on the open space beside the bonfire and punching and kicking them and threatening them. On the path entering and leaving the village, a man wearing a black cloak and holding a long sword was standing guard.

"No, the people in the village were robbed." The woman said.

"Who are these?" Shi Lang asked, pointing to the man in a black cloak who was watching at the entrance of the village.

"They are a group of robbers who have appeared in the mountains in recent years. They are elusive and make a living by robbing their families. Since they have no place to live, the government has failed to capture them several times. They are uniformly wearing black cloaks, so people call them 'black ghosts'. I didn't expect that they will appear here today."

"How many people are there in this village?"

"There are less than fifty people including the elderly, women and children."

"It seems they've hidden the young women."

"Yes. These robbers have no morals at all. They will do everything they want to burn, kill, rob, and plunder. No, I must go over and save them. Young Master, please wait here and protect yourself." The woman seemed to be chivalrous and honest, and she was not afraid of facing more than a dozen men on the other side.

"Girl, look at me." Shi Lang forced the woman who was about to get up and headed forward, then stood up and touched forward.

The woman didn't know Shi Lang's background. Before she could react, Shi Lang had made full use of the protection of the woods to touch the man in black who was standing guard. Shi Lang jumped lightly, waved his hand and slapped the man in black at the back of the neck, and knocked the man in black to the ground. Shi Lang dragged the man in black to the back of the tree, then waved his hand to the woman and signaled her to go over.

The woman also came to Shi Lang with the help of the forest.

At this time, Shi Lang had already put the fainted man in black on himself. Seeing the woman walking to her, he whispered to her: "I will pretend that their people will escort you to approach them later, and then look for an opportunity to subdue them."

"A good plan! I didn't expect that the young master is not only polite, but also wise and brave." The woman looked at Shi Lang with admiration and whispered.

"Do you know who is the leader of the robber?"

"I heard that their leader is a man with a clear scar on his face."

"Okay. Get started."

After Shi Lang finished speaking, he held the robber's long sword in one hand and grabbed the woman's neck with the other, and the two walked towards the bonfire.

"Damn it, I'm not polite if I don't hand over the young woman and money." A tall and strong robber walked up to an old man in anger, kicked the old man to the ground and raised the long knife in his hand to chop at the old man who was lying on the ground.

Taking advantage of the light of the bonfire, Shi Lang, who was about to approach the bonfire, keenly discovered that the robber holding a knife had a scar on his face that was obliquely penetrated his entire face.

"King, I'll catch a young woman." Shi Lang shouted loudly to the scarface.

"Sangouzi, where did you find that woman? Come here and let me see it." The scarred face put down the raised knife and shouted to Shi Lang.

"King, look, it's pretty." Shi Lang buried his head deeply in the cloak and walked towards Scarface with the woman.

"Oh, it's really. This little lady looks so unique." Scarface's eyes were attracted by the woman, and he did not notice the danger of approaching. He said as he reached out to touch the woman's face.

Just as the other party was about to touch his face with one hand, the woman kicked the wrist of the other hand holding the knife with a flash of thunder.

"Ah!" Scarface screamed, and the long sword in his hand fell to the ground. Before he could react, Shi Lang had already flew over the woman, grabbed Scarface's neck from behind, and pressed the long sword in his hand against Scarface's neck.

"Put down the knife in your hand. Otherwise I will kill him with one knife." Shi Lang controlled Scarface and loudly ordered the other robbers.

At this time, the woman had quickly picked up the long sword that fell on the ground with the scar face. Seeing that the robbers at the scene were still dazed, she waved the sword in her hand and scolded loudly: "Didn't you hear it? They all threw the sword in their hands into the fire, then hugged their heads and knelt on the ground. Otherwise, they would kill your leaders first, and then kill you one by one!"

The dozen robbers at the scene then understood what was going on. They stood there blankly, not knowing what to do for a moment, so they had to look at the scar face that had been controlled by Shi Lang.

Seeing that all the robbers, including Scarface, were still hesitating and watching, Shi Lang quickly pulled the knife in his hand on Scarface's neck. Blood suddenly flowed down Scarface's neck. "Quickly throw the knife into the fire, otherwise I will cut off his neck!" Shi Lang scolded sternly.

"Damn it, why don't you throw the knife away quickly!" Scarface endured the pain and whispered to his subordinates.

Hearing Scarface's order, the robbers did not dare to neglect and lined up to the fire to throw the knife in their hands in. Then, according to the woman's request, they hugged their heads with their hands and knelt on the ground.

The woman held a long sword in her hand and closely monitored the robbers' every move. Just as the ninth robber who was waiting in line to throw the knife passed by her, she found that the robber suddenly waved the long sword in his hand and slashed at her. The woman trickled and dodged, then kicked the robber into the fire. The robber suddenly became a fireball, screaming and rolling on the ground with all his might.

"Xiao Liuzi, I know that you have long wanted to replace me. Damn, you want to take this opportunity to kill me. I deserve it, you bastard! You guys are going to throw the knife quickly!" Scarface shouted loudly.

The remaining robbers obediently threw the knife in their hands into the fire and knelt on the ground with their heads in their arms.

"Friends, don't be afraid. We were sent by the government to rescue you, and the government's army will arrive later. You can tie these robbers to a tree and wait for the government to leave." Shi Lang deliberately made up a lie to dispel the concerns of the people at the scene, because he and the woman could not give the villagers enough sense of security.

Sure enough, when he heard that the government troops were coming, the people at the scene were immediately excited and found a rope to tie all the robbers on the scene to the big trees around them one by one.

"Two heroes and one robber." Someone shouted among the people at the scene.

"Where is it?" Shi Lang asked loudly.

"Look, there," the shouting villager shouted, pointing to the entrance of the village.

Shi Lang looked up and realized that it was the robber who had just been knocked out by him who woke up and was shaking and preparing to escape.

"Look at me." The woman picked up a small stone from the ground and raised her hand to hit the robber.

With a scream of "Ouch", the robber was hit on the back of the head by a stone and fell to the ground.
Chapter completed!