t time.Although the summer tax is due these two days, who would come to collect it in the eveningAs more and more villagers came, including two who were beaten by the yamen servants, Yang Lin realized..."Indeed, a hundred taels isn't much." Yang Lin nodded.

During his interrogation of the bandits last night, Yang Lin already learned that this group of bandits from Black Wind Mountain was different from other bandits within the Jianghe region.

Because Black Tiger had the support of the Zhou and Zhao families, their Black Wind Mountain gang could plunder for many years within the Jiang He County without encountering any trouble.

According to the second-in-command's instructions, their plundering methods mainly fall into two categories.

One is robbery.

At the foot of Blackwind Mountain, there was an official road that led in and out of the Central Plains. It was a must-pass route for merchants traveling between regions. Every so often, they would descend from the mountain to rob passing merchants.

Sometimes they will release people after receiving money; but many times, they will kill to silence them!

Every time they raided, they took anywhere from a few ounces of silver to dozens or even hundreds of ounces.

And another kind was to rob the common people in villages and towns surrounding it.

Unlike highway robbery, because the Zhou and Zhao families turned a blind eye, Black Wind Mountain in the surrounding area had almost become a second government office! Every year during the spring and autumn seasons, they would openly go to nearby villages and towns to collect "protection fees." Whether poor or wealthy households, they had to pay them "protection fees" just like paying taxes to the imperial court.

The six surrounding towns and dozens of villages pay protection money amounting to thousands of taels every season!

Therefore, Black Wind Mountain robs at least a few thousand taels of silver every year!

Although a portion was given to the Zhou and Zhao families, over time it would be impossible for them to have only that much left.

"Did you kill all the bandits on the mountain Were there any survivors" Yang Lin asked.

Kong Liang suddenly slapped his forehead and shook his head.

"Oh dear, I forgot! Brother Lin, what are we going to do"

Only then did he realize, it would have been better to leave a live one!

"Oh."

Yang Lin sighed, "What can we do We'll have to look slowly. But don't get your hopes up. This is such a big mountain; it's difficult to find anything hidden anywhere. Let alone the bandits must have hidden the silver very securely."

What one person hides, a hundred may not find, let alone if the area is vast. Even whether the bandit's silver is hidden on the mountain is unknown.

"Brother Lin, I was wrong. I didn't think this through."

Kong Liang hung his head.

Yang Lin patted him on the shoulder: "Don't blame yourself, who could have predicted this beforehand Let's look around first."

After going around, Yang Lin was also amazed!

There are dozens of houses built on the mountain, including warehouses and stables.

Among them, the Black Tiger's house is very luxurious!

In the middle of the hall, there was a mahogany chair with a white tiger skin on it. On the walls hung swords and other weapons, and there were many antiques in the room.

Although Yang Lin doesn't understand antiques, he can still feel that these antiques are more valuable.

In the stable, there were four fine chestnut horses with long manes!

The warehouse even holds tens of thousands of pounds of grain!

The food was worth hundreds of taels of silver, and the four horses were also worth hundreds of taels of silver. As for the ancient calligraphy and paintings, Yang Lin didn't understand them, and the young guards didn't understand them either.

It's a pity that Yang Lin and his men searched for a long time but still couldn't find the silver.

Yang Lin didn't have any hope, so he wandered alone on the mountaintop.

Yang Lin pushed open the door of a house and at once saw, under a table inside, a little girl cowering in fear, staring up at him.

Yang Lin was taken aback. Didn't Kong Liang say they had searched everywhere How could there still be someone

A little girl, about seven or eight years old, wearing dirty, coarse cloth clothes, with a faded red rope tied around her wrist, shrank back when she saw Yang Lin enter.

"Don't be afraid, uncle isn't a bad person, all the bad guys have been... beaten away."

Yang Lin walked over and beckoned to the little girl, signaling her to come out.

"Really"

The little girl looked at Yang Lin in bewilderment.

"Of course it's true! Were you kidnapped by bandits Come out, uncle will send you home."

"Thank you, uncle." The little girl crawled out from under the table and followed Yang Lin outside.

She seemed unaccustomed to the sunlight outside and hurried to hide behind Yanglin.

Young Lin was just about to ask the little girl where she lived when the girl spoke first, "Uncle, I have another sister who was also taken by bandits. Uncle, can you save my sister"

"Your sister"

Yang Lin was taken aback. They had already searched the mountain, there was no one else there.

Then the girl's elder sister, I'm afraid, is in grave danger!

Yang Lin was just thinking about how to tell the girl this, when the little girl spoke first, "I know where sister is!"

Saying that, she disregarded Yang Lin and turned to run towards the nearby forest.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Yang Lin hurriedly shouted.

But the little girl had already run into the woods, and was gone in a flash.

Unable to refuse, Yang Lin could only follow them into the forest.

"Little girl, little girl!"

Entering the woods, Yang Lin couldn't see the little girl anywhere. He shouted loudly, but there was still no answer.

"Lin Ge, who are you calling"

Behind him, outside the grove of trees, Kong Liang walked over with several people, looking at Yang Lin in confusion.

Yang Lin explained: "There was a little girl, and she was kidnapped with her sister. She said her sister was here, but as soon as they came in, she disappeared."

"Little girl"

Kong Liang listened to something inexplicable.

They had searched the mountain several times, but they hadn't seen any little girl.

"You guys came just in time, let's look for her together. She's a little girl, only seven or eight years old, with a red string tied around her wrist. Since she's so young, if she gets lost in the mountains, it would be dangerous!"

"Yes!"

Kong Liang didn't think much and immediately led people to search separately.

As they walked deeper into the woods, Yang Lin gradually felt something was amiss!

At that moment, Kong Liang's voice came from not far away.

"Lin Ge, Lin Ge, come here quickly! Come and have a look!!"

Kong Liang's voice was laced with a hint of fear.

"What's wrong"

Yang Lin hurried over.

Just then, Kong Liang was seen standing in front of a cave, staring blankly at the opening.

Following Kong Liang's gaze, Yang Lin was also taken aback.

At the entrance, lay two bleached skeletons!

The flesh on the skeleton had rotted away, leaving only tattered clothing clinging to the bones.

The skeletons, one large and one small, the smaller one clearly belonging to a child.

Yang Lin immediately saw that on the smaller skeleton's wrist, there was a dirty red string tied around it. The crimson color was so eye-catching!

Yang Lin froze in place, his brain struggling to catch up.

At that moment, the sound of the guard's voices came again from a distance.

"Brother Lin, Brother Lin! I found it! I found it! Come and have a look!"

This time, the cheers were filled with excitement.

Yang Lin's heart skipped a beat. He looked at the skeleton at the mouth of the cave and swallowed nervously.

What did you find this time

He hurriedly took Kong Liang and went over.ehog as he fell from his horse, motionless."Splash!"The constables were so frightened that they retreated in fear, clutching their swords and trembling with terror.Many people haven't even come to the...