Transmigrated as a Peasant Girl with Prophetic Dreams: Using My Space to Become the Richest Person - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Who Led the Bandits Here?

When Yang the Third returned to the cave, he found that the entire family was still awake.

Qian Yue’e, seeing him return so soon, quickly asked, “How is it? Are the bandits caught?”

“Caught. The men are guarding them now and plan to take them to the officials first thing tomorrow morning.”

At that moment, Yang Xue spoke up: “Don’t you all find this matter very strange?”

The whole family turned their heads in unison to look at her. Yang the Third asked hurriedly, “Xue’er, did you dream of something again?”

Yang Xue shook her head. “No.” She paused before continuing, “I just find it very strange that the bandits targeted our village specifically.”

The others looked puzzled. The bandits knew they had grain hidden on the mountain; wasn’t it normal for them to target them?

“Think about it. Is it true that only the people of our village knew we moved our grain to the mountain in advance?”

The family nodded in unison.

“After the storm, although other villages didn’t face a flood like ours, the water still rose and flooded their homes, and their roofs were mostly blown away. Don’t they need to rebuild and repair as well?”

Again, the family nodded.

“The Village Head said so himself—after the storm, the other villagers also moved to the mountains temporarily. So, many villages are currently living on mountains. Why were those bandits so certain that our village was the only one with grain?”

Following Yang Xue’s explanation, they suddenly realized the truth. Right! So many villages were living on the mountains; why did the bandits target them alone with such a clear objective?

Yang the Third frowned. “Xue’er, do you mean someone deliberately led the bandits here?”

Yang Xue nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

The family was shocked. If someone was intentionally trying to harm their village, the nature of the situation was entirely different. If they didn’t find that person, they might be caught off guard if the culprit struck again in the future.

“How could this happen?” This time, Yang the Third didn’t need Yang Xue to prompt him. He stood up immediately to find the Village Head. “I’m going to talk to the Village Head right now.”

He had just stood up when Yang Xue called out, “Father, wait.”

Yang the Third turned back. “Xue’er, did you find something else?”

“Father, tell the Village Head to interrogate the bandits directly. He should be able to get some answers out of them.”

Yang the Third nodded. “Good, I’ll go now.” After taking two steps, he turned back once more. “Go to sleep first, don’t wait for me.”

…

When Yang the Third arrived, he was worried about waking the Village Head if he had already gone to bed. He planned to wait with the men guarding the bandits and tell the Village Head at dawn.

However, among the guards was the Village Head’s eldest son, Lin Zhijie.

Seeing Yang the Third return, Lin Zhijie asked curiously, “Uncle Yang, why are you back? We really don’t need more people here. You should go back and rest.”

Yang the Third thought for a moment and said, “I have an important matter to discuss with the Village Head. I don’t know if he’s asleep yet.”

Hearing that it was important, Lin Zhijie immediately took it seriously. Every time Yang the Third spoke to his father, it concerned the life and safety of the villagers.

“Uncle Yang, wait here. I’ll go get my father.”

Lin Zhijie hurried off. With such an event occurring, the Village Head, being the leader of the village, couldn’t fall asleep easily anyway. He arrived shortly after.

“Yang the Third, have you discovered another problem?” the Village Head asked immediately.

“Yes, Village Head. I’ve noticed a strange issue.”

“What is it?” the Village Head asked urgently. The other guards leaned in to listen.

“Village Head, why would the bandits suddenly target our village? How did they know we had grain? They bypassed so many other villages and focused only on us. Don’t you find that strange?”

Lin Zhijie realized the discrepancy as well. “That’s true! It’s as if they already knew our village had grain hidden on the mountain.”

If they hadn’t been certain of the grain, the bandits wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to attack. Recently, people from many villages had been living on the mountains and cooking with government relief grain; why was their village the only target?

The Village Head finally understood. “Someone deliberately lured the bandits to our village.”

Yang the Third nodded. “Yes, that is what I think. If that’s the case, we must find the person trying to harm us. Otherwise, it will be disastrous if they try something else later.”

The Village Head scanned the men present. “What do you all think? Who would want to harm our village?”

One of the men thought for a bit and said, “Village Head, could it be those who didn’t come up the mountain to hide—the ones whose belongings were washed away by the flood? After all, only they knew we hid grain up here.”

Another agreed, “I think it might be them too. They lost everything, so they naturally can’t stand to see others doing well. It’s not impossible that they secretly led the bandits here.”

The Village Head shared this suspicion. Only their villagers knew about the hidden grain. Those who had grain on the mountain wouldn’t lure bandits to harm themselves, so it had to be someone who had lost their grain to the flood.

In the village, there were eight families who hadn’t moved up the mountain with the rest. Which one could it be?

“Which family do you think it is?” the Village Head asked.

As the question was posed, the men present began to steal glances at Yang the Third, looking as if they wanted to say something but were holding back.

No matter how slow Yang the Third was, he noticed their behavior. A sudden jolt of fear hit his heart. It couldn’t be the Old Yang family, could it? If it was them, it would be a terrible sin. Although he had been separated from the household, he was still Old Man Yang’s son. If they truly committed such a crime against the village, he and his family would be implicated.

Yang the Third sighed. “Village Head, interrogate these men first.” He pointed to the tied-up bandits. “Perhaps we can get the answers we need from them.”

If it turned out to be the Old Yang family, Yang the Third only hoped that, in light of his family’s repeated helpful warnings, the villagers wouldn’t let his wife and children be affected. Let the blame and punishment fall on the Old Yang family; it has nothing to do with us!