1890: I'm in Hextech Brawl in America

Chapter 29 Deep in the Forest

"Haha, look at you guys."

White paced back and forth, his military boots crunching on the gravel.

"I know you're in a hurry, the mosquitoes in this godforsaken place really do bite."

He stopped and scanned his wolves-like accomplices:

"We wouldn't need this many people if we had only captured a few runaway slaves."

White's lips curled into a cold smile.

"So I plan to work from both ends. Three of us will stay here to continue capturing slaves and finish this deal. The rest of you, follow me!"

"good!"

"That's how it should be! I'm so dizzy from all this spinning! Only idiots do this slave-catching job! You get covered in sweat and barely make any money!"

"Boss, the usual rules?"

A burly man with a missing front tooth asked, his eyes full of expectation.

Huai nodded and waved:

"Come quickly, everyone! Listen to God's will!"

A dozen or so burly men immediately formed a circle around White, their faces showing a mixture of tension and excitement, much like gamblers waiting for the lottery results.

White took a Springfield rifle from the saddle, rested the butt on the ground, and stood the barrel upright.

"Who stays and who leaves depends on which way this gun turns."

He was holding the gun barrel when he suddenly let go.

The heavy rifle wobbled and slowly fell to one side.

"Clatter".

Repeat this three times.

He pointed to the burly man with the missing front tooth and the two skinny men next to him.

"Oh! Shit! It's me!"

The burly man with the missing front tooth let out a wail and kicked a stone on the ground hard.

"This isn't fair! It must be the ground that's uneven! Boss, let's do it again!"

"Shut up! God has made the choice." White picked up the rifle and dusted it off.

"You three stay here. If that runaway slave escapes, I'll cut off your testicles and feed them to the dogs."

The burly man with the missing front tooth, his face full of resentment, turned to his two equally unfortunate companions and said fiercely:

"Fuck! If I ever catch that damned slave, I'll skin him alive! Then I'll cut him into pieces and feed him to my hunting dogs!"

White ignored him, mounted his horse, and pulled on the reins:

"Alright, enough nonsense. Remember, it has to be alive! If it dies, you'll have to pay for the damages yourself."

"The rest of you, follow me! Tonight we're going to go all out!"

"drive!"

More than ten cavalrymen shouted in unison, and the sound of their hooves thundered.

They kicked up a cloud of dust as they raced toward the main road at the mouth of the valley south of the plantation.

......

Fang Jianqiu didn't encounter a single supervisor along the way, which puzzled him.

This plantation is neither too big nor too small. Logically, with such a big incident, there should be some patrols along the way.

But he traveled smoothly all the way without encountering a single ghost.

What he didn't know was that although Hans's plantation was quite large, because the fat man was greedy and stingy, he only employed about thirty overseers and security guards.

Of these thirty or so men, nine died at the manor gate, one escaped from the stable, three died in the camp, and then there were the ones he had killed sporadically in the sugarcane field and on the road... That's about twenty dead from his gun.

As a result, Fang Jianqiu's rune experience bar increased dramatically, and now he only needs a little over a thousand points to choose a new Hextech rune again.

"I saw it."

Finally, the abandoned mill appeared before him.

The broken windmill blades cast huge shadows in the moonlight.

But Xiao Yuanshan and the others could not possibly hide inside; anyone with a brain would not choose such an obvious place.

Fang Jianqiu did not slow down, but rode forward for a while before suddenly pulling the reins and riding towards a dense grove of trees to the left of the mill.

There was a deep black pine forest there, with tall, dense trees that barely allowed moonlight to penetrate.

Fang Jianqiu rode his horse into the dense forest.

The sound of the horse's hooves pounding on the thick layer of fallen leaves grew muffled.

Although he knew the general location, he had never been to this specific hiding place before. All around were identical trees and bushes, so he couldn't tell which place was which.

"Brother Xiao! It's me!"

Fang Jianqiu lowered his voice and called out twice.

Just as he was about to dismount and search for tracks, a familiar low shout suddenly came from behind a clump of bushes not far away.

"Brother Fang! Over here!"

Fang Jianqiu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xiao Yuanshan peeking out from behind a big tree, clutching a Colt revolver tightly in his hand.

"call......"

Xiao Yuanshan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Fang Jianqiu and put his gun away.

Fang Jianqiu spurred his horse and rode closer.

Xiao Yuanshan wiped the sweat from his forehead:

"I went out to keep watch just now and heard the sound of horses' hooves from afar. I thought it was the foreigners chasing us and I was getting really scared. But when I looked in the moonlight, I saw a big man and a little man riding horses. I recognized you as Brother Fang, and that's when I dared to speak up."

"How is Ye Lang?"

As Fang Jianqiu asked, he dismounted and carefully carried Xiao Lin, who was still unconscious and wrapped in his coat, down from the horse.

"Yes, it's all thanks to the small mountain spring here."

Xiao Yuanshan pointed behind him.

"Although the old man doesn't understand Western medicine, he has seen many burns during the war. As soon as he arrived, I used spring water to wash his burns, washing them over and over again, and I've been doing it ever since."

"These are all old-fashioned methods we used to treat burns on our comrades. They're clumsy, but they work. This way, at least those areas won't get worse too quickly."

Fang Jianqiu nodded in agreement.

Rinsing burns with cold water is now considered basic first aid knowledge. It can quickly lower skin temperature, reduce pain, and effectively prevent burns from worsening.

He was so anxious at the time that he forgot this simplest and most effective step.

Fortunately, Xiao Yuanshan, being an old hand, knew a lot, and fortunately, the location was well chosen, with flowing water nearby.

Xiao Yuanshan's gaze fell on Xiao Lin in Fang Jianqiu's arms, and then he looked at the obviously ill-fitting high-end coat.

"Is this Kobayashi? Sigh, he's really suffered..."

Immediately, his gaze was drawn to the medicine box with the Red Cross symbol that Fang Jianqiu was carrying.

Then you don't understand what happened.

"Brother Fang...you...you really took down that fat guy's hideout?"

Xiao Yuanshan's eyes widened, his tone filled with disbelief:

"I've never really admired anyone in my life, but today I truly am! He came all alone!"

"Just lucky," Fang Jianqiu said casually.

"Come on, let's talk while we treat Ye Xiaoyou's injuries."

Xiao Yuanshan led Fang Jianqiu deeper into the dense forest.

After walking for about several dozen meters, we came to a pile of rubble.

Xiao Yuanshan parted a clump of dense vines, revealing a narrow crack behind it.

"It's right behind here."

The crack was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. Fang Jianqiu handed the medicine box in first, then, carrying Xiao Lin, he had to squeeze in sideways to barely get through.

Upon entering, the interior suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious space.

This is a naturally formed cave, about ten square meters in size, more than enough to accommodate five or six people.

The cave ceiling is very high, and there are several cracks leading to the outside, allowing both ventilation and a little bit of moonlight to pass through.

There was a spring in the corner, with clear water bubbling out and flowing away through the cracks in the rocks.

A small, thin figure was squatting by the spring, using a large leaf to catch the water and carefully pouring it onto Ye Lang, who was lying on a flat rock.

It was a tiny child.

A kerosene lamp sat on a nearby rock, its dim light illuminating the dark and secluded space and casting flickering shadows on the rock wall.

"It's definitely a good hiding place! And there's a water source too."

Fang Jianqiu gave a thumbs-up.

He placed the medicine box on the ground, found a relatively flat spot covered with dry grass, and gently put Xiaolin down from his arms.

As soon as he was put down, Kobayashi woke up.

"Brother Fang?"

Xiaolin opened her eyes groggily, her voice still sleepy.

She realized she was no longer in Fang Jianqiu's arms. Her dirty little hand instinctively reached out from under her coat and flailing wildly in the air, trying to grab the hem of Fang Jianqiu's clothes.

"I'm here, don't be afraid."

Fang Jianqiu quickly reached out and took her small hand, patting it gently.

"We're safe. You can go back to sleep. I'll be right here, I'm not going anywhere."

Hearing that familiar voice and promise, Xiaolin finally felt at ease. She nuzzled Fang Jianqiu's hand like a kitten and soon fell into a deep sleep again.

"This child has become completely dependent on you."

Xiao Yuanshan watched from the side and sighed.

Fang Jianqiu nodded without saying anything.

He could sense the dependence that Kobayashi had placed on him as her only lifeline.

This was a heavy responsibility, but he was not annoyed at all.

He stood up and opened the medicine box.

The two began to treat Ye Lang's wounds.

Fang Jianqiu took out a bottle of burn ointment, while Xiao Yuanshan held Ye Lang down to prevent him from moving around in pain.

The two of them applied the medicine while talking in hushed tones.

......

"What? That old bastard Shi Li didn't come with you?"

After listening to Fang Jianqiu's account of the events at the camp, Xiao Yuanshan paused for a moment, then sighed heavily, a trace of sadness appearing on his face:

"Sigh, that old man... I knew he'd be stubborn. He went to find Old Wang, didn't he? He's his sworn brother. That old bastard, he really doesn't want to live anymore..."

Xiao Yuanshan shook his head, seemingly feeling sorry for his old friend. "However, hearing that you said quite a few people left, at least it wasn't all for nothing!"

Xiao Yuanshan paused, then looked at Fang Jianqiu, his eyes filled with gratitude:

"I want to thank Brother Fang on behalf of all the Chinese laborers, really!"

"If you hadn't gone and wiped out that Hans foreigner, drawn all those security guards away, and killed so many of them, he would have definitely sent his well-equipped security guards to the north to suppress them."

"Those men have guns that are fast, unlike those overseers who are used to whipping. Especially that beast named Tom, if they were sent north, I'm afraid none of those Chinese laborers would survive."

Fang Jianqiu kept his head down, focusing intently on applying ointment to Ye Lang's back, his tone calm:

"I stumbled upon this by accident. I originally just wanted to steal the medicine. Being able to help them is just karma for all the bad things these foreigners have done."

The ointment was cooling, and after applying it, Ye Lang, who was in a coma, seemed to relax his brows a little.

"And..." Xiao Yuanshan hesitated for a moment, looking at Fang Jianqiu with worry in his eyes:

"Those riflemen... Brother Fang, are you really going to stay and intercept them? Those aren't ordinary foremen; they're legitimate mercenaries, armed with rifles and horses, and they're used to killing. You alone..."

Although the two had discussed this several times during the application of the medicine, Xiao Yuanshan still hesitated when it came to making a decision.

Fang Jianqiu finished applying the last bit of medicine and put the cap back on the medicine bottle.

He raised his head, his gaze calm and resolute, and nodded heavily.

"This is the safest method."