Luoyang Brocade

Several gangsters rushed to the cabin on the second floor, and a young man bravely resisted. One of the gangsters cut his leg neatly with a long knife, blood splattered, and he screamed miserably.

The bandit with a black cloth covering his face shook the long knife in his hand, smiled cruelly, and said, "All of you, obediently crouch down and hold your heads with both hands. Whoever dares to move, I will take their life with one swipe of my knife."

The servants usually only serve their masters, and they had never met such a murderer. They all turned pale with fright, squatted down tremblingly, held their heads in their hands, and did not dare to move again.

The leading gangster led several other gangsters to the third floor.

The heavy and hurried footsteps sounded in everyone's ears like a signal to kill.

Uncle Ling's face changed again and again, and he could no longer maintain his composure. Madam Sun and the others were even more frightened and cried: "Master, the bandits are here, what should we do now..." 

"Father, we will give them all the gold, silver, and jewelry. As long as they don't hurt people's lives, that's fine." !" Ling Ji whispered quickly.

At this time, saving their life was the most important thing. Money and all other belongings were not as important as life, so it was okay to give them to the bandits!

Uncle Ling nodded with an ugly expression. Thinking that everyone couldn't see his movements in the dark, he said in a low voice, "Don't panic, I'll deal with them later..." 

Before he finished speaking, the door was kicked several times. The wooden box behind the door also shook a few times.

The loud bang made everyone tremble, and their hearts were shrouded in the shadow of death.

"If you want to live, open the door yourself!" There was another loud knock on the door, and the voice of a strange man came to everyone's ears: "Otherwise, don't blame the sword in our hand for being rude." The door latch obviously couldn't resist it for too long.

Ling Ji gritted his teeth, and raised his voice: "You guys stop first! We will open the door ourselves!"

Madam Jiang's whole body was trembling, and she choked up and whispered: "Husband..."

Ling Ji had no intention or time to appease Madam Jiang and said loudly: "You guys come here late at night, just to ask for money. As long as it doesn't hurt people's lives, we will agree to any money you want." 

His voice trembled slightly, lacking energy, but in such a situation, Ling Ji still dared to speak out, which was already very courageous.

The bandits outside the door seemed to discuss in a low voice and then stopped kicking the door.

There was a brief moment of silence. It didn't make people feel relieved, more like the calm before the storm. Everyone didn't even dare to breathe hard.

A torch was lit in the gangster's hand, and the light shone in through the gap in the door, but it couldn't drive away the darkness in everyone's heart.

"Open the door!"

Those two short words made people feel cold.

Things were coming to an end. The young and vigorous Ling Ji was more courageous than Uncle Ling. Hearing the words, he replied loudly: "Everyone, please wait a moment, and I will open the door right away. There are female relatives in the room, so don't come in, so as not to scare them. I'll go out to see you, just tell me what you want."

The Second master raised his eyebrows unexpectedly. This weak young master had quite a bit of courage.

It's a pity that what he wanted was his female relative. Not money.

The cripple was about to shout but was stopped by the eyes of the second master. Let them open the door first!

There was the sound of a wooden box being moved aside from the room.

...

In the innermost cabin, Ling Jingshu held Ling Xiao's hand tightly and held a dagger in the other hand, her whole body was as tense as a drawn bow.

Everyone held their breath, and no one dared to make a sound.

Just now, the cries of Madam Sun and others attracted the attention of the gangsters. The gangsters probably thought everyone was hiding in that cabin, therefore did not search all the cabins.

One more moment of delay, one more moment of hope to live.

Ling Ji obviously thought the same way and deliberately slowed down his movements. He moved the wooden box slowly but did not open the door for a long time.

The second master sneered: "I'll count to ten. If I don't open the door again, I'll kill everyone. From now on, six, seven, eight..."

Ling Ji resisted the urge to curse and opened the door as quickly as possible. The latch of the door opened just as the second master was counting to ten.

There were five gangsters standing in front of them.

They are different in height, short, fat, and thin, but the same thing was that everyone was wearing black night clothes and black face scarves. Only their greedy and excited eyes were revealed.

The leading man showed a pair of triangular eyes shining fiercely and spun around Ling Ji's body recklessly.

Fair complexion. He has a handsome face, wears a brocade robe, and has a gentle appearance. One can tell at a glance that he is a son of a wealthy family.

With a pale face, he tried to maintain his composure, but he was actually vulnerable.

Ling Ji forced himself to settle down, and said to the Erdangjia: "Excuse me, a good man, how much money do we need to let us go?"

The Erdangjia grinned: "We don't want money!"

No money?

Ling Ji was taken aback, and everyone in the cabin was also shocked. These gangsters don't want money. Could it be that they were bought by their enemies to kill people to silence them?

The Second master enjoyed the feeling of being in control of everything, but this trip had not gone well. The guards on the ship were unexpectedly difficult to deal with, and there was no longer any delay, and the battle must be resolved quickly.

The Second master quickly said: "We don't want your lives either! I only take two people away. If you are quiet and honest, you can save your life. Don't force us to kill and silence you." 

Hearing this, everyone not only did not breathe a sigh of relief but was even more horrified.

They're taking two people... who were they taking?

Ling Jingyan was so frightened that she burst into tears: "Father, mother, help me, help me..."

Madam Jiang's face was also pale.

These gangsters are not looking for money, so naturally they wanted young and beautiful women. In terms of appearance, she was better looking than her sister-in-law...

The voice came into Ling Jingshu's ears.

Ling Jingshu's heart sank suddenly!

She suddenly remembered the strangeness of being stared at on the pier that day. Must have been targeted at that time. The target of these gangsters was not Ling Jingyan, nor Jiang Shi, but her!

Ling Ji was anxious and angry, and angrily said: "We will give you whatever money you want, don't even think about taking people away..." 

Before he could finish speaking, there was a scream.

One of the gangsters flew up and kicked Ling Ji in the chest.

Ling Ji vomited blood from being kicked and fell to the ground.

The second master kicked open the door vigorously. The cripple followed into the cabin with a torch in hand, lighting up the cabin brightly.

Uncle Ling and Madam Sun's faces were ashen. Ling Jingyan screamed in horror, and Jiang's whole body trembled.

The second master's triangular eyes quickly passed over their faces, but he frowned.

Not the two of them!

They must be hiding in another cabin!

"Go and search for me!" The second master quickly ordered: "Search every cabin and find that pair of siblings."...

(To be continued.)

T/N Should I post another today? So as to not keep you all in suspense?