My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 23 Rescue (5)

"Master, the soldiers have entered the city." Steward Tao rushed to the study to report to Lin Zhong.

"Great! That's wonderful!" Lin Zhong stood up excitedly upon hearing this.

Butler Tao also looked excited: "Magistrate Ji has indeed contacted the army. We're sure we can find the young master now."

Lin Zhong nodded: "Recall the bee-seeking butterflies, and don't let anyone find out."

"Should we withdraw our people?"

"No need. Retreating now would only arouse suspicion. The people on the mountain should continue the search." Lin Zhong pondered for a moment before making the arrangement.

Butler Tao bowed and agreed, then began to relay the message as Lin Zhong instructed.

Lin Ziping woke up because he was thirsty. He felt very hungry after waking up, but there was no food left in the wooden barrel. The cave was dimly lit, and he could barely see his surroundings. It seemed that the others were still asleep. Thinking of yesterday's oil, Lin Ziping walked into the cave.

"One, two...sixty"

While counting his steps, he felt along the wall. When he reached sixty steps, he felt something strange in his hand. Lin Ziping took a few steps back and lit a tinderbox.

A bright light pierced the darkness.

It's unclear how long the dripping has been going on, but a shallow black puddle has formed on the ground.

Lin Ziping picked up a stone from the puddle, dipped it in the oil, and dripped it onto the ground to see if it could be ignited. Apart from some black smoke, there was no sign of burning. Fearing that others would find out, Lin Ziping quickly covered the oil that had dripped onto the ground with soil.

Is there too little rock to burn? Lin Ziping stared at the rock, lost in thought.

After a while, he found two small twigs nearby. He dipped one of them in the oil in the puddle and lit both twigs at the same time. The twig dipped in oil burned faster and went out more slowly.

Although it cannot burn directly, it can be used as a combustion accelerant.

Lin Ziping took out the handkerchief that Granny Liao had given him and put it in a puddle. He then tore off two pieces of his undergarment and soaked them in petroleum. After a while, he took them out and, worried that Eighth Master and Dashan might suddenly come in, carried the petroleum-soaked handkerchiefs outside.

"Where have you been?" As soon as they emerged from the cave, Ji Xun was about to enter. "What's this?"

Lin Ziping didn't want to answer him, but in the current situation, the strength of two people was much stronger than fighting alone, so he said, "Yesterday you took me into that dark thing, and I smelled a strange odor, so I soaked a handkerchief in it to see if it would help."

Ji Xun nodded: "But it won't do if it's all wet. Let's see if it dries on the rocks. I'll have the others soak it and prepare more."

Lin Ziping followed Ji Xun out and explained the situation to the other children. The others tore their handkerchiefs and undergarments and handed them to Lin Ziping and Ji Xun.

Looking at the dozen or so children, their faces still showed fear, but they didn't cry or make a fuss. The younger children didn't cry or make a fuss either, and followed the older children.

Ji Xun arranged for two children to monitor the outside situation through the hole he had dug out yesterday at the mountain gate. The two children were to provide backup inside the cave. Lin Ziping and Ji Xun went into the dark cave. One child took care of the injured child, while the others laid the cloth soaked in black oil on the rocks.

Yes, they named the oil "black oil." Lin Ziping said that as long as everyone was happy, he accepted the name.

Lin Ziping spread the black oil cloth, which was no longer flowing, in a secluded place.

After some consideration, I took out the chestnuts from my pocket and gave two to each of us. Two other children also took out their bags of snacks and shared them. They managed to fill their stomachs, but they were still very thirsty. However, they suppressed their emotions and did not cry or make a fuss.

As the light in the cave dimmed, two children who were keeping watch outside rushed over and said that someone had come in.

A dozen or so children gathered together, watching the doorway warily.

Eighth Master and Dashan entered the cave, with Dashan carrying a wooden bucket in his hand.

"Eighth Master, this batch of goods is in much better condition than before," Da Shan said to Eighth Master obsequiously, putting down the wooden bucket in his hand.

Eighth Master stroked his beard and nodded: "Young masters and ladies are very obedient. Good children will be rewarded. Look, Eighth Master has brought you some food."

After saying that, he walked up to the injured child, saw that the wound had stopped bleeding, clicked his tongue twice, and said, "You're really lucky. Now that you've escaped death, you'll behave yourself."

When the two children said someone was coming in, Lin Ziping quickly took off the handkerchief he had used to bandage the injured child and the torn strip of clothing and hid them. At that moment, he secretly gave himself a thumbs up for his cleverness.

Da Shan walked over and nudged the child with his toe: "Eighth Master, should we bandage this kid?"

Eighth Master glanced at Dashan but didn't say anything.

Upon seeing this, Da Shan quickly said, "I'm just afraid that death will affect the quality of the goods. Each child costs twenty taels of silver."

"You bandage him up, it'll cost twenty taels of silver." Eighth Master thought for a moment, then left after saying this and walked out of the cave.

Da Shan squatted down, poured some wine from his pocket onto the child's hand, took out some medicine from his pocket and applied it to the wound, bandaged it casually, picked up the wooden bucket from the previous day, and strode out, closing the mountain gate behind him.

Lin Ziping followed Da Shan slowly toward the mountain gate, quietly crouching in the crack of the cave, trying to hear the two's conversation. He was secretly glad that he was able to hear them this time.

"Dashan, in our line of work, you have to be ruthless. Luckily it was me today; if it were anyone else, you wouldn't have made it out of that cave." Eighth Master's voice came.

Da Shan didn't speak, so Eighth Master said again, "Think about your family, and Xiao Shan's illness. They're all counting on you."

Da Shan's hoarse voice came through: "Eighth Master, I know, but seeing that the child is about the same age as Xiao Shan, I just... I feel a little sorry for him. I won't do it again next time."

"Does anyone with a conscience earn money to treat Xiaoshan's illness? This matter cannot be known to Master Jiang, otherwise I will not be able to help you."

"Eighth Master, what's the situation down the mountain? When are we leaving?"

"Master Jiang, no message has been sent. They're keeping a close watch on the goods in the cave. Just make sure they don't die."

The sound gradually faded away, and Lin Ziping could no longer hear anything.

Aside from learning that the search was still ongoing, their conversation contained no other significant information.

Inside the cave, Zhao Xiancheng kept the children in line, and Ji Xun distributed the contents of the bucket to everyone, one spoonful per person as usual.

Seeing Lin Ziping come in, he asked, "How did it go?"

Lin Ziping relayed the news that Eighth Master and the other man were still searching down the mountain.

The children visibly breathed a sigh of relief; their families hadn't given up on them.

Ji Xun said to the other children, "I don't know when these people will bring us food again. We're out of food, so we can't finish it right away."

The older children nodded, and the younger ones, seeing this, nodded in bewilderment as well.

Lin Ziping quickly finished the food Ji Xunsheng had brought out. After the other children finished eating, he scooped up another spoonful and walked towards the injured child. When Dashan poured the wine onto the child's hand, the child clenched his teeth and didn't cry out. He then leaned weakly against the rock.

"How is it?" Lin Ziping squatted down and asked the child.

The child shook his head and didn't say anything.

Lin Ziping didn't ask anything more, then handed the wooden spoon to the child and said, "Eat."

The child took it with one hand and started eating it.

"You can call me Xiao Fuzi," the child said softly, handing the wooden spoon in his hand to Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping readily agreed, saying, "Okay, Xiao Fuzi, you should get some rest."

Silence fell over the cave again. Lin Ziping walked to the rock and lay down. A day had passed. He hoped that someone would find the cave and discover them, who were being held captive there, tomorrow.