Song Ning proposed a plan, and the three women huddled together to discuss it for quite a while.
Only then did Changmei help the "weak" Song Ning into the light.
At the exit, two tall wooden gates covered in thorns were tightly shut.
They could only be opened by turning the winch beside them.
Few people passed through here. Since the guards' main task was to keep outsiders from entering the stockade, they had no need to patrol outside the gates.
At the moment, they were all holed up in the stilt house beside them.
"Guards! It's Changmei from the stockade! I have something urgent to attend to outside!" Changmei shouted up in the Dong Language.
"Who's there?" A guard immediately appeared on the stairs and called out in the Dong Language.
"It's Changmei! From Boyi's family on the west side of the stockade!"
Three more guards emerged from the house at the sound of her voice. There was no telling whether anyone else remained inside.
One of the older guards studied her carefully before asking:
"Changmei! Didn't you just get back? What are you doing here so late?"
Changmei pointed at Song Ning. "This is a friend I met outside. She's injured, and it's a bit serious! I want to take her to Baolin Stockade to ask for some sky-blue vine..."
The guards upstairs all came down, looking Song Ning up and down several times with suspicion.
That ape had torn Song Ning's clothes in several places. After fleeing all this way, her face and body were covered in dust and mud, and she was leaning on a stick. She looked so bedraggled that she hardly needed to pretend.
Changmei knew the guard in front somewhat, so she said:
"You're Uncle Jingnan from the south side of the stockade,