The Horse Gang stuck to safe routes, and there was strength in numbers.
So several days passed without incident. To the people of the Horse Gang,
no trouble meant good news.
At dusk one day, as the Horse Gang passed along an ancient road,
they came upon a mother holding a child, collapsed by the roadside.
Seeing people coming, she hurried up to them.
"Kind sirs, please have mercy and take us along for a stretch.
We ran into bandits on the road, and they robbed us of all our money."
Faced with the woman's desperate pleas,
Scarface merely gave her a cold glance and treated her as though she did not exist.
The others in the Horse Gang did the same, either saying nothing or not even looking at her.
Just then, Red Girl came over.
"It's all right. You can come with us."
The woman's eyes lit up, and she said gratefully, "Miss, I'm only going as far as the town ahead. I won't hold you up."
"Girl! Don't meddle. Come back," Scarface said coldly.
Red Girl raised her head. "Dad, what if this widow and her child run into bad people on the road?"
"That's none of your business!"
Discontent showed on Red Girl's still somewhat childish face.
She was fifteen or sixteen, with little experience of the world.
And she had grown up reading tales of freely repaying kindness and settling grudges, of drawing a blade to help whenever injustice crossed one's path.
How could she understand why Scarface was doing this?
"Dad! We can't just leave them to die. Besides, we're only letting the mother and child travel with us."
"When I say no, I mean no!"
Scarface's tone grew harsher.
The Deputy Gang Leader and several trusted men hurried to coax Red Girl back.