The cold night air enveloped those responsible for the night watch, as the disaster-stricken villagers huddled together, warming themselves by the fire.
Hu Si and Sister Liu, along with their twenty cohorts, skulked under the cover of darkness, crawling on hands and knees toward the resting villagers.
They had already picked out those families with beautiful daughters. As they neared the resting area, they split into groups of three to carry out their plan: as the girls' family members slept soundly, they used handkerchiefs soaked in a drugged solution to cover the girls' mouths and noses, rendering them unconscious before discreetly dragging them away.
Their movements were stealthy, their noises minute, easily drowned out by the howling northern winds.
However, not every attempt was successful. If they noticed any of the girls' family members awake, they would retreat without abducting anyone.
Even so, after two rounds, they had managed to drag away eight girls.
