Chapter 109 You want to murder your husband?

"Damn it, they've turned into a bunch of ground rats again!"

By the time the bandits arrived, the man had already vanished.

"Brother Dao, you're not familiar with this place. These villagers have become cunning. They hide underground at the slightest sound. You can only scavenge some grain, not a single copper coin!"

The bandits in this area and the villagers at the foot of the mountain have already reached a tacit understanding.

Since the bandits can neither find people nor money, they almost never come here.

The bandits were unaware that, in the intervals between their conversations...

They had already run through the tunnel to the village and notified all the villagers.

For a moment, the entire village was as quiet as an abandoned village.

"Oh no, my daughter and son-in-law are coming home today!"

An elderly woman spoke, her face deathly pale.

Her daughter married and moved to a neighboring county and hasn't returned home for three or four years.

This time, I finally managed to bring my little grandson back.

There are many bandits in this area. Her daughter had finally grown up and gotten married, and she originally did not agree to let her daughter make this trip.

The daughter heard from a fellow villager that her father had broken his foot, and insisted on coming back to see him!

How come we ran into bandits as soon as we got back!

The village chief looked grim. "When will you arrive?"

The old woman covered her mouth and shook her head, "I don't know either."

Another villager also became anxious, "What if Chunni betrays us all?"

The old woman argued, "My Chunni wouldn't do that!"

"Why wouldn't she! Chunni'er isn't from our village anymore. She's taken care of her own child. Why wouldn't she betray us!"

"The reason why everyone disagreed with Chunni'er marrying out of the country was because they were afraid that something like this would happen!"

The other villagers also became angry.

There's an unwritten rule in the village: if anyone gets caught by bandits, they can't talk about the secrets of the village, even if they die.

If they die, the village will take care of the elderly and children.

Wei Xun stepped forward. "I'll go find them."

"Why are there outsiders here!"

The villagers scattered in terror.

But how could they possibly disperse in the crowded tunnel?

"Quiet down!" At the village chief's command, everyone fell silent.

He scrutinized him sharply with his eyes, then looked at Uncle Sun behind him.

"Dr. Sun, you promised me that you wouldn't bring outsiders into the tunnel."

Uncle Sun touched his nose, "I forgot..."

Wei Xun showed his jade token to the village chief, saying, "Village chief, we will not reveal the village's secret passage."

The village chief looked at the green jade pendant in his hand by the light of the torch.

He didn't recognize what it was, but he recognized the two characters "Imperial Gift" on it!

He immediately returned the jade token to him and knelt down. “My lord, our village has suffered from bandits for many years. Ding County has few soldiers. Lord Qin has tried to suppress the bandits many times but failed. That’s why you helped us build this tunnel.”

"We humbly request Your Excellency to convey this to His Majesty and request that he send troops to suppress the bandits!"

Wei Xun helped the village chief up, saying, "Don't worry, village chief, His Majesty will surely rescue us from this predicament."

The old lady also squeezed out from the crowd.

He knelt down with a thud, crying, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for saving my daughter and her family!"

Shuang'er's face turned pale as she stood at the back of the crowd.

"He's leaving again..."

Yao Shisan patted her hand, "If he doesn't go out, even if he survives this crisis without any real danger, these villagers might still be tempted to kill him because of the secret of the tunnel."

“He did this to protect us.”

There was no light in the dark tunnel, except for a faint torch.

Her face was obscured by the darkness, making it impossible to discern her expression.

“Wei Xun is a man of his word; you haven’t misjudged him.”

Shuang'er leaned her shoulder on her sister's shoulder and reached out to help support some of Fu'er's weight.

Her voice was filled with barely suppressed worry, "His injuries have only just healed. I don't know how many bandits there are. How can he possibly fight them off..."

Yao Shisan's voice was soft, "Don't worry, just wait for him to come back. He'll be at ease as long as you're safe and sound."

She comforted Shuang'er, and she also comforted herself.

After Wei Xun left, the tunnel fell into a long silence.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the entrance of the tunnel.

Everyone remained silent; no one was allowed to utter a sound without the village chief's order.

"Father, it's me, Xiao Liu."

Suddenly, the voice of the village chief's son came from the doorway.

Wasn't Xiao Liu dead?!

Everyone's expression changed.

Then, an impatient voice rang out, "Get out of the way! I'll split the skin open with one axe, what the hell are you banging on!"

No sooner had the man finished speaking than the cave entrance was smashed open with a "thud".

The light from outside suddenly shone in.

Everyone squinted.

The area outside was teeming with bandits!

"These ground rats were hiding here!"

The entrance was actually inside the village's earth god temple at the village entrance!

"Tie them all up!"

The young man named Xiao Liu was pushed aside, and the bandits pushed aside the clay statue of the local earth god, revealing the entire entrance to the cave.

All the villagers were driven out.

They hadn't expected that the tunnel wasn't leaked by a woman who had married out of the family, nor by a stranger they had met for the first time.

It was actually Xiao Liu from the village chief's family, who had been dead for a long time, who leaked the information!

The village chief kicked his youngest son in remorse, yelling, "I should have just chopped you down with that knife back then!"

Xiao Liu knelt on the ground, "Father, they want to kill me, I... I have no choice."

"Zhang Dongjia! Zhang Xiaoliu killed my son. A life for a life! You said your son died outside, but you let him go!"

"What a cruel twist of fate! Your turtle egg son is now coming to take your life!"

Zhang Xiaoliu had faked his death. In order to escape a life-for-a-life situation, he was secretly released by the soft-hearted village chief.

However, he lacked any particular skill.

Because he was the youngest son, he was spoiled by his family, became lazy, and had no means of making a living.

With nowhere else to turn, he went up the mountain and became a bandit.

The bandit who had spoken earlier lifted Zhang Xiaoliu up from the ground.

He smiled broadly, "Six, not bad. You deserve the most credit today. I'll mention it to your elder brother tomorrow!"

Zhang Xiaoliu immediately grinned.

My eldest brother is doing something big right now.

The day he succeeds in this great undertaking will be the day Zhang Xiaoliu rises to prominence!

Then he'll see who in the village will still look down on him!

Yao Shisan and Shuang'er tried their best to hide behind the crowd.

She recognized the man in the bandit group at a glance; he was the third leader of the bandits in Panyi Mountain!

Her brows were furrowed.

The bandits from Panyishan have come to Dingxian?!

Can bandits, who rule the mountains, simply change their allegiance at will?

Shuang'er recognized her too.

How unlucky they were to encounter bandits in Ningzhou.

Upon arriving in Ding County, they encountered bandits.

Is it the same group of people?!

Among the villagers, some were shouting curses, some were crying loudly, and some were begging for mercy.

For a moment, no one noticed Yao Shisan and Shuang'er hiding in the back.

Zhang Xiaoliu was no longer paying attention to the villagers who were yelling at him.

He walked around the crowd.

His eyes lit up when he saw two more beautiful women at the back of the crowd.

"Brother Dao! There are two women here!"

The village chief knew that the two men were with that adult.

He turned and charged at his son, yelling, "You unfilial son, I'm going to clean house today!"

He drew the machete he used for working from his waist and slashed at it.

The bandits standing behind Zhang Xiaoliu reacted even faster; before the village chief could even get close, he was stabbed through the chest and abdomen!

Warm blood sprayed all over Zhang Xiaoliu's face.

His eyes were stained red as he watched helplessly as his father collapsed before his very eyes.

His lips trembled slightly.

"father……"

The village chief's eyes widened.

He struggled to open his mouth, "I...no...it's not! Your father..."

"Who gave you permission to kill someone?"

"Brother Dao said in a rebuking tone."

The bandit was also stunned. "It's this old man who's not being honest."

Brother Dao glanced at Yao Shisan and the other two.

It's them again.

When we were at Panyi Mountain, it was His Highness Prince Cheng who personally went up the mountain to rescue us.

The elder brother explained that, in the current situation, they were first bandits, then soldiers.

They could only be recruited into the army after the imperial court sent someone to negotiate.

We cannot reveal their relationship with His Highness Prince Cheng at this time.

It's better to let them run wild and lose their lives.

It would be better to protect them under his protection.

When the time comes to reward those who have made contributions, he can be credited with another merit.

"Guards, take the three of them to my room."

Immediately, bandits started to jeer.

Brother Dao glanced at them, and they immediately lowered their heads and fell silent.

Same as last time.

Yao Shisan and Shuang'er were locked up alone in a private house.

The difference is that this time they were all together, and they weren't tied up.

Only two people were guarding the entrance, and no one was allowed to approach.

Yao Shisan looked at it from both the front and back.

She had a gut feeling that these bandits weren't just after people were killing and robbing.

That third-in-command is now called Brother Dao.

He must have recognized them.

Xiao Shu rescued them last time, but what if Xiao Shu had already made contact with the bandits back then?

Wei Xun said that there were people in the mountains training soldiers and manufacturing drugs.

Could it be this group of people?

Training troops...

Mountain bandits training troops...

Yao Shisan gritted her teeth, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind.

Xiao Shu doesn't have any soldiers, so he probably doesn't want to recruit these people as soldiers!

These people treat human life as worthless and are inherently crude and rude.

If they enter the city as soldiers, wouldn't the people in the city be like fish on a chopping board?

Has Xiao Shu gone mad?!

*

As night falls.

Two figures flashed past silently outside the village.

Wei Xun's lightness skill was excellent, and his movements were even faster.

He silently climbed onto the roof and surveyed the surrounding villages.

There are lights on in only three places in the village now.

There were only four people guarding one spot outside.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Wei Xun quickly and silently left.

"Your Highness, there are very few people on night watch. We can rescue them during the shift change at midnight."

Zhou Congxian: "Wei Xun, you said you were training troops in the mountains, are these the ones?"

Wei Xun said, "Those who fought with my subordinates are not among them."

"His kung fu is quite good; his style probably comes from the military."

"Both of the poisons that have affected my subordinates are related to General Meng's former Black Tiger Army."

Zhou Congxian: "The Black Tiger Army has been disbanded for more than ten years. They started out from the Black Tiger Army?"

Wei Xun shook his head. "I have investigated. Although the Black Tiger Army has been disbanded, its generals are all assigned to various other armies."

Zhou Congxian said, "First, they attacked Yuzhou but failed; now they have turned their attention to Dingxian."

There must be other purposes behind it.

Wei Xun said, "I am already very familiar with the routes in the mountains. I will explore them again."

"No, you can't take any more risks because you've already been poisoned twice."

Zhou Congxian refused.

"Since they insist on entering the city, they want to lure us into borrowing troops to suppress the bandits."

"Why not catch the turtle in the jar?"

When the moonlight is hidden behind thick clouds.

The man on night watch yawned deeply.

Suddenly a gust of wind swept by, and before they could react, they all collapsed.

The wooden door creaked open.

Before Zhou Congxian could speak, something came flying from the side.

He reached out and grabbed it.

Beneath the palm was a slender arm.

Then, the moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds and streamed evenly through the window.

He held Yao Shisan's hand, in which was a slender hairpin.

His brow twitched. "You want to murder your husband?"