Chapter 83: Hand him over to the bosses and skin him alive
Even though Deng Youning had already announced the news that the Duke of Zhenguo was coming to suppress the bandits, these frightened women still did not dare to say anything.
Seeing this, Li Tianzhuo chuckled, drew the long knife from Xiu Ming's waist, and wiped the necks of those bandits cleanly.
"They are all dead. You should be relieved now, right?"
"I am the commander of the Silver Dragon Guards, and this is the Princess of Youning County. You can tell me the truth about any grievances you have."
Li Tianzhuo's voice is magnetic and charming, and his powerful words make people feel particularly at ease when listening to them.
The girls looked at each other.
They were all women from the county town and didn't know what the official position of the Silver Dragon Guard Commander was, but they knew that the power of the Beijing official was definitely greater than that of the county magistrate.
With them around, maybe we really don't have to be afraid of these lawless bandits anymore.
Several people knelt down together, and an older woman took the lead and said:
"Please, sir, the county lady, please help me!"
"Since a large number of refugees from the northern border came east half a year ago, these bandits have set up camp in the Crazy Lion Village. They are numerous and powerful, and they all come from the north in strong and powerful bodies."
"The men of Bianyang County are no match for them. They are allowed to burn, kill, rob and commit all kinds of evil."
"Every month, they would go from house to house and kidnap unmarried girls. After taking them to the mountains, we women would disappear without a trace and would never be able to return home."
"My Lord, County Lady, please save us. I have a frail old father, a blind old mother, and a baby brother at home!"
The girl had already burst into tears.
After saying this, he did not forget to lead everyone to kowtow to them.
Others also shared their experiences and miserable family situations...
They tried their best to describe themselves as pitiful and miserable so that Deng Youning and the others would have sympathy and save them.
Deng Youning sighed, "Hurry up and tell us where you live. We will take you back."
Bandits were rampant in the city, and Deng Youning was really worried about letting them return home on their own, as they would inevitably fall into a den of wolves again.
When the girls heard her say that she would send them home, their eyes were filled with smiles.
The joy of surviving the disaster is indescribable.
The woman immediately replied, "County Lady, we are all from the same village. There are only eight villages in Bianyang County. They arrest people from the same village every month. They arrest as many as they can."
Deng Youning originally wanted to let them ride in a carriage, but there were too many of them and the carriage could not accommodate them.
She could only choose two weak or injured people to ride with her and Li Tianzhuo.
In a small village not far from the official road, there was a lot of crying at this time.
"You damned bandits, not only did you kidnap my daughter, you also took away all the food for our family! You are forcing us to die! You might as well just kill us--"
A woman's heart-wrenching scream echoed through the sky.
The whole village was filled with similar cries, and countless tall and strong bandits holding sharp weapons were robbing the villagers of their belongings.
"You want to die? Fine, I'll grant your wish!"
The bandit who had robbed the woman of her food raised the axe in his hand and chopped at the woman's head without blinking.
A lame old man suddenly rushed out from the room next to him, pulled the woman away, and knelt down to plead with the bandits:
"Please spare my life, this country woman doesn't know the rules. I have some money for the coffin here, please take it too."
He offered the purse in his hand.
The bandit nodded with satisfaction, "You are sensible."
After taking the money, he left.
The old couple hugged each other in shock and cried bitterly.
The bandit arrived at the village entrance with a full load, and so did his companions. None of them came back empty-handed.
Some people carried several large sacks of food; some people had bags of money hanging around their waists...
There were also people who were walking while holding up their trousers, with rosy and refreshed faces, and it was self-evident what they had just done.
"Why, why can't anyone cure them?"
"Oh my god, you are blind!"
"None of the officials are good people. They are colluding with the bandits and are rampant in the countryside!"
The villagers complained and groaned.
But when the bandits heard these words, they felt particularly happy, as if they were a compliment to them!
In the Bianyang area, their boss is the local emperor, and those younger brothers who follow him are like the civil servants and generals in the capital, enjoying unlimited glory.
When they arrived at the small market at the edge of the village, the bandits went from stall to stall to collect protection fees.
Deng Youning, Li Tianzhuo and their fellow carriages just happened to arrive here.
It was just after noon, and the streets were deserted.
The bleak breeze blew up the withered flowers on the ground, as if telling passers-by about the tragic situation here.
"My bakery stall has been closed for three days, and I really can't afford the protection fee of 500 coins!"
The old man's pleading voice was heard, followed by the angry curses of a powerful man.
"Can't hand it over?"
"If you can't pay it, you can use the goods from your stall as collateral!"
He simply lifted up the old man's cake, and even if he didn't eat it, it would all be wasted.
This scene was seen by Deng Youning, Li Tianzhuo and others who happened to arrive.
"Yingshi." Deng Youning shouted.
"Xiu Ming." Li Tianzhuo also ordered.
The two men got the order and flew off the carriage. Xiu Ming impulsively stepped forward and kicked the leading man in the side of the face, causing his saliva to spurt all over the floor and two of his front teeth to fall out.
The big man covered his face and hadn't reacted yet. He lay on the ground and found his two teeth.
"You dare to hit me?!"
"Come and hold him down, take him back to the stronghold and hand him over to the leaders, and skin him alive."
The leading man gave the order.
Seeing that a fight had broken out over there, Deng Youning and Li Tianzhuo also got out of the car and protected the girls behind the car.
There were quite a few bandits, so naturally some of them recognized these girls.
"Hey, isn't this the young lady that Hu Zi and his friends just took away?"
"This is……?"
Just as he was about to go forward to check, Deng Youning slapped him beautifully.
"Hey, when did such a fierce young lady come here?"
The bandit had not yet realized the current situation and wanted to tease Deng Youning.
When his dirty hand reached out, Deng Youning grabbed it, bent it hard, and broke it.
The screams were deafening. Li Tianzhuo found it too noisy and simply wiped his neck.
Seeing them killing people, the bandits and civilians present were stunned.
The people of Bianyang County were used to being oppressed and enslaved and never dared to resist these bandits. When they accidentally saw someone killing people from the Crazy Lion Village, they were horrified but also admired Li Tianzhuo.
The bandits were also confused. They didn't know who these two men and two women were. How dare they go against their Crazy Lion Village? They really didn't want to live!
"Xiu Ming, kill them all!"
Li Tianzhuo spoke in a flat tone, without any human touch, just like his nickname in Beijing, just like Yama Luo.
"Yingshi, you and Lord Li should go together to send these ladies and fellow villagers home first."
Deng Youning called Ying Shi and told her to take care of the people present first.
She knew that Li Tianzhuo could not use martial arts, so she arranged for him to take Yingshi, whose martial arts skills were not as good as hers, to escort the people home, while she and Xiu Ming stayed behind to deal with these bandits.
There are quite a lot of bandits, more than thirty of them, so we may have to fight them for a while.
Li Tianzhuo was somewhat unhappy when he heard Deng Youning's arrangement.
"Don't think too much, the people are more important!"
Deng Youning knew that he was very concerned about his reputation, so she coaxed him.
Yingshi was already pulling people together, "Old man, old lady, big brother, big sister... follow me now!"
There were not many people setting up stalls in the small market, and the fight just now had scared away a few of them. Now the few remaining ones were almost all protected by Yingshi behind him.
"No one can leave!"
"They killed my people from the Crazy Lion Village. All of you will be buried with them!"
The leading bandit was holding a broadsword and was quite righteous.
"Shut up!"
Deng Youning threw a pill into his mouth, and the bandit fell to the ground instantly, foaming at the mouth.
But in a snap of the fingers, the man straightened up.
He died without knowing that he was poisoned, his eyes wide open with confusion.
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