Chu Jinjin was bewildered: "Li Dahua?"
I don't know how to describe my feelings right now.
The aunt and the others were deeply saddened, and they explained the situation clearly, one after another.
The bandits' forces were the largest in the entire county. The butcher himself was ambitious. Unlike other bandits who robbed the rich in the city or even protested to the government for food, he understood that there were certain lines that could not be crossed.
So the target was people passing by.
However, as the disaster worsened and bandits increased, the situation became increasingly dire, with more wolves than meat. Wealthy people either dared not go out casually or went out with a group of servants and bodyguards.
Being hungry and weak all day, and without any weapons, how could they possibly be a match for their opponents?
At this point, the butcher displayed the talent of a hero in troubled times. He first devoured several bandit groups in the vicinity, amassed some weapons, and then set his sights further afield—on the official road.
Those who can take the official route are not ordinary people.
I watched for a long time but didn't dare to make a move. There was no other way; I could tell at a glance that I was no match for them. It was better to starve to death than to die in agony with a knife stuck in my body.
Persistence pays off. One day, he finally met a suitable target, namely Chu Jiyu.
He was the most hated grain dealer.
They didn't bring much food, but they had few people—just a dozen or so guards.
Without the butcher giving any orders, the crowd, blinded by greed for the grain, swarmed forward and brought the man back with almost zero casualties.
The bandits had an unwritten rule: if the person they kidnapped was a grain merchant, they would hack him to death.
"He was so scared he wet his pants on the spot. What a coward, what a waste of his good looks. He's not like a man at all." The aunt, as a woman, gave a sharp comment. She gripped the rolling pin in her hand and looked disdainful. "When the boss killed him, he knelt on the ground and said that he was the second young master of the Chu family in the capital."
Ordinary people didn't know the Chu family, but the butcher was worldly-wise. He knew they were among the top ten richest people in the capital, and excitedly cooked a pot of thick porridge on the spot to celebrate.
We can't kill them.
The second young master of the Chu family, with such a noble status, has finally received this immense wealth.
"The boss said that once we get the 50,000 yuan ransom, those who want to go home will get the money, and those who don't want to go home will stay in the mountains and we'll build them houses." The aunt looked tragic, gripping the rolling pin even tighter. "But who would have thought that the news would leak out and that female demon Li Dahua would find out?"
Chu Jinjin: "...And then?"
The woman shrugged: "Then they just kidnapped him, and we couldn't beat them."
Li Dahua didn't become a bandit after the disaster; she'd been for at least five or six years. There are two versions of how she became one: one is what Chu Jinjin heard—she ate too much, her family couldn't afford to feed her, and she was abandoned; the other is that she went out to chop firewood, got lost because of her poor memory, and encountered bandits along the way.
At that time, Li Dahua was still young. Although she was dark-skinned, plump, and strong, she still looked like a young woman.
The bandits pinched their noses and tied her up.
She's still a woman, and every woman can have children. She's so strong, she'll definitely be good at giving birth.
Unexpectedly, they ended up bringing back an ancestor.
Li Dahua beat a group of bandits so badly they cried out for their parents and ran wildly across the mountain. Then she discovered that the bandits' den had plenty of good food and drink, and she ate there for several days and nights until she became addicted and didn't want to leave.
Then he became a bandit leader.
Li Dahua was extremely skilled in combat. Seeing that she was growing stronger, the government sent thousands of soldiers to suppress the bandits. It was said that the general leading the troops was extremely powerful. However, Li Dahua, carrying a small tree that had just been uprooted, smashed the brains of a warhorse in a single exchange.
After this battle, the government dared not come again, and Li Dahua made a name for himself, gradually becoming the biggest bandit leader in the surrounding hundreds of miles.
The bandits' few hundred men were no match for them.
Chu Jinjin asked with difficulty, "Why did Li Dahua arrest Chu, the second young master of the Chu family?"
The aunt sighed, "What else could it be for? No matter how fierce Li Dahua is, she's still a woman. Every woman wants to have children, so she probably wanted to take her away and make her her bandit queen."
Chu Jinjin: "......."
This is a scene that even a split-brain wouldn't dare to imagine.
The dignified second young master of the Chu family was kidnapped by a female bandit and taken to warm his bed.
Chu Jinjin had mixed feelings, probably because of that blood relationship, and even felt a little sad. If it really was like that, she didn't dare to think about how Wang Shi would react if she found out.
And my father, and my grandfather.
A person can die, but to be humiliated like this is too tragic.
The old woman was still lamenting the 50,000 taels she had gained and then lost: "Li Dahua is so unreasonable. We're all bandits, how can bandits rob bandits?"
As they were talking, the person arrived.
"Where is she? All my relatives are dead, okay?" The voice arrived before she did. The butcher was unusually fat for this famine-stricken era, with a face full of scars. Hearing that she was a pretty young woman, he was not worried but excited.
Chu Jinjin turned around in annoyance.
"Oh, what a pretty young lady." The bandit's rat-like eyes lit up immediately. He had no time to ask anything else and reached out to touch her. "Young lady, I heard you are my ancestor. Hmm, you are indeed my ancestor."
The woman couldn't bear to watch and turned her head away.
At least a dozen women have been victimized, but she has no choice but to stay here for the sake of food and the children down the mountain.
I don't know what this young lady was thinking, actually lying and claiming to be the boss's relative.
The next moment, she heard a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
The butcher had been slaughtering livestock for years, and his voice had unconsciously become like that of livestock. His wrist was bent at an odd angle, as if it had been broken.
Chu Jinjin never showed mercy to evil people, and now, because of Chu Jiyu's predicament, she was even more ruthless in her actions.
The men wielding steel knives were the butcher's henchmen. They didn't see what was happening and instinctively charged forward, swinging their knives to slash.
Chu Jinjin didn't need to dodge at all, nor did she need any weapons. She kicked away the first bandit who rushed up, then turned to the side to dodge the steel knife in the hand of another bandit, and stabbed it into his abdomen.
Crimson blood gushed out from the blade and dripped down.
The atmosphere was deathly silent.
Everyone stared at Chu Jinjin in disbelief.
Since becoming bandits, they had been in countless fights, but when had they ever seen anything so decisive and efficient?
Only the butcher thought his chance had come. Despite the excruciating pain of his severed wrist, he pulled out the steel knife from his pocket and, taking advantage of Chu Jinjin turning around, viciously stabbed her in the back.
The woman exclaimed in surprise.
"You're asking for death." Chu Jinjin didn't turn around, but it was as if she had eyes in the back of her head, and she kicked the bandit squarely in the heart.
Beating these people feels like bullying the weak.
It's too easy.
However, she underestimated that while the disaster victims were not as good as the bandits, they possessed a tenacious belief that the bandits lacked.
The butcher spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted incoherently, "Don't be afraid, everyone. She's all alone. She's a spy sent by the government. If we let her go, none of us can stay here. We'll all starve to death."
Apart from a few street thugs who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to get rich, most people were there because they had no other choice. For example, the aunt had two children and a mother-in-law, and her husband was sick in bed.
This bandit's den not only supported her, but also her entire family.
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