Chapter 224
Because the number of bandits encountered this time was relatively small, Bei Qiao, who had just come online after dinner, didn't need to take action personally. After Xiao Ma kicked one away, Hui Hui and Hong Hong tacitly accelerated and left the remaining bandits behind. The other teams also had their own ways of dealing with the bandits: some chose to confront them head-on, some chose to escape, and some chose to pay them.
Bei Qiao sat in the carriage, feeling the usually stable carriage speeding along the road, occasionally drifting. Seeing the bandits outside pursuing him relentlessly, Bei Qiao did not interfere with the decision of his mount. He simply rolled up his sleeves and looked out the window, ready to attack the bandits at any time.
Leaning against the window, Bei Qiao looked sideways out the window. Some of the natives on the road were forced to stop by the roadside to pay, while others took advantage of the natives staring at others to try to escape at full speed. The scene was like an antelope encountering a group of lions on the grassland, running so hard that the dust was flying.
Bei Qiao: I think I saw a little girl running past my carriage on foot? Pretty! This other world is truly filled with talented people. If someone like that joined the escort agency... oh my, it seems like she's accidentally transformed into a capitalist.
Most caravans that chose to pay were frequent traffickers on this route, weighing the cost of paying against hiring a large number of guards. Some caravans, through their frequent protection rackets, became familiar with the bandits who frequently collected them. If they paid quickly and managed to put on a good smile, they rarely suffered too much.
If they were just passing through, they would resist desperately and run away to report to the authorities. Generally speaking, bandits would strike hard but not kill, as they were only seeking wealth. Furthermore, if someone died, not only would the government be dispatched to suppress the bandits, but if the situation got out of hand, even the army would be dispatched. During the heyday of the dynasty, those who aspired to establish themselves would sometimes use banditry to accumulate merit. The heads of notorious bandit leaders were their medals, and the more the better.
"Run faster! We're catching up!"
"Go tell that to the horse! Am I not wanting to run fast? Go, go! Damn it! Why didn't we run into any passing army this time?" The native, who was despised for his slow speed, slapped his horse's butt nervously: the bandits he encountered last time were very scary, but the passing army was even more domineering. They didn't even stop to hurry on their way. They turned the direction of their cannon barrels towards the group of bandits and fired three shots in a row. Then they turned the cannon barrels back and continued walking. They were so majestic!
"Just bad luck... Damn! That horse is awesome!" It can actually kick the bandits away while running, it's simply a bodyguard among horses!
"No matter how envious I am, it's someone else's... and you're still urging me to run! There's another group of bandits coming up ahead!"
"I see! Let's charge before they surround us!"
The roads in Zhuyue City are flat, but the nearby mountains can hide people, making the terrain difficult to search. Consequently, numerous bandits exist nearby, each with its own sphere of influence. They use the mountains as their own sphere of influence, confronting each other and occasionally annexing each other. Some caravans, after paying their protection fee, are stopped by bandits from other mountains, demanding further payment. The unluckiest ones might even be repeatedly exploited by different members of the same bandit group.
In such situations, the leaders of large caravans would sometimes resort to using well-known bandits as their backers to intimidate the other bandits and make them give up their attempts. Smaller caravans were left to chance: with luck, they could dodge the other bandits and pass through quickly; with bad luck... Of course, the small caravan's size meant greater mobility, and some would rather get hurt than flee, with a high success rate.
Besides those trying to escape and those fawning over the bandits to get less, there were also those bold enough to bargain with them with a playful smile. Bei Qiao had witnessed this on his journey: a man standing at the front of a carriage, one leg on the front compartment, arguing with machete-wielding bandits. If you ignored the weapons in the bandits' hands, the scene looked no different than haggling over vegetables at the market.
This familiar act of not caring about one's own life or death... Bei Qiao, who happened to pass by the convoy, subconsciously observed the changes in expressions of both parties: This should be a fellow villager who was offended in reality and was not particularly obsessed with the resident number, so he came online to find the natives to vent his anger... Oh my, he actually won the argument, and before the fight even started, the bandit actually left on his own, and he ran away as if he was avoiding the plague. Could this be the legendary method of talking?
A player, already prepared for a fight and having scouted out their retreat routes, prepared to flee if they couldn't win: "No, what do you mean?! Why are you guys really scared? You're bandits! What you're doing makes my previous obedient protection money look foolish!"
The bandits who had simply given up on finding their next victim said: "The boss said we can rob the poor and the rich, but not the mentally ill and the desperate. This guy looks both mentally ill and desperate. Forget it. What if she goes crazy and smashes our heads open like that madman did to the boss? Doctors and medicine are expensive! We're here to make money, not to risk our lives!"
The bandit's survival principle: the money may not be his, but his life is his. A cheap life cannot be sold for much money, but it is impossible to sell one's life. A cheap life is also a life!
The player was just in a bad mood and wanted to go crazy, not abandoning the resident account she'd been managing for years. Seeing the bandit give up on her, she didn't chase after him, but quickly drove away. After driving several miles, she patted her chest and slowed down, saying, "Holy crap! I actually got the word out! I have to post this on my social media to commemorate it!"
Player: Hey guys, today I ran into a bandit and I managed to talk him out of it! Come and pay your respects!
Player: Damn, it’s been switched to a work account, damn, delete it quickly… Help, my boss liked it.
When encountering bandits, besides paying them, fighting them, and escaping, there's another option: fighting them at your own expense. If the bandits are insatiable and keep raising their prices, caravans will grit their teeth and opt to hire someone to take down the bandits, and players are no exception. Sometimes, players will even pay other players in real life to help them vent their anger, even if that means having to work an extra job to pay for Huabei.
Player: I'm paying protection money anyway, so it doesn't matter who I pay it to, so I might as well vent my anger while I still have a choice. Regardless of whether I win or lose, at least I've vented my anger, so it's not a complete loss.
Who should they contact to deal with the bandits? First, the caravan would go to the government office and explain their intention to suppress the bandits at their own expense, keeping a paper record. Suppressing bandits is a serious matter. If the person the caravan finds is unreliable, not only will they fail to subdue the bandits but they will also provoke them. The government would then be prepared to strictly inspect the entry and exit of personnel to prevent bandits from sneaking into the city and causing trouble.
Keeping records costs money, and that money can't be saved. It's not that suppressing bandits secretly isn't possible, but if someone fails and the bandits go on a rampage in the city, killing and burning, then that person will lose so much money that they can't even pay it back even if they sell their pants, and they'll even have to serve several years in a labor camp for causing death.
After the caravan had greeted the yamen, it was time for the so-called heroes to make their appearance. While the constables and yamen runners were skilled, their patrols were confined to the city, and they usually handled criminal cases. If the caravan wasn't reporting a crime, the yamen would likely not take the case. However, they could place a bounty on the caravan, allowing others to claim it.
Do detectives accept bounties privately? It's not that it's impossible, but it's generally unacceptable. Bandits often live in groups, and the detectives who rotate their duties don't have the numbers to count. Unless they're truly short of money, detectives won't accept bounties. At most, they'll scrutinize suspicious passersby. After all, money isn't as important as life.
Of course, heroes cannot be met casually on the street. Famous masters such as the number one master and the number one beauty are always elusive. The caravans are not the protagonists in the storybooks who can always meet noble people when they need them. The most convenient helpers for them are the local sect members. As long as they find the person in charge of external business and pay the money according to the price list, the sect will send someone to handle the matter. The time and result of the handling depend on the situation.
Are the sect members colluding with the bandits? This situation is not uncommon, but without a better option, without the ability to overturn the chessboard, many people will still choose to play dumb. At least, compared to the bandits, those acting as members of the sect are more respectable, and at least the possibility of repeatedly collecting protection fees is lower.
"It would be great if our horses could also kick the bandits." The native uncle who had honestly paid the protection fee was extremely envious when he saw Bei Qiao's carriage successfully get rid of the bandits and leave.
"What can they do if they kick us? We have eight carriages here. If we kick these... they won't be able to escape at all if they get angry!" The uncle's wife grabbed her husband's ear and said, "Hurry up and go back to the back and drive the car! Other bandits are coming!" Why envy him? The man only has one carriage. As long as the carriage is not broken and the horses are not scared, and the horses don't kick people, he can still run away.
Bei Qiao's journey wasn't entirely smooth. In the face of danger, some people always try to survive by stepping on others. While being chased by bandits, more than one person noticed that there was an extra horse tied to Bei Qiao's carriage. Besides the bandits, the fleeing people also began to covet the horse. After all, a horse is fast, and a horse of such a good breed can be sold for a large sum of money.
With them thinking about it like this, Huihui became impatient. He finally made a new friend, but someone was actually trying to hit on his friend right in front of him. This was simply not taking him, the boss, seriously!
"Ah, uh... hum! Bah!" With a rage, Huihui spat and snorted at the person who reached out to Xiao Ma. If he couldn't spit away the person, he would kick him. If one kick didn't move him away, he would kick him a few more times: Let go! Let go of the donkey!
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