Chapter 251: The Boys Weapons and Equipment
Li He and Fang Hui immediately stood up, "Sister Jinli!"
The other dozen or so teenagers were somewhat bewildered.
Nobody saw how this beautiful older sister appeared.
Ning Jinli said to the two of them, "I reckon the flashlights and drones I gave you are almost out of power, so I'm here to replace them for you. I'll also see if there's anything else you need."
Since leaving last time, Ning Jinli has made time to come and visit every now and then.
During this period, they delivered flashlights, food, and other tools and supplies.
She wanted to use this method to gradually help the two of them accept new things and new knowledge.
“Sister Jinli…” Li He’s eyes were red, “Our schoolteacher was killed by the officials.”
"What?" Ning Jinli was taken aback.
Afterwards, Li He and the other person explained the whole story to her in detail.
Ning Jinli's face turned cold after hearing this.
She never expected that local officials would send people to deal with Heishui Village, and she never expected that this matter would cause the local people to suffer and even result in deaths.
“Alright,” Ning Jinli said without hesitation, “I’ll take care of those three murderers for you first, and then—”
Before she could finish speaking, Li He firmly said, "No, we must avenge the master."
Ning Jinli frowned. "Those are government officials. How are you going to deal with them? Even if you manage to kill the murderer, what will happen afterward? The government will definitely investigate thoroughly and won't let you off the hook."
Li He shook her head, her attitude becoming even more resolute. "If the county government continues to act so recklessly, what future will the local people have? Sister Jinli, my mind is made up; I must personally avenge my enemies."
Ning Jinli thought to herself, "No wonder he was a person who rebelled and eventually seized power in history. He already has this stubbornness at the age of fifteen."
“Okay, then I won’t do it for you,” Ning Jinli said with a smile, “but you have to let me help you out a little, right? It will increase your chances of getting revenge.”
"Okay, thank you, Sister Jinli." Li He was not a reckless person, so she readily agreed.
Ning Jinli told him to wait a moment, then turned and walked into the portal.
The portal she opened had a fluorescent vortex, but no one except her and Xiao Qidi could see it.
So to outsiders, it seems as if it vanished into thin air.
Li He and Fang Hui were already used to it, but when they turned around, they saw the other dozen or so young students staring in disbelief.
"Uh, well..." Li He pondered as she prepared to explain.
"Brother Lihe, was it a deity descending to earth just now?" someone blurted out.
Then someone else said, "She's so beautiful! She comes and goes so easily, she must be a fairy!"
"Yes, yes, yes! The place we're in now was originally a fairy temple!"
"So she was the fairy worshipped in this temple before?!"
The crowd chattered amongst themselves, then all rushed over to bow and worship at the spot where Ning Jinli had just appeared and disappeared.
Seeing this, Fang Hui said, "Alas! Actually, she—"
Li He covered his mouth and whispered, "It's okay, let them think they're gods, so we don't have to explain. It'll also be easier to share the cookies and snacks that Sister Jinli gave us with them later, just say they were a gift from the gods."
After a dozen or so teenagers kowtowed, they surrounded Li He and chattered about how he had managed to invite the fairy sister down.
Li He looked smug and shook his head, saying, "Well..."
Everyone stared at him expectantly, holding their breath.
He then replied, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."
Everyone's faces immediately showed disappointment.
Li He laughed and said, "Anyway, I have a very good relationship with the fairy sister, and with her help, avenging Mr. is a sure thing, right?"
"That's right! Brother Lihe is really amazing!"
Everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and then knelt down and kowtowed to Li He, all expressing that they would follow him for life and be completely devoted to him.
Fang Hui said, "Big brother, you've suddenly gained more than a dozen underlings."
Li He was quite pleased with himself, and put on an air of maturity, saying, "It seems that God wants me to shoulder a heavy responsibility. I certainly cannot let my little brothers down."
"Hehe, Big Brother is getting more and more impressive." Fang Hui flattered him.
"Of course!" Li He grinned and winked at him. "We'll be very impressive from now on."
About half an hour later.
Ning Jinli came over again, accompanied by several large cardboard boxes.
"These are protective suits with built-in armor, and there are also some weapons that may be suitable for you. That should be enough to arm your group. As for how to use them, that's up to you."
Ning Jinli opened the cardboard box and took out the equipment as she spoke.
The others stood at a distance, watching respectfully, not daring to utter a single word.
Li He's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much, Sister Jinli!"
Ning Jinli's expression was somewhat complicated.
If it weren't for the fact that this kid was Li He, and Fang Hui was with him, she really wouldn't have dared to give these things to a group of thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen-year-old boys.
She glanced at the boys, pondered for a moment, and said, "Li He, I will do my best to prevent the innocent people who were taken away as conscripts from dying in Blackwater Bay. You must also be careful. As the saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. If the time is not right, you must not risk your life."
Li He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes! Li He will remember!"
After Ning Jinli left.
Li He then began distributing equipment to his underlings.
The group put on clothes and shoes they had never seen before and found them to be more durable and lightweight than their usual attire.
As for those weapons, they were mostly swords and knives, with very ordinary designs, but all of them were extremely sharp, far surpassing ordinary weapons.
The boys were amazed, exclaiming that it was truly a gift from the gods.
After donning the equipment, their confidence soared, and they believed they were invincible. They then set off to return to the county town to take the lives of the three officials.
"No, no!" Fang Hui protested, "You're going to your deaths!"
A young man, brandishing a knife, declared with great confidence, "Our armor makes us invulnerable to swords and spears, and with our powerful weapons, those officials are no match for us!"
The others chimed in.
"That's right! We're now ruthless, killing anyone who gets in our way! Are we afraid of mere government officials?"
"Let alone the county magistrates, I feel I'm not afraid even if I encounter a soldier!"
"..."
Fang felt this wouldn't work, but didn't know how to persuade him.
It looked like it was about to get out of control.
With a dry blade of grass dangling from his mouth, Li He slowly rose, carrying a knife, and walked up to a boy. Suddenly, he raised his hand and slashed with the knife.
The attacked boy didn't even have time to react; his legs went weak with fear, and he collapsed to his knees.
Li He stopped his knife in front of the boy's nose, chuckled, and asked, "Even this one strike from me scared you to your knees, how do you manage to fight the officials?"
The boy snapped out of his daze and said defiantly, "Brother Lihe, you... you attacked me while I wasn't paying attention. If you had told me to be prepared, I certainly wouldn't have been afraid."
"Alright, get up and fight me."
Li He reached out and helped the boy up.
Then he took off his protective suit, replaced his weapon with a bronze kitchen knife, and told the boy to attack him with all his might and not to hold back.
The boy was shocked. "Brother Lihe, you'll get hurt! Although I've never practiced martial arts, the equipment difference is so huge. If I were to attack with all my might, I'm afraid you..."
Li He said casually, "If you beat me, I'll lead you to kill those three officials right now. If you hurt me, I won't blame you at all. Come on."
Surrounded by the other teenagers, the boy mustered his courage and, wielding the knife with both hands, slashed at Li He haphazardly.
Li He parried the attack with only a bronze kitchen knife.
With a loud clang.
Sparks flew everywhere.
The bronze kitchen knife had a dent in it.
But Li He remained unfazed, and his arm didn't even tremble.
The boy who launched the attack was so shocked that his hands went numb, and the knife slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
Li He kicked him to the ground, picked up the knife he was using, leaned forward, and stomped on his chest again.
Before the boy could react, he saw Li He thrust the tip of his knife straight down.
"Ah! Mother!" The boy screamed inconsolably, his eyes closed.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, and the knife that Li He was holding was already pressed against his neck.
A chill ran straight to my head and then spread throughout my body.
The boy was covered in cold sweat, shivered, and then uncontrollably wet his pants.
The other dozen or so teenagers were all dumbfounded as they watched this scene.
Li He spat out the hay he was holding in his mouth and coldly surveyed the crowd.
"You're wearing armor and wielding weapons given to you by the fairy sister, yet you have no idea how to use them or what tactics you're using. If you just charge in like this, not only will you fail to avenge yourselves, but you'll also end up with your equipment falling into the hands of the officials! Then you'll die by your own swords, just like you did before!"
"I only had a broken kitchen knife, and you couldn't even withstand a single move from it. How do you expect to fight the officials?"
"Now, anyone who thinks they can take revenge just by having better equipment, go ahead, I won't stop you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li He, with a nonchalant and unrestrained smile on his face, pointed to the dilapidated temple gate.
No amount of talking can compare to the direct effectiveness of presenting the facts.
Sure enough, all the youths hung their heads and put down their weapons in dejection.
The defeated boy, who had been lying on the ground, trembled as he got up. "Brother Lihe...we really want to kill our enemy and avenge our master. You...you teach us. Once we know how to use a knife, you can take us there."
Li He pinched her nose. "You'd better take off your pants and wash them before you talk to me. Your pants smell like urine, it's suffocating me."
The boy scratched his neck sheepishly, and the others burst into laughter.
"Alright!" Li He said seriously, "I originally planned to take revenge alone, so that you weak students who only know how to wield pens wouldn't die in vain. But now that we have better equipment, I can take you with me. However, you all need to train properly for a while first. At the very least, you need to be able to hold a knife steadily, run fast, and learn to obey my commands. Understand?"
Everyone rallied, raised their fists, and shouted in unison, "Understood!"
Fang Hui looked at him with admiration, "Big brother, you're really something."
Li He grinned, "Go take them to the back of the temple to climb the mountain and build up their strength. Don't go too far, and be careful."
"Ah... okay, big brother, what about you?"
"I sneaked into the city to gather information before dawn last night. I'm exhausted and need to get some sleep."
"Yes, yes, brother, you should rest."
Li He yawned, lay down in the haystack in the corner, and soon started snoring.
Fang Hui then led a dozen or so young students out of the dilapidated temple and went hiking to exercise.
On the other side—
After returning to Blackwater Bay, Ning Jinli immediately told the brother and sister in charge of Blackwater Village what she had learned.
Although they didn't know why the county of Tingxian was suddenly coming to suppress the bandits, having received advance notice allowed them to prepare accordingly.
According to the analysis of the crippled strategist, since the magistrate of Ting County needed to conscript men to make up the numbers, it proved that the anti-bandit operation against Blackwater Bay was limited to Ting County and was under the full responsibility of the magistrate of Ting County.
Not only would neighboring counties not participate, but the prefect above would also likely not step forward to command; otherwise, it wouldn't be county officials and soldiers or able-bodied men who would be mobilized, but rather the entire army.
The total number of officers and soldiers in Ting County was about two hundred.
Therefore, most of those who come to suppress the bandits will definitely be the able-bodied men they have captured.
"Have you encountered this situation before?" Ning Jinli asked.
Hei Da said, "Over the years, we have only encountered a few police officers and soldiers who came out to arrest us. Each time there were about a few dozen officers and soldiers, never more than a hundred. But their equipment and weapons were better than ours. We usually tried to hide as much as possible. There were two times when we couldn't hide anymore and we fought with the officers and soldiers. We lost dozens of brothers before we escaped."
When these situations were mentioned, the expressions of Hei Da, Hei Er, and the crippled strategist became very serious.
Hei Erdao said, "This time they've come after us again, and the commotion is terrifying. How... should we deal with it?"
Keep in mind that just a few dozen soldiers were enough to give Blackwater Village a hard time; imagine if all two hundred soldiers were mobilized, along with a large group of able-bodied men…
Hei Er didn't even dare to imagine what would happen then.
The crippled strategist pondered, “In the past, they always attacked suddenly, leaving us unprepared. This time, we can plan ahead and use the terrain to set traps. Moreover, I have trained a group of monkeys and crocodiles, unlike before when only our own brothers could fight. This time, no matter how many of them come, we will make sure they don’t return.”
“No!” Ning Jinli reminded, “Those able-bodied men are just ordinary people from Zixian County. They were captured for no reason and used to suppress bandits. They are innocent, so we must treat them differently.”
The lame strategist looked troubled. "Miss Jinli, if there are too many people, it will definitely be chaotic when a fight breaks out. The brothers of Blackwater Village and my monkeys can still distinguish between government soldiers and able-bodied men, but those crocodiles won't recognize people..."
Ning Jinli said, "There's no need to deploy crocodiles, or only use them when absolutely necessary. Besides providing you with agricultural tools, I can also provide weapons and even armor, which are definitely a thousand times better than what the soldiers use."
Upon hearing this, the brother and sister in charge and the crippled strategist's eyes lit up.
The lame strategist immediately said, "Our brothers aren't bad at fighting, but we're at a disadvantage because of the huge gap in equipment. As you know, Miss Jinli, in our entire Rotten Ship Fortress, we can't find more than thirty decent swords and spears. Armor is even less likely. If our equipment and weapons were better than the government troops', we brothers could easily take on ten men each. That way, when we fight the government troops, we'd have the strength to protect the civilians and able-bodied men!"
"That's good," Ning Jinli said decisively. "I'll go get the armor and weapons now and bring them here. Everyone, let's start preparing for battle!"
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