Chapter 56 The Great Revenge Has Been Avenged by Slaying the Mountain Bandits
Shi Heming calculated that 78 of the bandits survived that year, scattered in different parts of Qiyuan County, and some even managed to get legitimate jobs in the government.
Upon reaching this point, Shi Heming couldn't help but sneer, his eyes turning icy cold.
"How ridiculous and absurd."
Not a single one will escape.
Sun Zhuzi once came from a respectable family; his ancestors had toiled in the fields for a living. However, years of drought led to the deaths of his family members one after another. On the verge of starvation, Sun Zhuzi walked barefoot into the city, begging for food from those who had enough to eat. But no one gave him a single grain of rice to save his life.
In a year of drought, no one wanted to share their grain. Sun Zhuzi, dizzy with hunger, finally ran to a group of beggars. He saw a child begging for two flatbreads. Compared to his tall, adult self, the skinny child was indeed more likely to get a bite to eat. Straining his strength, he followed the child, watching him enter an empty alley. His hyena-like eyes fixed on the alley, his weak body swaying as he continued to follow.
Half an hour later, Sun Zhuzi walked out of the alley with a much more steady gait, carrying a leftover pancake in his arms.
In the dark alley, dark red blood flowed down the corner of the wall.
Having tasted success, Sun Zhuzi began to specifically target begging children, gradually becoming more skilled with his methods. His actions eventually attracted the attention of other men, and soon Sun Zhuzi had accomplices; eventually, he had a growing number of followers.
With the food they stole, they gradually recovered, but the frequent deaths in the city had already attracted the attention of the authorities. Sun Zhuzi decisively led his brothers to other counties and finally chose a mountain to make a living by hunting or robbing.
More and more people joined Sun Zhuzi's cause, and they gradually became notorious bandits in the area, robbing sparsely populated villages from time to time.
After becoming bandits, their lives gradually improved, but their reputation also grew, and the government even sent people to suppress them. Sun Zhuzi decisively decided to disband the band, letting his brothers take their gold and silver and start a new life.
The vigorous campaign to suppress the bandits ended with the bandit gangs disbanding on their own, while the government announced to the public that the suppression was a success.
Sun Zhuzi and his accomplices mingled with the refugees and were eventually resettled like the others. With the money they had stolen, he quickly became a well-off refugee, and some families even hired matchmakers to arrange marriages for their daughters with him.
Now, Sun Zhuzi has managed to get a job in the government office through connections, and his child is almost five years old.
In the afternoon, Sun Zhuzi, who was taking a nap at home, was startled awake, covered in a cold sweat.
The commotion was so loud that Sun Zhuzi's wife came into the room and asked him if he had a nightmare.
Sun Zhuzi: "I'm fine." But he felt something was off.
Why did he suddenly dream of his past experiences, down to the smallest detail? He changed his identity and wasn't afraid of being found out that he had once been a bandit. If someone recognized him, he wouldn't mind returning to his old ways and killing them.
Seeing that Sun Zhuzi was alright, the woman returned to the yard to continue tidying up.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Sun Zhuzi's wife opened it.
"Who are you?"
Upon hearing his wife's voice, Sun Zhuzi looked up with a gloomy gaze towards the outside. He put on the new shoes his wife had made and walked towards the front door.
A strikingly handsome, tall young man stood at the door, dressed entirely in white, his clothes made of the finest materials. Why would a son of a wealthy family come to their house? Could it be something to do with the government?
However, this outfit... Sun Zhuzi's eyes darted up and down.
It's like wearing mourning clothes when someone in the family dies; it's not auspicious at all.
Shi Heming: "I'm looking for the male head of the household."
Sun Zhuzi's wife turned around and said, "Honey, she's looking for you."
Sun Zhuzi said in a sinister tone, "Come in."
Shi Heming entered the courtyard and calmly asked, "Are you the bandit leader from Pingfeng Mountain back then?"
Sun Zhuzi stopped in his tracks. "What are you saying? I don't understand."
"Father." A young child ran out of the house and hugged Sun Zhuzi's leg.
Sun Zhuzi's wife was stunned by the sudden remark and called her son over, "Come to your mother."
The toddler looked at his father and then at his mother, and said, "Oh." He then took his short legs and ran to his mother's side.
Sun Zhuzi's wife scooped the child into her arms and stood to the side, keeping a close eye on the two of them.
"Sun Zhuzi, the bandit leader of Pingfeng Mountain, has countless lives on his hands. He led his men to massacre villages multiple times. Later, he changed his name to Deng San. Am I right?"
“Don’t talk nonsense. The bandits of Pingfeng Mountain have been wiped out by the government. The child’s father works in the government office and is called Deng San. How could he be the Sun Zhuzi you’re talking about!” Sun Zhuzi’s wife couldn’t help but defend herself.
Sun Zhuzi turned around, "Who exactly are you?"
"Twelve years ago, Shi Xiucai's son from Shijia Village witnessed you killing my parents."
"What!" Sun Zhuzi's wife was terrified. Her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, clutching her son. Completely disoriented, she looked at Sun Zhuzi, her voice trembling, "Honey, is what he said true?"
Sun Zhuzi slowly walked to the pile of firewood, quickly grabbed a machete, and slashed at Shi Heming.
"So what if I am? I can kill your parents, and I can kill you too!"
"Ah!" Sun Zhuzi's wife collapsed to the ground, covering her son's eyes and screaming.
With a clang, the woodcutter's knife fell to the ground. Sun Zhuzi's wife saw her husband clutching his chest, first kneeling on both knees and then slowly falling backward.
"You, you, you..." Blood gushed from Sun Zhuzi's mouth, and he slurred his words.
Bright red blood slid from the blade to the tip and dripped onto the dry dust.
Sun Zhuzi's wife let go of her son and crawled towards Sun Zhuzi, crying, "My husband! Waaah, my husband!"
The child was also frightened and cried, running over and repeatedly shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" After shouting, he rushed towards Shi Heming, yelling, "You bad person, I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death!"
Protected by spiritual energy, the children couldn't even touch Shi Heming's clothes; they just crashed into thin air.
Sun Zhuzi's wife cried and cursed at Shi Heming, her face covered in tears: "Don't you know that murder is punishable by death! His name is Deng San, not Sun Zhuzi!"
Shi Heming's tone was completely flat, and his words were like a death warrant: "Yes, it is only right that a life should be paid for a life. Sun Zhuzi, you and your seventy-eight surviving brothers are all here. None of you can escape."
Shi Heming turned and left, setting up several talismans in the courtyard so that Sun Zhuzi's body wouldn't be moved. After the bandits were killed, the bodies would be displayed in front of the yamen, and their crimes would be made public.
"Waaaaah, my husband, are you really Sun Zhuzi, the bandit leader of Pingfeng Mountain?"
Sun Zhuzi was not surprised at all that he had ended up like this. Looking at his wife's tear-streaked face, he said with difficulty, "I...I am Sun Zhuzi. The grievances have their source and the debts have their debtors. That person...no...won't kill you. Take...take Abao and live well."
"No, this is impossible! How could you be Sun Zhuzi? Why are you Sun Zhuzi?!" Sun Zhuzi's wife cried her heart out.
"Father, sob sob sob, Father, please don't die."
Sun Zhuzi thought of the dream he had just had: "I...I never regret it. If I could do it all over again, I would still choose to walk this path...I had no choice. This was the only way I could live—"
"The child's father? The child's father!" Sun Dazhu's wife shook her husband's body, but he was already dead and she couldn't wake him up no matter what she did.
Sun Dazhu's eyes were lifeless, and the direction he faced after his death was his former hometown.
Hearing the commotion, the neighbors rushed over to see what was happening, only to find Abao's father lying in a pool of blood, and her mother crying incessantly.
Everyone came in to help, trying to move Sun Dazhu to a different position, but they found that even two or three big men couldn't move the body, as if it were nailed to the ground, which almost scared the people around them to death.
The seventy-eight people were scattered in different places, and although it was a lot to hear, it didn't take Shi Heming much time.
Many of these people have started families and established careers.
After killing the last person, the previously immovable corpse disappeared before the eyes of each family member.
Shi Heming wiped the spirit sword clean, and at that moment, the mountain that had been weighing on him for twelve years collapsed with a roar.
With his sword sheathed, Shi Heming appeared at the entrance of the yamen, where seventy-eight corpses were neatly arranged, blocking the street in front of the yamen.
The sudden appearance of the corpse terrified passersby, and the constables were so frightened that they ran inside in a panic to find the magistrate.
The timid passersby quickly ran away, but most of the bolder people stood around pointing and whispering. In broad daylight, with so many people around, there was nothing to fear; many of those who had run away mustered their courage and squeezed back into the crowd just to join the fun.
The county magistrate, adjusting his official hat, rushed out, exclaiming, "What, what on earth is going on?!"
The constable was on the verge of tears, "These corpses appeared suddenly, I didn't know anything about them, sir."
The magistrate took a closer look and was horrified!
"Why is Deng San still among the corpses?"
People rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, crowding the street in front of the yamen. Some of the deceased's family members came running over and knelt on the ground, weeping incessantly.
Shi Heming held an invisibility talisman in his hand. Standing on the roof of the yamen, he looked down at the large crowd gathered below and spoke calmly, making sure everyone could hear him.
"The seventy-eight corpses present were all bandits from Pingfeng Mountain twelve years ago. The bandit leader, Sun Zhuzi, used the alias Deng San, and Wu Dalin used the alias Wang Laoqi..."
A voice devoid of any emotion rang in everyone's ears, revealing the true identity of the corpse in detail, and also stating how many people these people had killed.
With the ability to calculate, it wasn't difficult to know how many people the bandits had killed.
The paper filled with crimes seemed to have grown wings and flew specifically to the magistrate's hands.
The magistrate broke out in a cold sweat after reading it. The bandit suppression was the work of the previous magistrate, who was even promoted for his meritorious service. But today, the immortals had appeared and killed all the bandits, exposing their crimes to the public. He dared not imagine what would happen to the previous magistrate once the news got out.
He is now only grateful that the false credit for suppressing the bandits was given to the previous county magistrate, not him.
"Deng San is actually Sun Zhuzi, the son of a bandit leader from Pingfeng Mountain! My God, is it true?"
"So it turns out it was someone seeking revenge."
"It's a divine intervention! It must be because the gods couldn't bear to see these heinous bandits living so well that they stepped in to help us kill these bad guys."
"Yes, that's right!"
"Good riddance! My in-laws were slaughtered by these sons of bitches back then! Bah! Heaven has eyes!"
"Your Excellency, you cannot simply let these corpses rest in peace. They must be whipped and then hung on the city wall!"
"Isn't this too serious? The person is already dead?"
"Go to hell. It wasn't your family or relatives who died back then, so stop making sarcastic remarks."
The story of the deity's miraculous intervention in killing the bandits spread far and wide, attracting even more people to the yamen (government office).
Most people hated the bandits to the core, and they began to shout in unison.
"Whip the corpse and hang it on the city wall!"
"Whip the corpse and hang it on the city wall!"
Some of the bandits' family members fainted and lost consciousness upon hearing this.
"Cuilan is actually a bandit's wife? Bah! I'll smash you to death!"
An acquaintance recognized the person who had fainted and threw whatever he was holding at him.
Once it started, stones, rotten vegetable leaves, rotten eggs, and other worthless things were thrown at the corpse. If any family dared to come and claim the body, they would also be attacked by the crowd.
The county magistrate was nearly attacked several times.
This incident has already aroused public anger, and he said loudly, "Once the truth is found, I will definitely do as everyone asks, but right now I need to verify their identities."
A woman squeezed through the crowd, her voice hoarse but forceful as she spoke loudly, "No need to verify, I am Deng San's wife. He was killed by someone seeking revenge, and before he died, he confessed that he was Sun Zhuzi! He concealed his identity and committed marriage fraud. I agree with everyone's suggestion!"
The people around quieted down, then began to whisper among themselves.
"It's actually Hui Niang. I know her, but I didn't expect her to be so heartless. We were husband and wife for a day, and there's a hundred days of kindness between us."
"You don't know anything. Hui Niang is sensible. Does she want her husband to die? It's all because Deng San, no, it's because Sun Zhuzi is inhuman! Hui Niang is pitiful. She's a victim too. How will she and her child survive in the future? As neighbors, we should help each other out in the future. Sigh."
Hui Niang lowered her swollen and red eyes. As Sun Zhuzi's wife, she would definitely be despised and cursed in the future. It would be better to stand up from the beginning and fight for a good reputation so that she could have an easier time raising her child.
Hui Niang stood in the crowd, her body trembling uncontrollably, but she managed to hold back from shedding a single tear.
Once someone steps forward, a second and a third person will follow.
The magistrate had no choice but to hang the corpses on the city wall. Later, it was confirmed that these people were indeed bandits from Pingfeng Mountain.
Shi Heming stood on the roof of the yamen for a long time before turning around and flying to his parents' graves.
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Author's Note: I went a few hundred words over the limit, but I thought it would be more satisfying to read it in one go than two chapters, so I condensed it into one chapter. The next chapter will return to Yin Yin's perspective. [Dog head with rose in hand]
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[Empty bowl]
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