Chapter 99 Chapter 99 How can you do it alone?
Kang He carefully moved closer to the wall, pulled out a half-hidden brick, and looked out of the hole in the wall.
The night was all around, there was no light outside, it was pitch black, the wind was blowing and the rain was pouring, only a vague black shadow could be seen.
Looking at the figure, Kang He felt that it looked somewhat like... But before he could say who it looked like, someone outside responded, "Me."
Kang He heard the short and faint tone, and wondered who else it could be but Fan Jing.
He hurried to open the door and pulled Fan Jing outside into the yard.
Fan Jing only wore a straw hat, without even a straw raincoat, and there was not a dry spot on his clothes.
Kang He frowned and touched his hands, which were cold. "Why are you back?"
Fan Jing took off his straw hat and walked towards the kitchen on his own.
Kang He chased over: "But something happened in the mountains?!"
"It's okay. Zhang Shili is in the mountains. He brought Xiaoqiu and his parents into the mountains early. He also gathered a few good hunters and set up traps. He's been patrolling the area these past few days and hasn't seen any strangers. Those mountains are safe."
Fan Jing said, "I asked Zhang Shili to look after it. He promised to take good care of it."
Kang He breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but then frowned again: "Then why did you come down the mountain? You didn't stay up there and it started raining before it got dark. It's cold and wet, and it's not safe outside."
Fan Jing originally wanted to get some hot water to take a shower, but after hearing Kang He's series of questions, he stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Kang He.
Seeing the man's tightly furrowed brows, it seemed as if two marks had appeared between his eyebrows in just half a day. He suddenly raised his hand and stroked Kang He's brows: "If I'm not here, how can you do it alone?"
Kang He was stunned for a moment, his heart surging.
He suddenly understood that it was no wonder that the man was silent when he went up the mountain during the day. He was probably determined to send the person up the mountain and then return.
Kang He grabbed Fan Jing's cold hand, not wanting him to look into his heated eyes, and instead hugged him.
Although his heart was indescribably moved, he said, "Once this matter is settled, I will definitely go find Brother Zhang and talk to him. How can I let you run around like this alone?"
Fan Jing heard Kang He's voice soften, and his eyebrows moved: "How can he keep me?"
Kang Hezi was just talking, how could he really blame Zhang Shili? His chin touched Fan Jing's wet collar, and he came back to his senses.
"Let's not talk about this for now. Go inside and get some clean clothes. Go to the bathroom. I'll get some hot water for you to wash."
Fan Jing responded and walked back cautiously along the path. It would be a lie to say that it wasn't cold on a rainy night in winter.
He was so cold that he felt stiff, so he went into the house without saying anything.
Kang He fetched some water and brought it into the house for Fan Jing to wash up, thinking of making him a bowl of ginger soup to dispel the cold. When he passed by the wing room, he heard the snoring of Mr. and Mrs. Fan.
The two of them seemed to be relaxed and slept soundly.
When they moved here earlier, Grandma Fan complained that the room was too cold, so I put three charcoal braziers in the room for them, and they felt better.
Not long after, they said that their mouths had no taste. Kanghe brought over two plates of soft cakes. After eating one plate, Fan Ye and Fan Nai said that they couldn't get used to drinking tea and wanted to drink some goat's milk with the cakes.
Kang He served people for a long time, and only rested after they had eaten and drunk their fill.
It was very quiet at night. Apart from the sound of wind and rain outside, I could not hear any other noise.
If it were in the past, it would have been a sleepy rainy night, but this time it made me feel uneasy and I dared not sleep soundly.
Fan Jing just washed up, drank a whole bowl of ginger soup with icing sugar, and taught Kang He to soak his feet in hot water. He was tired after running around all day.
Kang He told Fan Jing to get some sleep and to call him if anything happened.
The bandits might not come to their house, and their house is not in a good location, far from the village entrance. If the bandits enter the village, they may not be able to find their house.
With this mood, Fan Jing felt a little sleepy.
Seeing that the man's breathing was gradually stabilizing, Kang He lay down next to him.
Little did they know that in the middle of the night, a group of bandits really entered the village with the wind and rain.
At the head of the village lived a family named Deng. In the summer they followed the example of the Fan family and replaced the tiles on their house and laid stone bricks inside, making the house quite loud.
After finding a lucrative business a few years ago, he started to show off his wealth.
Hearing that bandits had started in the county, every family wished they could look even poorer. However, the Deng family refused to believe in evil and parked their new car in the yard, pointing at it and showing off to the villagers.
The bandit sneaked into the village like a dark shadow and first targeted this family.
Deng Dalang vaguely heard some loud noise and woke up in a daze, only to see several unfamiliar faces in his house. He confusedly thought they were fellow villagers from his village.
When I woke up, I realized where I had seen these people before. I was so scared that I fell to the floor and couldn't stand up for a moment.
I heard from outside that the bandits were very ferocious and looked like Shura monsters. But looking at them today, although half of their faces were covered, they looked like ordinary people, not even strong and sturdy. But their eyes that had seen blood were particularly creepy.
Deng Dalang didn't have the chance to get up again, as a knife as long as his arm was placed on his neck. He immediately felt colder than ice in the coldest days of winter. He watched several men rummaging through the house, but he had no ability to fight back. His lower body felt hot and he got it all over the floor.
The bandits didn't find much valuables, so they threatened Deng Dalang, "Hand over all the Jiaozi and silver notes you've hidden, or I'll cut off your head!"
Deng Dalang lay limp on the ground, shaking all over as if he were sieves, and said, "There's no money left at home. We're a poor family, and all we do outside is to save face.
Gentlemen, while you are busy with your important business, take the donkey I just bought away. If it can serve you for a while, it will be worth my life.
"You think you can get rid of us with just a broken donkey? If you're so obsessed with money, why not give your life for it?"
After saying this, Deng Dalang felt a gust of wind on his neck, and his eyes widened to their largest size in fear. Suddenly, he had a sudden thought: "Gentlemen, please don't kill me. Although my family is poor, there are some wealthy people in this village!"
"He has not only donkeys, but also cows, horses, and mules! He also has hundreds of chickens, ducks, and other poultry. His family is wealthy and eats meat every day. No one else can have such a life of luxury. I'd like to be the guide and take you all there!"
Upon hearing this, the bandits exchanged glances. The man holding the knife to Deng Dalang's neck violently pulled him up and said, "If you dare to fool me, I'll kill your wife and children one by one in front of you."
"Every word I said is true! That rich man's house is close to the mountains, so it's not easy to find. On a rainy day without a guide, I'm afraid even if I alarm the whole village, I still won't be able to find the rich man's house!"
The bandits coveted the horses and mules, so they tied up the Deng family and stuffed their mouths, making it impossible for them to move or make a sound, and then dragged Deng Dalang away.
The heavy rain was hitting my body and causing pain.
It was already past midnight, the time when people were fast asleep.
Kang He and Fan Jing were sleeping in bed. They both had light sleep today. When they heard a dog barking outside, they woke up immediately.
The two listened carefully and found that there was no sound anymore, as if they had heard it wrongly.
Fan Jing jumped up from the bed, grabbed his longbow and went out of the room. Kang He did not make excuses that he had misheard. At this critical juncture, he could not be negligent at all, and he could not slack off even at the slightest sign of trouble.
When I left the house and entered the yard, I saw that the strong man who was on night patrol at home had also perked up.
"Just now I heard a dog barking outside, but it has stopped barking this morning."
When Fan Jing heard the young man say this, his brows furrowed. He immediately raised his hand to signal the young man to wake everyone up. He said to Kang He, "I'm afraid the dog is gone. There must be something strange going on outside."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door outside.
"who?!"
Everyone's hair stood on end and they all looked towards the gate.
"It's me, Deng Dalang. Is the gatekeeper Lian Sige?
"Hurry up and open the door for me! Bandits have entered our village. They rushed into the headman's house, killing and robbing people. I'm here to deliver a message!"
Deng Dalang's voice outside sounded anxious and fearful, and it didn't seem fake. The expressions of the young men in the yard changed.
Even the fourth brother didn't dare to open the door and looked at Kang He. Fan Jing on the side signaled Kang He to drag the person away, and he quietly went to the hole in the wall to see the situation outside.
Kang He used his mouth to talk to Lian Sige outside: "Brother Deng, is that really the case? Don't worry, I'll go wake up everyone in the house, grab some weapons and go help!"
"Brother Lian, please open the door for me first. It's raining heavily outside. I can come in and help you call for help and explain the situation to them."
Fan Jing looked outside the doorway and his expression changed drastically. He made an eight gesture to the people in the yard.
Just from what he saw, there were eight people outside!
Then Deng Dalang was just a cover to trick people into opening the door.
The people inside were so frightened that they even reached for the handy weapons they had prepared in advance.
Just waiting for Kang He and Fan Jing to make arrangements.
At this moment, the uncle Fan Shoushan who stayed behind was awakened and hurried out. Hearing that the bandits were already outside the door, he was so scared that his face turned pale.
Although they had taken precautions in advance, they still held onto a hope that the bandits might not come to their village, and that they would be robbed right here.
When Kang He saw the man, he hurried over to take him to his place: "Uncle, go inside and look after grandpa and grandma. Close the door tightly and don't make any noise."
Fan Shoushan pointed outside, his voice so low he dared not raise it a bit more: "Sanlang, what should we do outside? The walls of the house are thick and high, they shouldn't be able to get in!"
Kang He didn't want to worry Fan Shoushan, so he didn't tell him about his plan with Fan Jing. He nodded and said, "Yes. You just need to hide your grandparents in the house. We'll guard the outside. They dare not make a big noise, for fear of attracting the villagers to report to the police."
"If something goes wrong later, I'll have Brother Lian Si take you and grandma out through the secret door."
Without giving Fan Shoushan a chance to say anything, he pushed the person in.
During this period, Fan Jing asked Yi Huan and Er Xi to take a peek outside through several holes in the wall.
There were twelve people outside, thirteen in total including Deng Dalang, and there were only eight able-bodied men in their family including Fan Jing.
These bandits have killed people before, so their methods must be brutal. If you fight hand-to-hand, you will most likely be no match for them.
But if we don't take this opportunity to capture the person, the county will be harassed again and will never have peace.
Moreover, now that they know about the existence of the wealthy Fan family, even if they fail to take advantage of them today, they might come back another day. How can they live in peace then?
"Should I open the door or not?"
The bandits outside saw the Fan family's tall gate and large courtyard and thought it was indeed a good place to come. But when they saw that the door was not open, they became a little impatient.
Deng Dalang saw that the door had not been opened for a long time, and sweat was already pouring down his forehead. He knew that he had a bad relationship with the Fan family, and no one would open the door to him easily. But since it was said that the situation was so urgent, how could they still not open the door?
"Brother Lian, if you don't open the door, I'll be so anxious!"
"Don't worry, Dalang. I was so frightened that I didn't know what to do."
As the fourth brother pulled the bolt on the door, he pretended to shout into the house, "One Happy, Two Happys, get up quickly! I heard bandits are entering the village. Quickly light the lanterns and go wake up the three Kang brothers!"
After saying that, the wide door opened, and the fourth brother, who had been prepared, hid behind the door and ran away along the wall.
Deng Dalang was kicked into the house by the bandits who were using him to explore the way. He fell to the ground. Seeing that nothing was wrong, they rushed into the house. At this moment, several arrows whizzed towards the gate.
At that time, three or four people who were rushing in the front were hit by arrows.
"Oh no, there's an ambush!"
The bandits quickly drew their bows and arrows and shot in the direction from which the arrows were shot. However, Fan Jing, Yi Huan and Er Xi had already changed positions in the dark and then sent a few more arrows.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Kang He and the hired men lit a few strings of firecrackers and threw them towards the gate. For a moment, the crackling sound echoed through the sky.
The bandits were thrown into disarray and attacked by cold arrows. Now they knew how dangerous this place was, so they dared not force their way in and immediately turned around and ran out.
The lights were on at the Fan family's house at this time, and the strong men rushed forward to pin down the bandit who had been shot by an arrow and fell to the ground and tied him up.
"Don't let them run away!"
Fan Jing jumped down from a high place, called Yi Huan and Er Xi and chased outside. The bandits who had escaped from the door climbed onto their mules and drove away.
Fan Jing drew his arrow and shot down a bandit.
Yihuan and Erxi started learning archery late, and although they learned well, their archery skills were not as good as Fan Jing's, and they did not hit the bandits on the mule.
But the arrow hit the animal. The mule was frightened and ran madly, throwing the bandit on its back into the field.
Firecrackers were set off in the middle of the night, and the first people to hear the loud noise were the people in the house. Elderly people like Grandma Fan and Grandma Fan had difficulty sleeping in the second half of the night, and they were suddenly frightened awake by the loud noise at home.
They saw Fan Shoushan in the house with the doors and windows closed to guard them. After repeated inquiries, they learned that the bandits had reached the door of their house.
Grandma Fan, who had previously said she was not afraid of death, was so frightened by the sounds of killing and chasing outside that she closed her eyes and fainted.
Amidst the sound of the wind, there were sounds of firecrackers in the middle of the night. Everyone in the village felt something was wrong and turned on the lights in every house.
If you hear firecrackers going off in the middle of the night, it means either something big has happened or an elderly person in the family has passed away.
The sound of firecrackers came from the Fan family's side. The Xu family was the first to run out with their people and weapons.
In just a quarter of an hour, the village was in an uproar, as if a thief had broken out, and people were chasing people all over the village.
The bandits came from outside. Not only were they fierce, but they were not as good as the local thieves. Before entering the village to steal, the thieves would familiarize themselves with the terrain first. Once they were discovered, they would run like foxes and were difficult to catch.
This bandit simply relied on the tiger to scare people, but once he was attacked, he was even worse than a petty thief in running away.
Suddenly someone in the village shouted, "There he is, running towards the cave!"
After a while, I heard someone shouting from the other end: "He's heading to the official road! Get your weapons and grab the guy!"
The village was noisy for a long time. After almost two hours, the sky was beginning to turn white, and the county officers and soldiers also entered the village.
There were twelve bandits who entered the village together. When they rushed into Fan's house, four of them were killed by arrows and three were injured. They were tied up in the yard by the strong men. Two of them who were riding mules escaped and fell unconscious.
There were still five people running in the village. The villagers held down three of them, and two ran out of the village and were captured by the soldiers.
The dead and injured were also taken back to the county government by the officers and soldiers.
This farce made people tremble with fear and it took a long time for them to calm down.
It rained all night and finally stopped at daybreak.
While the Fan family was cleaning up, the young men in the family suffered some minor injuries, but they were not a big deal.
Doctor Zhu was called in, who bandaged the wound and checked on Grandma Fan who had fainted from the shock, saying that she was simply too frightened.
It’s a pity that the two dogs that were brought back to prevent kidnappers died. After raising them for a few years, they became very good at guarding the gate.
Kang He taught his fourth brother Lian to find a good place to bury the two dogs.
Back to Deng Dalang, this troublemaker was lucky. He fell to the ground with the bandits and everyone thought he was dead. Unexpectedly, he was not killed by the arrows, but only had some skin injuries from the firecrackers.
When he was pulled up during cleaning, he was soaked and smelled foul, which made everyone feel disgusted.
Kang He was not in a good mood with this man. He led the bandits into his house. Maybe he was forced to do so in order to protect his family and his own life, but he was too loyal to the bandits.
Not only did he teach the bandits to kill his dog, but he also pretended to trick him into opening the door.
If Kanghe had not left a hidden hole between the wall and the courtyard when the house was built, he might have suffered the consequences of Deng Dalang today.
In the past, it was okay for the Deng family to be sarcastic about their family in the village. After all, they were just venting their anger, but this time they really went too far.
But Xu Zhen was not kind and suffered retribution.
Deng Dalang was in a coma for a day or two. When he woke up, his mind was not very clear. For a while, he was no different from an ordinary person, and he spoke and acted normally.
For a moment, he became ill again and shouted for no reason that bandits were coming and he wanted to kneel down and call them "master" so that they would not kill him.
The Deng family felt that Doctor Zhu was not treating them well, so they went to the city to look for several other doctors. They all said that they had a mental illness and that medicine was not enough. They just had to take care of themselves and hoped that they would get better slowly.
When the villagers learned about what their family had done, some felt sorry for them, while others looked down on them.
Many villagers came to the Fan family one after another, bringing things to see Grandma Fan. They didn't come just to see the old lady, but also to thank the Fan family for capturing the bandits and to offer some comfort to the family who had experienced such a shocking thing.
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