The old man originally had a happy family. Although they were not rich, they had no problem having enough to eat. His family was even discussing sending their grandson to a new school. They heard that it was now popular among people outside to go to new schools, and that they could become high-ranking officials or generals in the future.
But all the good things were broken one night. When the old man heard a noise outside, he immediately realized that something was wrong and wanted to get up and hold the door shut. However, he was a step too slow. The wooden door was smashed open and a large number of bandits rushed in.
No matter how they begged, the bandits refused to listen. The leader pushed his wife away, and she hit her head on the windowsill and lost consciousness. Their son was killed on the spot, and their daughter-in-law was abducted. The old man was hit on the head and passed out. When he woke up, he began to look for his family, but found that his son and wife were both dead, and his daughter-in-law and grandson were missing.
Several families around him suffered the same fate. A few days later, those who were still alive received verbal messages from the bandits, along with the remains of their abducted relatives, demanding a ransom.
The old man sold off the shabby things in his house and scraped together some money for the ransom, but what he got was the stinking corpse of his grandson. As for his daughter-in-law, she must have died from torture as well.
"The landlord in our village suffered even worse. Both of his sons were abducted. The bandits sent back his eldest son's hand, but Master Ren was reluctant to pay the ransom and even threatened to destroy Qingfeng Village. Two days later, his eldest son's head was sent back in a basket, along with his youngest son's hand."
Fang Zhiyi was silent for a while, but he didn't stop writing: "And then he paid the ransom?"
The old man nodded and said, "They did, but the bandits still wouldn't let him go and even demanded more money. Master Ren was so excited that he fainted. His wife gave him a lot of extra money. I heard that all the valuables in the house were given away, but Master Ren never saw his son return until his death."
He took a breath and said, "I came to the city hoping to see the day when the government would crack down on the bandits, but they just accepted the complaint and didn't take any action."
Fang Zhiyi nodded, and asked the old man to press a bright red palm print next to the word "㱕" he wrote.
"I don't understand what you wrote, but it's useless. I'd like to thank you if you're willing to listen to me." The old man kept bowing.
Fang Zhiyi hesitated for a moment, took out the money in his pocket and handed it to him, but the old man did not take it. He just shrank back into the small shed behind him. After a while, sad crying sounds were heard.
Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath and left.
"I originally had three sons. My eldest son was involved in a business deal and was beaten to death by bandits," an elderly man with white hair recounted. "My youngest son was trying to escape the bandits when he fell off a cliff and died."
His youngest son survived, but his life was not good, because bandits surrounded their village that year and forced young men to join the bandits. For the safety of his family, the old man's youngest son joined the bandits.
Someone nearby chimed in, "You're young, you haven't seen it. Those bandits tied people to a wooden rack at the entrance of the village. If anyone resisted, they'd cut a piece of flesh off the rack and roast it in front of everyone. I remember the bandits killed more than a dozen people that day."
The old man who had spoken earlier argued: "More than a dozen!"
"Are there that many?"
"You're old."
Fang Zhiyi pressed the issue, "Old man, did your third son ever come back?"
The old man hesitated for a moment, "No, a kid from the same village escaped and came back. He said that many people wanted to escape, but if they were caught by the bandits, they would die. I..."
Fang Zhiyi knew that the old man believed in his heart that his son was still alive.
He rolled up the paper in his hand and said goodbye. Several old people looked at his back, wondering what he was going to do.
In a thatched house on the outskirts of the city, a one-armed man sitting in the shadows looked at the person in front of him and asked for money.
Fang Zhiyi didn't hesitate and took out all the money he had.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
