Chapter 348 Black Wind Stronghold
"There's no need for thanks. We were just trying to protect ourselves. If we hadn't killed them, we would have been the ones killed. So, you don't need to feel grateful."
"How can you say that? Although what you said makes sense, it's true that you helped Shuimiao Village escape this calamity today!"
Seeing that the villagers were about to continue expressing their gratitude, Xie Yun said first, "More than that, I have some questions I'd like to ask about these bandits."
Just now, Xie Yun-yang specifically asked Ta Ying to spare half of the scarred man's life for questioning. The scarred man was originally very arrogant, but after a fight, he found that his seventeen underlings had been wiped out in no time. He immediately went from being a cocky guy to a coward and told everything.
From the scarred man, Xie Yun learned that the mountain stronghold was called Black Wind Stronghold, and that the scarred man and his brother were the leaders of the stronghold, while the brothers under their command were all hooligans who were originally idle and wasting their lives.
Others went to prison for their evil deeds, and after their release, instead of reforming, they voluntarily joined the Black Wind Stronghold to collude with them and continue committing evil.
I've always heard the villagers say how cunning and difficult to catch the bandits in Black Wind Village are, and how hard it is for the government to bring them to justice.
Xie Yun and the others also speculated that it might be because the group's stronghold was located deep in the mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, or because the Black Wind Stronghold had too many people, and the government would have to pay a huge price to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
So, under their persistent questioning, the scarred man obediently revealed the location and number of people at Black Wind Stronghold.
"More than seventy people? That's quite a big village."
Sheng Sheng scratched his chin thoughtfully. Black Wind Village, which ruled the mountain, already had a geographical advantage.
With such a large population, it would be quite difficult for the government to wipe out the entire village in one fell swoop.
But surely we can't do anything about them forever?
These bandits have committed numerous atrocities, and even if they are difficult to catch, the government must find a way to apprehend them.
However, judging from both the innkeeper and the villagers, these bandits have been running rampant for a long time.
Sheng Sheng felt that there must be more to this than met the eye.
Either there were other factors they didn't know about that influenced the government, such as Black Wind Stronghold hoarding weapons and trying to form a militia, just like in the storybooks, or the leader of Black Wind Stronghold was an invincible master that the government feared.
Or... the government itself has a problem.
Xie Yun asked Village Chief Zhang, "Old man, I'd like to ask you something: why do you say the government can't do anything about these bandits? Is it because the government doesn't care, or is there something else going on behind these bandits?"
"Alas, it's not that the government doesn't care, it's that they can't!" Village Chief Zhang sighed and said, "These bandits commit evil everywhere, making a living by robbing and kidnapping women. They were reported to the government as soon as they started their crimes. Perhaps these bandits are too cunning. Over the years, the government has tried to deal with them many times, and has even sent soldiers into the mountains several times to try to eliminate Black Wind Stronghold. But no matter how long the government plans or how many soldiers they send, they always suffer heavy losses."
Another villager chimed in, "Yes, the government officials suffered a lot the last few times. They probably figured it was because they weren't familiar with the terrain in the mountains, so they went to various villages to gather villagers who were familiar with the terrain to help them!"
I was one of them. The injury on my leg is from that near-death experience. The government had been planning this for a long time, and I followed the soldiers in the ambush. I witnessed firsthand how the soldiers tried their best to kill those bandits.
But that time was no exception… Those bandits seemed to have their eyes planted in the forest; no matter where we lay in ambush, they could accurately strike us. The government had no choice but to retreat to avoid total annihilation.”
Xie Yunzhang frowned.
According to the guards, those bandits were not very strong. Apart from the terrain and home advantage, there was no reason why they could have defeated the government troops so badly.
Sheng Sheng thought so too. After pondering for a moment, she guessed, "It's possible that Brother Zhui Feng and the others usually face very strong opponents, making these mountain bandits seem weak in comparison?"
After all, they were secret guards selected from among thousands to serve the imperial family and relatives, so their strength was already formidable.
Although Sheng Sheng said this, she actually felt that the problem wasn't there.
It must be just as we guessed before: either there's something fishy about Black Wind Stronghold, or there's something wrong with the government.
But judging from what the villagers said, the government didn't seem to be "fixing the match."
Xie Yun rubbed his temples and quickly made a decision: "Let's report this to the authorities first. We'll report what happened here and let the government handle it. I remember the prefect here... is his name Tang Jiming?"
They are just ordinary people now, and killing so many bandits in one fell swoop has exceeded their plans.
It would be best to leave the rest of the matter to the government to handle.
“That’s right, the Prefect of Heshan County is indeed named that.” Village Chief Zhang hurriedly replied, “Then I’ll call someone right away and go to the government office to report this matter to the Prefect before it gets dark.”
"Um."
Village Chief Zhang sent a young man from the village to the city to report to the authorities. By this time, the villagers had confirmed that the bandits who had attacked earlier that day had been killed. They all came over, spat at the bandits' corpses, and thanked them repeatedly before gradually returning to their normal state.
The little girl was also taken home by the woman, and before leaving, she leaned on the woman's shoulder and said goodbye repeatedly.
She replied with a smile.
"Leave these bodies here and wait for the officials to come and identify them."
"Hey, hey," Village Chief Zhang asked them again, "You gentlemen were originally going to the city, weren't you?"
"yes."
"You lot should hurry on your way, it will be dark in less than fifteen minutes, and it will be difficult to travel then!"
After the group helped deal with so many bandits, Village Chief Zhang originally wanted to have them rest in the village for the night before continuing their journey the next day, so as to give Shuimiao Village a chance to thank them for helping them escape this calamity.
Judging from the group's attire, even the guards wore fine clothes, suggesting they were of high status and wealth. It would be unreasonable to keep them from staying overnight.
Xie Yunyang glanced at the corpses of the bandits, and Village Chief Zhang said again, "Don't worry, I will have the villagers keep an eye on these bodies. In addition, I have already sent someone to report to the authorities. The government has been unable to deal with Black Wind Stronghold, and they will definitely rush over as soon as they hear that so many bandits from Black Wind Stronghold have died."
According to the original plan, they should be at least at the inn by now, if not eating the long-awaited knife-cut noodles.
The main reason for the delay was that Xie Yun was worried the little ones would get hungry.
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