Chapter 30 Bandits
There is a tidal flat outside Yuexi Village. It is not suitable for transformation into paddy fields. Large areas are occupied by reeds. Now it is all withered and yellow, and only the scattered reed flowers add a bit of beauty to the area.
In spring, the reed marshes are very lively, with children often coming in and out, hoping to pick up a few wild duck eggs.
But when winter comes, the reed marshes become desolate, but this year is an exception.
More than twenty men appeared in the reed marsh. They hid in the reeds, not talking much to each other, and seemed to be brewing some great plan.
The man in the lead was in his early thirties and was very strong. Even in such a cold day, he only wore a single shirt. You could vaguely see the bulging tendons on his arms. He was an expert.
He was chewing a piece of dried meat in his mouth and wiping an iron knife with his hand. There was a notch on the iron knife.
"Brother, Lao Liu is back." someone shouted.
The beggar who had brought the child into the village returned. When he arrived, he pushed the child aside and said, "Brother, this village must be rich. There are seven or eight families who have built brick and tile houses."
The child fell directly to the ground, but didn't even dare to cry. He hugged his knees and tried to hide himself.
"We went there to beg for food just now, and they were willing to give us rice porridge. It shows that they have enough food at home." Old Liu shouted indignantly. They suffered a disaster downstream, but they had no worries about food and drink upstream.
Not knowing what he was thinking about, Old Liu spat and cursed, "I can clearly smell that they drink Laba porridge at home, so they must have put sugar in it, but they are reluctant to give us rice porridge. When the time comes, I will kill them and skin that guy alive."
"Yuexi Village is close to Hushan County. Hushan County has always been prosperous, so their village naturally has food and money." A one-eyed man nearby said.
When the eldest brother put away his iron knife, he asked again: "Stop talking nonsense. Have you figured out how many people are in the village?"
Old Liu said, "There are probably more than twenty households, more than a hundred people, and fewer than forty able-bodied men."
"There are quite a few men." The one-eyed man was a little wary. Women and children were not to be feared, but middle-aged men were still difficult to deal with.
Old Liu sneered, "One-Eye, you're too timid. We're just farmers. Even if you can carry a hoe, do you dare to challenge us? I can chop down five of them by myself."
Someone nearby laughed loudly, "That's right. When we broke into that farm before, the men were all over fifty, and Big Brother hacked a few of them to pieces, but they still surrendered in the end. They were more obedient than pigs."
The one-eyed man glanced at his silent elder brother and said angrily, "Three of us died that time. If you hadn't been so impatient to play with women, we wouldn't have lost a single person."
Old Liu's face turned unhappy, and he snorted coldly, "It doesn't matter whether you play early or late. What are you afraid of with Big Brother around?"
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, the strong man scolded, "Alright, what are you quarreling about? Remember this time, rush in and control the men first. Once you tie them all up, you can do whatever you want with the women."
The one-eyed man also helped analyze the situation, saying, "At the beginning, we only said we were going to rob the farmers, so they didn't dare to fight. Now, after we coax them into tying them up, we still have the final say."
"Hmph, you're the only one who's smart." Old Liu was very impatient. In his opinion, he had the greatest contribution and was always the spy.
But the boss just happened to have a special liking for this one-eyed guy. He didn't want to hear what tactics he was playing. In the end, everyone would be killed anyway, so why say so much at the beginning? Who could they be afraid of in a fight?
The boss asked again: "Is anyone watching the road to the county town?"
"The third brother will be guarding over there. He will never let anyone pass." Old Liu instructed, and then he glanced at the one-eyed man with a smug look.
The boss nodded in satisfaction and said, "After we finish this job, we will continue to head south. The government will not be able to catch up with us even if they want to."
"Boss, what should we do with this child?" asked Lao Liu.
The skinny child was trembling, kneeling down and begging for mercy, with blood marks on his forehead.
The boss didn't even raise an eyebrow as he said calmly, "Kill him, and then take a smaller one away from Yuexi Village."
The one-eyed dragon frowned, but did not stop them. He felt in his heart that this group of bandits could not stay for long. Not only was the leader cruel and ruthless, he also had a habit of eating human flesh. His vision was even more short-sighted. He was simply a lunatic.
On the other side, the sky gradually darkened, but the people of Yuexi Village who were hiding in the ancestral hall had no appetite for dinner.
The village chief saw that this was not going to work, so he shouted, "Everyone, fill your stomachs first. If the bandits really come, it will be a tough battle. How can we deal with them if we don't eat enough?"
Su Caozhang sat down next to Su Fengzhang. Originally, Zhang didn't want her son to come out, but Su Caozhang felt that he was older than Su Fengzhang and absolutely could not hide in the cellar.
"Feng Zhang, do you think those people will really come?"
Su Fengzhang smiled bitterly: "I actually hope that I am wrong and ask them not to come."
Su Caozhang bit his steamed bun hard and cursed, "Come if you want. I'm not afraid of them."
It was completely dark, and the ancestral hall, with no fire lit, seemed gloomy and desolate. This place, uninhabited for years, was particularly chilly. Su Fengzhang and Su Caozhang huddled together, their bodies pressed against each other for comfort.
The moon was also obscured by clouds. Su Mingzhang couldn't help but ask, "There's still no movement at this late hour. Could it be that they've noticed our preparations and have simply retreated?"
It would be great if it were like that. Not only Su Mingzhang, but most of the villagers are looking forward to it. Even if it means losing a little food, it doesn’t matter.
But this is just the villagers' expectation.
After it was completely dark, the one-eyed dragon looked towards Yuexi Village, frowned, and shouted, "Something's wrong. Why don't the people in this village light up the lights? They can't all be asleep, right?"
Old Liu disagreed: "What are you doing as a farmer in the countryside if you don't sleep after dark?"
The one-eyed dragon didn't dare to take it lightly, and turned to look at the boss: "Brother, there might be something strange going on. Why don't we go and investigate first?"
"Okay, let's go to one of the houses first to see what's going on." The eldest brother is not as brainless as Lao Liu.
Old Liu snorted coldly and had to follow. But when they entered the first house, they found something wrong. There was no one at home.
Old Liu finally realized something was wrong: "Where did they go? I remember this family had two daughters, one big and one small, very pretty."
"What else do you remember besides women, you pig-brained person?" the boss said angrily.
The one-eyed man warned, "I'm afraid something was revealed during the day and they were discovered. The villagers are prepared."
The boss had no choice but to shout, "Search every house. We didn't see any major commotion during the day, so these people must not have gone far."
Old Liu muttered, "Could he have hidden in the mountains?"
The one-eyed man said, "Impossible. If we go up the mountain, we can see it just by looking up from the reeds."
"Brother, everyone is dead, and the valuables in the house have been moved away, but every household has left some grain."
"Then most wealthy families still have some money left, but not much."
The one-eyed dragon's expression changed slightly, and he said, "There are experts in this village. They must have expected us to come at night."
"He left behind the grain and silver, probably intending to buy his life." The one-eyed dragon thought of this.
Old Liu cursed and shouted, "With just this little grain and money, are you going to send a beggar away?"
The one-eyed dragon only looked at the eldest brother and said, "Brother, this village is going to be tough. We have limited time. Why don't we take the food and money and find another target?"
Old Liu sneered, "That's easy for you to say. Yuexi Village is remote, with only one road leading to the county government office. We can just send someone to stake out the village. It wouldn't be so easy to do that in other villages."
They had a smooth journey, and the common people were as easy to slaughter as cattle and sheep, and their appetites became big.
"Yeah, we've been busy all day, is this just for this little bit of food?"
"What are you afraid of? As long as the soldiers don't come, they can dig themselves out even if they hide in the cave."
"That's right. I haven't had sex in a few days. By then, I'm going to sleep with seventeen or eighteen of her virgins."
"Tsk tsk, I actually miss the smell of a newborn baby."
The one-eyed dragon felt that these people were not worth associating with. He said coldly, "They have a lot of people and are well prepared. There is no need for us to waste our time."
But the boss had already been persuaded by the others. He carried his iron knife and said, "Well, now that we're here, we'll have to fight. Go look for them. They must not have gone far."
"Brother, we found it. It's in a big house at the back." someone shouted.
"Let's go." The boss shouted and led everyone over there.
A group of people rushed towards the ancestral hall, but the one-eyed man retreated silently and walked to the last position.
When this group of bandits entered the village, the people in the ancestral hall heard the noise, and several people who were leaning on the wall with ladders to watch were shocked.
"Village chief, they are entering the village!"
At this time, some people still harbored hope: "Will they just take the food and leave without killing anyone?"
Unfortunately, the noisy sound soon surged towards this side, frightening the people who were listening to the news on the wall so much that their legs trembled: "They are coming this way, what should we do, Village Chief, what should we do?"
"Shut up, be silent." Su Fengzhang shouted.
He shouted again, "Pick up your hoes and kitchen knives, block the gate with stones, and don't let them in."
Half of the villagers, like headless flies, finally took action. The gate was originally blocked with something, and now some people moved some stuff over to prop it up, fearing that the bandits would break in at the next moment.
Su Caozhang had been following Su Fengzhang. He felt his legs go weak and grabbed Su Fengzhang's arm to stop himself from falling. "Fengzhang, can we survive tonight?"
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Brother, the bandits are also human beings. They certainly don't have as many people as us. They are attacking, and we are defending. Reinforcements will arrive soon. We can't lose by waiting for the opportunity."
His voice was calm as usual, which calmed down the people in the ancestral hall. Their original anxiety and fear seemed to be soothed.
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The author has something to say: I’ve become a V~~~ Today I’ll celebrate with three more chapters
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