"Master, we're here." The butler reminded Lei Liquan.
The exhausted Lei Liquan forced himself to get off the carriage and go to a house in Lingyi Township.
This is the house specially reserved for Lei Liquan by the Lingyi Township official, so that Lei Liquan and the bandits can discuss matters.
"Master Lei, long time no see." Cai Luo, the leader of the Golden Lion Village, was the first to greet him.
"Master Cai is still as powerful as ever," Lei Liquan responded. He looked around and found that only people from the Golden Lion Village had come. "Where are the other masters?"
"They haven't arrived yet. Let's wait. They always dawdle." Cai Luo explained.
Half an hour later, other bandit leaders also entered the room.
Seeing that all the strongholds had gathered, County Magistrate Lei got straight to the point: "Now that all the stronghold leaders are here, it's time to talk about the recent smuggling situation."
"Alright, I'll go first." The Star-Breaking Village leader straightened his back and was the first to speak. "For some unknown reason, our trade route has been constantly disrupted by a mysterious force lately, and a lot of our goods have been stolen."
"Well, I heard about it. Do you have any clues?" County Magistrate Lei frowned.
The leader of Broken Star Village shook his head, then took out a map and marked the location: "Most of the attacks were here."
"It's located in the southwest of the county, perhaps from Lingwu County in the south. I'll send someone to investigate when I get back." County Magistrate Lei looked at the location, wondering if someone in Lingwu County had set their sights on their business.
As soon as County Magistrate Lei finished speaking, the leader of the Golden Lion Village spoke about the situation on his side: "Master Lei, the Chengshi Mountain area that our village is responsible for has also been attacked. The attacking force speaks the White Tiger Barbarian language."
"Hmph! How dare a small tribe of barbarians act so recklessly! If I had the time, I would have wiped out this group of barbarians." Lei Liquan became irritable after hearing about the White Tiger Barbarians.
He had an irreconcilable feud with the White Tiger Barbarian, and his son was killed by the White Tiger Barbarian.
"Master Lei, we brothers didn't come here to listen to you get angry. Let's talk about what to do." The leader of Panlong Village said impatiently.
"That's right. Besides, your county's investigation is too strict, which has caused my brothers to suffer a lot of injustice!" The leader of Feilang Village also complained.
"What's the rush?" Lei Liquan shouted, and then offered an idea: "Since this route doesn't work, let's try another one!"
After saying this, Lei Liquan took a pen and drew a route on the map. "I have already discussed two alternative routes with others. The first is the safest, but it takes a longer route, where there are people to meet us. The second one avoids the White Tiger Barbarians and Lingwu County and is also shorter, but it requires preparing multiple ships and using both land and water."
"First of all, safety is important."
"The line is so long, it's really hard for the brothers!"
"The second one is, anyway, we just need to avoid these two forces that are attacking us."
"It's too expensive, and we're not familiar with this route."
"I have a new route, you might want to consider it."
"How come your route overlooked our village? It's so far from our village. Do you want me to change my base again?"
…
The leaders were arguing endlessly, which gave Lei Liquan a headache. Perhaps they could not reach a conclusion even after an entire afternoon of discussion.
On the other side, County Lieutenant Lu met the person sent by the spy.
"Sir, Lei Liquan has already negotiated with the four strongholds." A servant reported the situation to County Captain Lu.
"Very good. I will recommend you for merit. You stay and lead the way." County Lieutenant Lu nodded with satisfaction and then reported the situation to Chen Yunxuan.
After Chen Yunxuan and Lin Tongxi learned the news, they immediately decided to take action and head towards the village.
Many villagers immediately stopped Chen Yunxuan and his group after seeing this. One of them asked sternly, "What are you doing?"
"Hello, big brother. We are from Chen's company. We are on our way to Lingwu County for business. We passed by your village and would like to rest here for a night." After saying this, Lin Tongxi, who was dressed as a housekeeper, stuffed silver into the villagers' hands.
After the villager accepted the silver, his ferocious face suddenly became pleasant, and he invited the caravan into the village: "Ahem, my father is the village chief, there shouldn't be any problem, everyone go into the village and take a rest first."
After obtaining permission from the villagers, Lin Tongxi and others entered the village safely.
"Well, I'll report this to my father first." Just as the villager was about to leave the house, he was injected with an anesthetic needle by Lin Tongxi, and his body gradually became weak.
On the other side, Pan Lao, the head of Lingyi Township, and the village chief were listening in the house. They also had a share in this smuggling business.
"Okay, stop arguing! Let's talk it out nicely! Don't talk about other things." County Magistrate Lei was obviously dissatisfied with the long-lasting quarrel on the field.
The atmosphere finally cooled down, and the village chiefs finally shut up.
But in this silence, everyone noticed the noise outside.
"What's going on outside! Village chief, go and take a look!" County Magistrate Lei was already angry, and he became even angrier after hearing the noise.
Before the village chief could stand up, the wooden door of the house was kicked open.
"Who is so bold as to hinder us!" County Magistrate Lei couldn't stand it any longer and slammed the table.
"Sir, it's really Lei Liquan!" The officer who kicked the door outside reported the situation.
The evidence is already sufficient, and now Lei Liquan has been caught on the spot colluding with bandits. If we don’t arrest him now, when will we arrest him?
Seeing this, Lin Tongxi took out a megaphone and said, "You have been surrounded. Give up resistance immediately and surrender!"
With the help of the loudspeaker, many people in the village heard the call to surrender!
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