Chapter 195 Eight-Headed Wolf
An open space on the mountainside of Lianshan.
Fang Bowen and his family members, along with the others, had all arrived. The sacks on the cart behind them were bulging, and the bandits stared at them with wide eyes!
One cartload of grain was more than they could plunder an entire village. No wonder they were wealthy landowners in various towns, with so much grain stored up.
Geng Laosan stood on the boulder, carrying a large knife, tilting his head to examine the people on the platform.
Although there were fifteen people dressed in fine clothes, several of them were clearly not wealthy men, but rather martial arts practitioners.
It was also clear from the person leading the carriage that he was no ordinary servant.
Everything was exactly the same as the intelligence he had received.
However, he thought these people were really bold to send such people here without fear of losing their lives.
Fang Bowen disliked being looked down upon, especially by bandits, and his expression was extremely unpleasant.
He glanced around, not seeing the person he was looking for, and said coldly, "We agreed to exchange grain for people, where are they?"
Even when he was scolded, Geng Laosan remained calm and even sat down, laughing, "What's the rush? These young ladies and gentlemen aren't used to mountain roads; they're still on their way."
Wan Ziyan had warned them long ago, and the current situation proves that he was right.
Although Fang Bowen disliked the bandits, he felt that for his sister's safety, he could tolerate them for a while longer and wait until he saw them before launching an attack on Lianshan.
As soon as they see people, the soldiers of Yunhe County, who are stationed several miles away, will launch an attack, take Lianshan in one fell swoop, and capture several bandit leaders alive.
However, he was worried because he only saw the second-in-command and not the leader. He feared that Lianshan had other plans.
Geng Laosan didn't care about everyone's stares. His eyes were fixed on the sacks behind them, and a smile appeared on his lips: "Fifteen carts really are all full of grain?"
Fang Bowen gritted his teeth and said, "If it's not grain, what else could it be? Does the second-in-command think we'd try to fool you with something else?"
"As long as it's grain, that's fine. I'm just worried that the brothers will have worked for nothing." Geng Laosan rubbed his fingertips, revealing a wicked smile.
Even if only half the sack was filled with grain, it would be enough to keep them happy for a while.
Moreover, it would be a waste of the government's good intentions not to make good use of prisoners who are delivered to our door!
Fang Bowen didn't think too much about it; he was only thinking that once the others arrived, this bandit would have a hard time.
Pang, the county magistrate, and Xie, disguised as wealthy men, were at the end of the procession, blocked by groups of people in front of them, whispering among themselves.
"Brother Xie, what do you think Geng Laosan is planning? It's too passive for us to just sit here and wait. If you ask me, let's not worry about it and just attack. The landlords can see what's going on now, they can't blame us for being ruthless, can they?"
Xie Xing gave him a cold look.
He used to dislike dealing with government officials the most, precisely because of these kinds of things.
In their eyes, suppressing bandits is the top priority, and it's normal for some ordinary people to sacrifice their lives. At worst, they'll provide some compensation and comfort afterward.
However, in the eyes of Xie Xing and other martial arts practitioners, punishing evil and promoting good, and helping the weak and oppressed, is the right path.
Even if it was a beggar, that was still a human life, and he shouldn't have died without a clear explanation.
"Wait and see what he's planning to do."
The other rescue plan was known only to people in the martial arts world and had never been told to the government. Therefore, among this group, only Xie Xing knew that some people were acting on their own.
There's no news yet, so waiting for the right time is the best approach.
He was just a little worried about encountering a tiger coming down the mountain on the other side.
Even with Xue Jiang in charge, he was still worried that the plan would fail.
He was a fellow disciple of Xue Jiang, and also a fellow disciple of Xia Shan Hu.
Although he joined the sect late and had never interacted with Xia Shanhu, and this person had even become a taboo subject among everyone, he still knew a little bit about him from Xue Jiang.
Xia Shanhu was once his master's favorite disciple, but due to trouble in his village, he got into a major conflict with the government and betrayed his master, becoming a bandit in Lianshan.
His real name wasn't Xia Shan Hu (下山虎), but a nickname he adopted after going up the mountain, so few people knew what his connection was with the martial arts school.
But Xie Xing knew that Xue Jiang would always bring it up when he was drunk, feeling guilty that he hadn't stopped Xia Shan Hu's behavior back then, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
Xie Xing, however, did not think so.
Such was the nature of the tiger descending the mountain; even Xue Jiang's attempts to stop it were futile.
These bandits clearly harbored deep resentment towards the government, and even explicitly required that they have a grudge against the government in their entry into the mountains.
"If we wait any longer, what if they set an ambush? We're doomed!"
Pang, the county magistrate, interrupted Xie Xing's thoughts.
He paused for a moment, chuckled twice, and felt that County Magistrate Pang was still lacking in experience. "You think he would set up an ambush at the last minute? If he wanted to ambush us, he would have already set it up and was waiting for us!"
I'm not doing anything now; I just want to play around a bit more.
The Geng Laosan he knew was no pushover.
"Gentlemen, it's no fun talking from the back. Why don't you come out and chat together?" Old Geng leaned on a boulder with one hand and rested the other on his bent knee, looking relaxed and carefree.
Xie Xing walked forward upon hearing the sound, but was stopped by County Magistrate Pang.
"Don't go! Going out will expose us!"
Xie Xing glanced at him. "He found us a long time ago! He's just playing with you like a dog!"
Having said that, he stepped forward and stood in front of Fang Bowen.
Xie Xing's actions puzzled the person in disguise. How could he save people if he exposed his identity like this?
But then County Magistrate Pang suddenly realized that a few people were missing.
He quickly followed and stood at the other end of Fang Bowen's path.
"That's more like it!" Old Geng chuckled and glanced in one direction. "I've heard that Young Master Xie and County Magistrate Pang are highly skilled in martial arts. I wonder how they compare to my elder brother's precious animals."
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