Shenxi said to Zheng Ankang, "Don't move here yet. Leave a few people behind to check if there are any survivors. We'll head to the next village immediately."
The next village, Wangjiazhuang, was ten miles away. Chenxi and his companions rode at full speed and arrived quickly.
Before we even arrived, we heard sounds of fighting and children crying.
“You bandits, who kill and rob, will surely die a horrible death.”
"Haha, so what? At least you'll die before us."
"Take the pretty girls with you, kill the rest."
"yes."
Chenxi urged his horse on and quickly arrived at the village.
Many villagers fought with the bandits, some on horseback and others dismounted.
Although the villagers' martial arts skills were not comparable to those of the bandits, they still fought bravely.
Shenxi took the lead and first dealt with a bandit who was about to chop off a child's head.
Zheng Ankang and his men showed no mercy, charging into the crowd and beginning a massacre of the bandits.
Only killing can stop the killing.
The bandits' arrogance was quickly extinguished in front of Shen Xi's men.
"Brothers, let's retreat."
The leader of the bandits gave the order directly.
"Want to back out? Dream on."
"Anyone who resists shall be killed without exception."
These people's testimonies are no longer relevant.
Shenxi recognized one of the men as the bandits from Lingtou Township from last time.
These bandits also recognized Shenxi.
Last time, I was so scared by Chen Xi's beating that I didn't expect Chen Xi to come so quickly this time.
They came secretly, launching a night raid.
Who knew this village would be so difficult to plunder?
They were discovered by villagers on night patrol before they even entered the village, about a kilometer away.
The villagers issued a warning, and although the bandits killed the patrolling villagers at the same time, the village had already received the alarm.
The villagers of this village and another village not far away are incredibly fearless; fighting them is no big deal.
That's why it's taken so long to capture it.
Seeing that the villagers were about to collapse, Shenxi arrived with his men.
Chenxi's words, "Thinking of escaping is wishful thinking," were indeed true; the bandits were all too optimistic, and in the end, none of them managed to escape.
They were either killed or injured, and all the injured were tied up.
Even if no further statements are needed, it's best to get the details or ask for any additional information.
When the bandit leader Lu Tian was tied up, he laughed loudly: "Chen Xi, even if you kill us all, or even if you destroy Linchuan County, can you defeat the Cao family?"
Chen Xi snorted coldly: "Whether I can win or not is none of your concern. You should worry about how many more days your head can stay on your head!"
Lu Tian then laughed loudly: "Eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again. The world is in such chaos. If I hadn't been forced into this situation, why would I have become an outlaw?"
Shen Xi sneered, "Becoming an outlaw is your business, but I cannot tolerate your indiscriminate killing of innocent people!"
"No matter how much you suffered or how much you were forced back then, you could have risen up in rebellion, you could have resisted those who harmed you or the class that harmed you. But your hands started slaughtering those who were inferior to you. What kind of hero are you? At most, you're just a coward."
"Hmph, calling them bears is an insult to animals; they're worse than beasts."
Lu Tian's mouth broke down because the officials forced him into a corner, and his family starved to death. That's why he relied on his martial arts skills to become an outlaw.
At first, he thought that if he could kill a few corrupt officials, it would be a way to avenge his family.
But Hu Axiong with the big beard was their leader, and what he did most was plunder the people.
At first, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Boss, shouldn't we be killing and robbing corrupt officials, local tyrants, and evil gentry?"
Hu Axiong laughed several times, and even his confidants next to him laughed.
"Ah Guang, why don't you tell him why we don't rob and kill corrupt officials, local tyrants, and bullies?"
Ah Guang, Hu Axiong's brother, patted Lu Tian on the shoulder and said, "Brother, those officials and powerful figures all have their own guards. Officials can even mobilize the army. As for us, let alone intercepting and killing them, we'd just be adding food to their dishes."
"Besides, it's not that we won't intercept the wealthy at all. We need to assess the situation and do our research beforehand. We can rob those local tyrants and merchants who don't have much of a background, but we shouldn't touch those with a background, especially those with a strong background."
Lu Tian was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that even among bandits, the strong bullied the weak!
“It’s different for ordinary people. In such a chaotic world, killing is no big deal. Our boss has the ability to make sure the government can’t find him.”
Having spent a long time in the bandit's den, Lu Tian, whose moral compass was already weak, began to join Hu Axiong in robbing and plundering passing merchants.
Now, Chenxi's question brought back memories of the deaths of his parents, brothers, and sisters. Back then, he was just an ordinary person being slaughtered. How is his current behavior any different from that of the people who harmed his entire family?
But he still stubbornly insisted, "No matter what, I've had a period of blissful happiness. My life has been worthwhile."
Chenxi was too lazy to argue with him and simply ordered, "Keep these people under control, and leave a few people behind to handle the aftermath."
"Let's go to the next village."
The next village is Luzhuangzi, which is quite far away, about fifteen or sixteen li away, and is located in a relatively secluded back mountain.
There is only one village there, and transportation is inconvenient.
In this era, villages were not close to each other, mostly separated by five or six li, or even more than ten li.
A township typically has about ten villages, while densely populated townships may have more than a dozen.
The density of villages in Taoyuan Township is mainly higher in the neighboring townships, while the villages near the mountains are very few.
There is a village near Wangjiazhuang. Originally, they were one village, but later, due to population growth, they split into two villages.
They are Wangjiazhuang and Xiaowangjiazhuang respectively.
This time, the bandits plundered several villages near the mountains, including Lu Zhuangzi, who was still in the mountains.
The population of Luzhuangzi was small, only about a hundred people. The villagers usually engaged in both hunting and farming.
Chenxi raised his voice, thinking all the way to Luzhuangzi, but the mountain road was difficult to travel, and it was very difficult for the horse to go up.
"We need to build a good road in the future."
To get rich, you need to build roads.
How can one get rich when the roads are so difficult to navigate?
After a while, as dawn was breaking, we finally arrived at the village.
But the village was quiet.
Shenxi was afraid of seeing a field of corpses like in Shanbei Village.
But there was no smell of blood in the air.
Shenxi led his men into the village in a hurry.
"Sir, no one's here."
No one was home.
Everything showed signs of having been ransacked; tables, chairs, and benches were overturned and scattered about.
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