Chapter 29: Night Raid

  The old man looked extremely excited, with an unusual glow in his eyes. Qiao Yu watched this scene and guessed that this small village must have suffered greatly at the hands of Tian Gua Village, or else it wouldn't be so out of control.

  "Elder, we will definitely do our best to eliminate the scourge of Tian Bao Village. However, I still need to trouble you for help. This time, I brought 300 people with me and they need a place to rest. Don't worry about food, but it would be great if you could provide us with a place to stay. Rest assured that I will pay double the price!"

  "It doesn't matter about the money, it's just that this is too simple and not good enough for all of you military officers. But I'd like to ask, how many people did you bring this time?"

  "There were three hundred people in total, what's going on with the old man?"

  The old man's eyes couldn't hide his sense of loss, and he sighed as he said: "I advise you, sir, to turn back now. This Tian Gang stockade is not something that your small group can handle. The previous times the imperial court sent over a thousand men, but they still couldn't take care of Tian Gang stockade. On the contrary, after the imperial court withdrew their troops, we suffered even more. More than ten people were beaten to death right before our eyes!" As he spoke, the old man's expression became especially despondent.

  "Third Grandfather, rest assured, we are not the same as those incompetent Green Camp soldiers. We will definitely eliminate the bandits and avenge our relatives." Wang Hua comforted the old man, who seemed to be half-believing and half-doubting. At this time, there was also movement in the side room, and several heads cautiously poked out, revealing that they were all villagers from here, mostly elderly and weak. Those who could escape had already escaped, leaving behind only those waiting for death. They had been harassed by the Tianluo gang for a long time, and this time, upon hearing that someone was coming to their aid, they didn't think twice and hid in the house, as if waiting for the apocalypse.

  It wasn't until Wang Lao Han went out and chatted for a while without anything unexpected happening that everyone dared to walk out of the house one after another. A few people also recognized Wang Huai, but seeing his majestic and upright military uniform, plus the rifle on his back, they became somewhat timid.

  "Don't be afraid, everyone! These are government troops who have come to exterminate the Heavenly Punishment Fort. Everyone can rest assured!"

  These people seemed as if they didn't dare to believe their own ears, "Third Grandfather, Tianxia Village is so formidable, can they win with just these people? Won't we end up being the unlucky ones again?"

  "Stop talking nonsense, what's the difference between dying early or late? Everyone quickly arrange accommodations for the military officers, clean up those empty rooms and bring out whatever food we have. We can't neglect our duties to the officials!"

  In the small village, a dozen or so more people came out one after another. The original village with over 100 people now had only about 20 people left. The guards also worked together to clean up some empty houses, simply ate some dry rations, arranged enough sentries and then all went to rest.

  Wang Lao Han barely found some white flour at home, less than half a catty, and the others were even more miserable, just some wild vegetables and bran. "How can this be used to entertain guests?"

  Qiao Yu also knew the villagers' predicament, and smiled: "Old man, don't bother, we've all brought food, as long as we can get hot water, that's enough. Old man, do you know if you can tell me about the terrain around Tianfu Village and the internal situation?"

  The old man Wang ordered someone to boil water, and he sat opposite Qiao Yu, "This official, Tianfan Village has more than 500 people, and the location is special. Three sides are cliffs, only one mountain road is narrow and easy to defend, difficult to attack. In the past few times, the government army attacked, but was easily repelled by the other side, and couldn't even get up!"

  Three-sided cliff? Qiao Yu's mind was racing with calculations, this situation was indeed difficult to deal with, it seemed that a direct confrontation was out of the question. Even if they managed to take down the enemy, the casualties would be unbearable, and he still had to rescue people, which was impossible. It seemed that a surprise attack was the only option.

  "Isn't there a small path or something like that on the three cliffs of Lao Ren Jia?"

  "There is, but it was blocked by the mountain bandits long ago. They have built a stronghold wall and cannot be attacked at all!" It seems that this Tian Gang stronghold has been able to dominate for so many years, indeed with some tricks.

  At this time, Qiao Cheng had already returned home. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Qiao Guangyuan and Bai Shi waiting at the door. They hadn't rested well for several days and looked extremely haggard. Qiao Cheng felt a pang of sadness when he saw his parents like this: "Father and mother, I'm unfilial, making you worry and be frightened!"

  "What does it have to do with you if a thief is doing evil? Hurry up and think of a way to rescue the person!"

  "Dad, I've already found out that the Tianxia Village has a huge influence, even the imperial court can't do anything about them. We can only pay for ransom, let's take out all the silver at home and deal with those fields too!"

  "Anyway, those are just external things, talent is what matters most!"

  Er Lao and Qiao Cheng entered the backyard house, Qiao Guangyuan pulled Qiao Cheng: "Why didn't San Ge come back with you, did he go to rescue his sister-in-law?"

  "Father is wise, Eldest Third suspects that there's a traitor in the family, so he had Xia'er and the child kidnapped. He wants me to return first and pretend to raise funds to distract the thief, then he'll lead people to raid the mountain stronghold!"

  "Hmm, San'er's thoughts are not bad. Our family has always been cautious, and this time your wife returned to her parents' home with more than 20 guards, but they were quietly taken away by thieves, which means their itinerary had been thoroughly investigated beforehand. If it wasn't an insider, what was it? But can San'er be sure to rescue the person?"

  "I believe Lao San, if something unfortunate happens, it must be Xia Er's fate being cut short!"

  "What kind of world is this, how can there be people who dare to rob and extort in broad daylight? My heart feels as if it has been ripped out! Oh, my poor wife and daughter!"

  Madam Bai's eyes were already swollen from crying, and now they were welling up with tears again. Qiao Cheng hastily comforted her: "Mother, don't worry, Eldest Third is a capable person. Let's first create some momentum and gather all the family's assets to raise funds. I've already instructed Qian Tai to be on the lookout. If anyone is found to be in contact with outsiders, we'll keep them under surveillance. If we can't find the traitor, I'm afraid our family won't be safe either!"

  The Qiao family had already made all the arrangements, and all the servants were mobilized, waiting in array. In addition, they began to sell off their properties and raise funds. There were also several bodyguards brought back from Chongqing who secretly kept a close eye on everyone in the Qiao mansion, monitoring anyone who showed any unusual behavior.

  Two days later, everyone in the village of Tian Gai heard that the Qiao family was selling their land to raise silver, and they all smiled with joy, drinking heavily and eating meat. In these times, even bandits were having a hard time, ordinary people were so poor that they couldn't even get rice or flour from them, and anyone who had some money would hire many bodyguards, but if things didn't go well, they might run into trouble, and it wouldn't be clear who was robbing whom.

  However, this time the leader Chen Heihu was deeply calculated and caught the eldest lady of the richest Qiao family in Dongchuan, a big fat sheep, indeed worth celebrating. They also heard that the Qiao family had opened a large factory in Chongqing, with countless silver coins, having money and power, just right for extortion. Everyone could eat and drink well, these bandits didn't have any worries at all. They had repelled several rounds of attacks by the government, they knew better than anyone about the combat effectiveness of the government army. The government couldn't do anything to the mountain stronghold, and they still had hostages in hand, unless the Qiao family didn't want those two big living people back.

  It was precisely because of this consideration that the mountain stronghold was more festive than ever before, even more exciting than New Year's. In a small valley at the foot of the rear mountain, Second Dog was drinking heavily at the entrance to the valley, with two tipsy little rascals by his side.

  "Second Brother Dog, the chick inside is really beautiful, those eyebrows, those eyes, her skin is so white it's like it can squeeze out water! If I could sleep with her for one night, even if I die afterwards, it would be worth it!"

  "I've heard that people with money use milk to bathe, unlike those village women who don't even know how to take a bath all year round, no wonder they're not tender. But I'm telling you, don't have any evil thoughts, the master of the house has been holding back and hasn't taken action yet. As long as the silver is in hand, what kind of woman can't be found?"

  Two dogs were talking, when suddenly they felt a chill on their necks, and then they knew nothing, leaving the two little monsters to search for them in all directions.

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