Chapter Sixteen: Kill, Kill, Kill

  "Sanzhai master has an order! Cavalry is not allowed to enter the village!" The infantry behind loudly relayed the command. But those "flower girl" bandits' cavalry, how could they be held back? More than a dozen horses rushed into the village with a loud whoosh. Those in the back also wanted to follow, but Xujiayuan was a rural area with narrow roads, and dozens of horses were squeezed together, blocking the entrance completely.

  The infantrymen who followed afterwards looked at each other in a hurry, jumping up and down, scolding loudly. Some clever ones immediately turned around to find a small path into the village. The impatient ones simply climbed over the stone wall. The three bandits' leaders shouted from behind: "Foolish pigs! The cavalry can't maneuver inside the village, what are you doing going in?" But the bandits were all thinking about the young women and daughters-in-law, who would listen to him at this moment? They rushed into the village in a hurry.

  "Muddy clay can't be used to build a wall! A thief is still a thief!" The Third Master cursed, and had no choice but to urge his warhorse forward to direct the traffic.

  The bandits who had entered the village first looked around, but saw that every household in the village was closed and not a single person was seen. Where did those women go earlier? Just as they were puzzled, someone suddenly shouted: "There!" It turned out that the few people who had fled back to the village earlier were escaping towards an entrance. How could the meat that had been delivered to their mouths be let go? The infantry and cavalry mixed together, chasing after them in a flurry of anxiety.

  Rushing to the entrance, it turned out that this should be a vegetable garden, because there were still manure buckets by the garden, and even a pile of freshly picked melons, fruits and vegetables. But for some reason, the ground was now covered with a thick layer of wheat straw. The bandits rushed in, but disappeared from view, just now they had clearly seen them escaping here, how did they suddenly disappear? Looking at this vegetable garden again, there were farmhouses on both sides, the north side was a stone wall, and only the south side was the entrance.

  Several thieves rushed to the wall, but one of them fell with a thud. The wheat stalks were originally very slippery, and the others didn't think much of it. With the help of the firelight in the village, they saw that there was an exit in the middle section of the wall, but now it was completely sealed off by some messy things such as cow carts and horse carts. What's going on?

  "What smell?" someone took a deep breath and asked strangely.

  "It seems to be..." The others also smelled the strange smell in the air, feeling the ground was wet and slippery. The person who fell on the ground touched it with their hand, put it under their nose for a sniff, and suddenly changed expression! It's oil! Oil has been poured on the wheat straw, this is an attempt to...

  At this time, some people began to grip their weapons tightly and vigilantly sized up the surroundings. The brain that had been confused by lust gradually cleared up, something was wrong, how could there be a layer of wheat straw in the vegetable garden? Even oil was poured on it? Could it be a trap? At this moment, the voice of San Zhuang's urgent defeat came from outside the crowd "This is a trap! Withdraw quickly! Withdraw quickly!" As soon as he entered the village, he found that there wasn't a single house on fire in the village! Those so-called raging fires were just piles of straw placed in open spaces!

  "Retreat! Wit...!" A bandit soldier had just said half of the word "withdraw", when a bowstring sounded! A feathered arrow, neither biased nor deviated, hit right in the chest!

  Inside Xu's village, the sound of gongs was loud! Countless voices rose and fell, shouting "Kill the bandits! One bandit head is worth ten taels!" The bandits' faces were all pale with shock. How could this be? Were they surrounded by government troops? Was Zhao's family offering a reward for their heads? This bitter fate!

  More than a hundred people crowded in the vegetable garden, pushing and trampling each other, desperately trying to rush out. At this moment, the doors and windows of the farmhouses on both sides were wide open! "Fire!" shouted the bandits loudly! Others had not yet figured out what was happening when they saw several carts rushing out!

  "Throw!" A voice came from somewhere. Dozens of flames, in the air drew arc after arc, fell into the crowd, and the fire rose! Those few cars made the bandits avoid them, some were ignited by their clothes, and they were crowded together by their companions, unable to stretch out their hands to extinguish the flames, nor could they roll on the ground, only to suffer from the pain of being burned alive by the fierce fire! The mournful cries rose in all directions!

  "Get out quickly! Get out! You pigs and dogs, get out!" The Third Village Master shouted angrily outside. But as soon as he finished scolding, he heard a noise behind him! Turning his head to look, he was immediately frightened out of his wits! Several trains loaded with hay and set on fire were rushing towards them at high speed! The bandits standing outside the garden couldn't think much, their first reaction was to retreat backwards!

  The thief who had just managed to squeeze out of the garden with great difficulty was blocked by his companions and forced to go back!

  The flames are getting more and more prosperous! The miserable and desperate howls echoed in the sky above Xujiazhuang. As the saying goes, "a cornered dog will jump over a wall", there were no shortage of clever and resourceful thieves among the enemy troops, who pushed their companions hard and rushed towards the farmhouses on both sides.

  But what awaited them was not a safe haven, but dozens of sharp long weapons! The thief who rushed to the front, as soon as he entered the door, suddenly let out a painful cry! Lowering his head to look, one long spear and one steel fork were stabbed into his abdomen!

  "Kill!" A fat man wearing leather armor, wielding a broad axe, let out a tiger's roar. But the broad axe did not come down to chop.

  "You're damned stupid! Kill!" Another woman, with a man's voice, holding a cleaver, chopped down at him with all her might. The fat man gritted his teeth and swung the broadaxe wildly in his hand. Blood splattered everywhere!

  "Don't just stand there, charge in!" The bandits behind shouted urgently. But were there only two people inside the house? A dozen or so long and short weapons clashed, the piercing smell of blood gradually spreading...

  They kept rushing in and falling down, this was the repeated behavior of the bandits. In the air, the stench of charred skin and flesh made people want to vomit!

  While outside the vegetable garden, the cavalry and infantry who failed to rush in were also mixed together, wanting to rescue people but unable to do so. The shouts of killing in the village rose and fell, making it impossible for people to distinguish how many ambushes there were in the village. All that could be heard was shouting on the east side and commotion on the west side, with the sound of gongs and drums never-ending.

  "Run for it!"

  A trembling voice rose, and immediately got countless responses. The thieves who were still killing each other just now, like startled birds, one by one, followed in a hurry, running wildly towards the village. The bluestone road that runs through Xujiazhuang is not wide, and the thieves' horses trample on it, making it unbearable to look at!

  Just as they saw the exit in the distance and felt slightly relieved, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. With the help of the firelight, the robbers clearly saw that it was a young man around twenty years old, wearing armor but no helmet, holding a wooden sword, with an expressionless face. But in those deep eyes, endless killing intent was gathering!

  "Lay down your arms, surrender and we won't kill you!" The young man pointed his knife and shouted loudly.

  Mind your own business and die! A bandit on horseback slapped the long knife in his hand onto the horse's flank, causing the warhorse to whinny in pain and charge at the young man like a thunderbolt. However, the latter remained unmoving.

  "Kill!" The bandits immediately raised their long knives!

  "Die!" The young man let out a furious roar, suddenly dropping his body! The large knife in his hand swung out! Crouching down, turning sideways, swinging the knife, three movements almost completed at the same time! The war horse's head was facing downwards, its buttocks upwards, doing a forward somersault, the bandit soldier on top was heavily slammed onto the stone slab, only feeling dizzy and blacking out in front of his eyes. But the other side didn't give him any chance to catch his breath, urgent footsteps quickly closed in!

  Survival is human instinct, this bandit has been on the run since the rebellion started and has survived many battles, he's no ordinary person. He gritted his teeth to calm himself down, kept a clear head, and slowly got up.

  The blade tore through the air, whizzing by!

  The bandit suddenly recoiled, and the wooden knife was swung back in a reverse grip! Using his own method against him! This one move was the simplest yet most effective! It was a fatal technique honed from mortal combat!

  But this knife swung out, cutting only air! The thief's heart skipped a beat, despair surging up to his head, it's all over! As the young man leaped high into the air, the knife that chopped down on him cut off half of his shoulder; as he plunged towards the ground, he still used the last bit of strength in his life to slightly turn his body sideways. He finally saw clearly the young man's face. This face shouldn't be on such a cruel person's head...

  The young man turned around, facing hundreds of swarming enemy soldiers, still saying: "Put down your weapons, disarm and do not kill!"

  There's no fool in this world, over a hundred brutal and ruthless robbers can't possibly surrender to a little yellow-haired kid!

  "Kill!" Behind the young man, a group of people suddenly surged out, holding various weapons and rushed forward!

  "They're all just peasants! Don't panic, kill them!" A short and thin man with a lewd appearance, seemingly the leader of the bandits, shouted loudly.

  The bandits heard this and their morale was boosted! Right, although they had fallen into an ambush, now these people blocking the way were just farmers from the village, what's there to be afraid of? Let's fight our way out of here!

  Soon, these bandits were shocked to discover that these people were really farmers? How could each of them be more ruthless than the government troops? That guy who boasted about his superior skills was immediately disarmed by a man wielding two kitchen knives! And that guy who claimed to be the number one swordsman on Thousand Ox Mountain had his head chopped off as soon as they faced each other! Not good! The little brat in armor is coming to kill us!

  In the thieves' group, the leader with a rat-like head was hiding behind, urging his subordinates to fight to the death. But he suddenly found that his position was getting closer and closer to the front? When the fully armed young man appeared in front of him, he suddenly realized that these bastards were retreating!

  Staring at the young man in front of him, who didn't have a shred of humanity left on his body, he didn't dare to move, fearing that any slight movement would trigger the wooden knife in the young man's hand.

  That knife, in the end, was raised. In a moment of crisis, at the crossroads of life and death, this bandit leader took out the treasure of the Jianghu people's survival! The action is like this: slowly raise the weapon in hand to the top of the head, then slowly bend both knees until they touch the ground. Then, clear your throat, use all your might to shout: "Good man, spare my life!"

  This treasure, of course, is not a panacea and can't avoid having accidents. So, what follows is waiting. The young man's knife seemed to have not fallen, the leader of the bandits secretly thanked all the gods in heaven.

  "Spare our lives! We surrender!"