Chapter Seventeen: Don't Be Too Happy Too Early

  In the dead of night, the big fire in Xujiazhuang had been extinguished. In the air, the smell of blood and smoke mixed together, plus the thick smoke, made people breathless. Yang Yan led dozens of men to escort dozens of surrendered bandits. These people still couldn't understand why they were defeated by these country bumpkins, especially since they had looted dozens of villages, repelled five rounds of government troops' attacks, and even captured a county town. And what's more, many of the country bumpkins were just kids!

  "Duli Suo point!" Zhang Qing then directed the remaining militia, according to Xu Wei's instructions, to transport all the bandits' corpses to the riverbank. As the two brothers passed by each other, Zhang Qing asked, "Is Ma Er okay?"

  Yang Yan coughed violently, shook his head and sighed. This guy was born to be a killer, with a natural boldness that allowed him to take lives without batting an eye. But Ma Er was different, even as a kid he was a coward who would run away from fights unless he had the upper hand. Tonight, at least seven or eight people died under his axe. At first, Yang Yan thought he killed with ease, but afterwards, he became a completely different person.

  "This is really enjoyable tonight! Alright, I admit it, Ninth Brother is... Ah, Zhang Qing, I'm talking to you!"

  By the river, on the wooden bridge, Ma Tai sat motionless, gazing into the distance like a stone statue. The axe that had killed seven or eight bandits had been thrown into the river by him. He had never seen anyone kill before, let alone do it himself, but tonight, he had killed more than one person. He clearly remembered the last person he killed, whose skull was split open by the axe, splashing his brains onto Ma Tai's face. Although he had washed in the river many times, he still felt a stench lingering on him.

  Ten fingers grasped his hair tightly, he didn't dare to think again. As soon as he thought about it, the image of that skull split in two immediately emerged in his mind...

  "Have a drink." A voice sounded beside him. He suddenly raised his head, and under the moonlight, Xu Wei's face was no longer arrogant and cruel, but was filled with smiles, just like the moon in the sky, making him feel close.

  Ma Tai's lips moved slightly, wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't say it. He took the wine jug handed over by Xu Wei and drank a big gulp.

  "I know what you're thinking, that's just how the world is. If we don't do this tonight, then it won't just be us brothers who will die..." Xu Wei took a swig of wine from the jug, and gently shook it, listening to the sound of the liquid inside, lost in thought.

  "Old Nine, in the past at the village, in the county, others were all afraid of me, you know, once upon a time, uh, where was it? Ah, I forgot, oh, in the county? Hey, what's wrong with this head?" Ma Tai spat out wine breath, his words somewhat incoherent.

  Xu Wei quietly looked at him and didn't speak up.

  "But I understand, it's not because I'm Ma Tai or anything special, but because others are afraid of you. In short, I want to let them know that I'm not your dog, I'm your brother! I'm also a man! I can do things! I can do great things!" Ma Tai waved his fist excitedly.

  Xu Wei patted his shoulder and laughed: "You're not only a good fellow, but also the hero of Xujiacun." To be honest, Ma Er's performance tonight really made him look at him in a new light. Zhang Qing said that when Ma Er swept through the enemy army, he was so intimidating that about twenty bandits didn't dare to take another step forward. There was a heavily armored bandit cavalryman who couldn't be injured by swords or guns, but Ma Er chopped him in the chest with an axe. After the battle, when the militiamen took off his 30-40 kg heavy armor, they found that all his ribs were broken and his entire chest had caved in.

  "Jiuge, you, what did you say?" Ma Tai couldn't believe his ears. Jiuge said, I...I am a hero?

  "You are a hero of Xujiazhuang who deserves the title, it is precisely because of your desperate struggle that all the old and young people in the village were able to preserve their lives." Xu Wei said seriously.

  Ma Tai's lips were trembling non-stop, and in his tiger-like eyes, tears were actually welling up.

  "Brother! I..." Xu Wei was pulled back by one hand, Ma Er shook his head, unable to speak.

  "I heard you're a year and a half older than me, just based on your guts tonight, I'm calling you from the bottom of my heart..." Xu Wei's words were cut off as Ma Er suddenly pounced over, embracing him tightly and wailing loudly. His physique, his strength, nearly suffocated Xu Jiu.

  Xu Wei Zheng wanted to comfort him a few more times, but Ma Tai suddenly let go of him and looked him up and down from head to toe with his eyes, asking inexplicably: "Are you really my ninth brother?" Even the stupidest person could see that Xu Wei was now completely different from before.

  After a slight hesitation, Xu Wei smiled and said, "Brother, you're drunk."

  "I'm not drunk! My grandson is the one who's drunk! Watch me, I'll take two steps for you. See? Two steps..." Just as he took his first step, his massive body fell backwards and didn't move again.

  At this time, Zhang Qing led the people to pull the corpses of the bandits with a cow cart to the river bank. Seeing Ma Er lying on the bridge and smelling the wine, he already understood in his heart and sighed: "People who don't dare to look at pigs being killed can actually be instigated by you to kill people, Xu Wei, you have your own way."

  Although he didn't understand why he used the word "incite", Xu Wei didn't refute, turned his head and took a look at the dozen or so ox carts, asking: "What's the outcome of the battle?"

  "There are 184 corpses here, less than half of them look like humans. The rest are either burnt beyond recognition or hacked to pieces. A few brave ones are still struggling. We captured 73 prisoners, stripped them of their clothes and locked them in the cowshed. Our side suffered 24 casualties, six of whom are seriously injured and being treated." Zhang Qing spoke casually, but every detail was clear and vivid.

  Xu Wei was somewhat surprised: "What? Not a single one died?"

  "Do you really think the men in our village are just peasants who shovel manure? Which one of them doesn't have ten or twenty years of experience? Ah, this is something you should be most clear about. Oh..." Suddenly remembering that Xu Wei's brain hasn't been quite right since his serious illness. But that's not it either, if you say he's not clever, then what happened tonight? Is it because Old Master Xu taught him? Does he want his son to establish a reputation in Xu Family Village or even Xiajin County? So, is the old master trying to help him achieve merit and use this opportunity to make him an official? No, that's not it either, the old master has already retired and has already helped Xu Dage become an official after he left office, what does Xu Jiu have to do with anything?"

  Just as Zheng was at a loss for what to do next, he heard Xu Wei shout: "Throw it!"

  "What was thrown?" Zhang Qing didn't react for a moment.

  "Nonsense, of course we're dumping the body. Why else would we bring it to the riverbank? You and I are brothers who eat barbecue?" Xu Wei said with a smile.

  Zhang Qing felt a wave of nausea and frowned, saying: "What's the point of throwing it into the river?" Before Xu Wei could respond, he understood. This river flowed all the way to the outskirts of Xiajin County, and throwing the corpses into the river would allow them to drift away with the current. The bandits surrounding Xiajin would be immediately thrown into chaos upon seeing this, and the siege of Xiajin would also be lifted!

  Xu Wei saw his expression and knew he had understood, so he smiled and said: "Talking to you is straightforward."

  Zhang Qing examined his brother, Xu Wei, under the moonlight. Like Ma Er, he wondered if this was really Xu Wei. Tonight's battle had been commanded by him alone, from cutting off the bridge to setting up an ambush with fire, and then to the fierce battle in the vegetable garden, until the final encirclement from both sides. Every step had been calculated by him. It wasn't until later that he realized that cutting off the wooden bridge would temporarily block the bandits' entry into the village. At this time, the bandits saw a large fire inside Xu's Village and naturally thought that the villagers had already escaped.

  In this way, the main force of the bandits will not linger in Xujiazhuang, after all their goal is Xiajin County. Xu Wei calculated this point and asked Yang Yan to disguise himself as a woman, release the bait, and lure the small bandit into the village. At this time, the vegetable garden had been set up, just waiting for the bandits to take the bait. A big fire burned the bandits, making them cry out in horror, and their morale was greatly disrupted. Only then did they block the dozen or so people with the highest martial arts skills at the exits of the village, beating them like fallen dogs.

  Even if these plans were made by Xu Taigong himself, and only implemented by Xu Wei. But judging from Xu Wei's past abilities, it would be easy for him to kill a few people with his knife, but commanding such a meticulous operation, he absolutely didn't have that ability. Not to mention him, even if I were to replace him, I'm afraid...

  A loud noise woke him up from his deep thoughts, he turned his head and saw that Xu Wei had already ordered the militiamen to throw those bandits' corpses into the river while he was lost in thought.

  "Calculate the time, how long will it take for these corpses to drift to Xiajin County?" Xu Wei asked, looking at the gradually drifting bodies.

  "Less than an hour, and it can't be too fast. This river is narrow, if several corpses get stuck at the same time, all our efforts will be in vain."

  "Awesome! They all say you're clever, and it seems like the reputation is well-deserved." Xu Wei praised.

  Zhang Qing felt a bit oppressed in his heart, but after hearing this sentence, he slightly let go and smiled: "It's just a small trick."

  Xu Wei gave him a meaningful look and asked tentatively: "Given the situation in Xiajin County, I'm afraid it won't be able to hold out for much longer, will it?"

  Zhang Qing's face sank, and he nodded: "That's right, the county doesn't have a garrison. Even if they took away my Xu family village's 200 militiamen, that scoundrel Liang Heng is good at bullying the common people and acting arbitrarily. Can he lead the army to resist the enemy?" He said this with disdain, curling his lip. "Furthermore, when the bandits arrive at the city gate, the city will probably be in chaos, and maintaining order will be a big problem for him. So, Xiajin County is doomed!"

  Xu Wei nodded frequently, and Zhang Qing's consideration was indeed more thorough. However, he forgot one thing - Fourth Brother had been ordered to return this time to jointly organize the county's militia with local officials to resist bandits. At this time, he must also be in Xiajin County. After the militia organization in Xujiazhuang was completed, Liang Heng immediately took away more than half of them, presumably knowing that the bandits had already threatened Xiajin. Since they knew the news in advance, Fourth Brother, as a military officer, would not have taken any action without requesting reinforcements from the Daming Prefecture.

  When Xu Wei made this point clear to him, Zhang Qing smiled bitterly and said: "Then why bother with these trivial matters? Just wait for the imperial court's officials and soldiers to arrive, and we'll wipe out these bandits completely."