Chapter Fifteen: Robbing Money, Robbing Grains, and Robbing Women

  Xu Wei carried a knife and walked briskly on the bluestone road that ran through Xujiacun. At this time, although he was still calm in appearance, he had no bottom line in his heart. Although footsteps were heard behind him, he did not dare to guarantee how many people would follow. But at this moment, speaking a basket of grand words was not as effective as taking action.

  It can't be helped, that accursed ball is heading towards the sky, and with Jin army marching south to destroy Song, there's only a few months left. Time doesn't wait for me, if I want to resist the Jurchen people on horseback, I must not rely on the official army - that's a force made up of convicts, bandits, and vagrants, which can't withstand a single blow!

  The farmers by the roadside, every household was lit up with lanterns, and inside, everyone was busy packing their belongings to escape. The children had never encountered such a situation before and were crying loudly. Their parents, who usually doted on them, didn't have time to comfort them. Xu Wei stopped in his tracks and picked up a little girl who was crying in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to comfort her, a peasant woman rushed out of the house, snatched the child away from him, gave him a contemptuous stare, turned around, and went back into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

  Yang Yan Ma Tai quickened his pace by two steps and stood shoulder to shoulder with Xu Wei. The footsteps behind them grew louder and louder...

  Night falls, the full moon shines brightly, and the bright moonlight fills the wheat field; taking a deep breath, the fragrance of soil and grain intoxicates people. The small river, under the moonlight, is like a silver belt, with the chirping of cicadas and the gentle breeze, Xujia Village is like a paradise on earth.

  Standing at the bridgehead, Xu Wei thought, how many people are willing to risk their lives to protect their beautiful home? When he turned around, the answer was right in front of him.

  Knives and guns shone with a cold light in the moonlight, and hundreds of bright eyes stared at him. Among these hundreds of eyes, there was fear, doubt, confusion, and only a few people had some excitement in their eyes.

  Zhang Qing came to Xu Wei's side and said in a low voice, "I hope you won't let people down." After a pause, he added, "There were 96 people in total, 57 of them left, including the brave ones.

  Xu Wei smiled and didn't respond to him, instead shifting his gaze towards these ninety-six village soldiers.

  "I don't intend to say anything grand or inspiring, I just ask you to do one thing. Take a look at Xujiacun, take a look at the place where our ancestors have lived for generations. The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the small bridge flows with water, the Shangri-La written in books, Xujiacun is not inferior to that. Now, a group of bandits are killing their way over, behind them are your homes, your parents, your wives, if you take one step back, tonight, all of this will cease to exist." Xue Wei said it very casually, neither with grandeur nor with righteousness. But these words made many people's eyes flash and grit their teeth. Indeed, the hard-earned home cannot be destroyed by others! The family business left by our ancestors cannot be tainted by bandits!

  "I know you're worried, I know you're scared, but let me tell you, I'm the same! Xu Wei patted his chest, "But I have no choice, just a few dozen steps away, there's my old man, my sister-in-law. If I don't stand up for them, what will happen to them? It's too late to escape now, and we have no way out except to fight to the death! We're all men with two shoulders and one head, he's ruthless, but we're even more ruthless! He's fierce, but we're even fiercer! We need to let these bandits know that the martial name of Xujiacun isn't just for show! We need to let them know that the men of Xujiacun are all real men!"

  Yang Yan's blood was boiling, he almost bit his teeth to pieces, tore off his upper garment, bared his chest, and brandished a hatchet, roaring: "Let's fight those bastards to the death!"

  "We're done!" The crowd erupted in a deafening roar. The men of Xujiazhuang, gripping their weapons tightly, shouted loudly! Their previous fear was swept away! Damn it, they had practiced martial arts for a lifetime, not to run away with their tails between their legs! They would rather die in the wilderness than live as cowards!

  "Xu Jiu, you've got it! Let's get down to business!"

  "Old Nine, speak up! What shall we do?"

  "Jiulang, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you a bookworm..."

  Just as public outrage was boiling over and morale was high, someone shouted out: "Xu Jiu, I'm not afraid to die, but I don't want to die unjustly. The other side has 3,000 people, we have less than 100, what can we use to fight them?"

  Xu Wei didn't respond to his words, but instead turned his head and stared at Ma Tai, who looked like a giant spirit. The latter suddenly became tense when he saw him, licked his dry lips, and stuttered: "Nine, Ninth Brother, you say it, brother does it, knife mountains and fire seas, I'm not afraid!"

  "Brother, for Xu family village's first move, you're the one to do it." Xu Wei dodged and pointed at the only wooden bridge on that small river, "Cut it off!"

  Everyone is in a state of confusion and panic, why cut off the bridge? Many fields in the village are on the other side of the river, if you cut off the bridge, how will we cross the river from now on?

  Yang Yan blinked his eyes and asked, "Ninth brother, what's going on..." Suddenly he exclaimed, "Right! If we cut off the bridge, the bandits won't be able to cross!" This is a great idea, no need to fight at all, the thieves can only stare blankly from the other side of the river!

  "The other side has thousands of people, and building a bridge is no trouble at all. Xu Jiu's move was just a delaying tactic to slow down the enemy's advance into the village," Zhang Qing said.

  Ma Tai didn't say much, spat on his palm, hoisted the half-person-high board axe, raised it high, let out a loud roar, and chopped down at the bridge pier with one swing! The sturdy wooden bridge shook violently, and many people's faces changed color - how did Ma Er have such strength?! When Ma Tai swung his second axe, the wooden bridge crashed into the water with a loud crash, splashing up high waves.

  Yang Yan couldn't help but feel a little jealous as he looked at Ma Tai, who had snatched the first merit. Just as he was feeling depressed, Xu Wei said: "Yang Yan, take twenty people and rush to the mountain from east to west of the village, going from door to door, don't let them bring anything, time is life."

  Yang Yan was taken aback. The boss didn't seem pleased. He had originally thought he would be sent to take out the bandits, so why was he being sent to maintain order instead? Wasn't this a waste of his talents?

  "It's only you who can hold on." Zhang Qing added helplessly. As soon as the words left his mouth, Yang Yan had already run away swiftly, and before long, the sound of gongs echoed throughout the village, and Yang Yan's voice came from afar: "The bandits are coming, hurry up to the mountain! If you're late, you'll lose your life! Anyway, we'll be killed, if you don't leave now, I'll kill your whole family with one knife!"

  "What's next, Master Hsu?" someone asked.

  "Go set fire to Xu's village."

  At the hour of Xu, the originally chaotic Xujiazhuang returned to calmness. The whole village was silent and still, without a single shadow of a person. Even the usually noisy watchdogs were hiding under the eaves, not making a sound. The moon in the sky hid behind the clouds, as if it had sensed that something was about to happen.

  Suddenly! Several sparks burst forth in the village, gradually growing into a raging inferno. Before long, from east to west, Xujiacun seemed to be swallowed up by a sea of flames. The fierce blaze illuminated the sky, casting an eerie blood-red hue over everything.

  At this moment, on the other side of the small river outside Xujiazhuang, the sound of horseshoes came from afar and drew near. In the darkness, a hundred or so riders galloped forth! Behind them, a black curtain swept in. The horses snorted with their noses, the men panted heavily, and several thousand murderous gazes converged on the blazing Xujiazhuang.

  A lone horseman galloped to the riverbank, reining in his steed, which continued to paw the ground restlessly. The man on its back, some thirty paces away, wore an iron helmet, a mountain-patterned armor, and grasped a long spear. His face was gaunt, with high cheekbones and eyes that seemed to bore into the soul like those of a wolf, emitting a malignant glow.

  Another horseman arrived beside him, the man on the horse was about fifty years old, dressed as a scholar, wearing a light linen shirt and a carefree scarf. Looking at the flames of Xu's village, he furrowed his brow tightly. Zhao Da and Zhu Hu have not returned until now, it is unknown whether they are alive or dead. These people from Xu's village are really stubborn, they would rather burn everything themselves than let us get anything, how detestable!

  The man with the long spear turned his head and saw Wen Shi's gloomy face, and burst out laughing: "Sir, don't be angry. This is a rural area, all are village women, not worth looking at. When we break through Xiajin, there will be those delicate and tender little ladies for you to enjoy!"

  Na Wenshi also laughed and said: "Brother, don't say that. The other day when we took Wu Cheng County, didn't you almost kill the new bride who was just getting married?"

  The two men looked at each other and burst out laughing, the sound of which was so loud that it seemed as if several thousand bandits were about to set fire to the sky. They swallowed their saliva and waited eagerly for the order to attack Xiajin, eager to have a good time. Thinking this way, they became even more impatient, hoping that the two leaders would give the order soon to charge at Xiajin! The silver was shining brightly, the breasts were tender and white!

  "Huh?" Wen Shi suddenly exclaimed.

  "What?" asked the man with the spear.

  "Am I seeing things? Just now, I clearly saw a flash of fire on the mountain behind Xu's village!" Wen Shi narrowed his eyes and asked in doubt.

  The spear-wielding bandit leader looked around for half a day, saw nothing unusual, and urged: "It's probably Mr. Yu who has burned his body to create an illusion and left..."

  "No! Xu's village is definitely up to something! Brother, lend me 500 elite soldiers. If nothing unexpected happens, follow immediately. If there is..." Wen Shi stroked his short beard, a sly smile spreading across the corner of his mouth.

  The bandit leader thought for a moment, this time the summer solstice attacked the city, it was exactly the occasion to use troops, and dividing 500 people might not work. After thinking back and forth, he left behind 200 infantrymen, and assigned the only 100 cavalrymen to his command as well, anyway, attacking the city didn't need them. After the deployment was completed, the bandit leader led the thieves army to attack Xiajin, and Wen Shi immediately ordered the bridge to be rebuilt.

  Namu Bridge was only cut off and not burned. It was rebuilt with a new frame, which didn't take much trouble. Seven or eight bandits who knew the water situation went down to the river and rebuilt the bridge in less than half an hour. One hundred cavalrymen rushed across the river and galloped towards the village, while two hundred infantrymen carrying long guns and wooden swords also hurried towards the village. In their hearts, they were thinking of Xiajin County, and as for Xujiashan Village, they just went through the motions according to Sanzhai's idea.

  There is a saying "unintentionally planting willows and willows becoming shade", the cavalry running in the front suddenly saw, several people rushed out of Xujiazhuang, all carrying packages, fixed their eyes to see, one of them was still a woman with flowers! Seeing them, they were frightened and screamed as they escaped back into the village.

  "Brothers! Charge into the village!"