Chapter Fifty: Striking Down Bandits

  A day later, the county did not receive any surrender information, but a major blood case occurred on the road to Qili Township in the afternoon. Five soldiers from the beacon tower of Song County were killed by bandits. The bandits first used anesthetic wine to knock down the soldiers who bought wine, then stripped them of their clothes and replaced them with their own, disguising themselves as soldiers to rob two wealthy families entering the city, and also took away a young lady. This case is much more serious than the Chen Hu case.

  Lu Qi only found out after returning to the city at dusk, and was so frightened that he jumped in shock. He was secretly afraid in his heart, fortunately it wasn't a murder case in his jurisdiction. He hurriedly went to the county government office to see Wang Zhubu, who was originally angry, feeling that Lu Qi didn't know how high the sky was or how thick the earth was, and had given him some power but he dared to be arrogant. However, the murder case on the road to Qili Township was like a big stick hitting him hard, and he immediately became calm, realizing that Lu Qi's approach was correct. When Lu Qi came to see him, they were polite to each other, and instead Wang Zhubu instructed Lu Qi to strictly prevent banditry.

  After leaving the county government office, Lu Qi felt physically and mentally relaxed. He was clear that these officials only knew how to fight for power and profit, and fundamentally did not understand or bother to understand strategies for governing the military. For himself, in order to establish military prestige, he could only take the risk of offending Wang Zhongbo, and could only choose one of the two options.

  Of course, working under the boss requires bowing one's head and waist, which is a basic rule for adapting to social survival. Lu Qi offended Wang Zhonglu on the surface, so he had to think of ways to make up for it in secret. He originally wanted to find an appropriate time to explain to Wang Zhonglu, but unexpectedly, the murder case on the seven-li road helped him out of trouble, and it was like a timely rain that came just as the land was drying up.

  In Lu Qi's heart, due to the cruel and greedy military life, he had a dark and selfish personality. As long as it didn't concern him, no matter how vicious the situation was, he wouldn't easily sympathize with others. There was a narrow-minded psychology that said "When I'm playing with my life, who can pity me?"

  The next day, due to the brutal murder on the road in Qili Township, the official forces in the city once again launched a large-scale operation in the Qili Township area. Everyone knew that bandits were not trees, and they would plunder property and wait for the soldiers to arrive and chop them down. However, the government troops were like fools, always striking after the event.

  Lu Qi arrived at the training grounds early in the morning, and although he had relaxed his mind and body the night before, Ning'er's words still gave him a headache. It was that same sentence again: "You should go take a look at Tian Yue." Lu Qi knew that Ning'er was trying to please her mother, fearing that giving her the title of concubine would cause her mother's displeasure and prejudice.

  Going to see Tianyue sister, the matter is not as important as training and protecting the road in Lu Qi's heart. He doesn't dare to leave lightly now, he must wait until his subordinates reach the quality of soldiers, more importantly, the ten messengers must have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances on their own, only then can he leave with peace of mind.

  Standing on the school field, the coolness of the morning breeze made Lu Qi's mind very clear. The relaxation and joy of yesterday had disappeared with the night, replaced by a thread of unease.

  He squatted on the ground, using a branch to draw on the ground, roughly outlining the layout of Shitai County. In the middle was the county town, and outside the county town were the four rural areas. The two troubled villages, Qili Village and Dongliu Village, were separated by the county town, one in the east and one in the west.

  Looking at the grass diagram on the ground, Lu Qi's heart skipped a beat as he slowly got up and gazed at the rising sun thoughtfully. As a scout in the army, he had been taught military tactics by his father since childhood. With the keen senses of a special forces soldier, he detected a hint of underlying crisis. Although it was just a hunch, if something happened, his responsibility would be huge.

  The orderlies came one after another, and Lu Qi glanced at him and called out to Wang Dao, saying in a gentle tone: "Wang Dao, today I have assigned you a scouting mission. Take someone with you to patrol the East Flowing Castle, pay attention to whether there are groups of fierce warriors entering the castle, also be aware of any suspicious individuals, if so, report back immediately."

  Wang Dao received the order and left, and Lu Qi called over another orderly to test him by sending him to Wanjingbao to spy. Afterwards, Lu Qi personally escorted twenty soldiers to two sentry posts as usual, then rode back to the training camp with two attendants.

  Time had passed halfway through the morning exercise, when suddenly Wang Dao and the soldiers hastily returned together. They found Lu Qi and handed him a letter made of hemp paper. Lu Qi unfolded it and saw that it was written: "Sir, I have seen a group of merchants coming from the east to Flowing Castle, totaling 42 people, escorting two covered carts, with many strong men."

  Lu Qi's expression turned serious, he put away the letter and thought for a moment. He immediately ordered someone to bring him pen and ink, and on the hemp paper letter, he added: "Lord Wang, this is what the scout reported. I suspect that the murder in Qili village was a bandit's trick to divert attention. If you think it's important, please dispatch 200 government soldiers to Dongliu Fort City for investigation. As the one responsible, I have doubts and cannot ignore them. I will go first."

  The letter was finished, and a messenger from Lu Qi's camp took it to the county town to hand it over to Wang Zhu Bo. Then he gave the order to form up, and after the troops had formed up, he shouted loudly: "Everyone, there has just been a bandit murder in Qili Township. To boost our prestige and calm the people, we will now go on patrol with this official. Let's set off."

  Lu Qi led the brave army out of the training ground and rushed straight to Dongliu Castle, covering a distance of over 20 miles in just half an hour. As soon as he saw Wang Dao waiting outside the castle, he hastily went up to greet him.

  "Sir, those people just left the old man Chen's house not long ago. My subordinate saw that their faces didn't look good, I'm afraid they don't seem like merchants." Wang Dao reported in a low and urgent voice.

  Lu Qi was shocked and hastily turned back to order: "Prepare the whole army, advance into the city." After finishing speaking, he grabbed Wang Dao and placed him behind him on the horse, then drove the horse towards the suspension bridge gate.

  "Make way, I am the Protector of the County, on official business." Lu Qi rushed towards the suspension bridge, loudly intimidating the soldiers and guards at the gate, who were stunned and let him pass. The messengers and soldiers behind him hurried to follow closely.

  Under the guidance of Wang Dao, Lu Qi arrived at the residence of Old Man Chen. The gate of the Chen's residence was tall and majestic with steps and stone lions, but it was now tightly closed. In front of the gate, two carriages pulled by four horses each were parked, with only the coachmen on board.

  As soon as the cavalry and a large number of armed soldiers appeared, the two drivers were frightened and blew a sharp whistle. Upon hearing the whistle, Lu Qi knew that they had come to the right place. Normal guests wouldn't do this, so he shouted: "These are bandits, kill them!"

  Two charioteers almost simultaneously drove their horses forward, Du Meng's horse took the lead and overtook Lu Qi, catching up to the charioteer who was holding a long knife and slashing wildly, both charioteers' heads fell to the ground one after another.

  "With swords and shields in hand, charge the door! The long spearmen will follow to cover, and the archers will advance afterwards." Lu Qi gave a loud order, but he himself did not personally charge forward.

  The brave soldiers charged towards the gate with their swords and shields, the gate was slightly ajar and burst open with one crash. The swordsmen retreated and raised their shields to charge in, the long spear soldiers followed closely behind with their spears held high, while five archers stood in three rows, drawing their bows as they advanced.

  Clang clang a burst of chaotic blows, interspersed with someone's painful cries, the sword and shield hands were injured, the archers behind simultaneously shot arrows to counterattack, after fifteen long arrows were shot in, the brave soldiers rushed into the gate.

  Lu Qi jumped off his horse, drew out his long knife and charged forward. He strode into the Chen mansion, where he saw seven or eight corpses of slaves and some flying knives and hidden weapons, as well as over a dozen men dressed in civilian clothes holding knives, their faces ferocious as they pounced on the charging soldiers.

  "Archers!" Lu Qi shouted loudly, and the archers who had been training for some time rushed in, formed a line, raised their bows, and shot out a rain of arrows.

  "Kill!" Lu Qi shouted loudly, chasing after the arrow rain and pouncing on the bandits.

  Bandits were busy raising their knives and dodging arrows, when Lu Qi's long knife flashed by, accompanied by a pained cry. One bandit was cut from shoulder to chest, and Lu Qi quickly retreated with his knife, narrowly avoiding the bandits' furious counterattack.

  Lu Qi retreated, and the knife shield hand bravely charged forward in a row, shouting loudly as they swung their knives to chop down the bandits. The bandits were caught off guard and frantically waved their knives to block the attack. The long spear soldiers followed up with a fierce thrust, and the sound of muffled screams filled the air. Only three bandits managed to retreat quickly and save their lives. Unfortunately, the knife shield hand and long spear soldiers retreated in unison, taking half a step back and crouching down. The archers behind them immediately followed up with a barrage of arrows, shooting down the three escaped bandits on the spot. This was the power of the army's coordinated attack.

  "Brothers, two groups follow up, see the bandits and kill them all." Lu Qi's long knife was raised, shouting orders, the soldiers' hearts were greatly encouraged, and immediately the two groups of six people advanced into the government office.

  Lu Qi and the orderlies charged in one by one, killing anyone they saw who was a bandit. They killed until their eyes were red with blood. If any able-bodied man refused to lie down, they would be attacked with swords and spears. Those who did not listen and lay down with their limbs spread out would be considered bandits.

  Lu Qi suddenly rushed into a backyard of the Chen residence, which was very large with interconnected courtyards. Each courtyard had seven or eight main and side rooms. As he walked through two courtyards, he suddenly saw a man walking out of a door, holding a knife in his hand, hastily pulling up his pants and tying his belt.

  Lu Qi charged forward silently, his long knife slashing violently. The man was caught off guard and didn't even have time to fasten his pants, hastily holding up his sword to block the attack. But Lu Qi quickly withdrew his knife and continued with a swift and deadly stab, piercing the man's heart with a single cry of pain. As the man lay dying, he twisted his knife and made one final slash at Lu Qi, who abandoned his knife and dodged to the right, taking a step back before kicking out with his left foot, sending the man crashing to the ground with a loud thud. The man struggled for a moment before falling still.

  As soon as the man fell, a palm-sized silk bag and two golden ingots rolled out of his upper garment. Lu Qi's eyes lit up, and he jumped over, reaching out to grab the golden ingots and the silk bag, quickly putting them into his bosom. He straightened his waist and cautiously scanned around before relaxing and pulling out the long knife from the corpse.