Chapter 28: The Official and Bandit Collude

  Looking at the twenty-five people standing in front of him, crippled and disabled, lying crookedly on the ground, Chen Jiu revealed a faint smile. His voice was cold, but to the ears of several mountain bandits, it sounded like celestial music: "Alright, I keep my word, you can leave."

  "Thank you, sir!" Several mountain bandits rolled and crawled down the mountain.

  Even if we let these guys go, with their bodies maimed one by one, it's still uncertain whether they can make it through tonight, let alone seek revenge in the future. Being able to barely survive would be good enough.

  "Come out, all of you!" Chen Jiu cast his gaze towards that house.

  The room was quiet, Chen Jiu slowly wiped his sword, he had plenty of time to wait.

  Not long after, I heard a creaking sound, and one by one, the girls walked out, some of them even holding children in their arms.

  "Hey old man, what do you want from me?"

  A woman who looked slightly older spoke up.

  Chen Ji shook his head and kicked the treasure at his feet: "You divide it up and leave the mountain, I'm going to burn everything here with a fire, so that no more bandits will take root and harm the people in the future."

  The women looked at each other in surprise, clearly not expecting the previously cruel young master to be so kind-hearted. They were filled with doubt and hesitation, and for a moment, they didn't dare to believe it.

  Looking at the motionless women, Chen Jiu silently cursed: "Rarely does a good deed like mine get suspected like this".

  "If you don't leave now, I'll have to light some incense too." Chen Jiu's face was icy cold, pretending to be intimidating.

  As soon as they heard that Chen Jiu was going to burn incense, those women all grabbed a handful of treasure and hastily fled down the mountain.

  These women's homes are not far from here, and it is clear that they were all robbed by mountain bandits in nearby villages.

  Looking at the fake mountain stronghold, Chen Jiupicked up a torch: "Ah, murder and arson, the ancients were indeed not deceiving me".

  Under the blessing of Chen Jiufeng's talisman, the mountain stronghold that harmed one side was burned to ashes by Chen Jiufeng. Looking at the tattered clothes on his body, Chen Jiufeng shook his head: "There is a county town nearby, just go and get some supplies."

  Carrying the package, Chen Jiu slowly walked down the mountain. When he passed by the valley where they had fought before, the Liu family's mansion was already empty and deserted. It was unknown whether the leader of the guards was dead or not, but Chen Jiu estimated that the blow was not light, even if it wasn't fatal, it must have been a serious injury.

  Looking from afar at the county gate, there were countless officials and soldiers strictly checking and guarding, as if they were catching someone. Chen Jiu didn't pay attention to it either. With such a big fight, one or two mountain bandits would surely escape. The whole city was on high alert to catch thieves, but this package of gold wasn't something that could be easily explained.

  Found a deserted place to hide the gold, added two more seals, and then calmly prepared to enter the city.

  The security check was still very efficient, and soon it was Chen Jiu's turn. The big man who looked a bit thin glanced at Chen Jiu, then habitually looked at the portrait in his hand, and then looked at Chen Jiu again, and was stunned.

  Chen Jiu looked at this gate-keeping soldier, no matter how he looked, it seemed like there was something wrong.

  Just as Chen Jiu felt something was wrong, he heard the soldier shouting: "It's him, everyone be on guard, don't let him run away."

  After finishing speaking, countless soldiers subconsciously raised their bows and crossbows, aiming at Chen Jiu.

  At this time, Chen Jiu absolutely did not dare to move a single bit. Once misunderstood by these guys, it would be a dead end, with the outcome of being pierced through the heart by ten thousand swords.

  "Sir, this is my first time here, you must be mistaken, I am a law-abiding citizen."

  The officers and soldiers stood guard, looking at Chen Jiu with a softer tone: "Sir, don't resist anymore. The notice says you have excellent martial arts skills and know the Taoist way. Don't make it difficult for us, or else don't blame us brothers for not being reasonable."

  After finishing speaking, seeing Chen Jiu had no reaction, he signaled his subordinates to lock up Chen Jiu, then took the notice in front of Chen Jiu: "Old man, take a look, isn't this picture you?"

  Chen Jiuyi took a look and indeed it was himself, even the facial features were 80% similar. The description on his back further proved this point: profound in Taoist magic and skilled in martial arts.

  Chen Jiu couldn't figure it out. Could it be that his past deeds as a mountain bandit had been exposed, and now the whole country was after him? This was also impossible.

  Under countless bows and arrows, Chen Jiu did not dare to resist recklessly, and could only follow the officials and soldiers to the prison. With a clang, the large gate was locked, leaving only an iron window.

  In the county government office, the county magistrate was drinking with a big man. At this time, soldiers outside reported: "Sir, the wanted criminal has been caught."

  The big fellow slammed his cup down and suddenly slapped the table: "This is indeed speed, sir. I'll go take a look at him."

  The county magistrate slowly took a sip of wine: "You go and take a look, is it this little guy who ruined our financial path?"

  The big Han nodded and followed the soldier to the prison, looked at the guarding soldier, took out a token: "Open the gate, I want to go in and take a look".

  The soldier looked at the token and didn't dare to slack off, directly opening the prison gate.

  Dazzling sunlight pierced in, Chen Jiu's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the big man in front of him, suddenly startled: "How is it you?"

  "How could it not be you, you ruined the county magistrate's financial road. When Master found out about this matter, he was furious. You don't know, do you? At that time, the little girl in the carriage was Liu Fu's daughter. If we had caught her, we would have made a fortune. It's all because of you, if it weren't for you, our big deal wouldn't have been ruined."

  Chen Jiu looked at the mountain bandit with a hint of annoyance: "So it's an official and a bandit colluding, seeing you here isn't surprising anymore".

  That big man was the leader of the mountain bandits, who usually did some money-collecting things for the county magistrate or handed over some unpleasant tasks to this group of mountain bandits.

  "How did you come in empty-handed? Didn't you used to do business with the Liu family before? What about those three thousand taels of gold?" the big man asked.

  Chen Jiufu felt a surge of frustration: "You're still blaming me, if you hadn't run away, those 3,000 taels of gold would have been mine by now. You ran away and they used the excuse that I didn't fulfill my part to not give me a single cent."

  After finishing, Chen Jiu let out a sigh and looked at the big man's suspicious gaze. Chen Jiu continued: "If you don't believe me, go ask around. I was so angry that I stabbed that guard with one sword, then turned around and ran away. As for whether the guard is dead or not, I don't know."

  At this time, Da Han showed a thoughtful look, obviously having heard about the injury of Liu's family guard, and there were some strange things before. Now, after hearing Chen Jiu's explanation, everything became clear.

  "You're also a talented person, your martial arts skills are extraordinary. Why don't you serve under the county magistrate instead?" The big man started to recruit Chen Jiu.

  Chen Jiulang sneered: "After being recruited, will you go and do some thieving and murdering, this face I can't afford to lose".

  "Ungrateful, you think that just because you've entered here, you can still escape? The prisons here are specially set up by the imperial court to detain martial artists and cultivators. If you want to rely on your skills to escape, I advise you not to dream about it."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  Chen Jiu looked at the large gate that had been locked up here, and tried again to use his magical powers to shake the prison walls, but it was truly futile, without causing any damage.

  "Damn it! I wasn't careful for a moment and fell into their trap. What can be done now?"

  Chen Jiu sat in prison, deep in thought, hoping to come up with a good plan to escape.

  Outside, the mountain bandit leader looked at the prison soldiers and sneered: "Recently, it's been tightened up a bit, don't let that little guy run out, these square scholars are the most sinister, nothing is impossible for them to do".

  After finishing speaking, he left.

  Back inside the house, County Magistrate was still drinking wine. The man sat down and then County Magistrate opened his eyes: "How is it?"

  The man shook his head: "This kid is a tough nut to crack."

  "What's good about that?"

  The eyes of the Great Han turned around: "Wasn't the imperial court arresting Fang Xian Dao's disciples on a large scale some time ago? Now that this little guy has fallen into my hands, isn't it a great achievement?"

  County Master's eyes rolled: "Are you sure he knows magic?"

  "It's absolutely right, not only will it work, but it'll be very powerful too!" Da Han said confidently.

  The county magistrate's face was full of venom as he said: "Since this little brat refuses to surrender to me and has ruined my financial prospects, the matter is settled."