Chapter 4: Changes in the Family

  Lin Dewen finally chose to take the position of deputy inspector at Hu Du Kou, Chen Gouzzi had nothing to do and followed Lin Dewen as an archer. Zhou was tired of the struggle and would rather spend his remaining years in the countryside, Lin Dewen did not force him. After taking office, Lin Dewen used military tactics to rectify the Hu Du Kou inspection department, coupled with Lin Dewen's high martial arts skills and his righteous character, he never forgot to reward his archers, which improved their combat effectiveness, and they defeated Zhao Yide, the mountain leopard, in one battle. At that time, no one in Jiangling County did not know Lin Jiaotou, and everyone praised him. Dong San You took this opportunity to transfer the original inspector to another place, and Lin Dewen was promoted to inspector.

  Tiger Crossing is located at the transportation hub, with rich oil and water resources. Dong Sanyou, Lin Dewen, and Chen Gouzisheng all made a fortune, and Zhou Wang also became increasingly wealthy. With surplus wealth, Xiaosan formally apprenticed himself to Mr. Zhang of Chenjiang, studying books and martial arts every day. Mr. Zhang's name was Zhang Daohan, and his courtesy name was Changde. Xiaosan enjoyed reading historical books and military books, and Mr. Zhang didn't bother him, only hanging one sentence on his lips: "In the past, Yue Fei was a versatile talent in both literature and martial arts, but he was not tolerated by the scholars, hence the disaster of Fengbo Pavilion!" Xiaosan didn't mind, often responding with: "If I, as a student, can achieve the merits of Yue Fei, even if I die at Fengbo Pavilion, it would be enough."

  Xiao San often accompanied Zhou Wang on hunting trips, but unfortunately, Jiangling was located in a plain area, and even if there were mountains, the wildlife was scarce. The most common prey was small animals like rabbits, and wild boars were rarely encountered. Whenever Zhou Wang had the opportunity, he would tell Xiao San stories about military campaigns and battles, passing on his own experiences and insights to him. However, as time went by, Zhou Wang didn't have much left to teach, and he often told Xiao San that generals learned how to fight in battle, and no general could be taught. Xiao San deeply believed this, and daydreamed about making a name for himself in the battlefield, achieving great accomplishments.

  Honorable officials, let's get straight to the point. Lin San is now 18 years old, and it's currently the seventh year of Tianqi (1627). After Lin De Wen was appointed as the patrol officer, he successively eliminated the bandits Zhao Yi De and Wu Cheng, bringing temporary peace to Jiangling County. As a result, Dong San You received excellent performance reviews and was promoted to be the county magistrate of Zhushan County in Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang Province. However, natural disasters continued to occur frequently, taxes were still heavy, refugees began to appear, and bandits emerged like scallions after spring rain - cutting them down only led to more sprouting up, and it was impossible to eliminate them completely. On this day, the county magistrate of Jiangling received a report stating that a group of about 500 bandits had occupied Dangyang County and frequently entered Jiangling to plunder. The county magistrate of Jiangling, knowing Lin De Wen's military prowess, sent a letter to Dangyang County to arrange for a joint operation to eliminate this group of bandits, and then ordered Lin De Wen to lead the archers in the campaign.

  Lin Dewen received the order and gathered Chen Gouzzi, Lin Chunzhi, Lin Chunren and several archery team leaders to discuss: "The bandit Wu Gan is rampant in Jingmen Prefecture, and the government has repeatedly sent troops to suppress him but returned without success. Currently, we are not clear about how many men Wu Gan has or where they are gathered. We should first clarify the situation before making plans."

  Several people nodded in agreement, but as for where to start probing, several people felt it was a difficult task. After discussing for a long time, there was no good solution, and finally Lin Dewen decided to lead Chen Gouzhi, Lin Chunzhi, Lin Chunren, and Zhang Ren to go to Dangyang County to take action. Zhang Ren was a native of Henan Province, who had fled to Jiangling four years ago due to famine. Lin Dewen saw that Zhang Ren's martial arts skills were not weak, so he recruited him as an archer. Zhang Ren fought bravely and had a quick mind, which made Lin Dewen appreciate him highly, and he was appointed as the team leader. At this time, when Zhang Ren heard about going to probe Wu Gan, he hesitated: "I've been having diarrhea for several days and feel very uncomfortable, can someone else be sent instead?"

  Lin Dewen looked at Zhang Ren's pale face and pointed to another team leader Dou Chong, saying: "Zhang brother is not feeling well, you go instead."

  The five of them didn't delay, and disguised themselves as merchants, heading towards Dangyang. They traveled day and night, winding their way along, until they reached the Half Moon Town in Dangyang County. Seeing that the mountains here were not high but elegant, the five of them praised it highly, talking about how Zhao Zilong had single-handedly saved his lord here, with everyone's heroic spirit soaring to new heights. Just as they were passing through a mountain pass, more than thirty people suddenly rushed out and blocked their way, shouting loudly: "Leave behind your money for your lives!"

  The five men saw that the thirty or so people did not carry bows and arrows, nor were they flustered, secretly amused: unexpectedly, the bandit-suppressing troops encountered the mountain bandits who cut off the path. Lin Dewen shouted: "Who is your leader? Call him out."

  Wu Gan pushed aside the people in front of him, stepped forward and sneered: "Lin Jiao Tou, Lin Xun Jian, indeed you have great skills but are also very reckless, thinking that just five of you can take me down?"

  Lin Dewen gave a hint with his eyes, and the four of them understood in unison. They shouted loudly and drew their wooden knives to pounce on Wu Gan. Since they were disguised as merchants, none of the five carried long weapons, only bringing wooden knives for self-defense.

  Wu Gan saw the five men rush up, retreated a few steps, and shouted: "Come on, boys! Get one head and get 10 taels of silver as reward!" The gangsters swarmed up, but those who could withstand Lin Dewen's five men, seeing that the five men were about to break through, Wu Gan whistled loudly, and more than a hundred people emerged from the roadside, with more than twenty archers surrounding Lin Dewen's five men in the middle.

  Lindemann's five men all changed color.

  "Lin Jiaotou, aren't you going to stop?" Wu Gang called out triumphantly.

  Lin Dewen and the other four did not respond, continuing to entangle the thief in front of them, making it impossible for the archers to shoot. Wu Gan was furious and shouted loudly: "Release the arrow, release the arrow, shoot him to death!"

  "What a great commander! The brothers will also be shot dead!" A military advisor-like rascal next to him questioned.

  At this time, four or five archers had already shot, Lin Chunren was hit by an arrow on his right shoulder, and another bandit also fell to the ground with an arrow. The bandits in front retreated, fearing they would suffer the same fate as the fish in the pond. Just as the five men were about to rush out, Wu Gan shouted: "Who doesn't shoot arrows? I'll kill their whole family!"

  In an instant, the archers did not hesitate and shot arrows at the five men. All five were hit by arrows. Duan Chong, Lin Chunzhi, and Lin Chunren fell to the ground dead. Lin Dewen and Chen Gouzzi were hit by multiple arrows, using their knives to prop up their bodies, kneeling on one knee, with eyes like blood, indignation in their chests.

  The gangsters used knives and guns to threaten the two men, preventing them from suddenly rising up and hurting people.

  A loud laughter came, Wu Gang said: "With your Lin Jiao's bravery, today you will die at my hands!"

  "Wu Zei, how did you know we'd come?" Lin De Wen panted heavily and asked.

  Wu Gan clapped his hands and said: "Zhang brothers, come out!"

  Only then did Zhang Ren emerge from the trees by the side of the road, dodging and hiding with his head lowered, not daring to look at Lin Dewen and Chen Gouzzi.

  "Zhang brothers is my cousin." Wu dared to smile proudly.

  Chen Gouz and Lin Dewen stared at Zhang Ren with eyes full of anger, as if they wanted to melt him.

  Lin Dewen looked at the bodies of Lin Shi brothers and Dou Chong again, suddenly rose up with Chen Gouzzi, and rushed towards Zhang Ren. The thieves did not hesitate, knives and swords were added to their bodies, the two men died with their eyes wide open, carrying twelve points of anger and unwillingness.

  Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves and sprinkled on the five people, like a dirge, yet like a mother's hands, comforting the wounded child.

  "Third Brother, you said there are wild boars appearing here, aren't you trying to trick me?" Little Feng was already 28 years old, a beautiful and lively young woman with sparkling eyes that shone brightly. Due to her martial arts training since childhood, she lacked the usual shyness of a big girl, but had an extra dose of agility, without bound feet, and at this time could also go hunting together with Zhou Wang and Xiao San.

  Xiao San's right eyelid kept twitching, her mind was a bit uneasy, and for a moment she didn't quite catch what Xiao Feng'er said.

  It turned out that Zhou Wang smiled and said: "Your third brother's vision is quite accurate, there is no time for mistakes."

  Xiao Feng saw Xiao San staring blankly and not speaking, asked: "Third brother, what's wrong with you?"

  "Oh, never mind. The nearby fields have been trampled, it's clearly the work of wild boars, we'll definitely find that beast."

  "But we've been searching for two days already and haven't even seen the shadow of a wild boar!" Little Feng was very dissatisfied with the fact that they hadn't found any prey in two days.

  "Uncle Zhou taught me to be patient, haha." Little San kicked the ball to Zhou Wang.

  Zhou Wang smiled and didn't say anything.

  Xiaofeng completely ignored the ball and suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "Third brother, why don't we make a bet? I bet you won't be able to find the wild boar within today. If you lose, you have to carve a wooden pig figurine for me. The only one missing from my twelve zodiac animal collection is the pig!"

  "What if you lose?"

  "If I lose, the worst that can happen is that I'll make you a pair of shoes, and they'll be even better than the last pair. How about that?" Little Feng's needlework was quite good, thanks to her mother's efforts.

  "It's settled then!"

  The three of them searched for another day, but to no avail. Xiaofeng was even more excited than when they caught the wild boar, which also lifted San's mood. The three of them stopped bothering and headed down the mountain back to Zhou Wang's house.

  Far from Zhou's house, the three of them soon discovered that someone was pacing back and forth at the door. Little Feng had sharp eyes and said, "It's Tie Tou from your village!"

  What is Tie Tou doing here? The three of them walked towards home with doubts, and at this time, Tie Tou also discovered the three of them. He hurriedly ran over, shouting as he ran: "Xiao San, quickly follow me back home! Your dad and brother were killed by bandits!"

  Xiao San was still confused after hearing this, and casually asked: "Which one is my father and which one is my elder brother?"

  "Your dad and two elder brothers were all killed by bandits, their bodies are covered in wounds!"

  Xiao San's mind went blank, and subconsciously he led the horse to gallop towards Xiao Wan village, without even saying goodbye.

  Zhou Wang saw the situation and was also shocked, instructing: "Xiao Feng you go home to accompany your mother and aunt, Tie Tou you come with me." After finishing speaking, he headed towards Xiao Wan Village. Xiao Feng shouted from behind: "I'll also go take a look."

  Three people followed Xiao San to Lin Dewen's house, where they found a crowd of people gathered at the door. After pushing through the crowd, they saw five corpses on the ground, all covered with white cloth. Xiao San was kneeling beside the bodies, his eyes dull and expressionless, without even a single tear. His wife also looked stunned, while several women were trying to comfort her.

  Zhou Wang glanced at the five corpses, finding that all of them were injured, with their eyes still wide open. Even Zhou Wang, who had been through many battles, couldn't help but tremble all over. He slowly covered the five bodies with white cloth, his heart aching uncontrollably. He took out the pu knife from its scabbard and swung it wildly, striking the old locust tree at the door. The knife got stuck and couldn't be pulled out. Leaning against the locust tree, he wailed: "Brothers..."

  The crowd around looked around in a daze and immediately dispersed, leaving only Tie Tou. Xiao San just woke up at this time, jumped up from the ground, grabbed Tie Tou, and shook him vigorously: "You say, who did it? Speak quickly!"

  "It's said by the county's public servant that it was done by Wu Gan."

  "Damn it!" Xiaosan roared in anger, turned around and picked up a large chopping knife, rushed towards the horse, ready to mount and leave.

  Zhou Wang saw this and quickly took a step forward to hold onto the reins, asking: "Where are you going?"

  "Zhou Shu, get out of my way and let me go kill Wu Gan!"

  "You go and get yourself killed! Wu Dang has several hundred men, how can you kill him?" Zhou Wang shouted.

  Xiao Feng also shouted from behind: "Third brother..."

  Xiao San still rode on the horse and refused to get down. At this time, Xiao San's wife said: "Xiao San, come down and deal with the funeral first."

  Xiao San hesitated for a moment, got off the horse, and upon seeing the five corpses, he could no longer hold back. A mouthful of blood spurted out from his mouth, and he fell backwards to the ground, fainting away.

  This daze lasted for a whole night, and no one knew when Xiaosan would wake up. Of course, no one would know what changes had taken place while Xiaosan was unconscious.