Chapter 45: The Heart of Slaughter

  The footsteps were getting closer and closer, Zhao Yi hid his figure and prepared to strike a thunderbolt. Only one of the voices, a hoarse man, complained in a low voice: "Isn't it that bastard Li Suo who is responsible for guarding tonight? It's really unlucky to get me up in the middle of the night."

  Another voice sighed heavily: "Li Su relies on being the trusted aide of Big Brother Chen Liang, and has always been arrogant and domineering. Let's just admit defeat."

  "What's that bastard made of, just a bit bigger in stature, acting arrogant, don't let me catch the opportunity." The person with the low voice spoke with an increasingly cold tone.

  Zhao Kan judged the frequency of the footsteps and determined that there were four bandits in total. He carefully observed his surroundings, already thinking of a plan.

  Because of the dark sky, only one burning torch illuminated an area, so in the space, many dark dead angles were produced.

  A man with a slightly hoarse voice cursed in a low and angry tone: "Where have these two bastards gone again? Find them for me, I'll skin them alive. Go find them for me quickly."

  Two followers of Shui Zei immediately received orders and divided into two paths, one heading towards the lower level of the Water Fortress and the other searching in the direction they came from.

  Zhao Kan's left eye emerged from the darkness, quietly observing. The voice of the sturdy water thief was indeed robust as an ox, with muscles bulging all over his body. His expression was somewhat dull, but his whole body exuded a fierce aura, seemingly having killed many people. On his back, he carried a thunderbolt mallet, which looked quite domineering.

  That voice was a bit hoarse, the leader of the water thieves, with a brand new steel knife hanging from his waist. He had a long face, with eyes that were often narrowed, looking like a man with great cunning and deep thoughts.

  The other two robbers, both holding a blunt knife, one with a square face and an ordinary appearance; the other with a round face, small eyes that are hard to find on his face, bald head, looking like Buddha.

  Just as the bald-headed thug, who looked like a Buddha, walked absent-mindedly to Zhao Jian's side, Zhao Jian suddenly sprang up and threw the dagger he had been holding in his hand at the "National Character Face" thug, who was about to go out. The dagger pierced the back of the "National Character Face" thug, instantly making him feel a chill down his spine. The "National Character Face" thug let out a dull hum and leaned against the door with inertia, fainting away.

  Zhao Xian instantly used the other hand to hold the crossbow arrow, fiercely piercing the neck of the water thief beside him. He quickly pulled out the crossbow and shot two arrows, which flew rapidly towards the two water thieves who had just reacted. The two water thieves wanted to dodge, but the crossbow had already reached their front, tearing through the air.

  That sturdy bandit hastily tried to take out his mallet to block the incoming arrow, but his reaction speed was ultimately no match for the speed of the incoming arrow. The arrow instantly pierced his neck, and the robust man fell to the ground with a thud, clutching at his neck and constantly retching, unable to make any sound. Fresh blood splattered everywhere, dyeing a large area red and filling the air with a bloody smell.

  The leader of the water thieves reacted quickly and swiftly drew out his dagger, the arrow changed direction due to the obstruction of the knife back, missing his vital point, but deeply pierced his collarbone. With the penetration of the arrow, a large piece of flesh flew off, and blood gushed out instantly, flowing continuously without stopping.

  The leader of the water thieves felt a sharp pain and dropped his dagger to the ground. When he came to, he hastily lifted his head to see that Zhao's hand crossbow was already aimed at him.

  Everything that just happened occurred in an instant, with only the three people lying on the ground and the blood rushing forth to attest to the reality of what had just transpired.

  The leading water thief, gritting his teeth in pain, spoke to the strangely dressed Zhao Yi in a low voice: "I suppose you must be here to rescue that woman, the Imperial Guard."

  Zhao Jin's eyes were icy cold, and the leader of the water thieves trembled with urgency, saying: "Don't kill me, I can take you to find that woman, I can also take you to where those soldiers are being held, but I need a guarantee from you."

  Although the water thief knew that Zhao Jian was afraid of him making a loud noise when he was killed, which would attract the attention of other water thieves, he did not want to take the risk of being killed to remind the other water thieves.

  Zhao Yan said coldly, "I, Zhao Yan, swear to heaven that if I kill you, I will not die a good death in the future. It's your turn now. I don't need you to make an oath. Just take up the knife and kill the person next to you. You must understand that you have no choice."

  The leading water thief supported his injured body, picked up the dagger from the ground, and in the still-hanging half-breath of the strong man's hateful gaze, he swung his knife without mercy, cutting him down. The strong man was instantly beheaded, and deep red blood gushed out, already dead beyond death.

  The pirate, holding a blood-stained steel knife, walked to the back of the pirate who had been stabbed by Zhao Jian's dagger and was already unconscious, with his life hanging in the balance. The leading pirate smiled coldly and without hesitation, inserted the knife deeply into the body of the still-not-completely-dead pirate.

  Zhao Kan's eyes turned cold. To be so ruthless to his own people, this kind of person cannot be spared. The leader of the water bandits did not know that Zhao Kan had already sentenced him to death.

  Because of Zhao Yun's guarantee, the leader of the water bandits' emotions slightly calmed down, and he said to Zhao Yun: "You must be an official army, so I'll address you as a superior. Superior, my name is Chang Ruolin, a small leader among the water bandits. There are over 300 water bandits in this stronghold, with miscellaneous weapons. Most of them are a mob, but more than 20 of them were retired veterans who have fought on the battlefield and have great combat effectiveness." Looking at Chang Ruolin's resentful eyes, it can be determined that he had been defeated by these powerful water bandits before.

  Zhao Kan couldn't help but feel a sense of regret, thinking that Chang Ruo Lin indeed had the potential to be a traitor. He was ruthless and merciless towards his own people. Before Zhao Kan could even ask, he clearly introduced the situation of his own power. Although it's unknown whether there's any exaggeration in these words, Zhao Kan grew more and more disgusted with this person. However, Chang Ruo Lin still had use at this time, so Zhao Kan calmly said: "Follow me."

  Zhao Kuang and Chang Ruolin arrived at the bottom of Shui Village, Zhao Kuang walked behind Chang Ruolin, not wanting to leave his back to the enemy, this was one of the survival manuals on the battlefield.

  Zhao Kan clapped his hands three times, and more than 50 imperial guards marched up in an orderly manner. Chang Ru's eyes widened in surprise, it seemed that these government troops were determined to get what they wanted, and had been preparing for a long time. He could only cooperate well if he wanted to survive. Zhao Kan said coldly, "Take us to those retired old soldiers."

  "Please come this way." Chang Ruo Lin cooperated very well.

  At the very top of this water village, there is a separate dwelling built independently above the entire water village. This room belongs to that group of retired soldiers.

  These old soldiers had just retired from the army, but after many years of military service, they only learned how to kill and didn't know how to do anything else. They were already unable to live a normal life and couldn't integrate into society. On the day of their retirement, some of the old soldiers took the lead and led more than 30 people to join the water bandits in the Chao White River. Chen Liangshan treated them with great care, and whatever they wanted, as long as it was available in the water stronghold, they could take it freely. The treatment, food, and women were all the best.

  This group of people were also happy to be idle, usually helping Chen Liangshan rob and plunder, ambushing travelers on the river who had guards for protection. Although there were some casualties, over the years they had dwindled down to just over twenty men, but their combat strength was indeed not bad. They had long since degenerated, lost the soul of a soldier, and become a group of evil bandits.

  Zhao Yin and his group of over 50 people followed Chang Ruo Lin to the outer edge of the water stronghold's dwelling place. Zhao Yin furrowed his brow, continuously hearing heavy breathing sounds and moaning sounds from some dark corners. Chang Ruo Lin looked somewhat embarrassed, standing on one side without speaking, waiting for Zhao Yin's orders.

  Zhao Yan thought for a moment, then whispered a few words to Chang Ruolin, who looked somewhat embarrassed but quickly compromised when she saw Zhao Yan's icy gaze. Chang Ruolin adjusted her clothes to cover the wound and walked into the residence.

  Chang Ruo Lin led a group of three soldiers from the Forbidden Army to disperse and search for the water thieves hiding in the dark corners, while Zhao Jin brought the remaining dozen or so men to quietly arrive at the entrance, take up positions and lie in ambush, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

  Chang Ruo walked in, and saw three or five red-shirted water bandits gathered together gambling, while the rest of the water bandits, except for those who had gone out, were all lying on their beds snoring loudly. The gamblers stopped what they were doing when they saw someone come in, and looked over at the door.

  A man with three scars on his chest, seemingly having lost a lot of money and in an extremely bad mood, walked over menacingly, grabbed Chang Ruolin's collar and said coldly: "Don't you know that idle people are not allowed to approach this place?"

  Chang Ruo's heart was secretly angry that he had been classified as a miscellaneous person, and he thought to himself: 'You'll be crying soon.'

  Chang Ruo said, "The mountain master ordered me to bring several boxes of silver, which are outside. I came in hoping that all the big brothers would give me some face and help me carry the silver into the room."

  Those several water bandits, upon hearing that there was silver, immediately became overjoyed. The one holding the Chang Rofeng's shoulder laughed and said: "I was just joking with you, we're all brothers, come often in the future, haha."

  Chang Ruo led the three or four water thieves who had originally been gambling, walking out of their residence with joy in their hearts. Suddenly, the imperial guards surrounding them burst forth and stabbed the daggers in their hands into the bodies of the water thieves. Some people also stepped forward to cover the mouths of several water thieves at the same time, preventing them from making a sound. Zhao Kan coldly looked at the fallen corpses, leading the imperial guards to quietly enter the residence. They looked at more than ten water thieves who were sleeping soundly. The imperial guards held daggers and walked to the side of the water thieves. Everyone looked at Zhao Kan, who had raised his hand, waiting for orders.

  "Have a good dream," Zhao Xian said coldly. As he spoke, his palm dropped down, and the imperial guards took their cue, covering the pirates' mouths while simultaneously inserting their daggers into the throats of the pirates in front of them, instantly reaping the lives of those sleeping, blood gushing out, these wicked pirates fell to hell in their dreams.

  Zhao Yan looked at Chang Ruo Lin with a faint gaze and said coldly: "Take us to the resting place of other water bandits."

  Chang Ruo had long understood that he had no way out and took the initiative to lead Zhao Kang and others to the gathering place of the water thieves.