Chapter 14: Pacifying the Bandits (Part 1)

  "Leader, leader!" Yang Shun'er ran to Yang Wu's side, panting, and whispered something in his ear. Yang Wu's expression changed slightly, and after a moment's thought, he instructed: "You go back first, pretend you didn't hear anything, I'll take care of it myself!"

  "Understood!" Yang Shun'er responded with a single word, quickly retreating along the same path she had arrived on. Yang Wu watched as Yang Shun'er's figure disappeared into the distance, his expression turning solemn. If he were to follow his usual nature, he would have instructed his trusted subordinates to prepare and wait for those who harbored dissenting thoughts to return, then capture and interrogate them before skinning them alive in front of the entire group as a warning. However, the current situation was different from usual. Although the bandits had defeated the county magistrate's pursuing troops at Gaoping Village, they had also lost their spoils of war. It must be known that thieves are not soldiers, and the standard for evaluating a leader is not how many victories they have won on the battlefield, but whether they can make their followers' pockets rich. Yang Wu had just ascended to the position of leader, yet he had already lost all the gains from this expedition. If he were to kill someone to assert his authority now, he feared that the outcome would either be everyone scattering in disarray or rising up to attack him together - and this was not the conclusion he desired.

  "Never mind, just pretend I don't know. First think of a way to get some money to shut everyone up, and we'll settle this account later!"

  In the blink of an eye, Yang Wu had made up his mind. At this time, a rustling sound came from not far away, and it turned out that several bandits who went hunting had returned. They were lucky and caught a half-grown wild boar. Although there were more than 40 bandits, each person could get a share of the meat. The crowd hurried to gather firewood and clear water, preparing for dinner, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively. Yang Wu furrowed his brow, having already made up his mind to settle things before those few guys who went to collect chestnuts returned, lest there be unexpected branches.

  "Brothers!" Yang Wu jumped onto a large rock and shouted: "I have something to discuss with all of you!"

  The gangsters slowed down their movements, looked up and gazed at Yang Wu, only to hear Yang Wu say: "We've all suffered a lot in the past few days. After dinner tonight, we'll go down to the village below and make up for our losses that day!"

  "Hurray!" The gang of robbers cheered, for the past few days they had only been chewing on coarse grains and wild fruits, their mouths had long gone dry. They had already seen the prosperity of the village below the mountain, and now that they had finally received Yang Wu's order, how could they not be overjoyed? A few of the most impatient robbers even drew out their wooden swords and waved them on top of their heads, shouting loudly.

  At this time, several thieves who had gone to steal turnips returned and happened to run into this scene, and they couldn't help but lower their heads in disappointment.

  It was already the second watch of the night, and inside Qu's village, all was quiet. Compared to the dilapidated houses of the surrounding villagers, the courtyard of Old Man Qu's house looked even more solid in the moonlight. Not only did Old Man Qu occupy half of the land in Qu's Village, but he also had a Chinese medicine shop and a mountain goods shop in An Yang City. He was considered one of the top wealthy households not just in Qu's Village, but in all of An Yang County. Like most large households at that time, Old Man Qu's residence was protected by a strong stone wall over two men high, with two watchtowers behind the main gate that had shooting holes on top. There were more than twenty young and able-bodied men among his sons and nephews, plus clients and villagers who could shoot arrows and hold guns, totaling over forty people. The rest of the women, children, and elderly could also fetch water and guard the walls. In times of crisis, even two or three hundred people couldn't break in.

  "Alright, it's up to you now!" Yang Wu lowered his voice and said to Yang Shun'er beside him: "Do you see that side door? You climb over the wall and open the door to let our brothers in!"

  Yang Shun'er took over, his eyes wide open. In the dim moonlight, a small door could be seen at the corner of the courtyard wall, which should have been used for convenient entry and exit for people inside the house. He gritted his teeth and nodded, picking up a thick bamboo pole and walking towards the courtyard wall. The thieves held their breath, watching as Yang Shun'er crept to the side of the courtyard wall, skillfully raised the pole, agilely climbed to the top of the pole, and quickly disappeared over the top of the surrounding wall.

  "Whoa!" Almost all the thieves let out a sigh of relief at this moment, and the collective exhalation of the crowd formed a rather powerful sound that startled a night owl perched on a nearby willow tree. The bird took to the sky with a loud hooting cry, flying off into the distance. Yang Wu looked up at the fleeing bird, drew his dagger from his waist, and spoke in a low voice to the thieves behind him: "Later, everyone will enter in an orderly manner. Old rules apply - we're after wealth, not lives; no killing people indiscriminately; no setting fires; no private appropriation of goods. Got it?"

  The gangsters nodded, their faces filled with a sense of urgency, the moonlight shining on the weapons in their hands, reflecting a cold glow.

  After a moment, the corner gate was pushed open, and Yang Shun'er poked her head out, making a beckoning gesture in this direction. Yang Wu made a hand signal, and he was the first to run towards the corner gate.

  The next day, in the afternoon, Zhou Ping was directing his team as usual when he suddenly heard a muffled drumbeat. He hastily ordered his deputy to gather the troops and himself quickly walked towards the county magistrate's office. When he arrived at the hall, he saw that there were four or five battalion commanders standing on both sides of Xue Liangchen, their faces stern and serious, as if they were facing a great enemy. Xue Liangchen nodded slightly to Zhou Ping when he entered, and Zhou Ping hastily stood still on the right side.

  After a moment, the three drumbeats sounded, and the team leaders finally arrived. Xue Liangchen stood up and said in a deep voice: "Those who come late will not be waited for, I just came back from County Zun's place." He paused slightly here, his eyes scanning the crowd in the hall, and continued in a deep voice: "Last night, bandits raided Qu's village at Qi Li Gang, it was that group of people who attacked Hu Jin Tang before. The county magistrate has already given orders to immediately go and capture the bandits!"

  The hall suddenly burst into an uproar, with the heads of the various factions whispering to each other in private conversations. Xue Liangchen furrowed his brow and shouted: "Enough! This is not a place for private discussions, speak directly!"

  Liu Sheng said loudly: "How did County Master know it was that group of people?"

  "Those who escaped from Qu Jia Zhuang said that among the thieves, there was a dwarf, very eye-catching, it was Yang Shun'er from the acrobatic troupe, and it was this guy who opened the back door of the Qu family's house for the thieves."

  Everyone exchanged a glance, they had all heard about the Yang Shun'er incident. Such an agile and quick-witted dwarf was truly one in ten thousand. If it were like this, then there would be no mistake. However, the archers had only been training intensively for five or six days before having to face off against ferocious and cunning bandits, which made them feel somewhat anxious.

  A leader spoke up: "Xue Xun Jian, brothers have just trained for a few days, can't we slow down a bit..."

  "Brother Li!" Xue Liangchen interrupted him: "I understand what you mean, but the county magistrate has given an order, and we cannot disobey it!" He turned to Liu Sheng and said: "Liu Zheng, your horsemanship is good. I command you to lead a team of men to Qili Gang immediately to investigate the bandits' whereabouts and direction. Remember, do not engage in battle unless I arrive!"

  "Yes!" Liu Sheng responded with a single word and went downstairs.

  "The rest of you return to your own troops and prepare dry rations and gear, stand by at all times!"

  "Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

  Zhou Ping returned to the team and after issuing orders, he went back to his quarters to prepare. As soon as he entered the room, he heard someone at the door say: "Zhou Tan Yue!"

  Zhou Ping turned around and saw Zhi Shan standing at the door with a smile on his face. His heart skipped a beat as he asked, "Master, what brings you here?"

  Zhi Shan didn't answer, and walked straight to Zhou Ping's side, smiling: "Indeed, it's not beyond Tan Yue's expectations. However, for us archers, just anticipating the enemy beforehand is not enough; we must also kill them on the spot. This time, I'll accompany Tan Yue on this trip, how about that?"

  Zhou Ping was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "It's what I've always wanted, but I didn't dare ask!" Immediately after that, the sound of two people's bright laughter came from inside the house.

  In the afternoon, the sun shone obliquely on the official road, and six or seven riders came out of the east gate of Anyang County, galloping northeast. The riders had no armor on their bodies, only swords and bows and arrows. The heavy hooves trampled on the dry land, splashing up clouds of dust.

  Xue Liangyu pursed his lips, tightly clenching the horse's belly with a silent cry, occasionally whipping the horse's hindquarters with a riding crop, almost making the blue-maned horse fly. This sixteen-year-old brave young man had only one thought in mind: to quickly rush to the Qi family village at Qili Gang Curve, seize the leader of the thieves first, establish his merit, and prove to his older brother that he was more qualified than Lang Dang, his newly recruited younger brother-in-law, to be a team leader or even a battalion commander.

  "Xue Lao Si, Xue Lao Si, slow down, slow down!" Liu Sheng shouted on the side while stretching out his hand to pull Xue Liangyu's reins: "Save some horse power!"

  "What's with the delay? If we don't hurry, the thief will escape!" Xue Liangyu retorted.

  "We can't outrun them, the thieves have stolen our things and are moving fast! It's us who are the scouts, if we exhaust our horses too much, who knows what might happen at a critical moment!" Liu Sheng forcefully pulled on Xue Liangyu's reins, forcing him to slow down: "Xue Liangyu, you're under my command now, so you have to listen to me. If not, then go back. Otherwise, be careful of military law being ruthless, your family's rules are something you know about. Even if I were to cut you down with one sword, your second brother and father wouldn't dare say a word!"

  Xue Liangyu's mount let out a long whinny, the feeling of being reined in making it extremely uncomfortable. It kicked its hooves in anger, sending up clouds of dust. Its master was just as fierce, staring at Liu Sheng with a menacing gaze, but Liu Sheng met his stare calmly. Finally, Xue Liangyu lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Alright, I'll listen to you!"

  Liu Sheng and his men soon arrived at the outskirts of Qujiazhuang Village in Qili Gang. Following Liu Sheng's orders, two of his subordinates dismounted to scout out the situation with the thieves inside the village, while he led the remaining men to provide cover from a distance. The reason for this was simple: although all of them knew how to ride horses, only Liu Sheng and Xue Liangchen were skilled in shooting arrows and fighting on horseback; the others only knew how to ride horses. If they got too close to the village and were ambushed by the thieves, it would be troublesome. Moreover, mounted men made for a large target and could easily be discovered by the thieves' sentries, which would not be good.