Chapter Seventy: Rebirth of a Plan

  This week, so many negative votes. It seems that some settings in this book still make a lot of friends unhappy. However, please believe that there will be some corrections later. Here is a 5,000-word chapter as a bonus. Is it powerful? Red tickets! Please help leave them behind!

  The Zhuang Ding of Fanjiabao repelled the stick's fierce attack twice in a row, killing and injuring many sticks. Although they also paid some casualties, they still got the reward money, which made them overjoyed and felt that this time they could definitely withstand the stick's attack.

  They all knew that the stick and the village were often a one-shot deal, hitting down was hitting, not hitting down was walking away, never making a lasting war. Before, they weren't without experience in encountering sticks coming to attack the village either.

  So they thought that as long as they could repel the attack of the stick-wielding gang once more, their morale would plummet and they would retreat with their tails between their legs, and Fanjia Fortress would be safe.

  Fan Lao Cai was a bit heartbroken to give out the reward money, and he was also worried that all his tenants would run away, leaving no one to farm for him in the future. However, he wouldn't be too anxious about this, as there were many starving vagrants in this world who had nothing to eat or drink. As long as he was willing to offer some food, it should be easy for him to recruit another group of tenants to work on his land. Therefore, at present, the most crucial thing for him was still to protect his own foundation.

  Then he endured the pain and had someone kill a pig, stewed it in a large pot, distributed it to those farm workers, letting them eat their fill, and also brought out some wine for these farm workers to drink. This actually boosted the morale of the farm workers. The farm workers, with oil dripping from their mouths, their faces flushed red from the stimulation of alcohol, patted their chests and assured him, "Don't worry, Master Fan! As long as we're here, those bastards will never be able to get into the estate!" This greatly reassured the entire Fan family.

  After dark, the village outside was still bustling with people, those poles seemed to have no intention of resting at all. In the distance outside the village, a large bonfire rose, and it was busy until midnight, I don't know what they were doing.

  This situation seems quite abnormal, but most of the villagers don't care about it. They think that as long as they guard the village wall tightly, no matter how fierce the poles are, they can't do anything to the village. In fact, this has been proven true, haven't the two attacks by the poles been repelled? Moreover, many people have died, and it's likely that the poles outside don't have a better plan! So most of the villagers just focus on eating and drinking, after eating their fill, they leave a few people to keep watch, and the rest immediately fall asleep.

  Only the robust man with the surname Luo stood on the wall, looking outwards with an increasingly furrowed brow. At this time, the eldest son of the Fan family also stumbled up onto the wall, drunk, and looked outwards with his hands behind his back, saying with a hint of complacency: "A bunch of rustic thieves and tile dogs, that's all! Luo Li, why don't you go down to drink? Why are you staying up here? What's so good to look at?"

  Luo Li slightly bowed to him, which was considered a courtesy. He leaned on the wall and looked at the distant noisy rod camp outside, saying with some concern: "Young master! I think these rods are not quite right! It's so late, they still don't rest, who knows what they're stirring up? I'm worried that if one plan doesn't work, they'll come up with another. We can't be too careful!"

  Fan's eyes glanced at Luo Li, and a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. He said impatiently: "A stick is just a stick, a group of poor devils, what can they stir up? Let them stir up whatever they want! As long as they dare to come, we'll fight with all our might. If we kill a few of them, they'll retreat on their own accord! I know you're very capable, but when it comes to dealing with these sticks, you still overestimate them!"

  After Luo Li heard his words, a hint of displeasure appeared on his face. He was also from a poor background and used to be a hunter in the western mountains. Later, because he couldn't afford the taxes, he escaped and coincidentally encountered Fan Family Fortress recruiting farmhands, so he came here to make a living. However, the Fan family never looked at him with respect, treating these farmhands with disdain, not considering them as human beings. If it weren't for the arrival of this group of people in the past two days, they would hardly have had the chance to eat meat.

  He also dislikes it when others scold them for being poor, and today Fan Dashi called those people poor devils with his mouth open and closed. In short, he still looks down on such poor people, which makes Luo Li very unhappy.

  However, he is now a farmhand in Fanjia Village and also a small leader, so it's not convenient for him to refute this Master Fan. He turned his head and continued to look out of the village, the more he looked, the more uneasy he felt inside.

  Because they were far away, although there were bonfires lit outside the pole, but they couldn't see what they were doing. Luo Li thought for a moment and said to Fan Da Shao: "I always feel uneasy, I don't know what these poles are up to again, Master, I think I'll go down and sneak closer to the poles to take a look, see what they're really doing. If they're plotting something, we can be prepared!"

  Fan Dashao turned his head and took another look at Luo Li, then looked around outside and frowned, saying: "I'm telling you, Luo Li! I think there's something wrong with you! You're not worried that staying here will cost you your life because of the powerful rod, are you? Or are you trying to take advantage of the situation to slip away?"

  Luoli immediately became angry, his face suddenly turned bright red, and he loudly said to the man surnamed Fan: "Young master! You... you also look down on me, Lu, too much! Am I that kind of person? Since I came here to be a farmhand, I will be loyal to you! In these two days, haven't I been brave enough? There are seven or eight bandits who have been shot dead or injured by me! How can the young master look down on me like this? If the young master doesn't trust me, then don't use me, but those bandits outside are really not a concern for me!"

  Fan Dashao took a look at Luo Li and thought that these two days, this guy had indeed performed well, resisting the rods with great effort. He didn't seem like a coward who feared death, and now they were in need of manpower. Fan Dashao didn't want to offend Luo Li, letting him lose heart and slack off the next day. So he quickly put on a smile and said: "Hehe! Luo Li! I was just joking with you! How could I not see that you're a real man? It's just that going out now is really too dangerous, and I don't want you to take risks. If you must go out and take a look, it's not like it's impossible, just be extra careful!"

  Luoli didn't bother to continue chatting with Fan Dashi, since he had already agreed. Luoli immediately strapped a waist knife on his back and called two guards, letting them lower a thick rope from the wall. He flipped over the wall and slid down the rope.

  That night, the moon was just a crescent in the sky, and everywhere was pitch black. After Luo Li set up the camp wall, he held his breath and endured the stench of rotting corpses that had already begun to decay. He bent down and quickly ran towards the passage filled with stakes, using the cover of night to carefully make his way towards the brightly lit bonfire outside the village.

  The big cow crouched behind a mound of earth not far from the villa, occasionally nodding his head. After a day of hustle and bustle, he was also quite exhausted. Now it was his turn to keep watch at night, monitoring the movements inside the villa. It was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't doze off, but Big Cow still forced himself to stay awake, occasionally pinching his thigh with his hand to resist sleep. If he fell asleep, trouble would be big. His boss wasn't an easy person to talk to, and if discovered, a severe scolding would be unavoidable. So although Big Cow was sleepy, he didn't dare slack off, and could only struggle hard against the strong temptation of sleep.

  Suddenly he felt a shadow flash in front of him, and the big cow was startled awake, hurriedly shaking its head, carefully stretching out its neck, and gazing intently towards the village.

  There were many torches lit on the wall of the villa, which made a bright background. Although Da Niu's eyesight was not very good, at least he didn't have night blindness. With the light from the lanterns and torches on the wall of the villa, he soon discovered that someone was carefully sneaking out of the villa.

  The big cow suddenly tensed up, quickly withdrew its body from the soil heap, then arched its waist and ran to Shi Yan's side with small steps, shaking Shi Yan who was already asleep.

  Shi Ran was suddenly awakened by Da Niu, and he immediately felt for the waist knife beside him. Opening his sleepy eyes, he saw that it was indeed Da Niu, and then asked: "What's wrong? What happened?"

  "Boss! Someone has snuck out of the village and is heading our way! I'm afraid I won't be able to handle him alone, so I came to call you!"

  Shi Rong suddenly came to, turned over and got up, and shook awake two or three of his men beside him. In a low voice, he said to them: "Don't make a sound! Listen to me! There's a daredevil coming out of the Zhuangzi! We can't let him get away! If we catch him, there'll definitely be a reward! Everyone hurry up and grab your weapons!"

  After Luo Li left the village, he was very careful all the way and didn't find any ambushes. He had some contempt for these sticks in his heart, thinking that they were nothing but this! They didn't even leave a single ambush, which was really careless! It's just that there are fewer people inside the village, if there were enough people, as long as they brought ten or so people to sneak out and launch a surprise attack on them, it would be bad for these guys! Unfortunately, there are too few brave men in the village!

  He thought as he crouched down, trying to make himself as small as possible so as not to expose his figure, and using the light from the distant bonfire, he saw a ridge of earth and immediately sprang over to it, lying flat on top of it. Then, with great care, he slowly poked out his head in the direction of the bonfire.

  But what he never expected was that as soon as he poked his head out, another head popped out from the other side of the beam, and the two people were face to face, nose to nose, staring at each other with wide eyes. This gave Luo Li a good scare, and he couldn't help but let out a startled cry of "Ah!"

  Luo Lian didn't even think about it, and sprang up like a spring, stretching out his hand to touch the hilt of the knife behind him. However, before he could pull out the single-edged sword from behind his back, several figures flashed out again from the earth wall over there, shouting loudly as they rushed over. In the midst of the darkness, Luo Lian only heard a humming sound, and something that was swinging in the wind suddenly pounced on him. He didn't even have time to react before he felt a heavy blow to his waist, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling to the ground.

  Several dark shadows pounced on him, and with a thud, he was pressed to the ground. His arms were twisted behind his back, and just as he had managed to pull out his single-edged sword, he was kicked and beaten into submission by his opponents.

  "Let me go! Let me go, you dare! We'll settle this one on one! Damn it! What the... Ah...... I'll fight you all to death...... Ah......" Luo Li struggled with all his might, trying to break free, cursing loudly in his mouth, but these people didn't give him a chance. They punched and kicked him, and after a while, they beat Luo Li into a pulp, unable to struggle anymore. Then, they tied him up with ropes like a pig, even binding his two legs together.

  Shi Rang kicked Luo Li again, kicking him so hard that he was out of breath and couldn't curse anymore. Shi Rang spat on Luo Li's face and scolded: "Damn it! You're still quite strong! Almost knocked me down! I'll see if you can still jump around now! Who the hell didn't watch where they were going just now? Who kicked my face?! Ah! Now I'm disfigured!"

  The shouts and curses from this side immediately spread to the Zhuangzi, Fan Dashi was startled, and shouted: "Look! Look! I said we can't go, now it's good, Luo Li has been caught by others! Quickly pull up the rope, don't look anymore! Luo Li is finished! Everyone listen, no one is allowed to go down again! Damn it, not listening to me, now you're in trouble! Don't bother with him anymore! As long as we hold on to the pole, it's fine!

  Fan Dashao didn't even think of going to save Luo Li, and after scolding him, he jumped down from the wall and went home to sleep.

  Shi Rang scolded and cursed, using a stick to lift Luo Li up, walking while beating him, hitting him all the way until he was sent in front of Xiao Tianjian.

  Xiao Tianjian was quite surprised that Shi Yan and the others had caught a spy. He hadn't expected that there would actually be someone bold enough inside the village to do such a thing, and he couldn't help but have some admiration for someone who dared to take such a risk. So he ordered the men to stop beating Luo Li and also told Shi Yan to untie the ropes from Luo Li's feet. He walked up to him and looked him up and down with his head bowed.

  Lu Li's face was covered in blood, and he looked utterly defeated. Just now, he had been beaten to a pulp, but he still refused to give up. He glared at Xiao Tianjian with his beady eyes, his gaze filled with malice, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground, cursing: "Today, I, Lu Li, have fallen! Cut the crap! If you've got guts, give me a quick death!"

  Xiao Tianjian was indeed very interested in someone who wasn't afraid to die. Although they were enemies, after all, looking at this man surnamed Luo's attire, it could be seen that he was just a servant and couldn't be considered as having any deep grudges with him. Therefore, Xiao Tianjian didn't want to kill him either. So he said to him: "You're a real man! Not bad! I, Xiao, respect people with backbone! You're not afraid of death? Very good! I won't kill you! Tell me, what do you do? Why are you willing to risk your life for that old miser Fan?"

  Lu Li stared at Xiao Tianjian with his panda eyes, forcing himself to open them and sizing him up. He was also surprised by Xiao Tianjian's head, not expecting it to be so big and sturdy. Hearing that he wouldn't kill him, Lu Li relaxed a bit, but still replied in a strong tone: "Not for anything else, since I've taken money from the Luo family, I have to help them eliminate their troubles! I'm a villager of Fanjia Village, naturally I'll die for Fanjia Village! Don't waste words! If you want to kill or rob me, go ahead. If not, let me go and I'll return home. I still won't be finished with you!"

  Xiao Tianjian looked at Luo Li and couldn't help but admire the guy's boldness, so he shook his head and said: "Good! You're indeed a tough one! A real man! I, Xiao, admire you! Alright, alright! You're just a farmhand for Fan Lao Cai, trying to make a living! I don't need to kill you necessarily! But letting you go is also impossible! Take him away and keep an eye on him, don't beat him up anymore! After we take down the manor later, we'll let him go!"

  Xiao Tianjian's decision made Luo Li somewhat surprised, the leader of this gang actually said that he would let him go, he was a bit impressed by this gang leader, so he immediately asked: "Why not kill me? I've been killing your people for two days! Are you really willing to let me go?"

  Xiao Tianjian was taken aback, and then smiled: "This is strange, isn't there someone who insists on dying? Let me tell you, I'm not a killer, doing this just to make a living! I keep my word, if I say I won't kill you, I won't kill you! Even if you killed my people, I won't blame you, we each have our own reasons! I admire your courage, if you had knelt down and begged me earlier, maybe I would have really killed you! A good man shouldn't die like this, do you insist on dying?"

  Luoli straightened his neck and immediately replied: "Who the hell is afraid of living a long life? If you don't kill me, that's best, thank you! A stick like you is really rare!" As he spoke, someone came over and dragged Luoli to one side, tying him to a tree. No one paid attention to him again.

  Luo Li now saw clearly what these rods were doing, and saw a group of rods busy making some strange things by the light of the bonfire. He simply watched from the side, and after waiting for a while, he finally saw these things take shape. Suddenly, he was shocked, thinking that Fanjia Fortress was in trouble!