Chapter 178 Confrontation

Chapter 178: Confrontation

Cao Geer's front door was wide open. Besides his father and older brother lying on the straw, there was one bandit's corpse in the main hall, two more lying in the courtyard, and even two more outside the gate with wooden sticks stuck straight into their heads.

It turned out that three bandits had entered from the backyard, but they had also arranged for lookouts at the front gate.

Seeing the corpses filling the yard, Cao Geer's legs trembled as he knelt and crouched beside his father, covering his eyes, too scared to look at his father's horrifying wounds. His mother said in a hoarse voice, "Cao Geer, go back to your room first."

Cao Geer obeyed his mother and ran back to the house, opening the window to look outside. After his mother and that handsome young man had finished applying medicine to his father and brother, he saw his mother kneel down directly in front of them without getting up.

"H-Heroes, thank you for saving my husband and son." She was just an ordinary farmer with little experience. To go through such an ordeal on New Year's Eve, with her family's lives hanging in the balance, and still manage to thank their benefactors in words showed incredible mental fortitude.

"We were just passing through," Ge Quan said, pulling Fang Jinrong up. "But their condition is critical now. They shouldn't be moved. It would be best to find a doctor."

"But my husband and I have no place to stay right now. I wonder if we could stay the night here?"

Cao Geer's mother had seen Ge Quan finish off a man with a single sword stroke earlier. Frightened and unsettled, she wished nothing more than to have them stay in her home. She quickly replied, "Yes, yes! Cao Geer, quickly get your older brother's room ready and put down some bedding." As soon as she finished speaking, another scream came from somewhere in the village.

Through the courtyard, she could see a man carrying a child running out of a nearby house. As he got closer, she recognized him as He Si, their neighbor next door.

He Si had parents and an elder brother with his wife. It was the second day of the New Year, and the family should have been visiting He Si's eldest brother and staying for dinner. But it seemed his wife and daughter hadn't made it out; only him and his son remained, with several fierce bandits chasing behind.

Fang Jinrong quickly hid behind Ge Quan. "There are more?"

Ge Quan seemed a little puzzled too. "Should we go take a look? They don't seem to be from the same group."

They had been traveling from Qinzhou to Xiwu, taking detours on small roads whenever they could to avoid trouble with fleeing bandits.

They had chosen Hongye Village to rest, and the Chen family's house looked the best, so they came to ask for lodging. Who would have guessed they'd stumble upon bandits killing people and end up saving the Chen father and son?

They had saved people along the way before, but some had ended up clinging to them. Fang Jinrong found it troublesome. "Aren't there any able-bodied men in the village? What about the local officials? Oh, oh... the county magistrate is Wan Geer's husband. Then let's give a hand."

As they were talking, He Si, without waiting for Ge Quan to act, ran straight for Chen Er's house with Hu Zi in his arms, his mind made up. As he ran, he begged the bandits, "Chief, please... don't kill me! I have no money. That house there... see the new house he built? That means he has money. Not only silver, but... also several carts of grain." He Si ran, panting heavily, and Hu Zi was heavy too. Soon the bandits were about to catch up.

In the night, with few other sounds, the four people in the Chen family courtyard heard He Si's words clearly. Jianghu wanderers lived by a code of honor, rewarding kindness and repaying enmity. Ge Quan, who had been about to step forward to help, abruptly stopped.

As for He Si, who was leading the bandits toward the Chen family, seeing that the bandits behind him were determined to kill him, he steeled himself and actually threw Hu Zi behind him to buy himself a chance to survive.

Hu Zi stared blankly at the descending broadsword, its blade still stained with the blood of his mother and sister, who had been pushed forward by his father to shield him just like he was now.

In that moment, Hu Zi's small body found strength from somewhere. He grabbed hold of He Si with all his might, refusing to let go. Tears and snot smeared all over He Si. He had lost control of his bladder from the shock, anger, and fear. He was on the verge of collapsing.

In that brief delay, the bandit's sword fell heavily, slicing from the back of He Si's head straight through Hu Zi's left leg. He Si died on the spot.

"Second Brother, something's off. We didn't send anyone to that yard ahead, so why are there people lying on the ground?"

The bandit was about to finish off Hu Zi with another strike when one of his subordinates suddenly alerted him. He looked up and saw the gate of a nearby courtyard wide open, with two people lying directly in front of it. Based on their dark clothes and the cloths covering their faces, they were probably roving bandits from a different mountain gang. Each had a wooden stick as thick as a finger stuck in their forehead, clearly dead.

The bandit leader became wary. "There's a master here. San Diao's group has already found where the grain is hidden. Forget this family. Let's take the grain and leave."

The bandits were experienced in combat. They first backed away while keeping their eyes on the Chen family, and once they felt they were at a safe distance, they quickly turned and ran. But as soon as they took a step, several wooden sticks as sharp as arrows flew at the backs of their heads, driving in with more efficiency than a hammer driving a nail. The ones at the back fell instantly.

The man in front had a wooden stick graze his scalp, but it couldn't withstand the force within and shattered with a snap.

The bandit, grateful to be alive, broke out in a cold sweat, clutched the back of his head, and ran for his life.

Ge Quan sighed. He needed to stay and protect his husband, and his handy weapons were with his master. The old man, fond of his drink, had parted ways with them midway. Ge Quan had no idea where he was now. He could only let the scoundrel escape.

---

On the mountainside of Hongye Village, over seventy bandits had gathered. These bandits were clearly not of the same ilk as the roving bandits who had attacked the Chen family. They weren't afraid of being discovered by the villagers. Upon entering the village, they first killed their way into the He household, demanded to know where the village's grain was hidden, then silenced them. They didn't cause any further trouble. They only sent a few men to chase He Si, while the rest went up the mountain to look for the grain.

"Brother, why haven't Second Brother and the others who went chasing caught up yet?" someone asked.

The bandit leader frowned and said gruffly, "Forget about him. He's probably gone looking for women and young men again. Let's get the grain first and leave this broken county early."

"Yeah, this broken county has neither money nor grain, but plenty of patrolling constables. If we weren't really out of grain, it wouldn't have been worth the effort."

"Brother, are we still heading south? Can't we just settle down in Xiwu Prefecture?"

The bandit leader said impatiently, "First of all, Xiwu is a broke and poor place. Even the local gentry in the towns don't have much grain. Besides, Lingnan is not wealthy anywhere. Since our brothers barely escaped from Qinzhou, don't you want to find a richer place?"

At these words, none of the subordinates said a word. They had just hit a town and besides some gold and silver, they hadn't gotten much grain. They were on the run now. On the road, gold and silver were less useful than grain.

These bandits were different from roving bandits. Roving bandits covered their faces, didn't know each other, and after pulling off a job, they went home and became ordinary citizens again, farming and marrying.

But these bandits who killed and robbed, they went everywhere, killing and looting wherever they went. They were already regulars on the wanted posters in the government offices. There was no turning back.

"Alright, this is the cellar. Move the stone and start digging."

The cellar where Hongye Village hid its grain wasn't particularly hidden. It was on a flat spot halfway up the mountain, marked by a large stone. But without someone showing the way, no one would have guessed there was a cellar there.

The bandits were all burly and strong. They moved the stone and dug open the cellar entrance in no time.

Two of the bandits jumped down without a word. But after a long time, there was no word from them. The bandit leader crouched at the mouth of the cellar, leaning down. "Zhao Feng, Lao Jiu? You..." The next second, a sharp knife stabbed out from the dark cellar, flashing white in the night, heading straight for the bandit leader's face.

The bandit leader was experienced in deadly combat. He twisted his neck hard, barely dodging the cold blade coming out of the cellar.

"Ambush! Retreat!"

"Fire arrows!"

The bandit leader's voice and a voice from the surrounding woods rang out almost at the same time. Panicked, the bandits were pierced through by arrows coming from unknown directions. Before they even saw their enemy, over twenty of them fell.

The bandit leader led his remaining brothers in a random direction, trying to break out. Perhaps fearing friendly fire on the narrow mountain path, the ambushers dropped their bows and drew long swords, engaging the bandits in close combat. Even from the cellar, forty-some men dressed in constable uniforms emerged to intercept them from behind.

"Brother, they're wearing military uniforms! They're from the government!" someone shouted in panic.

"Shut up! Fight our way out!"

These bandits were fierce, determined to hack a bloody path to freedom. But Qin Jiao, wielding a long sword, charged in. Ignoring the other small fry, he went straight for the bandit leader. They exchanged a dozen moves. The bandit leader was no match and was beheaded by Qin Jiao, who then threw the head into the crowd. "Your leader is dead! If you continue resisting, you will surely die!"

With their leader gone, the bandits lost their nerve. They were surrounded by soldiers, and the situation was hopeless. They simply laid down their weapons and allowed themselves to be tied up and taken away.

Qin Jiao kicked one of the bandits, knocking him to the ground. "Hey, do you have any accomplices?"

The bandit kept his head down and said nothing. He had blood on his hands, and whether he talked or not, he was dead anyway.

Qin Jiao raised an eyebrow. "Pretty tough, huh?"

Raising his voice, he said, "Are there any among you who haven't killed anyone? If you want to earn merit and reduce your years of hard labor, speak up."

One of them weakly said, "Down at the east end of the village, there's our deputy. He took a few men to chase someone."

Qin Jiao nodded in satisfaction. "Alright. Keep an eye on this bunch. We'll go down the mountain and hand them over to the magistrate for interrogation."

Song Tingzhou and his men had started rushing to Red Mud Town on New Year's Eve, but they arrived too late. The Tong family had already been looted.

They tracked the bandits to their hideout. One group took the gold, silver, and grain back to the county. Song Tingzhou extracted information from the bandits, then led Qin Jiao and the remaining men to ride overnight to Hongye Village, where they set up an ambush. Qin Jiao hid on the mountainside, while Song Tingzhou waited at the foot of the mountain. Attacking from both sides, they finally subdued the bandits.

Knowing there were still fugitives down the mountain, Qin Jiao did not follow the main force but took a small path straight to the eastern end of the village.

The bodies at the Chen family's doorstep had already been cleared away by Ge Quan, but a faint smell of blood had not yet dissipated. Qin Jiao's nose twitched slightly, he slowed his quickened pace, and his eyes fixed tightly on the closed courtyard gate of the Chen family.

He hesitated for a moment, lifted his heels slightly, and walked over softly without making a sound. Finding a low section of the wall, he used one hand for leverage and vaulted over gracefully.

But before his feet touched the ground, a dark shadow flew rapidly toward him. Even though Qin Jiao dodged as anticipated, a strand of his temple hair was still sliced off.

Turning back to look, he couldn't help but gasp. A thick, blunt wooden stick was embedded in the mud wall behind him, then splintered and fell to the ground with a faint sound.

"Eh? His skills seem pretty good. Ge Quan, can you beat him?" a pampered young man said from inside the house, accompanied by the faint cry of a baby.

A calm voice replied, "I can beat him."

Only a first-class master could kill with a wave of his hand without using weapons. Qin Jiao realized he was at a disadvantage and definitely could not defeat this man named Ge Quan. He quickly called out, "Friend, I am not a bad person. You're not bandits either, are you?" Bandits wouldn't bring a young man and a child out to rob. The heavy smell of blood in the yard was probably because those bandits had been dealt with by the top-tier master in the house.

The man remained silent. The young man who had spoken first shouted, "You say you're not a bad person and that's it? Do bad people write it on their faces? Hmph!!!"

The young man seemed to have suffered some loss in this regard, so his tone was quite unfriendly.

Qin Jiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Standing under the wall, he dared not move recklessly. "I am truly a good person. I am a squad leader in the garrison outside Heshan County town. If you two don't believe me..."

"You say you're an official of Heshan County? Then do you know the name of the county magistrate's husband?" the young man interrupted him rudely.

"Meng... Wan?" Qin Jiao's expression turned strange. What kind of question was that?

Fang Jinrong thought he was being clever. Ordinary people wouldn't know the names of the county magistrate's family members, not even their surname. But who would have thought that Meng Wan had built his business into such a success that his name was even more famous than Song Tingzhou's.

"Brother Quan, he really seems to be one of Song Tingzhou's men."

The window with a small hole was opened from inside. A husband with his hair tied up poked his head out. He had round almond eyes, clear pupils, slightly chubby cheeks, and a pregnancy mole beside his nose that was redder than his lips. He looked very young.

"Hey, come in and talk." He seemed used to ordering people around and spoke to Qin Jiao without any courtesy.

Qin Jiao nearly laughed in frustration. He was the marquis's heir, the younger brother-in-law of the crown prince, an imperial relative! Being ordered around by the Song couple was one thing—at least the Song family were kind and spoke politely—but who did this young man think he was?

Ge Quan's handsome and fair face, which didn't look like that of a jianghu wanderer, appeared behind Fang Jinrong. He glanced at Qin Jiao calmly, without any expression.

Qin Jiao fell silent. He looked up at the finger-sized hole in the window, then lowered his head to rub the tip of his nose, and stepped into the house.