Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 79: Evil Times Give Birth to Evil Hearts
It was already late at night when Xu Huai and his men arrived at the military camp of the Inspection Office. The gate of the camp had already been closed, but the walls were rarely lit with torches - even though it was late at night, there were still thirty or forty armored soldiers standing on the walls to keep watch.
There was no way to sneak over the wall and sneak into the military camp, so Xu Huai found a spy they had arranged nearby.
This spy hid in a house south of the military camp, specifically keeping an eye on the movements in the camp.
Xu Xin'an hastily wrote a letter, describing what happened in Zhongjiazhuang today, especially the deployment of the bandits in Hutouzhai. He asked his spy to take the letter and three fast horses that had just been obtained, and return to Xiemashan overnight to hand it over to Xu Wujiang.
They swam across the Baidu River overnight and did not go to Qinzhai. Instead, they found an empty yard of an unoccupied household in Tieshi Lane, crawled in and rested in the woodshed for the night.
There are only a few buildings in Zhongjiazhuang that are located on relatively open terrain, such as the main house of the Zhong family and the warehouse for storing large quantities of grain. The bandits have arranged people to keep a close eye on these buildings to prevent the fire from spreading. Most of the clansmen live in thatched houses that are crowded together, so they will be burned to ashes if set on fire.
Hundreds of Zhong clan members fled overnight, and many of them fled to the vicinity of the military camp in the early morning. Various news also spread in the streets.
The bandits burned, killed, and looted with impunity, especially Zhong Changqing, who was so bloodthirsty towards the Zhong clan.
Even though the Zhong clan members gave up resistance after seeing that they were attacked from both sides, the Taibaiding bandits still killed everyone they saw, regardless of gender or child, after entering the valley, causing the valley below Mopanling to be filled with blood.
In addition to looting, the bandits in Shixi Village also wantonly raped women, forcing countless women to jump into rivers and wells.
The Zhong clan members who fled here overnight did not dare to stay on the west bank of the Baijian River, for fear that the bandit army would attack them from behind at any time; those who were good at swimming rushed over and swam across the river, while the others could not wait to cross the river by ferry until dawn.
In the morning, Xu Huai, Xu Xin'an, Xu Wukun and Han Qi saw that the military camp was still on high alert and it was difficult to get in, but they disguised themselves and ran to a teahouse in the street market to have breakfast.
The streets were also in chaos, and hundreds of Zhong family members who had fled had to live on the streets for the time being.
Various rumors spread, and Xu Huai also heard discussions on the streets and alleys, and only then did he know that more than a dozen members of the eldest branch of the Zhong family were killed, and only the 19-year-old second son Zhong He was treated very well by his subordinates. At the critical moment, he was protected by more than a dozen family soldiers and was able to escape.
Before Wang Xiaocheng was appointed as the governor of Tangzhou, the bandit problem in Tongbai Mountain was so severe that it alarmed the imperial court, but there had never been such a large-scale killing in Tongbai Mountain.
All kinds of confusing information came out overnight, but it was almost confirmed that after the Zhong clan had given up resistance, hundreds of Zhong clan members were still massacred.
This had never happened before in Tongbai Mountain, and the streets were filled with public outrage for a while.
Some people were angry and hated the bandits' bloody brutality. The military camp had issued an order to recruit local soldiers to suppress the bandits. Some young and strong men on the street were filled with indignation and shouted to rush to sign up.
Most people are afraid in their hearts.
They knew that there were many shallows in the middle and upper reaches of the Baijian River where they could cross the river directly, and they did not think that the streets on the east bank of the river would be safe just because there was a strong military camp on the west bank of the Baijian River.
By noon, Xu Huai and his companions could see that many families were leading their mules and horses and taking their children to the countryside, but the vast majority of people had their properties in the streets, and although no disaster was imminent, they were still reluctant to abandon their homes and flee.
Unable to find an opportunity to enter the military camp, Xu Huai, Xu Wukun, Xu Xin'an and Han Qi rushed to Willow Lane.
Apart from Zhou Jianxiong and other three apprentices of Xu Wuliang, who make a living in the blacksmith shop in Willow Lane, most of the residents here are impoverished families. Near Willow Lane are a large number of dilapidated shanties where bankrupt farmers live and make a living as laborers. Xu Huai subconsciously feels that these people will have different views on the bloodbath in Zhongjiazhuang yesterday.
Yesterday, Zhongjiazhuang was massacred by bandits, and the news spread throughout the area. Xu Huai, Xu Wukun and others walked to Liutiao Lane and listened to the discussions on the streets. It was indeed very different from that in Tieshi Lane.
Only Zhonghe, the second son of the eldest branch of the Zhong family, escaped. There were many people in Willow Lane who gloated over their misfortune.
Speaking of the Green-Eyed Wolf Zhong Changqing, who was ruthless to the Zhong clan members and killed women and children overnight, causing a river of blood, many people sympathized with his tragic experience in his early years, saying that his bloodbath in Zhongjiazhuang was a way to please the people and that it was the Zhong clan members' own fault for the evil they had done in their early years.
Xu Huai also saw some of them discussing the bandits' looting, burning, killing, and abuse of women last night. There was excitement or excitement in their eyes. He suspected that perhaps these people would cross the river and join the bandits without waiting for the storm to come.
These people have violent natures in their hearts and do not have much sympathy for the women and children who were brutally murdered. This makes Xu Huai feel heavy-hearted.
However, think about the people living near Willow Lane. Most of them were trapped by hunger, cold, disease and tortured by fate. How can we blame them for the violence in their hearts and for being born cruel?
Survival is in a desperate situation, and cannibalism is possible. How can there be so much good and evil in one's heart?
However, this scene is what Xu Huai is most worried about.
The bandit problem led by Zheng Hui and others behind the scenes has become serious and there is no hope of extinguishing it in the short term.
More and more people, influenced by the bandits' wanton burning, killing and looting, are becoming more violent. This will only make it easier for the bandits in Hutouzhai, Shixizhuang, Taibaiding and other places to recruit more people from the poor young and middle-aged people at the bottom of the society, making their power even more unstoppable.
Thinking of this, Xu Huai, Xu Wukun and others hurried to Ge's blacksmith shop.
Seven or eight young men in ragged clothes and pale faces gathered in front of Ge's blacksmith shop. Xu Wuliang's three apprentices, Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng and Yin Peng, were all there. While forging iron, they were discussing something with these young men.
When Xu Huai, Xu Wukun, Xu Xin'an, and Han Qi came over, they stopped talking. Someone impatiently drove them away: "We are not doing ironwork here today. If you have anything to do, why don't you go find another shop?"
Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng and Yin Peng did not recognize Xu Wukun, Xu Xin'an and Han Qi, but they had seen Xu Huai twice.
They knew that Xu Huai was a well-known fool in the Xu family, a nephew of Xu Wuliang, and was also hired by Liu Qiong'er to work. They immediately invited him into the shop and asked anxiously and confusedly: "Xu Huai, where did you and my master's family go? We went to Tieshi Lane several times, but except for Madam Zhou and Madam Xu, we didn't see anyone from you."
Although Yuhuangling is less than 20 miles away from Huaiyuan Street, the road was cut off due to Pan Chenghu's rampage in Lutai Village and Deng Gui's encirclement and suppression. As low-income youths in Huaiyuan Street, Zhou Jianxiong and others had no way to find out any information about what happened before and after Yuhuangling in the past few days.
However, even if the major clans did not send reinforcements at first, they were always paying attention to the movements in Yuhuangling and heard all kinds of true and false news. They all secretly guessed that Xu Wujiang might have settled in Xiema Mountain after escaping from the army, and that Pan Chenghu's bandits were lured out of Xiema Mountain by Xu Wufu and Xu Wujiang; Xu Huai, this fool, once killed dozens of Pan Chenghu's bandits in front of Lutai Village. He was indeed a rare brave general of the Xu family.
Xu Huai saw that the furnace was burning fiercely. Zhou Jianxiong, with his upper body naked, was taking an iron bar from the furnace with pliers and forging it on the pliers table. Although it was not yet formed, it was clearly a long blade. When they walked to the front of the shop just now, two young men subconsciously blocked the pliers table.
"Which company are you going to invest in?" Xu Huai asked directly.
"Master Bao from Hutou Village is here. Let's make some weapons quickly so that we can go to Hutou Village!"
Others did not recognize Xu Huai, Xu Wukun and others, but these seven or eight young men had all received instruction in martial arts from Xu Wuliang.
After hearing Zhou Jianxiong say that these people knew Xu Wuliang and had been searching for him for a long time without success, and then hearing Xu Huai's question, he thought that they had come here at this time to join the gang.
Someone directly grabbed a thin-faced man who turned around and was about to walk out of the shop, and told him without any ulterior motives what they had just discussed here.
Before Xu Huai could make a move, Xu Wukun and Xu Xin'an, one on each side, restrained the man with their hands like iron tongs , grinning, "You turned around and tried to leave when you saw us coming. Master Bao, do you look down on us?"
"What are you doing?" everyone asked in surprise.
"Close the door first!" Han Qi came over to help subdue the thin-faced man. Xu Wukun asked someone to close the shop door first to prevent the noise here from alarming outsiders. They didn't know how many spies were watching the left and right in Hutouzhai.
Although they were confused, Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng and Yin Peng acted quickly. They closed the shop door, found a rope to tie up the thin-faced man, and stuffed a rag into his mouth to prevent him from shouting.
No matter what, they had to stand on the side of Xu Huai, who was from the same clan and had a close relationship with Xu Wuliang; besides, they also recognized Xu Wukun and Xu Xin'an, but they had never had any specific contact with them before, so they couldn't be sure.
Xu Huai saw that everyone else was normal and nodded slightly to Xu Wukun.
Hutouzhai had robbed and killed merchants on Zoumadao twice before. Some merchants had to hire more people to pass, but most of them would rather take a longer detour, and Zoumadao suddenly became deserted.
Most of the young and middle-aged people in the shantytowns make a living by doing hard labor, odd jobs or working as apprentices in shops in the market. At this time, their lives have become even more difficult and it is difficult to make a living.
All matters are closely related. The livelihood of various shops in the street is much worse than before. After Zhou Jianxiong and his colleagues took over the blacksmith shop, there was not much business. This situation has lasted for more than two months, and everyone is starving and emaciated.
People's hearts have been restless for a long time.
After Xu Wujiang and his men captured Xiema Mountain, they wanted to send people to the streets to recruit people, but they eventually gave up because they thought it was too obvious.
Liu Qiong'er also instigated Xu Wuliang to take Zhou Jianxiong and the other two to Jinshagou, but Xu Wuliang hesitated. He didn't want to think that the bandits had massacred Zhongjiazhuang yesterday. When Zhou Jianxiong and the others heard the news, they could no longer hold back.
Since these people are restless and no longer content, there is no doubt that they will be directly recruited to Jinshagou.
