Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 80 I Will Do What I Want
"You bastards, few of you have even grown full hair, yet you all want to join the bandits! Hutouzhai did such a big thing yesterday, and it made a lot of noise, but do you know that a tall tree attracts the wind? When the officers and soldiers come to suppress the bandits, they will definitely attack Hutouzhai first. If you join them now, won't you be pushed to the front to block the officers and soldiers' guns and arrows? Besides, if you all join them, what will happen to your families? Have you thought about this?" Xu Wukun asked, looking around.
"What's there to be afraid of when the soldiers look like that? Besides, everyone has no way to survive. If this goes on any longer, everyone will starve to death. How can we care about so many things?" Yin Peng lifted the straw rope tied around his waist and said meaninglessly.
He was a young man with an impatient temper, about the same age as Xu Xin'an. When Ge Laizi came to the blacksmith shop to cause trouble, he was so anxious that he wanted to grab the man and beat him. Now, he said whatever he wanted to say directly.
"Since you have made up your minds, Xu Wuliang and I have already set up our base in Jinshagou, why would you want to join someone else?" Xu Wukun asked.
"Master (Uncle Liang, Blacksmith Xu) joined the gang in Jinshagou? What kind of power is Jinshagou? Why haven't I heard of it before? Why did Master leave Huaiyuan without saying a word and join the gang? With Master 's skills, has he become the leader in Jinshagou?"
After hearing what Xu Wukun said, Yin Peng and the others were like a lake hit by a huge rock, causing huge waves.
Everyone was surprised and surrounded Xu Wukun, throwing a bunch of questions at him like a slingshot.
Zhou Jianxiong was the one that Xu Wuliang valued the most, so he had to be more steady and careful. He asked, "Was that Ge Laizi killed by my master, and then the Tang family found some clues, so he had to flee from Huaiyuan and go to Jinshagou to become a bandit?"
"You have so much to say. How should I answer you? Does anyone of you recognize me, Xu Wukun?" Xu Wukun asked.
"Mr. Kun, the Golden-tailed Rat? He looks familiar, but I didn't dare to recognize him just now." Someone said.
"You know who I am, right?" Xu Xin'an interrupted.
"Are you Xu Xin'an of the Whirlwind Spear? Didn't we say that you had military uniforms but didn't want to wear them, so you ran off to Hutou Village? Why are you running off to Jinshagou to set up your own faction?" Yin Peng asked.
"I heard that they went to Hutou Village and were driven out..." Someone who heard more rumors corrected Yin Peng in a low voice.
"Bullshit, is the Hutou Village that bad? Is it worth it for me to join it?" Xu Xin'an spat, but he was very satisfied that others called him "Whirlwind Gun". Pointing at the thin-faced man who was tied up, he said, "We were framed and couldn't go back to the military camp, so we had to set up a post in Jinshagou. Now is not the time to talk about these things. If you really want to follow us, then take this guy to the yard and kill him, then take your family and go to Jinshagou immediately!"
Since they have become bandits, they must follow rules - Xu Xin'an asked Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng, Yin Peng and others to take the thin-faced man to the backyard and kill him, which would be considered as their token of surrender.
Zhou Jianxiong and his companions were just very excited about becoming bandits, but now when they were asked to kill someone, they became hesitant.
"Hutou Village is a big village that attracts the wind, and they have done such brutal things. Not to mention that the government will come to suppress them, even heaven and earth will not forgive them. We in Jinshagou want to be righteous bandits, and we have been harmed by the bandits from Hutou Village in the past. Killing this guy is like doing justice for heaven." Xu Wukun saw the hesitation of these people, which did not surprise him, and persuaded them step by step.
It is said that when you have a sharp weapon in your hand, you will naturally want to kill.
After hearing what Xu Wukun said, Zhou Jianxiong and the others were more receptive and took the thin-faced man to the yard at the back. They also knew the rules very well, and each of them took a knife and stabbed eleven bloody holes in the thin-faced man's body.
Xu Wuliang took care of his three apprentices and handed over the blacksmith shop to them to make a living. Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng and Yin Peng not only got up early and went to bed late to run the shop, but their families still lived in the shack outside; the yard at the back was usually kept clean, but it was empty.
Now that it was broad daylight, we couldn't just drag the body out and throw it away. We temporarily threw it into the woodshed and closed the doors and windows to prevent the bloody smell from escaping.
Zhou Jianxiong and others were all young men. Considering that they might not be able to immediately convince their families to withdraw from Huaiyuan to Jinshagou, they were discussing with Xu Huai about taking out the small change they had brought with them for emergencies and having them divide it among themselves, falsely claiming to have volunteered to work in Yuhuangling. At this time, there was a knock on the door outside.
Everyone was a little panicked, worried that other accomplices of Hutouzhai hiding in the street would notice some clues and come looking for them.
"Wu Liangsheng, go and see who's outside!" Xu Wukun ordered everyone to hide in the room. He, Xu Xin'an, and Han Qi held sharp knives, stared at the courtyard, and signaled Wu Liangsheng to open the gate.
Xu Huai walked calmly behind an old locust tree in the yard.
If the spies from Hutouzhai really come to their door, they will have to find a way to kill them.
"Master! Why are you here too?" Wu Liangsheng peeked out from the crack in the door, and suddenly opened the gate with surprise, welcoming in Xu Wuliang and Xu Wujiang, who was wearing a hat covering most of his face.
"What do you mean... Thank God, I didn't find you in Qinzhai, so I looked for you here as expected - you haven't done anything that would catch people off guard, right?" Xu Wuliang asked like a frightened bird when he saw Xu Huai, Xu Wukun and others coming out from behind the tree and the house.
The spy lurking outside the military camp rushed back in the early morning with the text messages written by Xu Huai and others. Xu Wujiang was also in Lion Camel Ridge at that time. When he learned that Xu Huai had sneaked directly to the market from Zhongjiazhuang yesterday, he immediately set out with Xu Wuliang to rush to Huaiyuan Market.
"We haven't done anything against the law. We just came here to recruit Zhou Jianxiong and others to join our gang in Jinshagou." Xu Wukun said with a smile as he walked to the front of the corridor.
At this time, Zhou Jianxiong, Yin Peng and ten other people came out of the house. Xu Wuliang became a little anxious and glared at Xu Wukun: "Aren't you harming them?"
It is not an easy thing to become a bandit. Life is usually difficult, and you may be beheaded when a crime is committed.
Xu Wuliang has always been afraid of dragging down Zhou Jianxiong and others, so even though Liu Qiong'er has been talking about it openly and secretly for several days, he did not respond.
At this time, he did not realize that in addition to Zhou Jianxiong, Wu Liangsheng and Yin Peng, who were considered his formal disciples, Xu Wukun had also found seven or eight young men who had learned kicking and boxing from him for a few days.
"If we hadn't happened to arrive here, these bastards would have surrendered to Hutouzhai!" Xu Wukun explained with a smile. He asked Xu Wuliang and Xu Wujiang to sit down on the steps and told them in detail about the unrest caused by the bandits' bloodbath in Zhongjiazhuang in Huaiyuan.
When Xu Wujiang and Xu Wuliang heard that Xu Huaiqian was coming to Huaiyuan, they rushed over in a hurry. They had not yet thought about what kind of chain reaction the bloodbath at Zhongjiazhuang would trigger. When they heard what Xu Wukun said, they were stunned.
They didn't expect that the trend would surge and the situation would develop so rapidly and unexpectedly.
At this point, Xu Wujiang and Xu Wuliang took out the small change they had with them and distributed it to Zhou Jianxiong and others, asking them to hire them as workers, even if it was a lie, to trick their families to Lion Camel Ridge as soon as possible.
Huaiyuan was in chaos at that time. Some people fled from the west, some left Huaiyuan and went to Xinyang or hid in the countryside. It would not attract special attention if Zhou Jianxiong and his family went to Lion Camel Ridge at this time.
Just be careful that there may be people lurking around Hutou Village.
Xu Wujiang and Xu Wuliang came this time and brought two men with them, and asked Han Qi and them to take care of everything secretly to prevent any mishaps.
"If there is nothing else, should we go back first?" Xu Wujiang asked Xu Huai while sitting on the ground under the corridor.
"Since Uncle Seventeen is here, do you dare to take this body to see Deng Gui?" The door of the west wing opened, and Xu Huai pointed at the body and asked Xu Wujiang.
"You're crazy. If you go to see Deng Gui at this time, aren't you afraid that he will tear off all our bones and sell them?" Xu Wukun said, slapping his forehead.
"Hutouzhai has had people lurking in the streets, secretly recruiting people to join in the willow alleys and shantytowns, which shows that Zheng Hui is very clear about the impact of the bloodbath in Zhongjiazhuang. It can even be said that all this is done deliberately - that is, Zheng Hui will not let Junzhai go," Xu Huai said, "In fact, now the storm has risen and people are restless. Even if Deng Gui took Wang Bingxianggong's head and ran to Zheng Hui to beg for mercy, Zheng Hui would have no way to stop. So, Deng Gui has no way out at this time: Junzhai is there, he will be there, Junzhai is dead, he will be dead!"
"You want to persuade Deng Gui to join forces with us? How is that possible?" Xu Xin'an asked in disbelief.
"As long as Chen Zixiao, Pan Chenghu, Zhong Changqing, and Gao Xiangzhong massacre one or two villages west of Baijian River today and tomorrow, and then recruit hundreds of young and strong men from all over the country to join the bandits, will the major clans dare to hand over their soldiers to Deng Gui to suppress the bandits? If the local soldiers cannot be summoned, Deng Gui will only have a hundred or so soldiers with wavering minds. If he still wants to defend the military camp, he will grab any straw that floats in front of him!"
The short flash of text memory was too abstract and mysterious, so Xu Huai could only tell Xu Wujiang that he had another reason for rushing to Huaiyuan.
In fact, after he assassinated Guo Caoling, Deng Gui was still stuck in the position of Huaiyuan Inspector General and could not move away. This also meant that he, who had always wanted to play both sides and get away with it, was doomed to be in an increasingly embarrassing situation.
Deng Gui was a military candidate, so no matter how difficult his situation is, it would be hard to win him over. But in order to save his life and property and to defend the military camp, would Deng Gui pretend to be nice and make peace with this side secretly?
Xu Huai felt that Deng Gui was a smart man who could see how bad the situation had become and should know what to do. But the key lay in their choice, whether they should be more proactive instead of hiding in Yuhuang Ridge and Shituo Ridge as planned in the past.
"Our intervention would just be a straw!" Xu Wujiang shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Xu Huai agreed with Deng Gui's judgment, but the whole thing was not a matter of whether he agreed or not. Xu Wufu and Xu Wuqi would definitely strongly oppose it.
It would be much more likely to use the direct descendants of the Xu family to fight to the death with the bandits whose number would likely swell to thousands in a short period of time, or to directly put a knife to Xu Wufu's neck and force him.
It is not difficult to imagine that Xu Wufu, Xu Wuqi, Xu Bosong, Xu Zhongyu and others would definitely strongly oppose it. How many people who can fight are there on both sides of Xiema Mountain and Jinshagou?
Xu Huai knew that it was too much to ask Xu Wujiang to take a few dozen people to fight against the bandit army that might swell to thousands in a short period of time. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then opened his eyes and said to Xu Wujiang and the others solemnly and calmly:
"I have decided to stay in Huaiyuan and not go back to Jinshagou. If I unfortunately die in battle, you must recognize Miss Liu as the third leader!"
