Chapter 00109: This Woman, the More I Look, the Stranger She Seems
# This Woman, the More I Look, the Stranger She Seems
Chapter 109
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 109: This Woman, the More I Look, the Stranger She Seems
Lu Da, the bandit leader, climbed out of the water, still dripping wet, and grinned at He Chunhua.
"All's well?"
He Chunhua nodded slowly.
"All's well."
Since they had already torn off the pretense, there was no need to keep up appearances.
The two men divided the village along the central axis formed by the line from the dock to the village chief's house.
The eastern side was allocated to the soldiers, while the western side was given to the bandits.
The threshing ground and granary were split evenly between them.
Within a quarter of an hour, everyone had to return to their designated areas.
From this moment on, as long as neither side crossed the boundary, they could coexist peacefully until dawn.
The bandits went back into the water to carry the big fish.
Lu Da ordered them to move the fish to the eastern side and said to He Chunhua, "This fish is fresh and delicious. Consider it a gift to calm your nerves, Lord He!" With that, he gave a signal, and the bandits retreated.
In an instant, the bandits had completely disappeared from the village square.
He Chunhua watched their retreating figures with a grave expression.
"These bandits are not your ordinary rabble."
He Yue, his son, looked ashamed.
"I was reckless, forcing Deputy General Zeng to act."
"Young and impulsive! You didn't even investigate Lu's background before taking action?" He Chunhua glared at him, clearly disappointed.
"Now you've alerted them, and they're on guard. Let's hope their proposal for peaceful coexistence is genuine, or else tonight will be a bloodbath!"
He Yue pursed his lips and lowered his head.
The boy's clothes were torn in the chaos of the fight.
Lady Ying, He Chunhua's wife, reached out to wipe the blood from his forehead, her heart aching.
"Husband, Yue'er only wanted to help..."
It was rare for her husband to be so harsh with their son.
"Enough!" He Chunhua raised his hand to stop her.
"Let's go back and plan our next steps carefully."
￥￥￥￥￥
He Lingchuan pointed at Zhu Shi and said to the fat man on the ground, "You and your wife really have no默契 at all. She said the Water Spirit tablet was broken, and you didn't even bat an eye."
The villagers worked in the fields during the day and only returned home in the evening.
For the people of Xianling Village, who relied on the water for their livelihood, the breaking of the Water Spirit tablet was a major event.
How could they remain indifferent? Even if Zhu Shi hadn't given He Lingchuan a heads-up, he could tell from this alone that Fat Wang was suspicious.
He Lingchuan then beckoned Zhu Shi over.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
Zhu Shi lowered her voice and spoke hurriedly.
"These bandits came into the village this evening to slaughter everyone, but then you suddenly arrived. They stayed behind, pretending to be villagers, and took all our children, threatening us to cooperate."
He Lingchuan sighed.
To be honest, before seeing Zhu Shi's blood-written message, he had only thought that he had stumbled into a black village, where the villagers had committed so many murders that they reeked of blood.
If there were black inns, there could also be black villages, all engaged in the same business—pretending to take in travelers while actually killing them and stealing their belongings.
But such places were usually found in remote mountain villages, where the saying "poor mountains and bad waters breed刁民" held true.
Of course, Xianling Village, surrounded by mountains and rarely visited by merchants or travelers, fit this geographical description.
But he never expected that the enemy would be a group of bandits!
This was strange.
On the Red Cliff trade route, he had dealt with desert bandits for years and knew that while these scoundrels were ruthless towards civilians and merchants, they were as docile as lambs in front of正规军, well aware of the principle that commoners should not fight with officials.
Were these bandits who had slaughtered the village out of their minds? Hearing that soldiers had entered the mountains, instead of fleeing, they stayed behind to pose as villagers!
"What are they planning to do?" This was the reason he had risked coming to find Zhu Shi.
Zhu Shi shook her head.
"They didn't say."
"Have bandits always been this rampant in your area?"
Zhu Shi nodded.
"In the past three years, there have been at least nine bandit raids, but they only took valuables and left. Last time, they only injured two people. But today, they killed over a hundred villagers, even the owner of this house."
He Lingchuan was slightly surprised.
"Your husband is dead too?"
Her expression was too calm, not like someone who had just lost the pillar of her family.
For an ordinary peasant woman, the death of her husband would be like the sky falling.
"Yes, he stole a small boat and tried to row to the lake, but he only made it a few dozen feet before the boat capsized. It seemed like something dragged him to the bottom of the lake."
Zhu Shi spoke in a flat tone, as if she were recounting someone else's tragedy, someone else's husband.
"My condolences."
Since she didn't seem too upset, He Lingchuan didn't feel the need to comfort her.
"Do you know where they're hiding the children?"
Zhu Shi shook her head.
"The children aren't in the village, so they're safer there. You should focus on how to fight back. These bandits aren't easy to deal with."
He Lingchuan studied her for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "You're telling me all this. Aren't you afraid the bandits will kill your children?"
This woman, the more he looked at her, the stranger she seemed.
Zhu Shi didn't even blink.
"After these murderers finish off the soldiers, they won't spare us either. If I don't speak up, everyone will die. If I do, there might still be a chance."
Her logic was sound, but what was remarkable was her ability to stay calm and analyze the situation while in the clutches of the enemy.
After all, people naturally cling to hope.
Once they become captives, they grasp at the promises of their captors like a drowning man clutching at straws, fantasizing that they might actually be set free.
For those in despair, the harsh reality is often too much to bear.
Especially when children are involved, it's hard for a mother to think clearly.
He Lingchuan slowly sat back down, his right hand unconsciously gripping the hilt of his broken sword.
He could already smell the scent of danger.
The coolness of the broken blade seemed to help clear his mind and focus his thoughts.
Come to think of it, after his two-hour battle in his dream last time, he had felt a stronger connection with the broken sword.
In other words, their compatibility had increased.
For now, the plan was to extract more information from the enemy.
He Lingchuan thought for a moment, then flipped the fat man onto his back and pressed a dagger to his throat.
"I have some questions for you. If you make a sound, you're dead. Understand?"
The fat man nodded frantically.
He Lingchuan removed the cloth gagging him and asked, "How many of you are there?"
"Two... two hundred," the fat man stammered, keeping his voice low.
"Be more specific."
"Two hundred..."
The fat man seemed to be counting.
"Thirty-five!"
He quickly added, "We mean no harm to the soldiers. We just want to coexist peacefully tonight and go our separate ways tomorrow morning, without any trouble!"
He Lingchuan tilted his head, looking at him.
"Is that what you're saying, or is that what your boss Lu said?"
"Boss Lu!" the fat man hurriedly replied.
"I heard him say it myself, it's the truth!"
Zhu Shi suddenly spoke up.
"Are you sure you didn't miscount?"
Fat Wang looked at her.
"We've been coming and going with the same group. How could I miscount?"
Zhu Shi sneered.
"But earlier, when I was locked in the Water Spirit shrine, I overheard your companions talking nearby. It sounded like you've also taken over the nearby town."
They've even taken over a town? He Lingchuan's expression turned grave.
Ordinary bandits would just rob houses and maybe commit a few assaults, rarely killing anyone.
Even the most backward villagers understood that if you cut down all the韭菜, there would be nothing left to harvest next time.
Killing all the villagers would be like uprooting the韭菜, leaving nothing to reap in the future.
(End of Chapter)