At this point, the candles in the stronghold had been extinguished. It was night time. Two or three men climbed up the stairs. Everyone held their breaths as they waited patiently. After a while, the door creaked open. The sound was rather loud, but it was hard to get off the tiger now.
"Who's there?" At this point, someone came out, looking like he was about to pee.
"Kill!" Zhu Wei immediately ordered. Following this order, the archers all jumped up and charged. Almost at the same time, the sound of a bowstring being drawn could be heard. An arrow pierced through the darkness, piercing the throat of a bandit. Immediately, a miserable scream rang out as he was nailed to the back.
"Kill!"
Since the sneak attack had failed, he could only fight openly. Pei Zi Yun unsheathed his sword and rushed forward, "Your excellency Zhu, control the higher ground. Whoever dares to step out, kill him."
As soon as he said this, a bandit wearing only a thin layer of clothing appeared from behind a door. He lowered his body and pounced towards Pei Zi Yun. It was as if Pei Zi Yun had eyes on the back of his head. He spun around and swung his sword. With a "pu" sound, the bandit's throat was bleeding profusely as he fell to the ground. His eyes were wide open in disbelief as he died.
"This Elementary Scholar is a ruthless character!" Zhu Wei's face twitched as he felt a chill run down his spine. This sword was ruthless and venomous. It was not the style of a scholar.
"Shoot!" However, this person was after all a veteran soldier. His actions were exactly the same as what Pei Zi Yun had said. He did not attack the bandit first, but climbed up the higher ground.
"Pu pu pu!" "Peng peng peng peng" The sound of arrows being fired could be heard. The bandits who were rushing out from behind the doors were immediately killed.
One of the bandits had just stepped out of the door when three arrows were shot at him. "Pu pu pu" An arrow pierced his throat, another pierced his chest, and the last pierced his eye, piercing his brain. He did not even have the chance to scream before he died.
"Success!" Pei Zi Yun and Zhu Wei both understood the art of war and knew that they had won. All the bandits were scattered in different rooms. As long as they could not gather together, killing them would be as easy as killing a dog.
Using numbers to fight, using organization to crush loose sand. This was the art of war.
"Villagers, break open the door!"
At this time, the village warriors who were following behind came in handy. They found a huge tree and with a 'hong' sound they rammed the door of one of the rooms. Immediately the door was smashed open and a man wielding a long blade suddenly pounced out fiercely.
"Pierce!" When the villagers heard the order, they all thrust their spears at the same time. It looked messy, but it was more powerful than any martial arts. Which master could thrust so many spears at the same time from so many different angles?
The burly man suddenly roared, and several spears pierced through his chest. He immediately died on the spot.
In the blink of an eye, the bandits were separated into different rooms, and more than half of them were dead or injured. But the villagers were no longer afraid. Whenever they saw a shadow, they would stab it and kill it on the spot.
The miserable cries of the bandits rang out continuously. Some of them couldn't bear it any longer and rushed out. They were immediately surrounded and killed. This was the power of military tactics and formations. At this moment, a figure suddenly broke through the roof and was about to jump out.
The villagers didn't know martial arts, so they couldn't follow. They heard the man shout, "Just you wait, I'll kill you one by one!"
Soldiers naturally had a weakness. That was, if an expert did not get close to them, they would not be able to deal with them. Seeing that this person was about to escape, Zhu Wei shouted: "Shoot!"
At this point, seven or eight arrows were shot. The man subconsciously raised his sword to block them, but only managed to block two of them. With a 'pu pu' sound, he turned into a porcupine and fell heavily to the ground.
Pei Zi Yun looked at Zhu Wei and laughed. Zhu Wei snorted, "These bandits, the Imperial Court just couldn't deal with them for a while. Now, with a thunderous strike, they'll be reduced to dust."
Pei Zi Yun smiled and nodded his head. In a world without martial arts, there was no need to mention it. Even a martial artist could be killed by a few soldiers.
Even if one had martial arts, if he wasn't extraordinary, he would be surrounded by people who knew military tactics and formations. On the other hand, if a martial artist knew military tactics, it would be very bad.
Piercing armor, wielding bows, shooting from afar, and ambushing from close range. Depending on their physical strength, mobility, and endurance, it was possible to wipe out an entire platoon in a single night.
It was a pity that there weren't many people with such brains.
"Finish them off!" Zhu Wei ordered. The thick scent of blood could be smelled, and an archer came out. He was holding a sword and slung it over his shoulder. Seeing a Black Wind bandit, he didn't care if he was dead or not.
Hearing the sound of blood being spilled, someone jumped up from the ground and pounced on the bandit. With a "peng" sound, an arrow pierced through the bandit's back. The archer smiled and swung his sword, decapitating the bandit.
The way the army did things was vicious and efficient. They killed all of their enemies with a final blow, and only then did they reap their heads. One head after another was chopped off.
"Your excellency, we've found the bandit leader." Cao San's voice was filled with joy as he held a head in his hands, "I was looking for him. The person who jumped over the wall was the bandit leader."
Pei Zi Yun and Zhu Wei looked at each other, and Zhu Wei laughed out loud. This was the bandit leader of the Black Wind bandits. Pei Zi Yun cupped his hands, "Congratulations your excellency."
"No matter what, these Black Wind bandits are the scourge of the county. For your excellency to kill them, it's a great achievement."
"That's right!" Zhu Wei wasn't modest as he nodded his head. His face was filled with joy. Killing this bandit leader and destroying the Black Wind Bandits was a great achievement. Although it wasn't a great achievement, the Chief Patrol Officer would be praised by his superiors. Zhu Wei might even be promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Patrol Officer.
"Your excellency, there's still a lot of money here. There's even silver." Cao San leaned over and whispered, "A lot of silver."
"Keep watch, don't let anyone see." Zhu Wei ordered as he ran into the room. He looked around and saw that there were rice and meat, as well as some weapons. But what made everyone's faces light up were the chests in the room.
Opening it up, they saw that it was filled with gold, silver, cloth and copper coins. There were at least two to three thousand taels of silver.
Looking at the riches, Zhu Wei laughed out loud. Wasn't this the reason why the army risked their lives?
Not to mention the rewards, just the silver in front of him was worth it. Cao San who was standing behind Zhu Wei was laughing out loud, "We're rich, we're rich!"
After Zhu Wei finished laughing, Cao San walked up to him, "Your excellency, there's so much silver, how should we distribute it?"
Zhu Wei's laughter stopped. A moment ago he was still thinking about how he would be promoted and become a Deputy Patrol Inspector. Seeing this much money, he suddenly had an idea, "If I take out five hundred taels and borrow this thief's severed head, I'm afraid I can even become a Patrol Inspector. Then I'll have some achievements — at most I'll be transferred to another Patrol Inspector."
As soon as he thought of this, he said, "Keep watch, don't let anyone see."
"What about Elementary Scholar Pei?"
"... Same!" Zhu Wei muttered to himself before instructing, "Take out some wine and meat and give it to everyone. Say that it's a celebration. Divide the copper coins among the brothers. It's good enough that the villagers have wine and meat."
"As for the rest of the gold and silver, we'll divide it."
Cao San paused, his appetite had grown. He thought for some time before saying, "The villagers don't know what's going on. We can kill the bandits, but their families …"
Hearing this, Zhu Wei smiled sinisterly. "Control them."
"Yes!"
Soon after, the entire stronghold was thrown into chaos. A group of people rushed into a room. Zhu Wei exhaled deeply. He looked calm and serene under the light of the torch. The archers stood by his side and ordered coldly, "Chase all the families of these criminals into the house!"
These archers moved swiftly. An old man struggled for a moment, but the archer then stabbed him with his sword. With a 'pu' sound, the sword pierced through the old man's body. Fresh blood splattered everywhere as he fell to the ground.
"Seal the door and surround it. Nobody is allowed to enter."
"Your excellency, what do you intend to do?" Pei Zi Yun sensed that something was amiss and rushed over. Zhu Wei laughed evilly and said, "The Black Wind bandits are plotting a rebellion against the Imperial Court. The law is merciless, and cannot be tolerated. Kill them all!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the archers charged in and started hacking at anyone they saw. The women and children screamed in agony, causing everyone's hair to stand on end. Zhu Wei was bathed in blood and fire, as though he was made of steel. He looked at the dumbfounded Pei Zi Yun and said, "What's wrong? Has the Elementary Scholar pitied them?"
"Damn, these bandits. It's no wonder that since the founding of the country, they have always attacked the military!" Pei Zi Yun looked at this man's evil smile and felt his hair stand on end. He wasn't alone. With the villagers around, this person wouldn't dare to make a move on them. But it was hard to say. What if he met a madman?
Suppressing his pity, he wanted to say that according to the reports, there was a rogue cultivator in the stronghold, and that he couldn't afford to be careless. But seeing the cold expression on this person's face, he swallowed his words and turned to leave.
Zhu Wei's eyes gleamed, but he didn't say anything.
In just a few moments, the screams stopped. The thirty villagers who had followed along were trembling in fear. Luckily, they were fighting inside, and didn't see the corpses outside being dragged into the stronghold.
Other than that, Zhu Wei was very understanding. There were corpses everywhere inside the stronghold. He then invited everyone out to a clean public square outside.
Before long, a fire was lit, and the smell of meat and wine wafted in the air. Big pieces of meat, big bowls of wine, big bowls of soup, the aroma filled the air.
Cao San called out, "Come come come, let's drink, let's drink. Come come come, let's eat meat!"
Outside, they couldn't see the corpses, and couldn't smell the blood. The villagers and archers hadn't eaten meat for a long time. Now that they had gotten over the nausea of killing people, they ate happily.
Zhang Dashan and Pei Zi Yun sat together, a pot of boiling meat soup. The aroma wafted from the soup, and the wine sizzled. Zhang Dashan gulped down the soup, and poured the wine into his mouth. Suddenly, he put down the bowl and whispered, "Husband, what should we do?"
Pei Zi Yun held the bowl with both hands and drank slowly. Hearing this, he shook his head, "They're obviously trying to kill us to keep our wealth. What can we do?"
"Fight with the soldiers for these bandits?"
"Besides, don't think that there are thirty of us. They only have fifteen men. Do you believe that they won't kill us all if they see us?"
"Then why isn't he killing us now?" Zhang Dashan said angrily.
"Can he kill us all? That's a big deal, and we can't hide it anymore. "Pei Zi Yun said coldly," But do you think he'll have a good ending? "
"He's killed so many people. It's fine if it's just a fight between two armies, but he killed women and children. He's filled with resentment, and there will be retribution. Just wait and see."
These words were a lie. In reality, most of the archers had been sent out to keep an eye on him. There were only a few people left in the stronghold, and Zhu Wei was probably the only rogue cultivator. If he didn't kill him, who else would he kill?
Thinking about this, Pei Zi Yun laughed coldly, "Give me your bow. Who knows, there might be something going on tonight!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
