There were only a few hundred refugees in this small settlement. Ren Xiaosu saw children running around the entrance of the excavated mud kiln in the distance. It looked like this small settlement had been established for quite some time.
There were many small rivers in the valley. In Ren Xiaosu's opinion, places with rivers should be lush and lush. However, this was not the case in the valley.
A large area of the ground had turned into sand. When the river flowed past, it would wash away the soil on both sides. Perhaps in a few years, the riverbed would form a new valley. During the dry season or when the river changed course, it would leave a scar-like valley on the ground.
The entire land looked like it had been carved out by the flow of water.
The place the refugees had chosen was relatively flat and suitable for growing crops.
Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin had planned to stay here for some time to get a better understanding of the banditry in the area from the refugees.
But while they were talking, a cloud of dust suddenly rose up in the distance. From afar, it looked like a small sandstorm had started.
An auntie said nervously, "Why are there people again? Whose house are they from this time?"
Ren Xiaosu asked, "Are the bandits here?"
"Yeah, they're the bandits. That cloud of dust is the sand kicked up by the motorcycles they're riding." The auntie ran towards the mud kiln as she spoke. She even shouted, "Hurry up and bring the children back to the kiln."
The group of bandits in the distance were quickly approaching them. Gradually, everyone could see their figures. The motorcycles they were riding were muscular like wild beasts, and the sound of the engines and exhaust pipes sounded like the roars of wild beasts.
This scene was exceptionally rough and violent.
From afar, the people could still hear the excited roars of the bandits. They were looking at the refugees like they had spotted prey.
Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin looked at each other before blending into the group of refugees. They planned to observe the situation for now.
The refugees seemed to have some experience dealing with this situation. After everyone hid their children, they stood on the flat ground and lined up like they were welcoming their superiors. However, the group was crooked, and everyone was in a different mood.
Ren Xiaosu counted and found that there were more than 20 bandits in this group. In the entire valley, they could not be considered a force at all. However, he did not know how many more people were hiding in their lair.
The group of bandits rode their motorcycles and roared furiously around the refugees. This was a demonstration by the bandits. As they circled the refugees, the circle they formed became smaller and smaller. The refugees could only huddle tightly together out of fear.
Gradually, when fear appeared on the faces of the refugees, the group of bandits gradually came to a stop. One of them jumped off the motorcycle and pulled down the scarf he used to cover his mouth. "Do you guys farm here?"
"Yes, yes, yes." A refugee said in horror, "They've been farming here for several years!"
"What's the point of farming?" The bandit spat on the ground and spat out the sand in his mouth. Then, he said with a smile, "I see that there are a lot of men here. Men should be born with lofty aspirations. What's the point of hiding here every day and farming in fear?"
"But what are we going to eat if we don't farm?" The refugee said in a low voice, "We just want to grow some crops so that we can feed ourselves."
"From today onward, you're going to follow me." The bandit leader patted the face of the refugee in front of him. "You'll have a good life if you follow me. In the past, it was the consortiums who bullied you. In the future, follow me and bully the consortiums!"
Ren Xiaosu observed these people. Just as Yang Xiaojin had said, these people's motorcycles were 80% new, and the automatic firearms they were holding were even newer than their motorcycles. It was obvious that they had only recently upgraded their equipment.
What was even more exaggerated was that many of these people were carrying two guns on their backs. It was as though they had so many guns that they had nowhere to use them.
Perhaps the new equipment had given the bandits some confidence. With just over 20 people, they even dared to bully the consortiums.
When the refugees heard that these people were actually going to fight the consortiums, they became even more afraid. "We don't fight the consortiums. We only know how to farm."
However, the bandit leader's face darkened. "We have to fight them even if we don't want to. Brothers, escort them back!"
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. So it turned out that they were here to kidnap people. It was probably because they had too many guns that they now had more guns than people. Therefore, the bandits decided to expand their forces.
This matter definitely had something to do with the internal strife among the northern bandits. The entire valley was in chaos now, and everyone was starting to break the rules!
"Should we go with them?" Ren Xiaosu asked in a low voice.
"Let's go." Yang Xiaojin replied, "We might be able to learn more about the current situation in the valley. Besides, there's only about 20 of them. If we want to leave, they won't be able to stop us."
"What I'm trying to say is, why don't we just wipe them out?" Ren Xiaosu muttered.
With so many guns pointed at them, the refugees had no choice but to return to the kiln and bring their children with them. They were escorted all the way north.
The bandit leader rode his motorcycle next to the group. As the motorcycle rattled, he shouted proudly, "Don't think that I, Jin Lan, am domineering. You guys are from the outermost settlement in the valley, so you don't know what's going on here. But the people from the settlements in the north have already been snatched away by the other bandits. Even if we don't take you guys away today, someone else will come tomorrow."
"But we don't know how to fight a war," the refugees said with a long face.
"Who doesn't know how to fight a war? I'll give y 'all a gun, so don't worry about saving bullets. Just shoot! Besides, it's fine if y 'all don't want to fight. You can always do other things, "Jin Lan said with a laugh.
No one knew what Jin Lan meant by other things, but his words confirmed Ren Xiaosu's guess. It seemed like they really had more guns and bullets than they could use up, which was why they were trying to snatch the people away.
However, Ren Xiaosu wondered how many firearms Qing Zhen and the others had deployed here. Why did it seem like the entire valley was in chaos?
If this went on, a lot of people would definitely die in the valley.
The big fish ate the small fish, and the small fish ate the shrimps. It had been like this since ancient times.
But after the war subsided, the entire valley would probably be unified and a very large bandit organization would be born.
Was this Qing Zhen's goal? Was he going to use the killings to filter out the "impurities" in the valley and achieve his goal of unifying all the bandits in the valley? So he could hold this power in his hands?
And all he had done was deploy a batch of firearms and bullets to make the bandits swell up.
Automatic rifles were rare among the bandits, but the consortiums knew very well that firearms and bullets were the least valuable of all.
Although there was no evidence, Ren Xiaosu was certain Qing Zhen was the one behind all this. It couldn't be anyone else.
Moreover, Ren Xiaosu was very certain that Qing Zhen still had a backup plan in the valley. That was the power he would eventually use to unify the bandits.
At this moment, the Yang Clan's defenses in the north were empty due to the war with the Li Consortium in the south. Each stronghold only had an independent regiment at most.
If this bandit army were to head south, the strongholds would definitely not be breached. But if they wanted to destroy all the factories outside the strongholds, the Yang Clan's economy would probably not be able to catch a breather for three years.
Meanwhile, the Yang Clan was probably still thinking that the northern bandits were nothing to be afraid of. After all, which consortium would take the bandits seriously? They could just let them play in the mud in the valley.
The Soong Clan and Yang Clan would probably have a headache if they were to make an enemy out of such an opponent.
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