Chapter 135
135 Encountering a Strong Enemy
When they arrived at the village entrance, Li Yu said to Ruyi and the others, “Ji Xiang, bring your men and guard the entrance of the village with me. Ruyi, bring Uncle Liu and a team of people to guard the low ground on the left. Zhao Cai will bring Uncle He and a team to guard the foot of the mountain. The others are all here. Everyone has to be careful.”
“We understand.” Ruyi and Moneymaker bowed and left with their bows.
Snow drifted down, covering the dirt bit by bit. Everyone sat in the wooden shed behind the ossuary wall and waited quietly.
Brother Yang brought thirty to forty men, some with machetes, and some with spears. Yang Chun carried an oil can in his hand. The group walked towards Phoenix Village through the snow.
Li Yu heard footsteps coming from the mountain path. She looked at Zhao Cai and Chen Yaohui. “Let’s go out. Don’t panic later. Wait for my order.”
Everyone agreed softly and came out of the shed separately, hiding behind the earth wall.
Brother Yang walked in with his people. He waved his hand and stopped walking more than ten steps away from the trap. He looked at the flickering fire behind the round wooden door and saw two people walking back and forth inside.
Brother Yang glanced at the oil can in Yang Chun’s hand and looked at the person standing behind him. “Yang Yong, take a few people up to scout the way.”
Yang Yong laughed loudly. “Brother Yang, you’re too careful. They don’t know that we’re coming. Watch me.”
After saying that, Yang Yong swaggered over with a few people and strode towards the mud wall. Not long after, Brother Yang and the others heard a bang and watched helplessly as the few of them fell into the huge pit. A heart-wrenching scream came from the pit.
When the villagers heard the scream, they were about to stand up to take a look when they saw Li Yu hiding there quietly. They thought of Li Yu’s words and shrank back.
There was a lucky person standing at the edge of the pit outside the trap. He trembled as he looked at the people in the trap. Brother Yang took the oil can from Yang Chun’s hand and shouted angrily at Yang Chun and the others, “Go, see if anyone is still alive?”
Yang Chun and the others ran to the pit and blew on the fire. Under the dim light, they saw that the people below were covered in sharpened wooden sticks. Everyone inside had no chance of survival.
Li Yu saw the faint light from the fire and saw the crowd standing outside. She estimated in her heart that there were at least 20 to 30 bandits. The leader of these people should not be an ordinary refugee.
Yang Chun and the others retreated to Brother Yang’s side and looked at him with a sad expression. “Brother Yang, the pit is at least ten feet deep and filled with sharpened wooden sticks. Do we still want to fight?”
Brother Yang looked at Yang Chun fiercely. “Bring people to the forest to cut some wood and vines.”
Brother Yang raised the jar in his hand and threw it at the wooden door with all his might. With a bang, the oil jar hit the wooden door and pottery pieces scattered. Li Yu sniffed and said, “It’s the smell of lamp oil. Looks like they originally planned to burn the wooden door.”
Brother Yang watched as the oil can cracked open. He raised the torch in his hand and lit it before turning to the wooden door. Li Yu shouted at Ji Xiang, “Ji Xiang, shoot it down.”
Ji Xiang quickly drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The arrow flew toward the torch, which fell into the pit after being struck by the arrow.
Old Turtle Yang exclaimed, “Brother Yang, they have arrows.”
Brother Yang looked inside the wooden door. “The families who live at the foot of the mountain might have hunters. Traps and arrows are their necessary weapons.”
Old Turtle Yang looked at Brother Yang and asked carefully, “Then are we still going to fight?”
Brother Yang looked calmly into the wooden door. “Fight. They won’t have many arrows. We’ll cross when Yang Chun and the others pull wood and tie a wooden bridge. Find another branch for me to sweep away the arrows.”
“I’ll go now.” Old Turtle Yang ran to find a branch.
Yang Chun arrived with more than a dozen logs and vines. Brother Yang began to cut down the wooden stick and pointed at the trap. “Tie the wooden stick with vines and set it on the trap.”
The group moved quickly to cut off the branches and use vines to connect the wood to make a wooden bridge. They carried it to the trap and set it up.
Brother Yang found a convenient branch and raised it before walking towards the trap. Li Yu looked at Brother Yang and said to Ji Xiang and the others, “Ji Xiang, Uncle Yao Hui, he’s carrying the branch to deal with our arrows. Go to the mud wall and shoot from above.”
“Alright.” Chen Yaohui and Ji Xiang climbed up the mud wall and watched as the refugees passed the trap and walked towards the wooden door. Ji Xiang counted and gestured to Li Yu before saying to Chen Yaohui, “Shoot.”
The arrows shot down from above and towards the bandits behind Brother Yang, emitting waves of screams after being shot. Brother Yang waved his branches and rushed behind the earth wall. He raised a spear and stabbed at Ji Xiang. Ji Xiang responded by taking out a machete and slashing it at Brother Yang. Li Yu raised her crossbow and the arrows tore through the air. The people who crossed the bridge behind also fell into the trap.
Seeing that the situation was bad, Brother Yang raised his branch to block the arrowz and shouted, “Everyone, retreat quickly.”
Li Yu had already understood that only this person with the branch was capable. The others were all a motley crowd. Li Yu stepped on the beam of the wooden door and jumped onto the mud wall. She held the crossbow and shot it down at the refugees.
After the sound of the arrows, more than ten people fell in the blink of an eye. Brother Yang swung the tree branch around and knocked down some arrows. Then, he quickly fled with the remaining people.
Chen Yaohui looked at Li Yu and Chen Yaozu. “What about the dead people outside?”
Chen Yaozu said fearfully, “What should we do? If they don’t die, we’ll die. If they can escape, we’ll let them escape. If they deserve to die, they can only die. If someone comes to collect the corpses tomorrow, let them collect them. If not, we’ll dig a hole far away and bury them.”
Chen Yaohui sighed. “I hope they will back off. Xiaoyu, the snow is so heavy. Bring some people back and rest. We’ll guard here.”
Li Yu looked at the sky and realized that the snow was getting heavier. “It’s hard to say if they will back off. From the looks of it, they won’t come again tonight. Ji Xiang will bring people outside to retrieve the arrows. Uncle Yao, come back with me. I’ll come back tomorrow morning to take your shift.”
Brother Yang brought the remaining people back to the forest. The people who remained there surrounded him happily. “Brother Yang has succeeded, right? Are we moving now?”
One of them looked around curiously. “Eh! Why are there only so few people back? Where are Yang Yong and the others?”
Yang Chun glanced at Brother Yang who lowered his head. “They’re all dead.”
“What?” Yang Yong’s mother pulled Yang Chun back. “Tell me more clearly. What do you mean they’re all dead?”
‘It means they have been killed by everyone there.’
“Nonsense. My son won’t die. Oh… God…” Yang Yong’s mother wailed.
“Stop arguing. Do you want to lure people here to wipe us out?” Brother Yang suddenly roared, “Do you think robbing houses is a game where no one will die? Are the people we killed not dead? We’re living a life of bloodshed now and we might die at any time. Do you still need me to tell you such a simple logic? Those who are afraid of death will pack up and leave tomorrow morning. Those who aren’t afraid will follow me into the cave and discuss how to deal with those people at the foot of the mountain.”
Brother Yang led the way into the cave. Yang Chun glanced at the others and followed. The others slowly entered.