Chapter 136
136 Rogues
Seeing that those people had followed in and realizing that none of them had retreated, Brother Yang nodded in satisfaction. He looked at the people in front of him and sat down against the cliff. “Go find a place to dig a hole and get those women to go to the foot of the mountain tomorrow morning to retrieve the corpses of Yang Yong and the others for burial. We’ve encountered a powerful enemy now. I want to bring Yang Chun to Tongzhou and find someone to buy a few bows. What do you think?”
The remaining people looked at each other and looked at Brother Yang. Yang Chun looked at these people with a fierce expression. “Brother Yang, we’ll listen to you and buy some bows and arrows. We’ll kill those dogs in the mountains to avenge Yang Yong and the others.”
The others shouted after him. “Yes, we’ll buy bows and come back to avenge them.”
Brother Yang stood up and said loudly, “Alright, don’t worry, those brothers won’t have died in vain. Train your skills in the forest these days. When I buy the bow back, we’ll take revenge for them.”
“Alright, avenge our dead brothers,” Yang Chun shouted.
Brother Yang looked at the shouting crowd in satisfaction and said to Yang Chun, “Yang Chun, we’ll leave immediately. Go and pack some dry food and water.”
Yang Chun turned around and ran out. Old Turtle Yang’s wife cried and pulled him back. “Yang Chun, is my husband dead too?”
Yang Chun’s eyes turned red. “Yes! He was killed by an arrow. Tomorrow morning, you guys go bring the corpse back and bury it. Wait for us to come back and avenge them.”
“How did he die?…” Old Turtle Yang’s wife sat on the ground, crying and muttering.
Brother Yang left with Yang Chun. The men listened to the suppressed cries outside and were no longer as happy and excited as when they returned from plundering.
When Li Yu returned home, Zhou Jia and Li Qing rushed out of the house. Li Qing pulled Li Yu and smiled happily. “Sister, you must be tired! Go wash up and rest.”
Li Yu smiled and said to Zhou Jia and Li Qing, “There were 30 to 40 refugees who came tonight. We’ve probably killed more than half of them. No one in the village is injured yet. I think the leader is still quite capable. I think he might think that we’re hunters. He even guessed that we would set a trap. I don’t think they’ll give up. They are likely to come again.”
Zhou Jia consoled Li Yu, “Don’t think too much. Go wash up and sleep first.” Li Yu nodded and walked toward the bathroom.
The next morning, the snow that had been falling all night stopped. The blood and bodies at the village entrance were covered in snow. Everything was white, as if the killing last night had been just a nightmare. A group of women and an old man appeared at the village entrance with a handcart.
Ruyi stood with his men behind the earthen wall and watched them in silence as they carried the bodies in the snow onto the handcart.
The old man and the women glanced at the wooden door with hatred on their faces. They spat at the door and walked to the trap. They slowly went down into the trap and tied the bodies inside to the rope to pull them out. They carried them onto the handcart and slowly pulled it away.
After they left, Ruyi brought his people out to restore the trap. After Ruyi returned to the village, he said to Chen Yaohui, “Uncle Chen, look at the hatred in their eyes when they looked at us. Their gazes are as vicious as poisonous snakes. I think they won’t back off and will definitely come again.”
Chen Yaohui muttered, “That’s right! After all, a living person is lying there coldly after just one night. They will definitely hate us. Sigh! They can’t blame us! We have to live our lives too. If we have to blame someone, we can only blame the world.”
Butcher He patted Chen Yaohui. “Village Chief, don’t pity those people. They’ve already come knocking on our door. You can’t just stand there and not fight back. Besides, we didn’t provoke them first.”
The other villagers also echoed Butcher He excitedly, “What Old He said makes sense. Even if they want to escape the drought, they can’t kill others, right? Could it be that only their lives are important, so others should make way for them?”
At this moment, Ji Xiang and Chen Yaozu brought the villagers who had returned last night to change guards. When they saw them gathered together and talking excitedly, Ji Xiang walked up to Ruyi and patted him on the back. “What are you guys talking about? Aren’t you tired?”
Ruyi told Ji Xiang about the bandits’ women coming to pull the corpses at dawn and what everyone was talking about. Ji Xiang said indifferently, “Who cares if they’re vicious or not? Let’s hit them freely. If we beat them up, they won’t dare to have any ideas about our village anymore. Everyone, go back and rest!”
“Yes! We’ll beat them until they’re afraid to come again,” everyone agreed.
Butcher He smiled and pulled Chen Yaohui up. “Let’s go. I’m so tired. Let’s go back and sleep first.”
The refugees pulled the corpses back into the forest and found a place to dig a hole to bury them. Yang Yong’s mother cried, “Son! I’ve let you down! I couldn’t even give you a coffin before burying you in this wilderness…”
The refugees standing there looked at the grave and swore, “Brothers, stay here for a few days. We’ll find a good place for you after we get that place.”
Ruyi went back and told Li Yu and Zhou Jia about the situation at the village entrance. “Young Master, Miss, I have the same thoughts as Zhao Cai. We have to beat them up until they’re afraid of us before our lives will be stable.”
Li Yu nodded in approval. “You two are right. I think it depends on the situation. They’re not ordinary refugees. They’re a group of vicious bandits. If we show mercy to them, we’ll be doomed.”
Zhou Jia also said, “This situation isn’t the time to be kind. If you’re kind, you’ll be digging your own grave. Go eat breakfast before sleeping and rest well.”
“Yes,” Ruyi agreed and left.
Li Yu thought for a while and said to Zhou Jia, “Xiao Xi, we’re trapped in the village now and don’t even know what’s going on outside. If more refugees gather, I’m worried that we won’t be able to defend the village with our weapons and strength. We have to think of other ways.”
Zhou Jia thought for a while and said to Li Yu, who was walking around the house with a frown, “I’ll go and gather all the workers in the manor. They’re protected by the village here, so they can’t stay out of this. Everyone has to work together to survive in this chaotic world.”
Li Yu suddenly thought of the cold weapons that the instructor had mentioned in her previous life. When he talked about catapults, everyone found it interesting and she even made a simple catapult.
Li Yu felt that it might not be very effective to fight sophisticated enemies, but it should not be a problem to deal with those refugees.
“Okay. Gather the long laborers and ask them to find some stones to pull to the village entrance. Move them to the low mountain pass. Then I’ll ask Uncle Carpenter to make something.”
Seeing Li Yu smile, Zhou Jia also felt relieved. “Alright, I’m leaving.”
After Zhou Jia left, Li Yu took out a pen and paper and drew a simple catapult. She went to Carpenter Chen’s house. When Carpenter Chen’s wife saw Li Yu, she hurriedly greeted her with a smile. “Xiaoyu, you’re here to look for your uncle, right?”
“Yes, is Uncle around?” Li Yu smiled.
Carpenter Chen’s wife politely pointed into the house. “Yes, I’ll call him for you now.”
Carpenter Chen walked out of the house when he heard Li Yu’s voice. “Xiaoyu, why are you looking for me?”