Drought: I Have A Spirit Spring And A Farm In My Personal Space - Chapter 39

Chapter 39 Xiahou Yong’s Sister

How could the army know about the location of the stronghold?

“Hehe, how is that possible! If the officers knew the location of the stronghold, they would have attacked long ago. Shopkeeper Chen, what nonsense are you talking about?”

Li Gui shook his head and looked at Chen Zhiyuan. His eyes were filled with the expression of whether Shopkeeper Chen was crazy or not.

“The officers and soldiers have indeed found out the location of the stronghold, but they only just found out. Now, they have entered the stronghold…”

Chen Zhiyuan looked at Li Gui, who was still in a daze. He dashed towards the bearded leader who was already suspicious. Without waiting for him to raise his hand, he took out a butcher knife from the portable space and placed it on the bearded leader’s neck. He said, “Look, at this moment, he even caught the bandit leader!”

“S-Shopkeeper Chen, you are actually a spy for the officers and soldiers!”

Li Gui had been very cooperative along the way. Even Shopkeeper Chen, who had been chatting and laughing with them just now, had turned into an enemy in the blink of an eye. He opened his mouth wide in shock and even forgot to draw his podao.

“I’m sorry, I’m under a military order!”

Chen Zhiyuan restrained the bearded leader, took out the cloud-piercing arrow that he had prepared earlier, and raised his hand.

“Whoosh!”

A red cloud-piercing arrow shot into the sky.

The people in the mountain stronghold who had been happily roasting potatoes stopped talking at this moment and looked at the red light in the sky that had exploded into countless stars.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Go and take a look!”

Some people were still asking in a daze, and some smart ones had already rushed towards the direction where the cloud-piercing arrow flew up.

“Amazing! Amazing! I didn’t expect Qingshui County to have such a powerful army. Li Gui, this time we’re doomed.”

The bearded leader looked at Li Gui with a gloomy expression and revealed a self-mocking smile.

“Master! Shopkeeper Chen?”

“Brother Li, what’s going on?”

“Quick, save the master! This Shopkeeper Chen is not a good person.”

Many of the men rushed over and saw the scene in front of them. All of them were at a loss.

However, there were still people who reacted.

“Don’t come over! Step back!”

The bearded leader shouted loudly to those who wanted to come over and save him, then he said to Chen Zhiyuan, “Lord, I can hand over the remaining treasures of the birthday gift, and I can also follow you down the mountain to confess our crimes and be executed. However, can you spare the lives of my brothers in the stronghold, the old and the young, women and children?”

“Yes, I can guarantee this. Innocent people will not be implicated as long as you hand over the treasures of the birthday gifts.”

Chen Zhiyuan agreed.

He was not a person who liked to kill. After seeing the elderly, women, and children in the mountain stronghold, he no longer had the intention to kill.

“That’s enough. I think ‘Chen Zhi’ is also a pseudonym that you casually came up with. May I know your name, Lord?”

The bearded leader was exceptionally calm at this moment and took the initiative to ask.

“Chen Zhiyuan, a constable in the government office of Qingshui County.”

Chen Zhiyuan answered all the questions.

“So you are Chen Zhiyuan. Lord Chen is indeed a skilled and bold person. As the commander of this raid, you actually went up the mountain to act as bait. Hehe, I didn’t lose unjustly.”

“You actually know me?”

“Heh, the Qingshui County office has been trying to suppress the bandits of Black Wind Mountain for more than a month now, right? There’s even a notice posted at the county city gate. How could I not know?”

As the two of them were chatting happily, a lackey ran in hurriedly.

“Master, Master, this is bad. The officers and soldiers have started to climb the mountain…”

But after seeing this scene, the rest of the words were swallowed back into his stomach.

Everyone became silent.

The stalemate lasted for an hour.

Finally, Xiahou Yong’s voice came from outside.

“We are the officers and soldiers of Qingshui County. Everyone put down your weapons, and stay where you are. Do not resist, or we will kill you without mercy.”

The local soldiers rushed into the stronghold, and then there was the sound of weapons falling to the ground.

Not long after.

Xiahou Yong, who was dressed in full armor, walked in with the officers and soldiers.

Seeing Chen Zhiyuan’s knife resting on a man’s neck, the surrounding people did not dare to go forward. They immediately understood everything.

“Men, tie up the bandit leader!”

Xiahou Yong had the local soldiers come forward to tie up the bearded leader. Then, he walked quickly to Chen Zhiyuan. “Brother Chen, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just raised the knife for two hours. Brother Xiahou, if you don’t come, something might happen to my arm.”

Chen Zhiyuan shook his stiff hand and joked.

“Have you found the birthday gifts?”

“Yes. The bandit leader said that he was willing to hand over the unused ones, so we can consider them found.”

“That’s good. Our mission has been successfully completed.”

The two of them walked out of the courtyard together.

At this moment, someone stumbled in front of the two of them.

“How dare you!”

A local soldier rushed forward to pull that person away.

That person cried out, “Brother Xiahou, is that you? I’m Xiao Douzi!”

When Xiahou Yong heard the cry, he looked at that person. Then, he quickly ran over, squatted down, and looked at that person’s face carefully. He was extremely surprised. “Xiao Douzi! It really is you. Why are you here? Where are uncle and aunt?”

“Brother Xiahou… My parents… My parents are dead. Because of the empress dowager’s birthday gift, the county said that the county governor had ordered that all the rich people had to pay. My father argued with the constable who came to collect the money, but he was beaten to death. My mother also died of anger, so the county confiscated the family property. I became an orphan and didn’t know where to go. It was the master who took me in that I was able to live until now… Boohoo…”

The girl looked like she was only 11 or 12 years old, but she was a skinny little girl who looked like a tomboy. She rushed into Xiahou Yong’s arms and burst into tears.

The entire courtyard was completely silent. Whether it was the local soldiers or the bandits, all of them had sad expressions on their faces.

The way of the world is a son of a b*tch!

Xiahou Yong squatted on the ground for a long time and did not get up.

Chen Zhiyuan slowly walked over and whispered to him, “Brother Xiahou, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Brother Chen, I’m fine. Xiao Douzi is the daughter of an old friend of mine in the neighboring county. When I joined the army, I was tired and hungry on the way. I happened to pass by Xiao Douzi’s family’s manor. Her parents brought me into the manor and treated me warmly. They even let me stay for a few days. In the end, they even prepared rations and clean water for me. I said that I would return to repay them in the future, but I didn’t expect…”

Xiahou Yong stood up and picked up Xiao Douzi. “Brother Chen, Xiao Douzi is my sister from now on. I want to take her with me.”

“Of course. There are many innocent people in this village. Brother Xiahou, why don’t we ask the leader first?”

Chen Zhiyuan suggested.

From the actions of the people in the mountain stronghold and Xiao Douzi’s story, he could conclude that the bearded leader was obviously a good person. There might be too many secrets behind the robbery.

“There’s no need to ask the master. Let me tell you, we are all prison guards from the neighboring Fengqi County…”

Li Gui, who had already squatted down, stood up at this moment.