Chapter 280 Wuyun Village

 “The boss?” He Qingxiao approached the shouting robber and looked at the man.

They are still so arrogant even after becoming prisoners. It seems that these bandits are quite powerful and that is why they are so arrogant.

Great Xia has a vast territory, and even in peaceful times, natural disasters occur from time to time in various places. With the help of the terrain, it is not surprising that some bandits have formed a climate.

The bandit is still threatening: "Our boss has great abilities, you can't escape. Just let us go, maybe there is still a way to survive!"

"Why can't you run away?" He Qingxiao smiled scornfully, "We are all horses. If we chop off your heads and ride away, can you, the boss, still catch us?"

“Humph, our boss is good at hunting down people, and there are hundreds of people in our village. It’s not easy to chase down a few of you!” The bandit showed a proud look.

"Good at hunting down—" He Qingxiao's eyes flashed slightly, "I've never heard that bandits are good at hunting down."

 “We are the boss—”

The bandit who had been silent until now suddenly said: "Xiaoba!"

 The bandit named Xiaoba reluctantly swallowed what he wanted to say.

 He Qingxiao ignored the two of them and turned to the middle-aged man.

“Uncle, you better hurry up and get on your way.”

The middle-aged man looked hesitant: "These bandits still have their own cottages. I'm afraid I'll run into them again—"

He Qingxiao pointed to the front: "There are hundreds of people in their village, but there are only a dozen or so bandits setting up an ambush here, which shows that they don't pay much attention to this section. Uncle, don't stay, go to the official road early, and nothing will happen."

 The middle-aged man felt that He Qingxiao's analysis was reasonable and made up his mind to hurry up and hurry up.

“May I ask the names of these two benefactors?”

“It’s a simple matter, uncle, don’t worry about it, just hurry up and get on your way.” He Qingxiao said calmly.

The middle-aged man insisted: "The two benefactors have saved twenty or thirty of our lives. If we don't even know who our benefactors are, our conscience will be eaten by dogs. We can also ask the two benefactors to tell us, so that we can I have a thought."

Xin You spoke: "My surname is Xin."

He Qingxiao nodded.

"My name is Duan Dafu. He travels north and south doing special business. I would like to thank the two young masters Xin."

The middle-aged man reported his family status and presented a hundred taels of silver as a thank you: "The money is not much, and it cannot compare with the kindness of my two benefactors. I hope that my two benefactors will not dislike me."

 “I don’t mind it.” He Qingxiao accepted it calmly.

Xin You noticed the middle-aged man's momentary astonishment and almost laughed.

 Getting to know Mr. He, you will know that he is not the kind of person who regards money as a thing.

Watching the caravan go away, He Qingxiao signaled to his men to bring over the silent bandit.

 “Are you the leader of these people?”

Shock flashed in the bandit's eyes, and he remained silent on the side of his head.

"Let him understand what it means to be a prisoner." He Qingxiao said calmly.

 Immediately, two Jinlin guards dragged the bandit to the side of the vegetation.

 Another Jinlin Guard took the bandit who had made the noise earlier to watch.

Xin You didn't look over there. She stopped next to the dead bandit's body and looked at it silently.

 “What?” He Qingxiao walked to her side.

Xin You raised his head and looked at him: "A cottage with a few hundred people is considered a big village, right? Didn't the government clear it out?"

 “We’ll find out later.”

As soon as He Qingxiao finished speaking, a horrified shout came from the other side: "I said, I said!"

 Soon two bandits were brought up in front of He Qingxiao and Xin You.

The bandit who was suspected to be the leader no longer showed any strength, and the other bandit who was just watching looked even more frightened, and his body was shaking like chaff. "I said, I said anything!" The bandits who were watching were in tears, obviously frightened.

 “What about you?” He Qingxiao asked the tortured bandit condescendingly.

"I said-"

He Qingxiao ordered his men to take the frightened bandit aside for questioning, leaving the other bandit behind: "Are you the leader of this operation?"

"Yes...I am the sixth master of Shanzhai..."

“Tell me about your Shanzhai and your big boss. If it is inconsistent with what another person says, you should know the consequences.”

Xin You looked at He Qingxiao's question quietly.

 The Mr. He during the interrogation was completely different from the Mr. He reading in the bookstore.

“Our village is called Wuyun Village. There are more than two hundred brothers. Some of them have been homeless due to disasters, and some have had their fields taken over by rich people and cannot make a living..."

"Where is your boss? Is he a foreigner?"

The bandit was stunned: "How do you know?"

 He Qingxiao did not answer.

Jin Linwei, who had just been responsible for teaching the bandits a lesson, warned coldly: "You should answer whatever our eldest son asks."

The bandit's face turned pale when he thought of what he had just experienced: "Originally, our village had a big boss, but a month ago we were killed by the current big boss, so we replaced him..."

It turns out that there are five heads of Wuyun Village, and this bandit ranks at the bottom. A month ago, hundreds of people captured the top of the mountain, and they killed the first four leaders without blinking an eye. This ragtag group of bandits suddenly became honest. The original fifth head has become the sixth head, and now the top five heads are all outsiders.

“Less than a hundred people robbed your fortress—”

The bandit looked a little embarrassed and lowered his voice unconsciously: "Our former brothers secretly speculated that the new boss may have a government background."

He Qingxiao’s eyes darkened: “Oh, is there any evidence?”

“They train every day, and they also line up their troops. They sit, sleep, and walk differently from us…”

Hearing the bandit's description, He Qingxiao felt unusual.

 “Where is your stronghold?”

 “Mount Wuyun, more than a hundred miles away from here.”

 “Have you ever dealt with the government?”

The bandit smiled and said: "Our mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The officers and soldiers have been disgraced after several trips there. In addition, the place where we operate is at the junction of two counties. As time goes by, there will be no more trouble for the government."

"Is your boss in the stronghold now?"

The bandits fell silent.

"Um?"

The bandit was excited and said hurriedly: "The first master and the fourth master went down the mountain yesterday, leaving the second master and the others to guard the stronghold."

“Where did you go down the mountain? How many people did you bring with you?”

“I only took a dozen people with me. I don’t know where I went, but every few days the new masters will take turns going down the mountain.”

He Qingxiao asked a few more questions, which were no different from what another bandit named Xiaoba said, and Xiaoba also provided a clue.

“Several masters came down the mountain every few days to have fun in Ling County. I overheard this.”

"Lingxian County?" A map of this area appeared in Xinyou's mind, "It's just over a hundred miles beyond here, right?"

He Qingxiao nodded: "We will settle at the next inn tonight, and the plan afterwards is to rest in Ling County for a day."

 It is not advisable to go far in the summer just for the sake of speed. The heat can kill people. This was not He Qingxiao's first trip south, and he had a rough idea of ​​where to rest along the way.

"I passed by Ling County. It is indeed a lively place." Xin You glanced at the two bandits and said, "You have a lot of innocent people's lives on your hands, right?"

 (End of this chapter)