Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 43 Fighting up the mountain
When they heard this, Liu He and others were shocked.

"Is the county lieutenant you are talking about surnamed Wu?"

The scholar nodded: "Yes, it is County Magistrate Wu."

Zhu Ye immediately jumped up: "This bastard surnamed Wu, I've known for a long time that he is not a good person!"

Guan Yu also raised his eyebrows and said with murderous intent: "Such a dog official, who is in league with bandits and harms the people, is of no use! Sooner or later, he will be killed!"

Liu He frowned and asked, "Did it happen that County Lieutenant Wu ordered you to rob Zhu's mansion?"

"Not entirely. More than a month ago, a man named Ke Heng suddenly came to the mountain stronghold and said he wanted to join us. He said he was originally a martial arts master and had been an instructor in the Zhu Mansion for many years. Later, he was dismissed because of some trivial matters. He wandered around for a few years and spent all his savings. Therefore, he hated the Zhu Mansion and instigated us to come here to rob. He also said that he was very familiar with the terrain of Huangshui Township and could be our insider."

"We didn't want to provoke these powerful families, but County Lieutenant Wu happened to send someone here again, saying that the master of the Zhu Mansion wanted him to do something and recruit his son into the county army next year to win fame. County Lieutenant Wu was a gambler and had bad luck a few days ago, so he went to ask Master Zhu for some money, but Master Zhu refused and only gave him a few thousand coins and sent him away. County Lieutenant Wu was so angry that he asked us to rob the Zhu Mansion at night and divide the money equally. He also said that he would drink with Master Zhu tonight and find an opportunity to drug everyone in the Zhu Mansion, and ordered us to kill everyone in the mansion, leaving no one alive..."

Liu He understood everything.

"So you listened to what Ke Heng and County Magistrate Wu said, and joined forces with them to raid Zhu's mansion?"

The scholar nodded and said, "Yes, they are both old acquaintances of Mr. Zhu, so they agreed to go and get Mr. Zhu drunk together. Alas, it's also our fault for being greedy. Moreover, County Lieutenant Wu had warned us that there were some young men who were brave and asked us to be careful, but we thought that a few children who were still wet behind the ears could not achieve anything. We didn't expect that there would be such young heroes. Alas... It's all God's will..."

After hearing what the scholar said, Liu He and others were extremely angry, and Zhu Ye was even more furious!

"Wu and Ke, you two old thieves! I, Zhu Ye, swear to kill you!"

Liu He patted Zhu Ye on the shoulder and said soothingly, "Brother Zhu, don't worry. The hatred of your Zhu family is the same as our hatred. But today, we brothers will work together to not only kill the Wu and Ke guys, but also give the people peace!"

"That's right, the revenge of our brothers is our revenge!"

Guan Yu, Cheng Liang and Zhang Yong also stepped forward to agree.

"Where is Ke Heng now?" Liu He asked the scholar.

The scholar dared not not answer: "After we robbed Zhu's house, he took a few brothers to transport the stolen property to Wu County Magistrate's house..."

"So that's how it is. These two villains being together actually saves us a lot of trouble!"

Liu He had asked all the questions he needed to ask, so there was no point in keeping these people around.

"Well, since it was you five who did it and you have confessed the truth, we, as gentlemen, will reward you with an intact body! Brother Zhu, I leave it to you!"

Liu He handed the spear in his hand to Zhu Ye. Zhu Ye took it and slowly walked towards the five men.

With every step he took, the five people's hearts trembled. This short moment seemed extremely long in the five people's hearts.

"what!"

Zhu Ye roared and stabbed out repeatedly with the spear in his hand, hitting the heart every time.

"It's your turn now!" Zhu Ye looked at the two bandit leaders.

The big boss was shot with an arrow and bled too much, almost fainting, and unable to resist. The scholar also knew he was going to die, so he sat on the ground and closed his eyes.

Zhu Ye attacked again, killing two people, and then returned the spear to Liu He. The remaining thirty people collapsed on the ground, trembling, and some of the timid ones even fainted.

Liu He snorted coldly, which scared these people.

"You are guilty of heinous crimes and deserve to be put to death. However, considering that you still have remorse and the main culprit has been brought to justice, if you are willing to cooperate with us, we will atone for your crime and spare your life."

Liu He's words made the thirty or so people seem to see hope of survival, and they kowtowed and apologized one after another.

"Just give us your orders, sir, and we will do it!"

Liu He nodded slightly and said, "First, there are still many people left in your mountain stronghold. You need to take us to persuade them to surrender and stop doing evil. Second, you have violated our villagers today and disturbed our public security. In the future, you need to serve as village warriors, patrol day and night, and protect the villagers here. If you commit crimes again, you will be killed without mercy!"

As soon as these words were spoken, more than thirty people kowtowed to express their gratitude as if they had been pardoned.

Guan Yu and others behind Liu He also agreed with Liu He's approach.

Liu He looked up and saw that the commotion had lasted from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and the sky was already slightly brightening.

"Brothers, it's almost dawn now. Let's have some food and take these people up the mountain to surrender the stronghold. We'll come back and discuss how to settle them. As for Lord Wu and Ke Heng, we'll find a way to avenge them after we've dealt with this matter."

Zhu Ye, Guan Yu and others had no objection.

When the villagers saw that the bandit threat had been eliminated, they came out of their homes to express their gratitude. Liu He dealt with them briefly and sent everyone home. He asked his mother Xu to prepare breakfast. After they had a full meal, Liu He took Zhu Ye, Cheng Liang and Guan Yu, and selected five bandits to lead the way, leaving the rest to Zhang Yong and the villagers to guard.

According to the guide, there were more than 300 people in the mountain stronghold, all of whom were refugees from Ji and Bing states. The old, the weak, women and children all starved to death, and the remaining young and strong men went up the mountain and became bandits.

It has gone through several government crackdowns and the merger of multiple strongholds before reaching its current scale.

They sent 200 people down the mountain this time, and there were more than 100 people left in the village. However, these more than 100 people were relatively weak and usually did rough work in the village, so their fighting ability was not strong.

As soon as Zhu Ye arrived at the gate of the stronghold, he raised his two hammers and smashed the gate with three blows. The hundred men were terrified and quickly surrendered.

Liu He and others were leading people to pack up and count the food and valuables in the village when they suddenly heard a cry for help from behind the village.

Liu He looked at the bandit beside him in confusion, and the bandit quickly explained.

"Don't be alarmed, sir. The women who were recently abducted from the foot of the mountain are imprisoned in the back. There are only men in the mountain village, so this...it is inevitable that there will be such a demand..."

Liu He understood what he meant instantly. In addition to robbing money and food, they also had to rob women when they went down the mountain.

Liu He gave the bandit a cold look and asked him to lead the way to release the women.

The man did not dare to disobey, so he took Liu He through twists and turns, along the mountain wall, and came to a cave. He opened the wooden door at the entrance, and the two walked in together.

It was a little dark in the cave, but Liu He could still see clearly. The cave was not small, and there were at least sixty or seventy women gathered there, ranging from teenagers to people in their thirties. When they saw Liu He and the other man come in, they all shrank back, looking very scared.

From this, Liu He could tell what kind of treatment they suffered on a daily basis, and he felt angry and distressed.

"Girls, you don't have to be afraid. We have already conquered this mountain stronghold, the bandit leader is dead, and we are here to let you go down the mountain."

(End of this chapter)