Chapter 8: The Bandits
The two sat opposite each other in the temple, and Zhou Ying'er listened carefully to every happy and vengeful river. These stories are so fascinating, as if you have been in this colorful world. I forgot the time for a while......
It wasn't until a noisy and chaotic sound of horses' hooves passed in front of the official road in front of the temple that it attracted the attention of the two. The dust flew into the temple, choking the two of them from opening their eyes. It wasn't until the sound of horses' hooves went away for a long time that the two dared to poke their heads out of the temple. Bai Yilan walked out of the temple and looked in the direction where the sound of horses' hooves went, only to see dust flying, dozens of fast horses galloping forward, with great momentum. Although not as neat and majestic as the army, it also gives a sense of unstoppability.
Bai Yilan watched the fast horse galloping, and felt indescribable envy for such a majestic style. But slowly, his brows tightened, and his expression became serious.
The whole team was about 30 people, but all of them crossed the entrance of the village and entered the village. Bai Yilan turned around and wanted to ask Zhou Ying'er, but saw her looking at the entrance of the village, her face was pale, her expression was panicked, and even her body was trembling.
After Bai Yilan's repeated inquiries, she said tremblingly:
"Mountain...... Bandit ......"
"Then what are you waiting for, the people in the village are in danger, let's go back quickly!" Bai Yilan listened and pulled Zhou Ying'er and was about to catch up, but found that he didn't drag her. Bai Yilan felt very strange and turned her head to look at Zhou Ying'er.
"Don't go back, he...... They are terrible, if you go, you will be killed by them!" Zhou Ying'er was so anxious that she was about to cry, she was very worried about her father and everyone in the village, but because she knew the cruel methods of the other party, her instinctive fear stopped him.
"Don't ............" Just as she was trying her best to dissuade Bai Yilan, another hand was put on the hand that was originally pulled by Bai Yilan. The little hands wrapped in the two hands were suddenly filled with warmth, and this warm current flowed down the little hands all over her body, which greatly offset her fear. She gradually raised her head and saw Bai Yilan's smiling face under her unkempt face.
"Don't worry, I'm here now. ”
After that, Zhou Ying'er's body didn't feel that she was pulled by Bai Yilan, and even she felt that with Bai Yilan there, she would be fine. As if he had been reassured, he followed Bai Yilan towards the village.
But there is no such warm current in the village to dispel fear. After the thieves entered the village, the horses roared wildly, the doors were smashed from house to house, the thieves spoke loudly, and the children and women of each family cried. The village, which is usually peaceful and peaceful, is shrouded in all kinds of negative emotions.
Door to door, see the grain to take, see the chicken and duck to rob, for a while, the chicken flying dog jump, the momentum alone is a few points stronger than the horse team that takes off and gallops.
"Big boss, don't you say it's good, as long as we pay the grain on time, let us go, you can't talk and don't count!"
The man on the tall horse, dressed in a black robe and with a steel knife at his waist, looked down at the poor old man, but he enjoyed this feeling very much in his heart. He covered his head with his hood, and all he saw was a long scar that stretched from his eyebrows to his mouth. The blackened skin makes the whole person even more terrifying. He instructed his men to throw a bag of grain to the village chief.
"I wanted to let you go, but ah, you have food, but you told me that there is no food in the village. Obviously, you lied to me. As he spoke, he pulled out his steel knife and pointed at the village chief who was kneeling on the ground. "Since you refuse to pay, then only I will rob it personally!"
"Big boss, it's too much for you to do this. Can't you leave me a way out?" the speaker was tied up and walked to the big boss.
"Yo, I remember you, your surname is Zhou, every time I come to this village, there are you among the people who oppose me. After saying that, his eyes were cold, and the tip of the knife pointed at the village chief was transferred to the middle-aged man, and he showed an evil smile again. "I remember...... You also have a daughter, named Zhou Ying'er, right?"
The middle-aged man let out a long breath when he heard this, and said in his heart: Fortunately, my daughter is not in the village.
The village chief also slowly got up with the support of his descendants, although he kept drooping his eyelids, he could also hear from his deep voice that he was already furious, "In broad daylight, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, you burn, kill, loot, and kill innocents indiscriminately, aren't you afraid of retribution?" and then trembled and raised his cane, pointing directly at the bandit leader.
The bandit leader did not waver in the slightest, and even his eyes were more fierce, and his eyes moved back to the village chief, and then he only heard the steel knife cut through the air, and a knife light flashed in front of everyone's eyes, which was even more dazzling under the reflection of the scorching sun, and when everyone opened their eyes again, half of the village chief's crutches were still in his hands, and the other half had fallen heavily to the ground.
The other people who were captured froze in fright when they saw this scene, and they knew that they might be in a different place at any time, just like the cane. But in front of the village chief, no matter how scared he was, no one knelt down and begged for mercy, because there were still three people, standing straight in the face of such a steel knife, without taking half a step back, and the village chief, with the support of the descendants, looked at the bandit leader, and the half-cut crutch in his hand was still pointing at each other. Zhou Ying'er's father also straightened his waist, and the fortitude in his eyes was not inferior to the former.
"We pay you grain to protect the people of the whole village, since you don't give us a way to live, then we can only create our own way to live!" said the descendants of the village chief, who also picked up their hoes and pointed at each other.
The bandit leader looked at the three people and couldn't help but sneer:
"Yo yo yo, are you trying to do it with me?"
The expressions of the three of them became heavier and heavier.
Zhou Ying'er's father, Zhou Da, is a langzhong, and he taught his daughter to be jealous and hateful, and never compromise with the wicked. Therefore, every time the bandits came to grab food, Zhou Da was always the first to stand up and resist, but every time he was stopped by the village chief. He has suffered the humiliation of the bandits, and although he is not capable of resisting, he will never compromise and beg for mercy.
Because Zhou Da was still tied and couldn't move, the bandit leader took advantage of the situation to put a knife on his neck. "What if...... Give your precious daughter over and I will spare you from dying!"
"Hmph, you dream!" Zhou Da was ready to die at any time, even though he already felt the ruthless coldness of the steel knife around his neck. But he didn't have the slightest timidity, he closed his eyes quietly, and all he thought in his heart was: resist and die, and death is worth it!
Seeing this, everyone admired Zhou Da calmly and calmly, and began to clench their fists and be ready to move. And some people saw the steel knife on their necks, their legs were weak, and they almost fainted. Only the three of them did not say a word, did not shake, did not take a step back.
The reaction of the three of them really angered the bandit leader. I saw that his face was hideous, his eyes were scarlet, and he raised his steel knife to aim at Zhou Da's head, and slashed down diagonally............
At this point, there is no way back. Zhou Da slowly closed his eyes, naturally proud in his heart. The village chief couldn't control himself either, so he turned his head away. The surrounding villagers couldn't bear to look at it directly, and they breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, and they were extremely nervous......
The knife edge was only half an inch from the neck......
A branch shot down from the side with great force, directly interrupting the trajectory of the steel knife. The tip of the knife flicked in front of the chin. Looking at the two of them again, Zhou Da was not hurt at all, but looking at the bandit leader, his knife hand kept trembling, and even his mouth hurt.
All this happened so fast that no one could see it clearly, only to hear an angry roar from the bandit leader:
"Who?"