Banditry 06

Suddenly, the surrounding bandits grew excited and began to clamor. They shouted loudly, accompanied by the screams and curses of women. The two men locked in combat also gradually lost their senses in this tumultuous environment, their eyes turning bloodshot as if they had forgotten where they were.

To stay alive, for their families!

However, just then, a burst of intense gunfire suddenly rang out. Chaos erupted around them. Some bandits drew their guns to return fire, but it was futile. The two men fighting suddenly felt as if something heavy had struck their heads. Immediately after, their bodies went limp like puppets whose strings had been cut, collapsing to the ground one after the other.

The bandit chieftain holding a pistol saw a large number of soldiers pouring in and his face instantly changed color. Cursing and shouting, he turned and began to flee. He darted left and right through the stronghold, running blindly in his panic, aiming for the back gate.

Finally, he saw the exit not far ahead and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, quickly speeding up his steps to charge towards it. Yet, just as he was about to step through the exit, the cold barrel of a pistol pressed against his forehead.

The bandit chieftain's body shuddered violently. He looked up in terror to see a man with a grim expression standing before him, the dark muzzle of the gun pointed directly at his head. Yan Qi's icy face gradually emerged from the darkness.

When he escorted the bandit chieftain back in through the rear gate, he was genuinely shocked by the scene before him.

That seemingly refined Fang Zhiyi, dressed in a blue gown, holding a long sword gleaming with cold light, sat quietly atop a pile of more than a dozen corpses. His expression was terrifyingly calm.

All around him lay corpses scattered in every direction, their blood staining the ground into shocking, spreading pools. Soldiers were nervously searching for possible survivors, their shouts constantly ringing out.

Even Yan Qi, who considered himself hardened, couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine facing Fang Zhiyi's icy gaze. That look didn't seem human.

Yan Qi shook his head. Was he just too tense?

Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi finally stood up. He walked slowly, each step appearing unusually heavy. In just a few paces, he reached the bandit leader. He lightly tapped the leader's cheek with the tip of his sword, his voice eerily calm: "So you're the boss, right?"

Though pale with fear, the bandit leader forced himself to appear composed, stubbornly saying, "Do what you will! Kill me if you must! Losing a head just leaves a scar the size of a bowl! In eighteen years, I'll be a hero again!"

Fang Zhiyi clicked his tongue: "You're not very cultured either." He glanced at Yan Qi, who hesitated for a moment before ordering, "Let them in!"

The bandit leader was bewildered. Who else was there?

But when he saw the people entering through the stronghold gate, his earlier composure completely vanished.

"Take a look, is it this guy?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Several among the twenty or so people rushed forward: "It's him! I'd recognize him even if he turned to ashes! He's the one who killed my whole family!"

"He shot out this eye of mine! If I hadn't played dead, the grass on my grave would be tall by now!"

Looking at these people and hearing their words, the bandit leader's fear surged dramatically.

As the remaining survivors were found, they were all tied to wooden stakes.

"This... isn't quite by the book," Yan Qi said gravely. He finally understood why Fang Zhiyi had brought those victims along. He clearly had a hundred percent confidence in this raid.

Fang Zhiyi looked at him: "What, you want to take them back for a public trial? Not afraid of scaring the children? Or do you want some tangible achievements?"

Yan Qi snorted and turned away. He didn't want any achievements, he just wanted to do things properly.

Meanwhile, the remaining bandits, seeing the furious commoners, were filled with panic. As two soldiers threw a large bundle on the ground with a clatter of metal, their hearts leapt into their throats.

When the bundle was opened, it was filled uniformly with instruments of torture, the kind that made one's scalp tingle just from a glance.

Seeing Yan Qi walk away, Fang Zhiyi turned to the commoners and said, "I have only one request: don't let them die too quickly." Then he addressed the new recruits: "Open your eyes wide and see clearly. These things are bandits."

Even though some people's legs were weak, they still stared at the tied-up bandits. Fang Zhiyi spoke again.

"In the fourth month of the Year of the Mao, the Mu family of Shanghe Village was attacked by bandits. The elders were tied up, the young women..." As he spoke, everyone present fell silent. He had actually memorized the entire contents of those grievance petitions!

As he recounted without emotion, the crowd, who had initially felt complex emotions, now looked at the bandits with pure hatred.

The bandits finally knew fear. Their former victims, whom they had casually tortured and killed, had now become butchers holding instruments of torture. They begged loudly, losing control of their bowels, but nothing could stop the blade of vengeance.

Until dawn, the last bandit finally breathed his last in agony. Throughout the process, Fang Zhiyi had specifically arranged for military doctors to be on standby, providing basic treatment to ensure they wouldn't die too quickly.

"Does revenge have meaning?" Yan Qi asked, hands behind his back, watching the sunrise. The other soldiers stood similarly. They had listened to screams all night, feeling both unnerved and, in some ways, satisfied.

"Some say that after revenge comes emptiness, but so what? At least revenge comes first," Fang Zhiyi said with utter detachment.

A commoner walked up to them and knelt with a thud, followed by a second, then a third. They kowtowed, their faces filled with both smiles and tears.

"In this era, being direct is better than any pretty words," Fang Zhiyi said.

Yan Qi glanced at him and nodded. What would the consequences be if he were to become this man's enemy?

Fang Zhiyi's next action interrupted his train of thought: "Alright! Stop standing around! Let's go! Time to get rich!"

Yan Qi nearly choked. Fang Zhiyi's earlier image of a lofty figure suddenly turned mercenary.

But for some reason, he found himself willing to listen to Fang Zhiyi. He couldn't explain why, but he felt following him was probably the right thing to do. As for these bandits... they truly deserved to die!

The news of the Black Wind Stronghold's overnight annihilation spread. Other bandits went to investigate and found all its bandits killed, with the chieftain and his key lieutenants tortured to death. Their bodies were hung at the stronghold's entrance, a sight that made one's heart clench.

The news spread as if on wings, instantly sweeping through the mountains around Creek City. Now almost everyone knew that Creek City had a security regiment that eradicated bandits.