"Hmph, straighten out his right arm for me. I will chop it off!" Liu Sheng's cold voice echoed through the courtyard as he stood over Old Ren.
One of the three men forcefully seized Old Ren's right arm, stretching it out, while the other two kept him pinned flat against the ground.
As bandits, all three men were younger and much stronger than Old Ren. He didn't even try to resist as they held him down and seized his arm. With his chest pressed against the ground, he could feel the cold soil beneath him. At this moment, Old Ren recalled his interaction with Feng Jing, Yu Feng Sect's elder.
After reporting the devastating news of Zhu Jiu Village, she had clearly stated that she would send her disciples to deal with the bandits. However, after waiting at the foot of Yu Long Mountain for days without any sign of those so called disciples, he and Chen Hai had decided to return to the village and see if anything had changed.
That was when the bandits captured them.
Old Ren sighed inwardly as he looked over at Chen Hai, who was also being restrained. A hint of regret flashed through his eyes. "Oh, Chen Hai. If only you had listened to me and stayed behind, you wouldn't be in this situation. But as an elder, I shouldn't have let my emotions get in the way and returned to this place. I'm sorry."
Seeing the regret in Old Ren's eyes, Chen Hai softly murmured, "Old Ren..."
There was no blood relation between the two, but as fellow villagers, they had known each other for many years and deeply cared for one another.
The man restraining him smugly said, "Young man, there is no need to be sad. Your hand will soon be cut off too as punishment. Hehe."
"Blame yourselves for escaping from us. Our Liu Sheng was kind enough to spare your dog lives and only sell you as slaves, yet you repaid him by running away." Another bandit said.
Hearing this, Chen Hai clenched his fists tightly, but he was helpless.
He was just a child. He had no way to overpower these bandits, especially when even some of the adults and elders of the village had been killed or forced into submission by them.
Liu Sheng slowly raised the butcher knife above his head. The sunlight glinting off its razor sharp blade, causing it to gleam ominously.
Seeing this, Chen Hai panicked, frantically screaming, "Wait! I'll tell you where we sought help from, so please don't hurt Old Ren!"
"Thud!"
But the man holding him down was unwilling as he shoved his face into the dirt. Shouting. "Bastard, stop moving around!" Despite this, Chen Hai had succeeded in getting Liu Sheng's attention as Liu Sheng did not bring the knife down on Old Ren's arm. Instead, turning toward him.
"Eldest Brother Liu Sheng, don't mind him. Punish them before the other captives think we're easy and try to escape," one of the bandits advised.
But Liu Sheng ignored him and asked anxiously in a low voice. "Tell me. Who did you seek help from? It isn't the neighboring villages, is it?" His voice carried a clear hint of anxiety. The other bandits exchanged confused glances. Why is Eldest Brother Liu Sheng anxious?
The Dragon Mountain River Bandits were feared throughout Yu Feng Sect's territory. Every village under the sect's jurisdiction sought the sect's protection because of them. This fear was mainly due to Liu Sheng and the Third and Fourth Brothers, whose strength was respected by all the other bandits. Among them, Liu Sheng stood above the rest. He was known as Liu Sheng, the Hundred Men's Strength.
"Let him speak, Fifth Brother. I want to know which villages have decided to help them," Liu Sheng said as he walked over with his butcher knife in hand.
Obeying the order, Fifth Brother eased the pressure on Chen Hai. Chen Hai lifted his head from the ground. Blood immediately began trickling from his nose, and he hurriedly wiped it away with his sleeve.
"So, what villages?" Liu Sheng asked again impatiently, his eyes filled with killing intent.
However, Chen Hai was no longer as frightened as before. As he wiped away the blood, he rapidly calculated in his mind. "Even though we're on peaceful terms with the neighboring villages, that doesn't mean we can easily request help from them. On the surface, we're cooperative, but behind the scenes, we're all secretly scheming against one another."
"This bandit attack wasn't random at all. Old Ren and i suspect that one of those villages sold our information to them. That's why we sought help from Yu Feng Sect rather than our neighboring villages."
He took a deep breath, mustering his courage, and asked, "If I tell you where we sought help from, will you spare us?"
The courtyard fell completely silent. As everyone stood stunned. Then several bandits suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!" Liu Sheng too laughed loudly as he folded his arms across his chest speaking arrogantly. "Young man, you're too naive. Don't you see the state of Zhu Jiu Village? There is no hope for any of you. Even if you don't tell us who decided to help you, you're all going to become slaves anyway."
"And since the two of you escaped after I showed mercy and spared your lives, I need to make an example out of you."
Upon hearing this, Old Ren closed his eyes, seemingly giving up all hope. However, he abruptly opened them and said, "We sought help from Yu Feng Sect. Their elder assured us that disciples would be sent to deal with all of you. However If you and your men leave now, we can put this matter behind us."
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone froze.
"Yu Feng Sect's disciples?" Woman Indulgent Monk, who had been leisurely observing everything from the sidelines, raised his eyebrows in surprise. And thought "interesting. Yu Feng Sect has taken in disciples now, of all times? What are they planning?"
Liu Sheng and his men, however, showed neither surprise nor fear. this outcome had somewhat already been within their expectations. Liu Sheng sneered and said. "So that's how it is. I knew you found help, but I didn't expect it to be Yu Feng Sect."
He paused before continuing.
"To think you had the guts to ask for their help after failing to meet their expectations. As expected of the wealthiest village under Yu Feng Sect's jurisdiction."
"Failing to meet their expectations?" Chen Hai cried out, staring with wide opened eyes as though a woman who had her heart broken.
Liu Sheng looked at him meaningfully. And smirked. "That's right. If we had attacked Zhu Jiu Village while you were still paying your dues to Yu Feng Sect, their elder would have already appeared and dealt with us. But since you failed to pay your dues because of the flood, we were able to seize this opportunity and take over your village."
"Oh, Of course, Yu Feng Sect is still a righteous path sect. They can't completely ignore you even after you failed to uphold your end of the arrangement. So they deliberately wasted time and are only now sending disciples. As for when they'll actually arrive... who knows?"
Old Ren and Chen Hai looked at each other before sighing. Their suspicions had indeed been correct.
The bandits had somehow discovered that Zhu Jiu Village was due to pay tribute to Yu Feng Sect. Failing to do so had effectively caused the village to lose the sect's protection.
Woman Indulgent Monk nodded inwardly. and thought. "Indeed, this is the tactics of righteous path sects."
He was very familiar with such tactics since he himself was a righteous path martial artist and had used similar methods to extort others.
"Eldest Brother Liu Sheng, shouldn't we take the villagers and leave before Yu Feng Sect's disciples arrive?" someone asked.
"That's right. We can easily overpower ordinary people, but we're nothing compared to martial artists." Another one added.
Liu Sheng nodded in agreement and said. "As long as we're no longer in Zhu Jiu Village, we should be safe, even with the villagers we've already captured."
The Dragon Mountain River Bandits had originally planned to wait for the slave traders to arrive in Zhu Jiu Village.
However, now that Yu Feng Sect's disciples were coming, they needed to leave immediately.
"You don't need to run."
At this moment, a calm and reassuring voice echoed directly inside Liu Sheng's head. Startled, he quickly turned around. looking toward Woman Indulgent Monk, after recognizing the voice as his. But seeing that woman indulgent monk still sitting in his chair leisurely Liu Sheng scratched his head in confusion. "Did I hear that wrong?"
"No you did not hear it wrong," Women indulgent monk's voice rang out in his head once again. "it's me women indulgent monk and don't look back at me."
Liu Sheng's eyes widened in bewilderment but this time he did not turn around to look at women indulgent monk as instructed
He gulped asking. "How are you speaking inside my head? Is this something martial artist can do?"
Women indulgent monk transmitted his voice again speaking plainly. "Never mind that. Just listen to my advice for now. There's no need for your bandit group to flee Zhu Jiu Village. To my knowledge, Yu Feng Sect's disciples are just new recruits, not true martial artists just yet. You experienced bandits can easily handle them."
But Liu Sheng was reluctant as he responded "We were only able to take over Zhu Jiu Village because they hadn't payed tribute to Yufeng sect and even if Yu Feng sect's disciples are just new recruits wouldn't killing them make the elder come after us?"
As far as Liu Sheng was concerned he and his men had achieved their goal and now that they found out Yu feng sect's disciples were on their way he believed their best option would be to flee.
"No," Shaking his head in disdain at Liu Sheng's cowardice women indulgent monk transmitted his voice. "even though Yu Feng sect is a righteous path sect they don't value their disciples as much as other righteous path sects. So I wouldn't have to worry about the elder if I were you."
However Liu Sheng wasn't convinced.
This was how he was. He would always bow his head to people more powerful than him and abuse those weaker than him. But Woman Indulgent Monk could understand him. This was how Liu Sheng and his men had survived for so long, they knew exactly how to maneuver through life.
Hearing Woman Indulgent Monk's voice in his head again, Liu Sheng felt a headache. He was very experienced when it came to dealing with unscrupulous people, and Woman Indulgent Monk was one of them. Even though the monk didn't say it outright, Liu Sheng could tell that he didn't want him and his men to leave Zhu Jiu Village.
Heaving a long sigh Liu Sheng turned to his men and said "Taking all these captives would tire us out, not to mention forcing us to cross the harsh mountainous terrain within Yu Feng Sect's territory. Who knows what wild beasts we might encounter? Besides, our arrangement with the slave traders is to wait here for them."
"And so what if Yu Feng sect's disciples are martial artists there can't possibly be more than seven of them, there are fifty of us here, does it really make sense for us to run away from seven mere people?"
All the bandits stared at him confused, what made him change his mind? Usually Liu Sheng is a coward, tucking his tail between his cheeks and fleeing at the mention of martial artists.
One man who was unhappy said "Eldest brother Liu Sheng have you forgotten...
But the moment he met Liu Sheng's deathly glare, he immediately fell silent.
"Wasn't it me who came up with the plan to take over Zhu Jiu Village? while all you guys did was follow me? And now look at us, this entire village belongs to us now Just imagine our wealth after we sell all these people and the village's recourses. And yes since we will be here for a while I will allow you to enjoy Zhu Jiu Village's women."
"Thump Thump"
Hearing the word "women" their hearts started beating in excitement. Naturally, as a wealthy village that generated a lot of wealth, Zhu Jiu Village had very beautiful women. Hehe, Eldest brother is truly benevolent, the bandits licked their lips, their crotch emitting heat.
Seeing their excited faces he continued while smirking. "And according to the rules of our dragon mountain river bandit, I'm the leader if you don't agree with me you can always challenge me."
"We wouldn't dare." We wouldn't dare." All the bandits obeyed him, They didn't have the face to disagree with him anymore not only was he strong but was also an experienced schemer. Everything he said made sense to them. He used women and his own strength to subdue them.