“Mr has said before that circumstances change with the times!”
Tie Niu said, “Bandits bully the weak and fear the strong. If we continue to capture them without killing them like before, they will not be afraid! Now that Mr has taken away more than half of the agency’s brothers, we do not have enough manpower. We cannot handle things the same way as in the past.”
“But…” The company commander still hesitated.
“Do as I say. If Mr returns and punishes me, I will bear full responsibility!”
Tie Niu said with murderous intent, “Did they not come from the river? Then hang them all by the riverbank. Let all passing merchants see that recently they should not come to Jin Chuan looking for trouble!”
“Yes!”
The company commander saw that Tie Niu had made up his mind and no longer tried to persuade him. He cupped his fists, turned, and left.
That very noon, a row of pillars appeared along the Jialing River.
Every two feet, a rope was tied.
When the bandits were escorted to the riverbank, they finally felt the true fear of death.
“The Zhen Yuan Escort Agency does not kill captives, right?”
“I want to see your Mr Jin!”
“Great sir, I know I was wrong. Spare me!”
“Brothers, begging is useless. Let us fight them to the death together!”
“If I had known it would come to this, I would not have thrown down my knife earlier. We should have fought them!”
…
When the bandits learned that the escorts intended to hang them, some begged for mercy, some regretted not fighting to the end instead of surrendering, and some struggled to headbutt the nearby escorts.
A few even jumped straight into the river.
But they were quickly subdued and hanged one by one on the pillars.
In the afternoon, merchants passing along the Jialing River noticed a row of pillars south of Shuang Tuo Peak dock.
Every two feet, a corpse hung from the pillars, swaying in the cold wind.
“My heavens, how are there so many bodies? You cannot even see the end of them. There must be several hundred at least!”
“Yesterday I heard bandits attacked Shuang Tuo Peak. Are these the corpses of those bandits?”
“Probably not. I heard the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency does not kill captives.”
“They did not kill before, but that does not mean they will not kill now. With Jin Feng away from Jin Chuan, the person in charge must have changed.”
“These bandits all deserve to die. Killing them all would be best!”
“Mr Jin was too soft-hearted. If he had done this earlier, which bandits would dare cause trouble while he is away?”
…
Merchants were the group that hated bandits the most. Seeing the corpses along the river, they all felt exhilarated.
The news that the bandits who besieged Shuang Tuo Peak had all been hanged spread rapidly through these merchants.
More than ten li away on the east bank of the Jialing River, in a small mountain village, there was a small courtyard nestled against the mountain and beside the water.
Chen Shiye and several middle-aged men sat in the room, sipping clear tea slowly and chatting cheerfully.
When Chen Shiye incited the bandits, he still used the alias Mr Liu, just as he had in Jiangnan.
The other middle-aged men were the stewards sent by various powerful families to assist him.
Just as they were talking happily, a man dressed as a hunter rushed in hurriedly. “Mr Liu, something terrible has happened! The bandit groups from Hei Shi Mountain and Da Keng Mountain have all been captured by the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency and hanged!”
“What? Hanged?”
Several middle-aged men stood up at the same time, their faces changing colour.
A flash of surprise passed through Chen Shiye’s eyes, but it quickly vanished. He asked calmly, “Tell me what happened.”
This hunter was his planted informant. He had hidden in the shadows and personally witnessed the entire battle.
After listening to the hunter’s account, Chen Shiye did not get angry. Instead, he smiled.
“Mr Liu, you can still smile? The Zhen Yuan Escort Agency is getting serious this time!”
The hunter stomped his foot anxiously. “You did not see it. They had a new weapon this time, louder than thunder. One of them could kill a large group of bandits!”
“That is the divine thunder. Jin Feng used it in Xichuan!”
A bald middle-aged man said, “How does Jin Chuan have such a thing?”
“Jin Chuan is Jin Feng’s lair. Is it not normal for them to have divine thunder?”
Chen Shiye waved the hunter away and poured a cup of tea. “Mr He, do not panic. Come, continue drinking tea.”
“Mr Liu, this is no time for tea!”
The bald middle-aged man said anxiously, “The Zhen Yuan Escort Agency was already hard to deal with. Now they have black armour and divine thunder. What do we do? Several hundred bandits, and they were hanged just like that, without even making a splash!”
“Who said they made no splash?”
Chen Shiye smiled and said, “Did they not help us test out the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency’s trump cards?”
In truth, the bandits who besieged Shuang Tuo Peak were merely pawns Chen Shiye used to probe the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency’s bottom line.
And the results of the experiment greatly satisfied him.
The several middle-aged men exchanged glances. They all saw a trace of fear in each other’s eyes.
At this moment, they all understood. Chen Shiye must have known from the beginning that these bandits were doomed to die, yet he never reminded them.
This cold ruthlessness made them shiver.
“The more the escorts act this way, the more it shows they are feeling guilty!”
Chen Shiye ignored the reactions of the middle-aged men and spoke slowly, “The ones who should be panicking now are them, not us!”
“Then Mr Liu, what do you plan to do next? Will the plan continue?”
The bald middle-aged man asked.
“Since Jin Feng left behind black armour and divine thunder, the previous methods naturally cannot be used anymore.”
Chen Shiye picked up his tea bowl, played with it in his hand for a while, and said, “Next, we should proceed with the second plan!”
…
At Xi He Bay.
Guan Xiao Rou, Tang Dong Dong, Xiao Yu, Tie Chui, and Zheng Fang gathered once again in Jin Feng’s study.
“Tie Niu brother was a bit too ruthless, was he not? Mr clearly said we cannot kill captives. He killed several hundred at once. When Mr returns, it will be hard to explain.”
Xiao Yu put down the note and said worriedly.
Zheng Fang’s brows also furrowed slightly.
He supported Tie Niu, but he had thought Tie Niu’s idea of going hard meant killing more bandits during the fight. He never expected Tie Niu would kill captives.
Although the end result was the same, the meaning was completely different.
According to Zhen Yuan Escort Agency regulations, killing enemies in battle would be commended, but killing captives after the battle would bring heavy punishment.
In truth, Tie Niu had also planned to kill during the battle, but who knew the bandits were so useless? As soon as he brought out the hand grenades, they collapsed…
“The situation now is different from before. When Mr returns, I will explain to him.”
Zheng Fang said, “Tie Niu’s decision was approved by me. If Mr punishes, I will bear it together with Tie Niu.”
“Mr told the three of us to guard the village together. If something happens, the three of us will bear it together.” Tie Chui also said.
After all, they had fought side by side in the trenches in the northwest as comrades who shared life and death. Although he and Tie Niu had quarrelled fiercely at the time, almost cursing each other, their private relationship was very good.
“When Feng brother returns, he will decide naturally. Why are you all rushing now?”
Tang Dong Dong said, “Right now, we should quickly discuss whether to recall Tie Niu or let him stay to guard Shuang Tuo Peak.”
“The other factories are easy to handle, but Shuang Tuo Peak is too close to the Jialing River. Bandits can come by boat at any time. It is impossible to guard against everything. Better to let Tie Niu stay there.”
Zheng Fang spoke first.
Just as Tang Dong Dong was about to reply, A Ju pushed the door and came in.
“Everyone, something has happened. We just received news that bandits have appeared near Tian Kui Peak and Long Xu Gou, and they are heading towards Jin Chuan!”
