Chapter 85: Three Hundred Spears

As night deepened, the air turned cold, and those sleeping in the horse stable shivered uncontrollably, longing desperately for home—though at home they were hungry and exhausted every day.

The broken straw hut they lived in was crude, but at least it sheltered them from wind and rain.

Just as they drifted into a drowsy sleep in that freezing, stinking stable, the relay station suddenly burst into roaring flames.

Two dark figures landed before the stable; one kicked open the gate—it was none other than Zhang Chu’an and Zhang Xiaofan.

Seeing them, the others were puzzled, but given the circumstances, they knew they had to escape first.

Following the two, they fled to a forest far from the relay station before finally stopping to rest.

“Pant… pant… Messers Zhang, weren’t you gone? Why did you come back to save us?” the group asked once they stopped.

“What else? Didn’t I say? The Jin won’t miss any chance to enslave people for land—so we came to check, and incidentally, rescue you,” Zhang Chu’an said; the others sighed.

Zhang Chu’an had already warned them what would happen if they stayed in the village—but they didn’t listen, and now this was their fate.

“Messers Zhang, may I ask why you help us lowly peasants? You’re cultured, learned, capable men—by your talents, even if you can’t gain official rank, you could live comfortably, with multiple wives and concubines.”

“But helping us hardworking peasants brings you nothing but hardship, and now you’re wanted fugitives because of us—may I ask why?” asked a young man named Zhang Shun from the crowd.

Zhang Chu’an pondered, then said: “Why? I don’t fully understand it myself. Yes, I admit Li Papi’s way of life suits this world better—but can you live like that and keep your conscience clear? Though helping you makes my life harder, I have no guilt—and that’s enough.”

“Conscience clear?” The crowd fell silent, then bowed together to Zhang Chu’an and Zhang Xiaofan: “Messers Zhang, the world is vast, yet there’s no place for us—please take us in. We’ll serve you faithfully, without hesitation.”

“Good. Since you’re willing to follow me, I won’t refuse. But here’s my rule: no kneeling. Don’t kneel to anyone, and don’t force anyone to kneel to you. If you can’t obey, leave.” As Zhang Chu’an finished, everyone rose.

“Good. One more question: do you miss your families? Do you hate the landlords who drove you to this despair?” Zhang Chu’an asked. The crowd exchanged glances—wasn’t their instinct to flee and avoid capture?

Did Master Zhang mean to take them back?

“I’ll ask again: do you want to go back and see your families? Do you hate the landlords who pushed you to this? Answer me.” Zhang Chu’an shouted again.

“Yes. We hate them.”

They hadn’t answered before because they were helpless before reality—but how could they not miss their kin? How could they not hate the landlords who drove them to this?

“If you hate them, if you want to go back—then let’s go. If we don’t deal with these landlords, who knows what they’ll do to your wives and children next?” Zhang Chu’an sneered.

Hearing this, the villagers’ faces changed—Zhang Chu’an’s uncanny foresight had already sunk deep into their hearts. Without hesitation, they rushed home, ignoring their exhaustion.

After hours of travel, hundreds of villagers arrived at the village at noon. The old man at the gate gasped and hurried forward: “Aren’t you the ones the Jin captured? How did you come back?”

As someone tried to explain, the old man waved his hand frantically: “Forget it, I don’t want to know. Go quickly—right after you were taken, Li Papi gathered thugs and claimed to be your relatives, trying to sell your wives into prostitution.”

Hearing this, the three hundred villagers, who had just escaped death, erupted in fury—their pent-up rage exploded instantly.

As they surged forward to fight, Zhang Xiaofan shouted: “Stop! You’re unarmed—charging them is suicide. Get weapons first, then fight.”

The crowd followed Zhang Xiaofan to a field where red-tasseled spears lay thickly stacked. Before they could instill ideological education and train political officers, they wouldn’t exchange for firearms.

After all, once a man held a powerful firearm, it was hard not to develop dangerous thoughts.

Each villager took a red-tasseled spear and marched into the village in force; Zhang Chu’an led the three hundred straight toward the landlord Li Papi.

As a landlord—and a cruel one—Li Papi naturally kept dozens of hired guards, scattered but numerous enough to terrorize the countryside.

But when those guards saw three hundred villagers armed with red-tasseled spears charging toward them, they panicked and fled—after all, their pay wasn’t worth dying for.

Seeing the guards flee before even fighting, the villagers sneered—these arrogant bullies were nothing but cowards who bullied the weak.

They ignored the guards; their true target was Li Papi himself. And Li Papi? He was currently in bed with his concubine, unaware of the chaos outside.

The villagers burst in and dragged Li Papi, naked, from his bed. Seeing the three hundred villagers—whom he had sold to the Jin as slaves—standing before him with spears and cold eyes, he nearly fainted.

“Heroes! Please spare me! I was forced by Yisu Pu! I didn’t want to sell you to the Jin—I had no choice!” Li Papi begged, banging his head on the ground.

“Oh? Then why did you team up with thugs to sell their wives to brothels?” Zhang Chu’an asked, smiling.

Facing Zhang Chu’an’s smile and the three hundred villagers’ murderous stares, Li Papi broke into a cold sweat, his voice trembling.

“Let me explain—it’s simple. You want the rest of the village to see what happens to those who defy Li Papi: the men are sold to the Jin as slaves, and their wives are sold to brothels. Isn’t that right?”

Zhang Chu’an’s smile terrified Li Papi—how had this young man seen through their minds so clearly?

Zhang Chu’an ignored Li Papi, stood up, and coldly addressed the three hundred villagers behind him: “Now we go house by house and kill every thug who stole your families’ livelihoods. Then we drag Li Papi around the neighboring villages. We have three hundred men with three hundred spears.”

A single honest farmer was easy to bully by landlords and thugs—but three hundred armed peasants ready to die? The thugs Li Papi had hired soon learned the answer firsthand.

The landlords of nearby villages soon learned the answer too.