Chapter 4

During the escort, Li You also encountered many small and large bands of bandits heading their way; these people all knew the mountain bandits who had bound them.

The man riding the piebald horse exchanged a few shallow words with them; some bands turned back immediately, while others still intended to enter Lueyang City to try their luck.

After walking about three double-hours, they finally left Lueyang County, crossed the Ju River, and appeared to be heading toward Mian County via Yangping Pass.

By all rights, with twenty-plus people tied to a single wooden pole, they simply could not move quickly.

But these mountain bandits killed as casually as mowing grass; they directly hacked to death two who could not walk, and the speed immediately picked up.

Before the sky had completely darkened, the seventeen women captured at the front and rear were raped to death by the bandits in rotation; five died in total, especially by a bandit with a tumor on his forehead, who killed two in succession.

One young girl was brutally deflowered by him and died of shock; judging by the girl's age, she was only about fifteen years old.

For Li You, who had once lived in an era of peace and prosperity, this was again a series of heavy blows, weighing Li You's heart down so heavily he could not breathe; he was forced to breathe hard, only to find the inhaled air felt like shards of broken glass, stabbing his lungs.

Yet he would not, as he had just done at the east gate of Dongyi Street, fly into a blind rage.

Now, with more than eighty mountain bandits and horse thieves, even if his strength grew greater, it would be futile.

As for escape, that was even more unrealistic, unless he abandoned Wu Wu Dading, whose foot was injured.

He kept his head lowered, slowly digesting the memories of this body, while pricking up his ears to silently listen to the low conversations of the other young men; sufficient information was what he needed most right now.

After listening for a long time, he was shocked to discover that this gang of mountain bandits actually had connections with the gentry and wealthy families of Mian County; this... what boldness!

Was this disregarding the Great Ming court?

What kind of world was this?

In fact, the Great Ming's finances had nearly collapsed during the Shen Sect era; by the Chongzhen reign, the court simply lacked sufficient financial resources to conduct macro-adjustments to resist the famine.

And as the famine intensified, the social order instantly collapsed; bands, organized swordsmen, and petty thieves were seen everywhere, except for some powerful families who controlled local self-governance.

They could rely on manpower and resources to occupy dangerous positions and build stockades, surviving the chaotic times, while most people, to stay alive, became bandits rather than refugees.

Thus, by the end of the Chongzhen reign, various bandits were already as numerous as ox hairs, subdivided by nature into: wandering bandits, soldier bandits, habitual bandits, official bandits, local bandits, horse bandits, mountain bandits, water bandits...

Among them, the wandering bandits had the greatest momentum, such as the peasant armies of Zhang Zhang Xianzhong and Li Li Zicheng; they were the court's primary internal threat, classified as first-rate.

Next were those like the Green Mountain bandits of Henan and the Yao Huang bandits of Sichuan, classified as second-rate.

These petty thieves occupying one region were classified as last-rate; they brought disaster to a single area, yet even worse than that, and people of the time commonly called them bandits.

This gang of mountain bandits was located at the junction of Lueyang, Ningqiang, and Mian County, within the ravine between Mount Longlin Mountain and Puming Mountain.

The deep ravines of the great mountains in the Mount Mount Daba range are mostly high in the west and low in the east, but the location of Longmen Shanzhai defied this trend; previously, nearby villagers called it Ni Lin Ba.

Ni Lin Ba is surrounded by great mountains like lotus petals, with flat ground inside, completely occupying natural defenses; with a hundred or so men, it counted as a considerable force within Hanzhong Prefecture.

The one riding the piebald horse just now was their top leader; internally they called him "Big Cabinet" or "Big Master," with the nicknames "Martial Wu Zhuge" and "Big Head Wu."

Besides these, Li You also learned that within this Longmen bandit group, there were currently four Big Masters, which also fulfilled the saying of "Four Beams and Eight Pillars."

The key figure was the "Corner Beam," namely the second master, the "Accounting Mr.," who not only could read and write but also had the background of Mian County gentry; people called him Second Master Cao, utilizing his own connections and background.

He performed the "Pushing Eight Gates" for the Longmen stockade; under him were mostly the ruffians, hooligans, and constables of Mian County, playing a crucial role in the development and direction of the Longmen bandits.

Responsible for killing and beheading, and deciding whether to massacre a village or burn houses after a robbery, the "Ruthless Beam" was the third master, Zhang Zhang Zhuanggen, a Hanzhong Prefecture hooligan by origin, looking like a glass monkey, cunning, treacherous, and vicious.

The vanguard, also called the "Cannon Head," the "Welcome Gate Beam," was the fourth master, Shi Shi Dayong; it was said he arrived in the ninth year of Chongzhen as a group of deserters from Northern Shaanxi, joined the gang based on the number of deserters under his command and their equipment and horses, and took the fourth seat, though he seemed to never manage affairs and was an alcoholic.

Besides these, there were also "Water Tank," "Account Office," "Horse Stable," "General Supervisor," "Hanging Line," "Understanding the Situation," "Pressing Water," "Scale Hand"...

Because of the original body's memories, Li You understood very quickly.

Gradually, the voices of speech ceased.

Li You raised his head, looking at the night; the moonlight was excellent, and Li You could even clearly see a few pieces of wood chips and dirt on Wu Wu Dading's hair ahead.

The journey was extremely arduous; in the second half of the night, they began climbing the mountain, and Li You knew they were almost there.

By the fifth watch, they had passed Qinghe Pai and climbed over two more mountains.

The mountain shadows stood out abruptly, and the starlight was brilliant.

Lights flickered on the guard tower, and the sound of a low wooden clapper struck...

Someone imitated a fox's cry, and immediately a nightingale's call responded from within the formation.

Finally, they arrived at this gang of mountain bandits' lair; in a certain ravine, the Longmen Shanzhai responded, and immediately it became noisy.

"The Big Master is back..."

"The Master is back..."

A crowd of bandits left on guard leaped out like wolves; some helped the horse team lead the horses, some helped carry big and small bundles, and others came to escort the young men.

Even more dragged the women who had already been tortured, pointing and gesturing, chattering noisily, making quite a scene.

Li You took the opportunity to carefully observe this "Ni Lin Ba"; before he could look more than a few times, he was escorted to five or six water prisons surrounded by fences at the foot of the mountain; the tree pole on their shoulders was removed, but their hands were re-tied, and tied even more securely.

"Eh, this is still a fat hostage? A scholar?"

When they finally tied up Li You, a mountain bandit named Shi Youchun couldn't help but shout.

"Don't know, captured outside the city... See, many more people died over by Nanshan; Second Master told the Big Master to find some more manpower!" said the half-grown bandit escorting them; his name was Wa Lan, and he was only sixteen years old.

Li You's heart stirred; he forced a smile, clasped his hands, and said, "Yes, I am indeed a scholar; I have always admired the prestige of my Longmen Shanzhai heroes and have come specifically to join you!"

"Hahaha..." Shi Youchun sneered, "Get down on your mother's... get out... Grandpa still needs to taste the flesh of those noble ladies and young misses... Scholars, pfft... this world is ruined by you bunch of scholars!"

While speaking, he kicked Li You into the water prison; soon, speaking vulgarities, they left in a hurry.

Finally, that half-grown child soldier named Wa Lan stood stunned for a moment, then called out to Li You hesitantly, "That... the north side of the pond, the water is shallower there..."

Having said that, he ran off in a flash.

This water prison was five or six feet deep, about three fathoms square; the water was very cold, very foul, smelling of drowned corpses soaked in water, reaching up to the chest; for the young men who had climbed mountains and crossed valleys all day, this was simply a slow death.

Only Li You and Wu Wu Dading were thrown into this place; Wu Wu Dading, due to his foot injury and the journey, was already gasping for breath, and the bottom of this pond was not level, one side high and one side low.

Li You secretly rejoiced in his heart, because Shi Youchun just now, busy cursing him, had forgotten to tie his hands; with his hands supporting Wu Wu Dading, he waded deep and shallow steps to the northern bank of the pond, thinking he could lean against the pond wall to save some strength.

Upon reaching the pond's edge, he discovered there were already six people there, occupying the bank.

These six people were clearly not of their group; they must have been escorted to the water prison long ago; they stared coldly at the wretched Li You and Wu Wu Dading, with a faint aura of ferocity and violence on their bodies.

"They have killed people!"

The moment Li You met their gaze, this thought sprang to mind.

Such ferocity could not belong to ordinary commoners or typical bandit swordsmen; it was likely forged through the crucible of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, giving rise to such a bestial, vicious look in their eyes.

"Come, squeeze in."

Suddenly, the tallest among the six grunted; at the sound, the others shifted closer to one another, clearing a small space.

Li You felt grateful in his heart and then half-dragged Wu Wu Dading over.

Exhausted to the point of death, he leaned against the wall; as his body relaxed slightly, his consciousness began to blur.

Yet the wound on his chest still hurt enough to snap him back to awareness; forcing himself, he sorted through the various information gathered today, only to find its usefulness limited.

But at least one thing he dared to affirm: the Longmen Mountain bandits, having gone to such trouble to capture them, certainly did not intend to take their heads!

Having grasped this point, Li You pulled up the lining of his clothes to prevent whatever was inside from getting soaked.

In a daze, the sun had already climbed high; a series of disordered footsteps approached from the riverbed at the mountain's foot.

"... Begin, press the water through the sieve..."

"Hey, there's quite a haul this time."

"The Great Leader said, bring them all up today, count them one by one; keep those with use, why keep the useless ones to fill the belly?"

Amidst the bandits' jargon, the sounds of chains, curses, and pleas for mercy soon arose...

Li You, ears pricked, heard the three words "press through the sieve," and his heart instantly tightened with tension.