Chapter 50: Brutality

He was about to rush into the inner room when suddenly a pain shot through his back—a short knife was embedded in it. Old Seventh let out a strange cry of pain, half-turned, and kicked out. Hu Chun, who had ambushed him, couldn't dodge in time and was knocked to the ground. Old Seventh turned and saw it was a child, and fury surged in his heart. He raised his blade to cut Hu Chun down, but Li Shi inside the room lunged over and seized Old Seventh's arms from behind, shouting, "Chun'er, run!" Old Seventh strained with his waist and arms to break free of Li Shi, but the usually frail woman somehow found strength she never had before—he struggled several times yet couldn't shake her off. Little Hua rushed out from the house, grabbed his arm, and bit down hard. Old Seventh cried out in pain, threw off Li Shi with a sudden burst of force, spun around, and slashed his blade across Little Hua's neck. Little Hua fell to the ground dead.

Li Shi screamed like a wounded mother beast and lunged at him again, clinging tightly to Old Seventh before biting down on his ear. Old Seventh let out a miserable howl, slammed Li Shi away, and chopped her head off with one stroke of his blade. Her mouth still held one of his ears clenched between her teeth. Before he could turn around, Hu Chun had already yanked the short knife from his back. With a roar of fury, Hu Chun drove the knife through his neck, severing the carotid artery. Blood sprayed out like a fountain. The long blade in Old Seventh's hand clattered to the ground. He clutched his neck with both hands, making gurgling sounds from his throat, staggered a step, then slowly crumpled to the ground and died.

All of this happened within a few dozen breaths. Outside the house, Donkey, hearing Old Seventh's screams of agony, was struggling to rise to his feet, trembling. Hu Chun picked up Old Seventh's long blade and charged outside. Donkey, terrified, tried to turn and flee, but his heavy wounds made movement difficult. Hu Chun rushed to his side and thrust the blade forward, driving it into his ribs. Donkey screamed and collapsed. Hu Chun's eyes were bloodshot; he hacked down madly again and again. After dozens of strokes, Donkey had long since stopped breathing, his body reduced to a bloody pulp.

Hu Chun threw down the blade and sat on the ground, panting heavily. After resting a while, he got up, went to the front door, and closed it. He turned back to his father's corpse, knelt down, cradled his father's head in his arms, and wailed loudly. After crying for a long time, Hu Chun laid his father's body out properly. With tears streaming, he went into the inner room, carried his sister's already-cold body onto the kang, and wiped the blood from her face with a clean piece of cotton cloth. Returning to the outer room, Hu Chun threw himself onto his mother's body and sobbed uncontrollably.

Because of the spears the bandit soldiers had stacked at the doorway, none of them had entered Hu Chun's home. As night gradually fell, the shouting and commotion outside subsided. Hu Chun washed and cleaned the bodies of his family members, then laid them side by side on the kang—his sister in the middle, his parents on either side of her. He dragged the corpses of the several bandit soldiers to the woodshed in the courtyard. After doing all this, Hu Chun had exhausted his last ounce of strength. He ate nothing, lay down on the kang beside his father's body, and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke, it was already the afternoon of the next day. Hu Chun opened his eyes, his whole body aching. Turning on his side, he saw his loved ones lying as if in peaceful slumber. Tears streamed down his face again, unstoppable. He embraced his father's cold body, pressed his cheek against his father's face, then slowly rose and did the same to his mother's face. He reached out and smoothed his sister's still-open eyes, frozen in terror. His heart felt as though a hand were squeezing it tight.

Hu Chun went to the kitchen and wolfed down two steamed buns. Strength gradually began to return to his body. He picked up the long blade and walked to the front door, wanting to open it and see what was happening outside. Not a sound came from the street. Could the bandits have left?

Suddenly a rumbling of hoofbeats came thundering. Hu Chun was terrified—could the bandits still be here? He carefully opened a crack in the door and peered out. Rows of armored riders in gleaming helmets trotted past the door, their horses under firm control. He instinctively felt these were not bandits. Those bandits carried an aura that was both frightening and repulsive, and they wore a motley assortment of clothes—nothing like this cavalry in their uniform armor. While he hesitated over whether to open the door and go out, a group of riders galloped up bearing several large banners covered with characters. Hu Chun recognized only one: "Ming." These were government troops! Hu Chun hesitated no longer. He threw down the blade, flung open the door, ran out, and knelt straight down at the threshold, raising his head to watch the cavalry pass by.

Ever since learning that Gao Yingxiang and the other roving bandits had broken through Queshan and other prefectures and counties, heading south toward the Southern Metropolitan District, Lu Xiangsheng had led the Tianxiong Army—rested and reorganized for several months—along with Qin Yiming's Sichuan troops and the Liaodong cavalry, pursuing from Ruzhou. Because the bandits took county towns almost without effort, and after sacking a city they plundered wildly without pausing, by the time Lu Xiangsheng caught up to Hezhou, the bandits had already split their forces. After analysis, the force that had taken Hezhou was certainly heading for Chuzhou, while the other group, turning back north, must be bound for Fengyang. The incident of the desecration of the Imperial Ancestral Tomb had happened not long ago—if the bandits ravaged Fengyang again, it would be more than just the Emperor's punishment. As Commander-General of Five Provinces, Lu Xiangsheng would have no face left to live in this world.

Lu Xiangsheng decided to split his forces at Hezhou as well. Zu Kuan would pursue the group heading northwest, while he himself led the Tianxiong Army, Qin Yiming's Sichuan troops, and Li Chongjin in pursuit of the enemy heading south. He ordered Zu Kuan to march his troops at speed, and once they caught up with the bandits, to harass and delay their northward advance as much as possible. After the siege of Chuzhou was lifted, the two armies would join forces and attack together. When Lu Xiangsheng had set out from Ruzhou, he had already sent orders to Huang Degong's forces stationed in Shan County, commanding them to march south to Fengyang immediately to protect the Imperial Ancestral Tomb.

Under the escort of his personal guards, Lu Xiangsheng entered Hezhou city. What met his eyes was nearly identical to the previous cities that had been breached. Hardly a living person could be seen on the streets. Corpses of slaughtered civilians lay everywhere—able-bodied men, women, children, the elderly. Some women's bodies were completely naked; some children had been decapitated, their heads severed from their bodies. The scene was too horrific to behold.

A personal guard rode up, dismounted, and knelt on one knee to report: "Reporting to the Commander, most of the prefectural office's inner quarters have been burned. Three bodies were found in the main hall. Judging from their official robes, one is the Prefect, one is the Subprefectural Judge, and the other is likely a servant. The Prefect's head has been severed and displayed. Three more bodies were found in a room of the inner quarters—one adult and two children!"

Lu Xiangsheng's heart ached with grief. He ordered: "Find fine coffins to enshroud them and bury them outside the city walls!" Then he continued riding forward. He hadn't gone far when he noticed a youth kneeling on the ground, head raised, watching the columns of cavalry pass by. Ordinary folk would have long since fled far away at the sight of soldiers. This youth piqued his curiosity.

Riding up to the youth, Lu Xiangsheng reined in his horse and asked in a gentle tone, "Young man, why are you kneeling here?"

Seeing someone addressing him, Hu Chun kowtowed and answered in a loud voice: "Honored sir, I want to join the government army. I want revenge!"

Lu Xiangsheng looked at Hu Chun's swollen, red eyes and asked with a frown, "Rise and speak. Has someone in your family been killed?"

Hearing someone ask with the concern of an elder, the emotions Hu Chun had held back for so long suddenly collapsed. He prostrated himself and wailed. The loss of his loved ones to murder brought him a pain that tore at his heart. After all, he was only fourteen—in later ages, just a middle school student.

Lu Xiangsheng dismounted, walked over to Hu Chun, and pulled him to his feet. He said gently, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Hu Chun sobbed for a long while before haltingly relating the tragedy of the previous day. Even Lu Xiangsheng, who had grown accustomed to life and death over these years, felt his heart grow heavy upon hearing it. The scholar's compassion for the suffering of the world, ingrained deep in his bones, only deepened his hatred for the roving bandits. Such bandits, who treated human life like grass, deserved death without a second thought.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Joining the army to fight bandits could cost you your life at any moment. You're still young—aren't you afraid?"

Hu Chun wiped his tears and shook his head with firm resolve: "I'm not afraid! I just want to avenge my father, mother, and little sister! I'm fourteen—please take me in, honored sir!"

Lu Xiangsheng sighed softly. He could see that this youth had already embraced thoughts of death; revenge was likely the greatest conviction keeping him alive. He ordered two personal guards to remain behind to help Hu Chun bury his family, then bring him to rejoin the column. From then on, Hu Chun would stay by Lu Xiangsheng's side as a personal guard. After Hu Chun knelt and kowtowed several times with resounding thuds, Lu Xiangsheng mounted and rode off. The corpses of the city's civilians would be handled by the baggage corps that arrived later. Those who had fled the city would gradually return home to rebuild once their safety was confirmed, and the court would send replacements for the vacant official posts. Lu Xiangsheng needed only to report the facts truthfully to the throne—after all, his primary duty was commanding military affairs across five provinces; pacifying the people was a secondary matter.