Chapter 66: Ambushing the Ruthless Bandits

Hearing him say the coal had been robbed, Jiang Jiang Mingyu's eyebrows jumped sharply, and he demanded in a stern voice, "Tell this official clearly: who exactly did the robbing?"

Li Goudan wiped away his tears and said with a trembling voice, "Today, this subordinate led ten men to escort ten carts of coal to Tenglong County. When we reached Xiaoying Gou, thirty li outside the city, this subordinate suddenly suffered severe stomach pain and could only hide in the roadside grass to relieve himself."

"Just then, I suddenly heard rustling in the grass. More than twenty bandits, their faces full of cruel flesh and looking like ferocious demons, suddenly surrounded us! They wore sweat towels on their heads, ragged clothes on their bodies, and held swords and blades, completely surrounding us common laborers, roaring for money!"

"Where would we, these bottom-level poor people, have any money! The bandits only managed to rob a few carts of coal they didn't understand. Seeing they couldn't get any silver, they immediately revealed their beastly nature and raised their blades to kill!"

"This subordinate hid in the grass, watching helplessly as they were one by one cut down beneath the blades. I wanted to save them, but my hands and feet froze in shock; I could only watch helplessly... they are all dead, they are all dead!"

After Li Goudan finished speaking, his eyes went vacant, and he slumped to the ground in vain, his heart full of guilt and despair.

Li Goudan knelt on the ground, fists clenched, beating the earth fiercely, his face twisted with pain and regret.

After hearing this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu's eyes widened until they were round, and boundless fury erupted in his gaze: "Who was the one who did this?!"

Li Goudan, his eyes red, struggled to recall, "They claimed to be heroes from Xiaoying Mountain, and even said robbing us was doing us a favor..."

"A favor?!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu, unable to contain his rage, slapped the edge of the table, causing the tea cup on it to jump high.

He rose from his seat with a violent shout, "Brother Lord Murong, go immediately and summon Tu Tu Kesiluo! This official will personally go to Xiaoying Mountain to seek justice for those innocent laborers who died!"

Having spoken, Jiang Jiang Mingyu strode out of the door with long, swift steps, and Li Goudan hurriedly scrambled up to follow.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's face twisted, his eyes revealing boundless killing intent; he intended to personally behead those damned bandits and avenge his subordinates, the innocent laborers who had died!

About an hour later, Xiaoying Mountain.

Lord Murong Murong Yunhai's gaze was cold as he pointed at the shanzhai before them: "Brother Jiang Xingqiu, according to the mountain villagers' directions, this is the place."

The cold wind blew fiercely, and autumn leaves drifted down. Two burly men in dirty black jackets stood before the shanzhai gate, holding long spears to guard the entrance.

The two glanced at the approaching people and immediately shouted loudly, "Who are you?" The man speaking had triangular eyes filled with contempt, his broom-like eyebrows twisted into a frown, and he sneered, "Don't you see what kind of place this is? Get lost quickly!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's eyes were as cold as ice blades, and he said grimly, "Let your leader roll out here immediately."

The triangular-eyed man, as if hearing the greatest joke, burst out laughing, "Where did this little brat come from?"

"You think you're worthy to see our leader? I think you've drunk too much fake wine and got a head rush."

The man beside the triangular-eyed man sneered, "Don't look for trouble; get to the side and cool off. If you provoke me, you two little bastards will both die."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu, with a gloomy face, said, "I will say it again: immediately let your leader roll out here to face death."

Looking at the two young men with no hair on their lips, the triangular-eyed man turned his big mouth down: "Go to hell."

"Whose dog wasn't tied up properly, letting this little beast who spouts wild talk run out? For dozens of li around here, no one dares to speak such big words on Xiaoying Mountain. Damn it, I'm talking two sentences to you, and you really think you're someone?"

The other burly man guarding the gate was even more impatient: "Enough, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"Take their heads to the leader to claim merit; maybe we can even exchange them for a couple of coins of reward?"

Watching the two sneer as they raised their long spears, Jiang Jiang Mingyu shouted coldly, "Seeking death."

Just then, Tu Tu Kesiluo drew his long blade; the approaching henchmen only felt a chill at their necks, and then knew nothing more.

The death of his companion made the triangular-eyed man's throat gulp, and his voice trembled slightly: "You... you..."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's gaze was like a knife: "Let your leader roll out; do not challenge my patience again."

The half-dead triangular-eyed man dared not speak nonsense anymore; he turned and ran toward the shanzhai, "Disaster has come..."

Half a quarter-hour later.

A burly man with thick, black eyebrows, wearing a magnificent wolf-skin robe and a beast-skin sash across his chest, led more than twenty men to stand before Jiang Jiang Mingyu.

The burly man squinted his eyes, staring fiercely at the bloody corpses on the ground, and asked in a deep voice, "Did you kill them?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu, neither humble nor arrogant, asked him in return, "Are you the leader of this shanzhai?"

The burly man's eyebrows knitted into a dead knot, and his voice was low and violent: "I am asking you, did you kill them?"

His tone was slow and stiff, obviously on the verge of exploding.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu sat on his horse, completely unmoved: "That is correct, we killed them, so what?"

"You murderers and robbers who bully men and oppress women, everyone should kill you; not only will he die, but today you all must die."

Hearing this, the burly man's eyes turned red, and he roared, wishing to swallow Jiang Jiang Mingyu alive and peel him: "Where did this little beast come from, daring to speak such big words before me, Wei Wei Aotian?"

"Do you know that the grass on the grave of the last person who spoke to me like this has already changed several times!"

His henchmen quickly took up the conversation.

"It is just that these few little beasts do not know who the leader is?"

"Daring to come to Xiaoying Mountain to cause trouble, your dog eyes are blind."

"Little beast, speak up, is our leader's name so terrifying it has scared your dog's courage out?"

"..."

Seeing Jiang Jiang Mingyu's face change drastically, Wei Wei Aotian became even more arrogant: "Since we brothers gathered here to form an alliance, we have always acted on behalf of heaven to discipline the wicked!"

"Not to mention the likes of you, even foreigners and the government must yield three points to us."

"Killing my men is slapping my, Wei Wei Aotian's, face. You little bastard, have you thought about how you will die?"

Hearing this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt a surge of pain in his heart, his fists clenched tightly, veins bulging.

He suppressed the full rage in his heart and sneered, "Your so-called acting on behalf of heaven is killing people and slaughtering the common folk?"

The cold wind howled, and Jiang Jiang Mingyu's black jacket fluttered loudly.

His gaze was like lightning as he stared at Wei Wei Aotian: "If it weren't for the Xiaoying Gou incident, I would not have known that within Shangmu County, there were such evil thieves as you."

Wei Wei Aotian sneered contemptuously, and the steel blade in his hand reflected a cold light in the wind: "Xiaoying Gou, you know quite a lot."

"Wrong, those lowly ants were eliminated by my own hands! So what?"

"It is hateful that those poor ghosts had nothing on them; in this freezing cold weather, we brothers worked hard for nothing, truly deserving death."

Speaking to this point, he paused for a moment, looking Jiang Jiang Mingyu and Lord Murong Murong Yunhai's party up and down: "I say, you little beasts, why are you so concerned about this matter? Is there a relative of yours among those dead lowly commoners?"

Wei Wei Aotian suddenly burst out laughing, his voice echoing in the valley: "I understand now, there is your father among those ants! Haha, it seems your mother will have to remain a widow."

Wei Wei Aotian deliberately smacked his lips and said, "Why not send your mother over too? We brothers are all vigorous and strong; I guarantee we can serve her to her heart's content!"

As soon as this vulgar remark came out, his henchmen immediately laughed wildly, and Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt fire in his eyes, wishing to swallow them alive.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu barely restrained his surging anger, his gaze sharp as lightning, and said in a deep voice: "To tell you the truth, I am the Imperial Envoy, the acting magistrate of Shangmu County, Jiang Jiang Mingyu."

"You beasts have taken lives; today I will seek justice for the dead commoners!"

Wei Wei Aotian raised his eyes to size up Jiang Jiang Mingyu, then sneered fiercely: "An Imperial Envoy? You are not worthy."

"Since you seek death, then I, Wei Wei Aotian, will grant it to you."

"Brothers, join forces, chop up these two little beasts, and go find some fun!"

Upon hearing this, the henchmen all drew their weapons and closed in.

About the time it takes to eat a meal, the shanzhai was silent; except for Jiang Jiang Mingyu and Lord Murong Murong Yunhai still seated on their horses, and Tu Tu Kesiluo holding a long blade, the only one left was Wei Wei Aotian, his face bloodless.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu said indifferently: "Still want to go find people to have fun with?"

Wei Wei Aotian's eyes widened, his whole body trembling; he cowered and scrambled to the front of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's horse, kneeling and begging for mercy: "My lord, spare... spare my life, spare my life..."

He had abandoned all dignity, muttering incessantly: "This humble one was blind; I failed to recognize the great mountain. Spare my life, you... just spare this humble one this... this time."

He, who had just looked like a fierce demon, now trembled all over; where was even a trace of ferocity left?

Jiang Jiang Mingyu didn't even lift his eyelids, giving a calm order: "Take him back to the county town and behead him before all the commoners; avenge those innocent laborers who died!"

That day, at the cross-street of Shangmu County town, Wei Wei Aotian's head hit the ground, splashing up a spray of blood.

The instant his head hit the ground, Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt a surge of relief in his heart; he had finally avenged those innocent villagers and could hold his head high!

Early the next morning, he set off on the road to the prefectural city for his appointment, his mind utterly at ease.