Chapter 80: Robbing the Big Household in Jiangcheng (Two‑in‑One)

Jiang Jinshi gave no response to Luo Feng's remarks, which could even be called tacit approval; there is a reason he didn't personally train the villagers.

The villagers eagerly echoed Luo Feng's words, and Luo Feng was pleased to see the scene.

With the villagers' joint help, the food was quickly moved into the village head's former old house, which had been uninhabited for a long time and now served perfectly as a grain warehouse.

Seeing the stockpiled grain, everyone's morale surged; even the elderly wanted to help, but the youngsters held them back.

As the big pot was set up on the open ground, gazes converged on it, waiting with anticipation for the long cooking.

Jiang Jinshi did not stay to wait; he turned and left for the city with Xiao Hu.

Soon after Jiang Jinshi left, Jiang Li, hearing the commotion, ran out of her house to watch, but she was stunned by what she saw.

Everyone was actually eating big pot rice!

Seeing Jiang Li appear, the village head greeted warmly: "Xiao Li, come eat together!"

The villagers quickly chanted: "Yes! Come eat with us."

Jiang Li waved her hand to refuse, feeling something was off about the crowd today.

Luo Feng whispered to the village head: "Who is this young girl? Why are you so warm to her?"

"She is Xiao Shi's… oh! She's the big boss's younger sister."

"Little sister, will you eat with us?" Luo Feng forced a natural smile, trying to squeeze a grin onto his face.

Jiang Li ignored him and bolted away; she seemed not to know anyone in the village.

Seeing her flee, Luo Feng scratched his head, puzzled.

"Ah right! This… Captain Luo, the big boss's family doesn't know he's a mountain bandit, so I told everyone to keep quiet." The village head said this mainly to remind Luo Feng.

Luo Feng nodded: "You handled that well; this family matter should be dealt with by the big boss himself."

Seeing Luo Feng's thoughts align with his, the village head was completely relieved.

Meanwhile, after Jiang Jinshi re-entered the city, he used the signal left by Wang Hou to locate the man pretending to be a beggar.

Jiang Jinshi approached, tossed a copper coin into Wang Hou's cracked bowl, then pretended to be indifferent while loitering nearby.

Wang Hou glanced at Jiang Jinshi, said thank you, and went back to lying down.

Within a short time, the two left the street one after another and met in the small courtyard Wang Hou had rented in advance.

Wang Hou opened the door, saw Jiang Jinshi looking pleased, and asked first: "Big boss, why are you here?"

Jiang Jinshi surveyed the somewhat dirty courtyard before replying: "I came to see how things are here; how are the brothers doing?"

"Not bad, not starving! Just a bit dirty." Wang Hou scratched his head awkwardly, mainly because being too clean makes people doubt you're a beggar.

So even knowing the conditions here are terrible, Wang Hou still hasn't improved them for this reason.

"How well do you understand the situation?" Jiang Jinshi asked, stating the main purpose of his visit.

When the matter turned serious, Wang Hou's expression hardened: "Most of the situation is clear; only County Magistrate Liu remains uncertain."

"What's the matter?" Jiang Jinshi frowned; after all, County Magistrate Liu is the main target of this raid, since this is his stronghold and all his wealth and resources are within Jiangcheng.

Other families are also numerous, but in terms of current wealth in Jiangcheng, County Magistrate Liu tops the list.

"His men are too cautious, always taking winding routes; the brothers can't follow too tightly and can't find a suitable chance!" Wang Hou hurriedly explained to Jiang Jinshi, saying it's not that they're not trying, but the opponent is overly cautious.

Jiang Jinshi remained silent, contemplating a plan.

Wang Hou continued: "Moreover, the County Magistrate Liu's steward has recently changed; this new person is even more disgusting, every time he has to …"

"Stop!" Jiang Jinshi snapped back, looking at Wang Hou, "What did you just say?"

"I said the County Magistrate Liu's steward changed, and this person is more disgusting than the previous one…" Wang Hou repeated, though he didn't know why.

Jiang Jinshi snapped his fingers: "Exactly. Since the steward's been replaced, why not capture Lao Huo and torture him? It's more reliable than tracking that Lao Wu."

"Ugh! Won't that alert the enemy?" Wang Hou had thought of this before but hadn't dared to act for that reason.

"No, he's a pawn abandoned by County Magistrate Liu; no one will notice him." Jiang Jinshi was confident about this, recalling Liu's disdainful look when Lao Huo was mentioned.

If not for fearing to alert the enemy, Jiang Jinshi would have already seized Lao Xiao and forced him to reveal where the mineral water bottle came from; this has been a weight on Jiang Jinshi's mind.

For now that's all he can do; later he'll handle everything together.

"Alright! Then tonight my brothers and I will act." Since Jiang Jinshi said so, Wang Hou didn't hesitate and went straight to bind Lao Huo.

"Fine, I'll await your good news." After saying this, Jiang Jinshi left with Xiao Hu; staying there would hinder him, and Wang Hou couldn't act freely, so he went to the city for a noodle.

……

After waiting, Jiang Jinshi finally heard the news the next night that Wang Hou had captured Lao Huo, and Jiang Jinshi was about to go to sleep.

Unexpectedly, Lao Huo, even though abandoned by County Magistrate Liu, still refused to reveal any information about the other party, a model of loyalty.

Wang Hou was at a loss, so he could only report the situation truthfully to Jiang Jinshi.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jinshi immediately headed to the hidden courtyard, where the shed held Lao Huo, skin torn and flesh ripped.

As Jiang Jinshi approached, a bandit was still lashing Lao Huo with a whip.

"Will you speak? Will you finally speak?"

Aside from occasional muffled groans, Lao Huo curled on the ground as if dead.

"Stop beating him! Let him rest first!" Jiang Jinshi said. At this rate, even if you beat him to death, he still won't speak.

"Yes, big boss!"

Hearing the commotion, Lao Huo slowly opened his eyes and laughed heartily at Jiang Jinshi.

"I was wondering who it was—so it's you, Jiang big boss!"

Jiang Jinshi smiled gently: "It's me! Why should Steward Huo suffer this fate?"

Lao Huo grinned, the crimson seeping between his teeth vivid, "Kill me or scrape me, whatever you wish! Want me to betray my master for glory? Impossible!"

Jiang Jinshi gave Lao Huo a thumbs‑up: "You're a real man; I actually admire you, but it's a pity!"

Having said that, Jiang Jinshi said no more, turned to Wang Hou and asked: "Does he have any family left?"

"He still has a wife and a six‑year‑old daughter!" Wang Hou immediately understood Jiang Jinshi's intent and replied solemnly.

Jiang Jinshi nodded, looking at Lao Huo with a face full of regret: "Steward Huo, I fear you'll die lonely; let your family accompany you on the road, alright?"

Obviously, upon hearing this, Lao Huo couldn't sit still, hurriedly speaking to Jiang Jinshi.

"Disaster shouldn't extend to family! You, Jiang the Chief, are at least a greenwood hero—how could you do such a petty, lowly act?"

Moreover, why not sincerely cooperate with the Liu family?

Why do these treacherous, faithless deeds?

Jiang Jinshi sank his face, his voice filled with endless killing intent: "Petty? I'm a bandit! Do you know how many mouths I have to feed under me? You want me to cooperate with the officials—meaning use me up, then add a line 'meritorious in suppressing bandits' to his résumé?"

Obviously Jiang Jinshi also lost his patience, speaking in a low voice to Lao Huo: "Last chance—if you don't speak, I'll kill your whole family! I mean what I say!"

Seeing the opponent actually use such a despicable trick, Lao Huo finally spoke up, revealing the location of County Magistrate Liu's treasury and granary.

Having obtained the location, Wang Hou feared the other side was playing him, so he specially went to scout—and indeed found Lao Wu appearing at the said spot.

Now everything is ready; all that's left is for Jiang Jinshi to arrange a suitable time.

Jiang Jinshi looked at Wang Hou, signaling to dispose of Lao Huo; at such a juncture, he would certainly not let any mishap occur due to womanly benevolence.

If we win this time, Yangguangzhai will become a new Menghuzhai—even stronger than the previous Menghuzhai.

If we lose, the heads of so many people in Da Jiang Cun and on Lianhuan Shan will have to be moved.

That day, with the help of the donkey-cart elder, they bought over twenty donkeys, and added to the earlier purchase, they exactly totaled thirty.

The donkey-cart elder had been in this trade for many years, so he knew many peers; when he put out the word that he wanted to buy donkey-carts, many people came to him, hoping to sell theirs.

This also worked out for Jiang Jinshi, who afterwards gave the donkey-cart elder two taels of silver as a token of appreciation.

In Da Jiang Cun, the villagers all watched the donkey-cart drivers enjoying themselves immensely.

Jiang Jinshi planned to divide this operation into eleven teams; aside from the one he personally leads, the remaining ten teams each have the same composition.

Three donkey-carts make a team; the drivers and porters are villagers from Da Jiang Cun, then Wang Hou's intelligence team's bandits lead the way, supplemented by the bandits from Lianhuan Shan preparing for combat—that is each team's composition.

The main point is a lightning strike; we must leave Jiangcheng within two hours, otherwise, once the garrison soldiers react, the damage will be immeasurable.

After ensuring nothing was missed, Jiang Jinshi personally went to visit County Magistrate Liu to inform him of the operation's time.

County Magistrate Liu had no suspicion whatsoever, and with a wave of his hand ordered it to be carried out.

Worried that variables would increase later, Jiang Jinshi scheduled the operation for the next evening.

He adjusted his schedule in advance, resting and sleeping all day, waiting for night to act.

At this moment, the Da Jiang Cun villagers still didn't know what was going to happen; Luo Feng only told them their task was to transport goods, and they needn't worry about anything else.

When night came, after dinner, the Yangguangzhai people went down the mountain in the dark, fearing to attract attention from other strongholds.

At a crossroads outside the city gate, Jiang Jinshi waited there with the Da Jiang Cun villagers and Luo Feng.

The Da Jiang Cun villagers had already been arranged when they arrived; everyone obeyed the intelligence team's orders—move things when told to move, retreat when told to retreat, and not ask about anything else.

Many perceptive people already sensed what was about to happen, but there was no panic, only restless hearts.

At the appointed time, the forces from both sides successfully gathered together.

This could be said to be Yangguangzhai pouring out its nest; altogether they numbered a full four hundred, of course the villagers currently have little combat ability, and the truly combat-effective number only about two hundred plus.

Each squad had two members from the intelligence team, a dozen or so villagers, and twenty or so bandits from Lianhuan Shan.

After Wang Hou again confirmed the route with each team's members, he waited for Jiang Jinshi's order.

The refugees at the city gate were destined not to sleep well today; when they saw hundreds of people darkly massing toward the gate, they instinctively fled to the side.

The bandits' target wasn't them either; they joined forces, hugging logs as they rammed the city gate.

"Boom!! Boom boom!"

Under County Magistrate Liu's arrangement, the defending soldiers inside and the bandits cooperated to put on a show.

After the bandits knocked a few more times, the soldiers from inside opened the door and let the bandits enter the city.

But to the refugees, it wasn't like that; they only knew the city gate was broken and they could enter the city.

"The city gate is broken!"

"The city gate is broken! Broken!"

Greed began to show in the refugees' eyes; now they could enter the city—why shouldn't they be the ones to eat meat, drink wine, and embrace beauties?

Thus, after the stronghold entered the city, the refugees also followed in.

Unlike the purposeful bandits, the refugees smashed whatever doors they saw, looted whatever was open, and after looting set it ablaze.

Each squad now advances headlong toward its respective target.

"Come on, come on, place your bets—no more changes!"

Inside a gambling den, the noise was deafening; the banker was laughing as he shook the dice, when suddenly the door was kicked open.

"Anyone who doesn't want to die, get lost!" Zhang Honghong raised her gleaming broadsword and chopped it onto the gambling table.

Seeing this, the people inside the gambling den scattered in an uproar; the banker stood up and shouted: "Do you dare cause trouble here? Do you know who my boss is?"

His only reply was a decisive slash—a single cut that pierced straight through the opponent's chest; Zhang Honghong kicked over the gambling table, ran up to the second floor, and the bandits behind her hurriedly followed.

After the scene was cleared, Zhang Honghong called the villagers to move box after box of copper coins and silver onto the donkey-carts.

Meanwhile, on the other side, a pawnshop apprentice was closing the door when several people suddenly stabbed him in the back.

"Come with me!" the intelligence team's members led the way, and the people behind them opened one after another the boxes imprisoning 'freedom'.

Likewise, the pawnshop's income was completely seized by the crowd, and then they continued rushing to the next location.

At the brothel's entrance, Luo Feng brandished his broadsword and stepped forward; the sharp-eyed manager quickly summoned the brothel's enforcers.

"If you intend to cause trouble, sir, you've probably come to the wrong place."

Luo Feng didn't reply with a word, leading his men forward to clash with them in a melee.

These enforcers usually rely on numbers to intimidate ordinary folk, but when faced with Luo Feng, who's out for blood, they're no match.

After Luo Feng killed two of them, the enforcers all scattered in an uproar.

"Don't worry about the girls inside—go straight up to the fourth floor!" Now is the urgent moment; fearing someone might be distracted by beauty and cause trouble, Luo Feng had to give this reminder.