"This..."
Zhong Pingan clearly sensed his son trembling. As the man threw the long knife over, both of them were so frightened they took a step back.
"What? Don't dare?"
Zhong Pingan put on a fawning smile:
"N-No... that's not it." After saying this, he bent down and picked up the long knife from the ground:
"I'll... I'll go."
The people tied up in the courtyard were the village chief, Zhou Lin, and the others. More than twenty people, old and young, were all bound together. In the flickering light of the torches, they each clenched their teeth, their faces dirty, pale, and defeated.
They saw Zhong Pingan speaking in the main room and picking up the knife. The village chief stretched his neck and angrily said:
"Zhong Pingan, I never thought you, always so honest, would dare to kill people and join the Rebel Soldiers.
If you want to kill, kill me. I've lived long enough."
Zhong Pingan's hand holding the knife shook uncontrollably, but his feet did not retreat. Instead, he walked step by step towards Village Chief Zhou Lin and the others.
"Zhong Pingan, you... will... die a wretched death..." Zhou Lin, lying on the ground, spat out the words one by one.
Zhong Pingan held the long knife, gesturing with it as if hesitating about which angle to strike from for a quick, accurate, and fatal blow:
"Village Chief, I have no choice either. I just want to live. You can't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame heaven for not leaving people a way to survive."
Zhong Pingan raised the knife, about to strike, when another person stopped him:
"This old geezer is still useful. Kill someone else."
Zhong Pingan nodded repeatedly. From behind him, his daughter's shrill, miserable scream came from inside the house. Zhong Pingan's grip on the knife handle tightened further.
The blade turned towards Zhou Lin. The Rebel Soldiers watched with jeering laughter:
"It's still not too late to beg for mercy. As long as you kill your own children and women, we'll spare your lives."
"Heh heh, a child's blood is the cleanest and best to drink, and the meat is the most tender."
One could imagine how these Rebel Soldiers had fought their way here, lacking both water and food.
Hearing this, Zhou Lin spat out a mouthful of bloody froth:
"Pah! To have me kill my wife and child? I, Zhou Lin, am not that despicable. Kill me if you want. At worst, I'll just wait for my wife and child on the Road to the Yellow Springs first."
Zhou Lin lay motionless on the ground, closing his eyes and waiting for death.
Zhong Pingan was just about to exert force when he was stopped again:
"He's also still useful. We still need to force him to lead the way. Since he's so full of backbone, fine, then let's start with his son. I want to see if he stays tough."
A child's crying immediately rang out in the courtyard. It was Zhou Lin's son, only ten years old, dragged out by Zhong Pingan, his small body struggling:
"Father, Mother, I'm scared..."
Tears of blood streamed from Zhou Lin's eyes. He struggled and shouted with all his might:
"Zhong Pingan, kill me, kill me, don't kill my son..."
Zhong Pingan was just about to strike when a commotion arose outside the courtyard:
"Caught up, caught up! So much food, everyone come and eat!..."
Everyone in the courtyard turned their heads to look outside. The clamoring noise outside grew increasingly chaotic:
"Damn, there's meat."
"Give me the water, I'm dying of thirst."
"Fuck, daring to snatch mine, hand it over..."
The people in the courtyard all ran out. Seeing the Wheelbarrow piled high with grain sacks and water, each of them couldn't suppress their greed, rushing forward madly to snatch and grab.
Zhong Pingan did not go out. Instead, he looked at the village chief and Zhou Lin:
"You two, they've caught up with Widow Tian and the others. You... are useless now. I'll send you two on your way first."
Zhong Pingan raised the knife high. Before he could bring it down, a sharp arrow shot through his back, piercing straight through to his chest:
"Ugh."
Zhong Pingan's body stiffened. The long knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
Seeing his father shot dead by the arrow, his son turned to look in the direction the arrow came from and saw Hunter Xu and Tian Dazhuang standing on his family's wall, a black arrowhead aimed right at his heart:
"No... don't... spare me..."
He instinctively tried to hide in the main room but forgot the man was 'busy' inside. After rushing in, before he could react, the man swung his arm back, and the blade slashed his throat.
"Ah..."
A girl's shrill, miserable scream pierced the sky. Her hand felt the scissors under the pillow, and with a forceful stab, she plunged them directly into the chest of the man on top of her:
"You..."
The Rebel Soldiers snatching food finally realized something was wrong in the courtyard. Still holding flatbreads and drinking water, they walked towards the courtyard. The moment they stepped through the gate, they were hit by arrows.
Immediately after, more and more people fell to the ground.
They had drunk a lot of water. As the drug took effect, they collapsed weakly to the ground without any resistance.
Tian Dazhuang jumped down from the wall and cut the ropes binding the several families in the courtyard:
"Great Uncle, are you alright?"
The village chief was helped to his feet:
"I'm fine, Da Zhuang. How did you all get back?"
He was answered by Tian Yougen's voice:
"Father? Father?"
"You Gen? You..."
Qin Sang led the mule and horse inside:
"Whatever needs to be said, let's leave this place first."
Tian Yougen nodded and proceeded to untie the ropes of the others one by one.
Qin Sang then saw Zhou Lin lying on the ground. He had been beaten severely, his face bruised and swollen. Qin Sang estimated his ribs were broken; he would need a stretcher and told San Gui to go dismantle a door plank.
The other two families had also been beaten, but they had minor injuries. Qin Sang told the two families to see if there was anything they could take. There was another Wheelbarrow outside that could hold a bit.
Tian Sangui ran in:
"Mother, they've all passed out. Kill them all? Or tie them up like we did on the mountain?"
It was San Gui who had just been outside, putting on the Rebel Soldiers' clothes, dirtying his face and body, tricking them into thinking there was food and drink. Now that the men had fallen, they faced a dilemma.
This bunch, having been tricked once, definitely wouldn't fall for it again.
Moreover, they all knew the villagers had gone into the mountains. They absolutely could not be let go.
What use was tying them up? This wasn't the mountain forest; there were no wild beasts. With so many people, once they thought of a way, they'd untie the ropes and escape.
The best method was to destroy the evidence.
Qin Sang hadn't yet decided what to do when the village chief beside her spoke up:
"Da Zhuang's Mother, these people cannot be left alive. Leaving them is a calamity... they eat people..."
Zhou Lin's son sobbed, crying:
"They wanted to eat me, said a child's blood is sweet, the meat is the most... tender... wu wu..."
Qin Sang clenched her fist and made a decision:
"Carry them all into the main room. One fire, burn it all."
Tian Dazhuang was stunned for a moment, then replied, turned around, and went to do it.
After carrying one Rebel Soldier inside, he discovered there was still movement in the bedroom. Opening the door to look, he hastily retreated:
"Mother, there's still someone in the room. It's Zhong Xinger."
Qin Sang walked in and saw Zhong Xinger, her clothes torn, curled up on the ground, her face and body covered in blood, still clutching a pair of scissors tightly in her hand.
Qin Sang didn't know what this child had suffered, and there was no time to dwell on it. She threw down a piece of clothing she had stripped off and said:
"If you don't want to die, put on the clothes and come out."
Zhong Xinger seemed to have lost her soul. Right in front of Qin Sang, she began to take off her clothes and put on the new ones, but the scissors in her hand never left her grasp.
After Zhong Xinger came out, Qin Sang asked again:
"Where is your mother?"