Jiang Jin had only brought one battalion this time, not enough to take on the Qu recruits as prisoners one by one.
In an instant, the mission was complete, and most of the captured officials had been executed.
Jiang Jin turned to Qu Wenzhou, who was still dazed from being thrown around. She grabbed him and shouted, "Stop! You evil forces of the Dragon Tiger Gang deserve to be wiped out by everyone!"
Song Gui narrowly avoided being hit by a soldier kicked over by Yun Chengxuan. He stepped back quickly and looked up only to see Qu Wenzhou captured.
He was terrified and yelled, "Let him go!"
The surviving Qu recruits were either trembling on the ground in fear or racing toward Song Gui.
With Jiang Jin holding the Qu people's weak spot, Song Gui and the Qu soldiers were forced to hold back, afraid that the dark-skinned woman in front of them would kill their man.
The six thousand civilians, meanwhile, had made it safely behind Dong Si and the Jinyang Army, now panting as they watched the scene unfold.
Song Gui dismounted, shoved his way to the front, and saw Jiang Jin's blood-dripping blade pressed against Qu Wenzhou's throat.
He steadied his breathing, suppressed his panic, and shouted with feigned authority, "Who are you? Let him go, and I'll spare your lives."
Jiang Jin snorted, "Is that how you talk? Rude!"
With that, she pressed the blade deeper into Qu Wenzhou's neck. The sharp edge cut the skin, and blood immediately seeped out.
Qu Wenzhou cried out in terror, "Don't kill me! I—I have manners!"
Seeing that his intimidation wasn't working on Jiang Jin, Song Gui softened his tone. "Let's talk this out. Be careful with that knife. Release him, and we can negotiate."
Jiang Jin raised her chin and shouted in a ruffian-like tone, "Release him? No way! Your Dragon Tiger Gang is guilty of heinous crimes—you all deserve death!"
Song Gui finally caught on to what she was saying. "What Dragon Tiger Gang? We’re the Qu Army of Donghu Commandery."
Jiang Jin frowned. "Qu Army? You're not the Dragon Tiger Gang?"
Song Gui cried out in protest, "We’re not! Didn’t you see our banner?"
He pointed at the banner behind him. "Look! We’re the Qu Army, not whatever 'Dragon Tiger Gang' you’re talking about."
Xia Chanyi, also in disguise, shouted in shock, "Oh no, we got the wrong people!"
She turned to Jiang Jin. "Boss, we killed the wrong people!"
Song Gui was completely baffled. Wrong people? What’s going on here? This whole situation felt absurd.
Jiang Jin blinked. "Wrong people?"
She looked down at Qu Wenzhou. "If we got the wrong ones, so what? The Dragon King Gang isn’t afraid of a few Qu people, is it?"
Song Gui felt like he was losing his mind. "You—you’re the Dragon King Gang? I’ve never even heard of you!"
Jiang Jin let out a cold laugh. "The Dragon King Gang belongs to the heavens above—a mere mortal like you wouldn’t know of us."
She looked down at Qu Wenzhou, who was trembling like a leaf. "Since we got the wrong ones, I might as well kill this Qu dog outright. The Qu barbarians aren’t good people anyway."
Qu Wenzhou shook even harder. "No, no, don’t kill me! I—I’m a good person. I really am! You can ask for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you."
Jiang Jin smirked. "Are you sure?"
Qu Wenzhou tried to nod but felt the blade against his neck, so he answered in a trembling voice, "Sure, sure. Tell me what you want."
Jiang Jin was satisfied. "Since you’re being so generous, I’ll be magnanimous and accept."
Qu Wenzhou’s face twitched uncontrollably, but he dared not argue.
Jiang Jin looked at the remaining Han civilians. "I can spare you, but I want these Han slaves."
Qu Wenzhou breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Han slaves? No big deal. He quickly agreed, "Fine, fine. Take them."
Jiang Jin snorted and shifted her tone. "I'm not one to force people. You Han folks—anyone want to come with me? I can’t promise much, but if you join the Dragon King Gang, you’ll eat your fill if you work."
"Yeah, all you Han who want to live, come on over!" Xie Nanxiao followed up with a shout.
He was all in for the fun of playing bandit. Since he’d already fought with the Qu soldiers and had a scar on his face—though it was fading, it was still visible up close—he’d blackened his face with soot from a pot. So dark, in fact, that it gleamed, leaving only the whites of his eyes. He looked utterly ridiculous.
But he was confident in his disguise, thinking himself still charming and dashing.
Now he pointed arrogantly at Song Gui and the Qu soldiers, threatening them, "Don’t you move. Or our Boss’s hand might slip, and then this Crybaby Qu here will get hurt."
Crybaby Qu Wenzhou: "..."
Song Gui was choking with rage. "You—you—"
Xie Nanxiao ignored him and called to the Han civilians, "Do you want to be slaves for life? If you’ve got guts, get over here!"
The Han civilians looked at each other.
A girl of about fourteen or fifteen gathered her courage and asked timidly, "I don’t have guts, can I still come over?"
Xie Nanxiao: "..."
'Having guts' wasn’t literal—don’t you people understand?
He glanced over and saw that many Han women were staring at him with bright eyes. His heart ached.
Under the Qu people’s oppression, everyone suffered, but women had it worse than men. When trouble came, women, the elderly, and the weak were the first to be eaten like livestock or abandoned.
"Yes, you can," Jiang Jin confirmed.
The girl’s face lit up, and she ran toward Jiang Jin.
Dozens of other women and children followed her.
Seeing the Qu troops not moving, another hundred or so men and women gritted their teeth and ran toward Jiang Jin.
The Qu soldiers, furious, moved to stop them, but Jiang Jin pressed her blade deeper. "Let’s see if your blades are faster or mine is."
Qu Wenzhou cried out in pain, "Don’t move! Whatever you do, don’t move!"
Song Gui quickly stopped the Qu soldiers. "Hold back!"
With that, even more Han civilians rushed toward Jiang Jin, until almost all of them had crossed over.
The remaining dozen or so Qu-appointed overseers stood in disarray, caught off guard. What now? This wasn’t in the plan.
Just as they hesitated, Jiang Jin called out, "Alright, that’s enough. Retreat."
Song Gui: "..." You took all the Han civilians—what more do you want?
Xie Nanxiao laughed heartily, feeling triumphant as he escorted the civilians back.
Song Gui’s heart ached with fury. "Your people are all gone now. You can let Magistrate Qu go, right?"
Jiang Jin shot him a sidelong glance. "What’s the rush? How do I know you won’t chase us? Wait."
Qu Wenzhou said, his voice shaking, "We’ll wait, we’ll wait. Just keep your hand steady."
Song Gui was utterly defeated. They’d been swapping smoothly with the Jinyang Army when this gang of inexplicable bandits showed up out of nowhere.
They’d checked the hills around earlier, and nothing was odd. Where did these people come from?
Half a quarter-hour later, figuring Xie Nanxiao had led the people a fair distance, Jiang Jin gave Yun Chengxuan a look.
Yun Chengxuan was about to lift Qu Wenzhou when Xia Chanyi shouted, "Hold on!"
She stepped forward and kicked Qu Wenzhou hard in the groin. A shrill, agonizing scream pierced the clouds, shaking countless withered leaves from the trees.
