After Jiang Jin finished off the middle-aged man, she waved her hand. Several soldiers immediately stepped forward to deliver the finishing blows, killing everyone beside the middle-aged man who had been hit by arrows but was not dead yet.
The burly man and his companions were escorted at the front, forced to lead the way.
Jiang Jin led the rest of the group behind them.
As soon as they entered the village, they saw seven or eight people rushing out of the buildings ahead. They were disheveled, and two of them were even bare-chested.
Seeing Zhou Sui and the others, their expressions flickered with shock and uncertainty. What just happened? Why did I hear screaming?
Oh no, it is the enemy, hurry... Someone finally got a clear look at the burly man and the others whose hands were tied behind their backs. He realized what was happening and shouted, but it was too late. An arrow pierced right through his neck.
Zhou Sui took a large stride forward and slashed his blade down. A bandit standing to the front left was cut in half at the waist. Blood sprayed out, splashing all over the face of the bandit next to him.
Before this bandit could even comprehend what had happened, there was a soft slicing sound, and his field of vision suddenly spun 360 degrees.
Thump.
His head fell to the ground.
Yun Yu and the soldiers had already charged into the fray.
Zhou Sui and his men moved with incredible speed. After taking out these few men, they stormed into the house, and soon, agonizing screams echoed from within.
At this moment, footsteps sounded from behind.
Jiang Jin looked back and saw Xie Nanxiao hurrying over with his men. My lady, the guards have all been taken out.
Jiang Jin nodded. Take your men to the end of the village to form an encirclement and cut them off. Make absolutely sure that not a single one escapes.
Understood. Xie Nanxiao led his men and quickly ran toward the end of the village.
A few more people emerged from the house on the right, cursing loudly. What the hell is all this noise in the middle of the night? Do you want to die?
You are the ones who want to die! You are the ones making noise, ruining my dream before I could eat my bunny. Yun Chengxuan, who had been holding back his frustration all night, charged right at the man who spoke. He swung his blade horizontally, his speed as fast as lightning.
The man still had his hands on his pants, trying to pull them up. Before he could even see clearly what was happening in front of him, his head was separated from his body.
Jiang Jin was speechless. She finally understood the reason behind her silly nephew's irritability tonight.
Xia Chanyi and the female soldiers stepped forward and quickly finished off the remaining men.
Go inside. Kill all the men and capture the women, Jiang Jin ordered.
Understood! Yun Chengxuan and the female soldiers fiercely stormed into the house, and miserable howls and sharp screams once again resounded throughout the village.
There seemed to be the sound of wind whistling behind her. Jiang Jin's eyes turned icy cold. Without even turning her head, she thrust her blade backward.
Ah. A miserable scream rang out from behind her.
Jiang Jin pulled out her Tang sword, bringing out thick, sticky blood with it.
Thump. The corpse fell to the ground.
Before long, Zhou Sui and Yun Chengxuan both came out of the houses, escorting over a dozen women.
The women were all trembling with fear. Seeing people outside, they dropped to their knees regardless of who they were and begged pitifully for mercy.
At this moment, Jiang Jin had no way of distinguishing the good from the bad among them. Tie them all up.
Several soldiers immediately stepped forward to bind them.
After tying them up and throwing them into a pile, Zhou Sui and the female soldiers led their people to continue searching the village, killing the enemies and capturing the rest.
This time, Yun Chengxuan did not charge forward anymore. Instead, he obediently followed behind Jiang Jin.
Jiang Jin raised an eyebrow. What is wrong?
Yun Chengxuan puffed out his chest. I am protecting my aunt.
Jiang Jin replied, Tell the truth.
Yun Chengxuan hesitated. I have killed so many people, I have lost count of how many chicken legs I am owed.
Ever since the incident where killing one person earned him one chicken leg, he had memorized this unconventional reward system.
He had to keep track of how many people he killed. Whether there would actually be chicken legs to eat, he did not know, but he needed to remember first, just in case there were some in the future.
Jiang Jin pursed her lips. If she laughed right now, it would likely hurt her nephew's pride. This poor child's math skills were indeed quite lacking. He was fine with numbers under twenty, and he could count higher, but he got confused easily.
She held back and finally suppressed the upward curve of her lips. There are no chicken legs right now. I will owe you.
Ah. Yun Chengxuan looked crestfallen. His math was already bad, and if he had to calculate it again later, he would be even more confused. No, when they got back, he had to ask his aunt to write it down for him.
With the burly man and his companions leading the way, the simple map he had drawn, and the excellent timing of the night raid chosen by Jiang Jin, almost all the bandits were asleep except for the night watchmen. Jiang Jin took over the village very quickly.
As the sun broke over the horizon, the entire bandit village was under their control.
Zhou Sui reported the results of the battle. The bandits have been entirely wiped out. In addition, we captured 51 women alive, and 33 elderly or weak men whose identities are uncertain.
The young and strong men in the village were undoubtedly bandits, so they had been killed directly.
Jiang Jin nodded. Kill Lao Qi and the others too. Oh, and remember to harvest the vegetables in the mountain and take them back.
Zhou Sui agreed, turned around, and ordered his men to execute the burly man and his companions. Then, he took a group of people to the back of the village to harvest the vegetable fields.
Jiang Jin shifted her gaze to the 33 elderly and weak men who were keeping their heads down. She asked, What were you responsible for doing in the village?
A man who looked to be around fifty years old, with a hunched back, answered tremblingly, I... I feed the horses.
Immediately, three or four other men chimed in, saying they also fed the horses. Two more said they fed and herded the cows, and one said he fed the donkeys.
Even though these people were bandits, they had quite a lot of property. They had 27 horses, 8 cows, and 3 donkeys.
They also had 13 horse-drawn carriages and 35 handcarts.
All of this was plundered little by little, which showed just how many people they had robbed and killed.
Seeing that Jiang Jin showed no expression, others emboldened themselves to state their jobs.
There were those who swept the floors and cleaned, those who cooked, those who chopped wood, and those who grew vegetables...
It was true; the village actually had two acres of vegetable fields. Although it was not a lot, it was basically enough to sustain the bandits' daily vegetable consumption.
Jiang Jin looked at the three men standing on the far right of the group. In the entire area, only these three had not stated their roles.
These three were somewhat unusual. The oldest was in his fifties, the youngest was a boy of twelve or thirteen, and the other was a young man in his twenties.
The old man spoke first. W-we repair the houses.
Jiang Jin raised an eyebrow. So they were technical workers.
She looked at the young boy. His lips were pressed tightly together, and he stared down at the tips of his toes without saying a word, his body trembling slightly.
The young man said with a hint of nervousness, I... I also repair houses.
Jiang Jin glanced at him, her eyes flickering, and she stepped toward them.
Seeing her movement, a flash of panic crossed the young man's eyes. He had just witnessed how ruthless these people were.
Listening to the approaching footsteps felt like a deadly chain about to lock around him.
A fierce look appeared in his eyes. He suddenly sprang up, pressed a dagger against the young boy's neck, and shouted, Do not come any closer, or I will kill him!
Jiang Jin stopped in her tracks. Before she could speak, the old man fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed to the young man. Please do not hurt him, I am begging you.
The young man ignored the old man. Holding the boy hostage, he took two steps back to put some distance between himself and the crowd. He looked at Jiang Jin. Get me a horse right now, or I really will kill him.
Jiang Jin's expression turned odd. Using a stranger to threaten her?
She could not even be bothered to speak and simply waved her hand.
Swish.
The young man's pupils contracted sharply, and his entire body turned ice-cold. He stared in disbelief at the trembling tail of the arrow right in front of his eyes.
The young boy, splashed with warm blood across his face, was completely dazed. He stiffly turned his head to look at the young man, whose neck had been pierced by the arrow.
The old man, however, reacted very quickly. He lunged forward and tackled the young man to the ground. The dagger fell to the dirt with a clatter.
Xie Nanxiao stepped forward holding his bow, looking coldly at the young man twitching in agony on the ground, waiting for him to breathe his last.
