ATPnovel Chapter 80 Revenge
Chapter 80 Revenge
Having witnessed the bandits' atrocities firsthand, Wu Song naturally had no intention of showing any mercy.
Taking advantage of Du Heng's inability to resist, Wu Song quickly dislocated his arm, held his knife to Du Heng's neck, and shouted loudly.
"Your second-in-command has also been captured. Aren't you going to surrender?"
His voice was loud enough to be clearly heard even on the battlefield where shouts of battle were deafening.
The bandits, seeing this, immediately realized that the soldiers had no will to fight.
Some surrendered on the spot, some turned and ran away, and of course, there were also die-hards who continued to fight.
But the overall situation was already set, and the circumstances were now completely clear.
Xue Ming and his men pressed forward in force, killing those who should be killed and arresting those who should be arrested, and the situation quickly stabilized.
"How was it?" Li Chong glanced at Zhong Mei beside him. "I told you, it'll be over soon, you won't need to lift a finger."
They were bandits after all. Even government troops would scatter in a panic when faced with danger, so naturally, one couldn't expect these bandits to turn the tide.
When Li Chong attacked while they were overconfident, the outcome of the battle was already decided.
If Du Heng hadn't had such a smooth run before and misjudged the situation, turning tail and running away from the start, Li Chong's men would have had a really hard time catching him.
Now look what happened, he delivered himself right to Li Chong's doorstep, allowing Li Chong to easily achieve his goal.
Zhong Mei glanced at him back: "What's so smug about? It's not like you're the one who caught him."
However, the slight smile at the corner of her mouth betrayed her mood; she had achieved her goal, which clearly made her very happy.
Seeing that the situation below was under control, Zhong Mei tugged at Li Chong's sleeve: "Is everything alright now? Can we go down now?"
"Walk!"
Li Chong waved his hand and took the lead, walking down the road.
Before they could even get close, several shouts from afar drew their attention again.
"Kill them!"
"Kill the thieves! Kill the thieves!"
"Protect the master! Quick, follow me!"
Choi Sil led a group of men, seemingly incredibly brave, straight to the battlefield, brandishing their weapons and acting arrogantly. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were really that powerful.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment. Xue Ming and the others looked in their direction speechlessly, wanting to laugh but not daring to speak.
Xue Ming's men were just guards from various villages, while Cui Shi's group were mostly government officials, so it wasn't appropriate for them to directly mock them.
But Hu Changyong didn't have so many concerns.
"You guys arrived just in time. If you had come tomorrow, you might have even made it in time for these people to be reincarnated."
After he finished speaking, he and his men burst into laughter, and Xue Ming and the others couldn't help but cover their mouths and chuckle.
Choi Si and the others looked embarrassed, and naturally, they couldn't shout any more slogans of fighting and killing.
Once the dust settled and it was confirmed that Li Chong and his men had indeed captured the two leaders of the bandits, they dared to come out, clearly showing their cowardice and fear of death.
Although they didn't know where those people came from, the knives in Hu Changyong's hands were still stained with blood, and the arrogant yamen runners didn't dare to show them any disrespect.
After a moment of silence, led by Cui Shi, everyone flocked to Li Chong's side and began to offer their concern and care.
"You've had a long day, sir."
"The magistrate's brilliant strategy has rid our Yanggu of a great scourge!"
"I just killed a bandit; I've done a great service."
Li Chong waved his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, then looked at Cui Shi with a smile: "Cui Shi, what's that you're holding in your hand?"
Choi Si was taken aback upon hearing this. After glancing at it, he quickly dropped it with a tremor in his hand.
"Um, well, sir..."
Everyone else was carrying a knife, or at least a metal weapon, but he had nothing. He just picked up a twig from the ground and ran over, and yet he still had the nerve to pretend to be a loyal protector.
"Alright, alright," Li Chong shook his head. "Considering your contribution this time, I won't scold you. Hurry up and go with them to find the people and gather those who have scattered. We're about to return in triumph!"
With so many people around and so many eyes watching, this is not the time to hold Cui Shi accountable for deserting his post.
Moreover, having wiped out the bandits, Li Chong was in a good mood and had no intention of dealing with Cui Shi.
After dismissing the opportunists and sending them to gather the scattered constables, Li Chong came to Du Heng's side.
"This is the second-in-command of the bandits. Compared to the one surnamed Deng, he's more like a bandit."
After looking him up and down, Li Chong clicked his tongue in amazement.
Zhong Mei said indignantly, "That Du guy is just a brute, but that Deng guy is ruthless! He kills people at the drop of a hat."
Upon seeing Zhong Mei, Du Heng shifted his body and began kowtowing repeatedly towards her.
"Little Mei, please put in a good word for me! Brother Zhong... I didn't do it! That Deng guy forced me to do it. If I didn't, he'd kill me!"
After begging Zhongmei, Du Heng then pleaded with Hu Changyong, appearing cowardly and afraid of death.
Sometimes, it is those who appear to be the least afraid of death who are actually the most afraid of dying.
Despite Du Heng's ruthless killing earlier, he now knows what panic is when he's in the hands of the authorities.
Zhong Mei kicked him over: "Pah! Don't call me that, it disgusts me!"
After saying that, she looked at Li Chong: "I've dealt with the one surnamed Deng, so how about I take care of this one surnamed Du as well? Let me vent my anger first. Don't worry, I won't kill him. As long as he's alive, you can take him back for interrogation and behead him. That will be considered your achievement."
Li Chong's expression was inscrutable. After pondering for a moment, he walked to the side and gestured for Zhong Mei to follow.
After glancing at Du Heng and Deng Meng, who were already arguing, Li Chong made up his mind.
He said in a deep voice, "Since you want to vent your anger, then I'll give you that chance. Deng Meng is already crippled. It would be too much trouble to find two people to carry him down the mountain back to Yanggu. What if something unexpected happens? It would be better to let you vent your anger."
"What do you mean?" Zhongmei asked instinctively.
Li Chong looked at her expressionlessly: "Didn't you say you wanted to avenge your father? The matter has been investigated and it's clear that although Du Heng and Deng Meng rebelled together, it was Deng Meng who actually carried out the attack. Don't you want to avenge your father's death?"
"Of course we should report it!" Zhong Mei blurted out.
After a moment, she looked at Li Chong again: "Then what will you say? Aren't we going to interrogate him and then behead him in the street?"
Li Chong smiled nonchalantly: "It's alright, capturing one of the two bandit leaders is enough. A person dying in the chaos of battle is no big deal. What? You're not afraid to kill someone, are you?"
Seeing Li Chong's smile, Zhong Mei misunderstood.
She felt that Li Chong wanted her to take revenge herself, which was why he gave up Deng Meng.
Such a bandit leader is certainly more valuable dead than alive.
"Thanks."
Zhong Mei said in a low voice.
Li Chong was quite surprised, as this was the first time he had heard those two words from Zhong Mei.
Before he could react, Zhong Mei had already turned around: "Don't misunderstand, I was just... just thanking him on behalf of my father. I'm definitely killing that Deng guy!"
Zhong Mei strode towards the crowd and went straight for Deng Meng.