ATPnovel Chapter 69 To catch the thief, first catch the king
Chapter 69 To catch the thief, first catch the king
"Drink! Drink! You think you can just cheat after losing?"
"I was the one who spotted this woman first, so get your hand off me!"
"You little rascal, you're already up in the mountains, and you're still so reserved. Come on, give this old man a smile."
"Rip~~~"
A sound of tearing cloth was heard, followed by a woman's scream, which made the group of thieves burst into laughter.
Upon witnessing the despicable acts committed in this supposedly righteous gathering place, which was in reality a filthy den, Wu Song instinctively clenched his fists.
Before coming, he thought that eliminating the bandits and helping the people of Yanggu get rid of a scourge was a good thing, so he agreed.
In reality, Wu Song did not have a concrete understanding of the evil deeds committed by those mountain bandits.
After all, he hadn't personally witnessed those people committing evil deeds.
But today, after he and Zhong Mei took Sun Er hostage and entered the Hall of Righteousness, and saw the viciousness of these thieves, Wu Song was immediately enraged.
Especially when he saw a woman being wantonly humiliated, his eyes widened in fury, and he stopped in his tracks, wanting to rush to her aid.
"cough!"
Zhong Mei coughed just in time, drawing Wu Song's attention. She shook her head slightly and gestured ahead with her eyes. Wu Song gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and continued forward.
In the center of the Hall of Righteous Gathering, a man who looked even somewhat refined was sitting in front of a large table.
Judging from his position, it's clear that this person is Deng Meng, the current head of the village who stayed behind.
This person's name contains the character "猛" (měng, meaning fierce/fierce), but he looks rather frail and always has a smile on his face.
But that smile carried a hint of malice, sending a chill down one's spine upon seeing it.
"Boss, the brothers are all thinking of making another killing this time, but that guy surnamed Zhu said we should behave ourselves after this job. What do you think..."
A man who appeared to be Deng Meng's confidant cautiously approached Deng Meng and inquired, wanting to hear what his boss thought.
Deng Meng's smile remained unchanged as he turned and said softly, "Since when have we been ordered around by that old man Zhu? If you don't want to work on the mountain anymore, I'll send you down to be old man Zhu's steward, how about that?"
The man was drenched in cold sweat: "I have always followed the chief, and I have no other intentions! I will not go down the mountain, I will not go down the mountain!"
"Then why are you talking nonsense?" Deng Meng leisurely poured himself a glass of wine. "In the past six months, we've helped Old Man Zhu earn quite a bit of land, but all he's given us is this little bit. Is he trying to fob us off like beggars? Since he won't give us anything, then don't blame us for being impolite."
After saying that, Deng Meng drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.
His gaze gradually turned serious, and he thought to himself, "Furthermore, we must thoroughly investigate the situation of the new magistrate of Yanggu County."
Just as Deng Meng was thinking this, he heard another question.
"Boss, what should we do with that magistrate? That guy surnamed Zhu said we can't hurt him, should we...?"
As he spoke, as if to show his loyalty, the man made a slash across his neck, his face showing a rather fierce expression.
Deng Meng glanced at him sideways, as if he were looking at a fool: "That's an official. Do you want to attract government troops?"
Officials and soldiers are just officials and soldiers; at most, they are some local yamen runners and archers. But if it is the government army, then it is a completely different story.
The man's attempt to flatter backfired, and he had no choice but to retreat in embarrassment.
What he didn't see was that a crazy smile gradually appeared on Deng Meng's lips.
"We can't kill, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything else. What's the point of robbing some country folk? If we could break into the county town and loot it all..."
Thinking of this, the greed in Deng Meng's eyes almost overflowed.
What's the point of killing a county magistrate whose legitimacy is unknown? If you're going to do something, do something big.
As long as we don't occupy the county seat, we shouldn't attract a large army to encircle and annihilate us. Even if something unexpected happens, we can just run away with our men.
However, Deng Meng knew this was a big deal, so he didn't give any orders. Instead, he planned to defeat Li Chong and then take everyone down the mountain with him.
With the county magistrate as a hostage, it would be easier to storm the county seat.
"That idiot surnamed Zhong, he's already gone up the mountain to become an outlaw, yet he's still honestly farming. He deserves to die young." Deng Meng sneered as he continued drinking.
Suddenly everything went black, and a person swayed and stood in front of him.
"Boss, Sun Er says he wants to see you. Do you want to see him?"
The person who came was already quite drunk, but thankfully he could still speak clearly.
Sun Er was an elder in the village. Although he was not of high status, many people knew him, including Deng Meng.
But why is this Sun Er, who is usually so low-key, suddenly asking to see me today?
"Sun Er? Why would you agree to relay his message?" Deng Meng sized up the newcomer. "How much did you receive in bribes from him?"
The newcomer chuckled and held up one finger: "A whole string of cash! Boss, have pity on me and let me make this money."
Hearing that Sun Er had spent money to see him, Deng Meng became even more interested.
Right now, in this mountain stronghold, surrounded by his own bandits, Deng Meng had no idea what dangers he might be in, and was therefore completely unprepared.
Out of curiosity, he waved his hand and said, "Let him come over. I want to see what he's up to."
"Okay!"
The messenger walked away unsteadily.
Before long, Sun Er, or rather Wu Song and Zhong Mei, brought him to Deng Meng.
"Big, big boss."
Sun Er stammered a greeting.
Deng Meng didn't reply, but instead looked behind him: "Who are these two men you brought? Are they brothers from our village?"
Deng Meng's gaze fell on Wu Song, and he asked with some suspicion, "There are such strong brothers in the stronghold? I don't remember them."
Looking at Zhong Mei beside him, her head was down and her face was not visible, but Deng Meng felt that her figure looked somewhat familiar.
Sun Er gave an awkward laugh: "Well..."
Wu Song stepped forward: "Chief, I have a treasure, please take a look!"
"A treasure?" Deng Meng looked over instinctively.
He didn't see the treasure, but he saw a fist the size of a bucket coming straight for his face. Wu Song's huge body rushed towards Deng Meng.
Before anyone could think, Deng Meng ducked down to avoid the danger, shouting as he did so.
"Help! Help!"
However, the hall was mostly filled with drunkards, and the noise was deafening. Apart from a few who were nearby and rushed over when they saw the situation was not good, the others were still in a drunken stupor and had no idea that their leader was in danger.
Slumped to the ground in a sorry state, Deng Meng rolled away from Wu Song and casually drew the knife that was beside him.
"Damn it, there's a traitor among my men! Who the hell are you from?!"
Until this point, he didn't realize that the government was attacking; he only thought that one of his competitors wanted to take over his business.
Just as he was glaring angrily at Wu Song, a sharp pain shot through his leg, and Deng Meng instinctively screamed in pain.
Looking back, he saw a familiar face sneering at him.