Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Robbing the Path 1
Translator: 549690339
What a dumbass!
Chen Thirty mumbled under his breath. Spotting what seemed like a man and a deer in the distance, he quickly whispered, “They’re coming, they’re coming!”
He shoved Chen Lulu, “Hurry up and get your staff! We’ll knock out Jiang
Sanlang first, then take the deer.”
Tu Xiong, peering out from behind the bamboo, spoke nervously, “What about that little kid? Shall we knock her out too?”
He worried that one blow might smash the child’s skull apart.
Chen Thirty gave him a look, “Knock out for what? She’s a kid. Just gag her. We could sell her in the county. She should be worth a few taels of silver.”
No one would care too much about a bastard child, even if she went missing from the Jiang family.
As for why they did not directly kill Jiang Sanlang, Chen Thirty had his own considerations.
Killing a man wasn’t the same as stealing a deer.
Murder came with a price; it required paying with your own life. But stealing a deer, as long as no one recognized them, it would be no big deal.
What Chen Thirty sought was wealth, not retribution.
Tu Xiong nodded and quickly covered his face with a prepared thick cloth, leaving only his eyes visible.
Turning his head, he saw Chen Thirty and Chen Lulu also covering their faces, with wooden sticks in their hands, ready to go out.
Tu Xiong felt a bit excited, as this felt thrilling, just as hunting in the mountains. The thrill of preying on the unsuspecting, the boiling blood, was quite stimulating.
Outside the bamboo grove, Jiang Sanlang paused and whispered to his daughter, “Baobao, let’s not go any further, let’s turn back and head to town.”
Once back in town, he could find some familiar folks to escort his daughter and him back to the village.
Yingbao, seeing her father’s nervous face, immediately realized something was going to happen.
She glanced towards the bamboo grove and saw three sneaky figures coming this way.
Yingbao pulled the rein, prompting Youyou to turn around.
As if sensing her intent, Youyou immediately turned around and bolted back the way they had come.
Jiang Sanlang also followed, constantly looking back to keep track of the three figures.
Seeing their prey trying to escape, Chen Thirty quickly signaled Tu Xiong and Chen Lulu, “They’re trying to escape, hurry up and intercept them! Once they escape, our chance is gone!”
With that, he took the lead and rushed after Jiang Sanlang and Yingbao.
Jiang Sanlang swiftly instructed his daughter, “Quickly go to the town and find the midwife! Or go to Rongji Pharmacy and look for Doctor Li! I’ll hold them off, quick!”
As he spoke, he smacked Youyou’s backside hard, urging it to speed up.
Youyou hastened its pace, speeding up in an instant, and Yingbao looked back at her father, calling anxiously, “Dad, hurry up and follow! Dad- -”
Jiang Sanlang had turned around, gripping his felling ax firmly as he eyeballed the approaching men.
They were now right in front of him and without a word, they immediately raised their sticks to strike.
With his short ax, Jiang Sanlang had to get close to harm them. But they swiftly pummeled down on his head and body with their sticks.
Despite evading repeatedly, he couldn’t completely dodge them. A blow landed on his head, causing his skull to crack with blood flowing out.
Furious, Jiang Sanlang lunged at the man who struck the hardest, gripping his long stick, and launched a strike with his ax.
The man quickly backpedaled, avoiding the ax, dropping his stick in the process.
“Kill him! Damn it!” Chen Thirty cursed, “Strike him dead! Let’s not worry about the brat coming back! ”
Tu Xiong and Chen Lulu pushed forward, raising their sticks high above their heads and swung down hard on Jiang Sanlang’s head.
“Dad!”
A mournful shout rang out behind them, accompanied by a flash of frosty light.
With a slashing sound, blood splattered as a long gash was slit open on Tu Xiong’s back. His body stiffened and he fell to the ground.
Another icy blade struck Chen Lulu’s arm, cutting deep to the bone. Pain shot through him and, with a scream, he fell to the ground holding the sickle.
Chen Thirty was stunned, not even getting a chance to figure out what happened to his accomplices, Jiang Sanlang’s ax slashed his arm.
“Ah!” Chen San, with a shriek of horror, clutched his arm and screamed,
“Murder! Murder!”, and tried to run away.
Jiang Sanlang leapt forward, hit Chen San with the handle of his knife, leaving Chen thirty unconscious on the ground.
“Baobao…” Jiang Sanlang managed to stand up, fighting off dizziness, and quickly ran towards his daughter.
Yingbao who had fallen off the deer was trembling all over, her face covered with teardrops. She was still clutching the sickle that was deeply embedded in
Chen Lu’s arm.
She extended her hands to her father, “Daddy, Baobao is scared.”
Jiang Sanlang tightly held his daughter, and after ensuring that she was not hurt, reassured her in a soft voice, “Don’t be scared, Baobao. Daddy is here.”
Just then, a donkey cart galloped forward. Chen Yin, the second son of Chen Cunzheng, jumped off the cart and quickly ran towards them.
“Sanlang, what’s going on? How did this happen?”
He had seen the fight from afar, saw a deer and a child involved, hence he knew who was fighting, and had rushed over.
Jiang Sanlang wiped the blood off his face, “These three are robbers, I got them.”
“Robbers?” Chen Yin looked down at the three men.
All three were hooded with a kerchief over their faces.
Two of them were huddled on the ground wailing, one was laying there, lifeless, with his arm bleeding.
“Indeed, they are robbers. Let’s take them to the town, Lizheng will handle them.”
Chen Yin unraveled their kerchiefs, and upon recognizing who the perpetrators were, he snorted in disdain. “They are really seeking their own doom.”
Technically, Chen Lu had some ties with his family, yet he had robbed his own fellow villagers, which was even lower than pigs and dogs.
Jiang Sanlang hugged his daughter tightly, and bent down to pull out the sickle from Chen Lu’s arm, placed it back in his basket, and whispered, “Baobao, be good, don’t talk to anyone without thinking. Daddy will handle everything.”
Yingbao nodded, and stuffed a piece of medicinal herb into her father’s mouth, “Daddy, eat this.”
Jiang Sanlang was confused, yet he took what his daughter had put in his mouth.
Yingbao then applied some of the medicinal herb’s sap to her father’s head wound, making her feel relieved.
Earlier, when she had seen these men aiming to strike her father’s head, her mind went blank, and she darted forward, pulling a sickle from her storage and attacking.
Luckily her father was safe, otherwise, she would never let them off.
Two hours later, the three ruffians were tied up and brought to Lizheng’s house.
Sun Lizheng had a stern face as he ordered the peasants to reveal their faces.
As their kerchiefs were removed, the gathering crowd gasped in surprise.
It turned out that the bandits were Tu Xiong, the youngest son of the butcher Tu Da, Chen San who was a notorious character in the town, and Chen Lu, son of Chen Ergou of the Xichen Village.
These three were notorious in the town, especially Chen San and Chen Lu, who were despised because they stole and harassed widows.
Sun Lizheng was furious as he watched them, trembling in anger. Unbelievably, within his jurisdiction, these local townsmen had become bandits. This, he couldn’t bear.
If people learned of their identities, they would think that this place was infested with bandits.
If these good-for-nothings stole a little or caused a tiny ruckus, he could let it go, as these were minor issues. As long as the villagers didn’t press charges, he wouldn’t interfere.
But now, they had attacked and injured people on the road, he couldn’t tolerate such actions.
“Summon their village heads! ”
Sun Lizheng shouted: “Call their family heads and warrantors too, summon them all!”
As per his instructions, when one person commits a crime, ten neighbors are held accountable. As Lizheng, today he would make an example of them.
“Yes!” , several villagers ran to fetch them.
In less than two hours, a large crowd was brought in.
The wife of Tu Da, in tears, pounced on her son’s body, smearing her hands with his blood, and screamed.
Sun Lizheng looked annoyed and ordered the peasants to drag her away. He turned to the village heads, “These three are from your village. Now, they are robbing and injuring good people.. There are witnesses and evidence, what do you suggest we should do?”
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