140 Hurting Others and Oneself
Li Yu raised her saber and rushed in front of a bandit who was still fighting. She held the saber to his neck and shouted, “Stop, all of you. Your leader is dead. Do you still want to fight?”
The remaining bandits were stunned when they heard Li Yu’s shout. The machetes in their hands fell to the ground with a clang.
Zhao Cai led its men and rushed towards the bandits outside the village. Zhou Jia and Li Qing were also mixed in the crowd. The bandits also rushed towards Zhao Cai and the other team with their knives and started fighting.
The bandit raised his spear and stabbed at Zhao Cai. Zhao Cai cut the spear in half and kicked him. Butcher He slashed down with his butcher knife. The bandit died without even grunting.
A bandit raised his saber and slashed at Li Qing. Li Qing was stunned. Zhou Jia rushed over and cut off the bandit’s arm. He raised his saber and stabbed the bandit to death. He leaned against Li Qing’s back and shouted, “Ah Qing, what are you doing?”
Li Qing came back to his senses. He gritted his teeth and slashed at a bandit, cutting off his arm. Blood sprayed on Li Qing’s face. Li Qing endured his disgust and raised his knife to kill.
It didn’t take much effort for everyone to deal with those bandits. They rushed towards the mud wall with their men. When they reached the mud wall, they saw Li Yu raising her saber and ending the battle.
Ruyi and her men were tying up the surrendered bandits. The ground was filled with their corpses.
Zhou Jia and Li Qing rushed to Li Yu’s side and asked worriedly, “Sister, are you injured?”
Li Yu looked at the two of them and said to Zhou Jia weakly, “Xiao Xi, Ji Xiang is injured. Look at the others and see if they’re injured.”
Ji Xiang walked out from behind while covering his arm. He looked at Li Yu and Zhou Jia and smiled weakly. “Miss, Young Master, I’m fine.” With that, he blacked out.
Zhou Jia hugged Ji Xiang and felt his pulse before heaving a sigh of relief. He smiled at Li Yu and the others. “He’s fine. He fainted from exhaustion.”
Zhou Jia took out a pill from his pocket and fed it to Ji Xiang. He gave Li Yu a pill and said to Li Qing, “Ah Qing, help Sister back. Zhao Cai and Ruyi, bring people to check on the injured.”
Seeing Li Qing’s pale face, Li Yu asked worriedly, “Ah Qing, what’s wrong? Why do you look so pale?”
Li Qing held Li Yu and smiled shyly. “Sister, I feel uncomfortable and a little disgusted.”
Li Yu patted Li Qing. “This is normal, but you have to know that if you retreat in this chaotic world, you will fall into eternal damnation.”
“Sister, I’ll remember. I just feel that I’m a man of the Li family. I’m too useless to have to rely on you for everything.”
“Nonsense. You’re still young. When you grow up, you’ll definitely be an indomitable man.” Li Qing looked at Li Yu with tears in his eyes.
Zhou Jia handed Ji Xiang to Butcher He and a villager to carry back to recuperate.
When Zhao Cai and Ruyi checked, they found that two villagers had died in Phoenix Village. One of the long-term laborers was dead, and the servant, She Fu, was seriously injured. There were also a few villagers and long laborers who were seriously injured. The others were all light and minor injuries. Ruyi and Zhao Cai fed a few seriously injured villagers pills and sprinkled some Golden Injury Medicine on their wounds. Zhao Cai brought the injured back to the village.
Ruyi looked at Zhou Jia and asked, “Young Master, what about the dead villagers and workers?”
Zhou Jia thought for a moment and made a decision. “Go and tell the village chief that the village will be in charge of discussing the aftermath of the deaths and injuries of the villagers. We will be in charge of the aftermath of the long-term workers and servants. In the future, let’s not interfere with the village’s matters and let them settle it themselves.”
Ruyi nodded and said, “Yes, and what about the dead bandits and the captured bandits?”
Zhou Jia frowned. “Carry the dead bandits out and place them outside the village. If no one comes to collect the corpses before noon tomorrow, find a place to bury them. Send the captured ones to the authorities.”
Ruyi led the villagers to move the dead bandits outside the mud wall. At this moment, Chen Zhong saw the villagers who had died in the straw shed and exclaimed, “Isn’t this Chun Sheng’s father? Why is he on duty here?”
Zhou Jia walked in and looked at Father Chen, who was lying in a pool of blood. He sighed. “A few days ago, Xiaoyu told them to be vigilant lest something happens. Look, he even brought wine and came to guard the mud wall drunk. Fortunately, Xiaoyu felt that something was wrong and asked Ji Xiang to come over to take a look. Otherwise, something big would have happened. Let’s carry him back and let the village chief deal with it.”
When Zhou Jia saw Father Chen’s corpse, he was even more determined not to interfere in the village’s matters.
Chen Zhong sent the dead Father Chen and the other dead people back to the village. Chen Yaohui led his men to prepare the mourning hall. When he saw the four corpses, he exclaimed, “Didn’t they say that two died in the village while another one died on the farm? Why is there another one?”
Chen Zhong took a few steps forward to Chen Yaohui’s side and whispered, “It’s Chun Sheng’s night of duty at the mud wall tonight, right? Father Chen was the one who went instead of Chun Sheng. Father Chen was drunk and didn’t even know that the bandits were chiseling the wall outside. If Xiaoyu hadn’t felt that something was wrong and got Ji Xiang to take a look, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
Chen Yaohui broke out in cold sweat when he heard that. He said angrily, “That day, Xiaoyu reminded me and I had just scolded them. He’s treating my words like fart!”
Chen Zhong patted Chen Yaohui and advised, “It’s already happened. Chunsheng’s father also lost his life. Let’s talk about him after this matter is over!”
At this moment, the villagers who had lost their families all received the news. They pounced on their loved ones and were heartbroken. Chun Sheng cried at Chen Yaohui, “Village Chief, kill the remaining bandits and avenge my father.”
Chen Yaohui shook his head. “Those bandits have to be handed over to the government. Otherwise, the village will also be in trouble. Don’t worry, the village will compensate you.”
Chun Sheng cried and rushed to Chen Yaohui. He waved his fists and shouted, “I don’t want compensation. I want to kill them and avenge my father.”
The relatives of the other two families also shouted. Chen Yaohui grabbed Chun Sheng’s collar and dragged him to the side to slap him in the face. He shouted angrily, “You still have the cheek to make a fuss. I still want to ask you. Weren’t you supposed to be on duty at the mud wall in the middle of the night? Why didn’t you warn about the bandits when they arrived? Also, everyone was fighting for their lives outside just now. Where were you?”
“I, I…” Chun Sheng covered his face and looked at Chen Yaohui, who was stammering and unable to speak.
Chen Yaohui stared at him and shouted, “Why aren’t you roaring anymore? You asked your father to help you on duty, but your father was lying in the straw shed drunk. He didn’t even know that the bandits were chiseling the wall outside. Do you know that you and your father almost killed the entire village?”
Chun Sheng slumped to the ground. “I thought they wouldn’t dare come. I was lazy and didn’t want to go. My father said he would go in my place, so I agreed. Boohoo… I’m not human…”
Chun Sheng sat on the ground and slapped himself. Chen Yaohui turned around to comfort the other villagers.
Ruyi and Zhou Jia sent Liu Dachun’s corpse outside the manor. Auntie He brought Liu Dachun’s wife, Madam Xu, and three children out of the manor. The mother and son pounced on Liu Dachun and cried.
Zhou Jia went forward and bowed. “Sister-in-law Liu, don’t worry. When Brother Liu’s funeral is completed, we will come up with a way to support you and the children. Of course, you can also tell me your request. I’ll try my best to satisfy you.”
Madam Xu looked up at Zhou Jia and cried, “Mr. Zhou, my family is no longer around. We were hired to work in the farm after escaping from the wasteland. My children are still young. I only beg you not to chase us out of the farm.”
Zhou Jia cupped his hands and said, “Auntie Liu, don’t worry. You can stay in the house in the manor for as long as you want. We will also give you a sum of money.”
“Thank you.” Madam Xu heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that. She looked at her husband’s corpse and started crying again.