Chapter 043
The refugees were captured, but the troubles in Pine Village were far from over.
After Zhang Wengong and his nephew left, the village headman Zhang Maode, along with his eldest son and daughter-in-law, all hid in one room, barricading the door with all the cabinets they could find.
His son and daughter-in-law held the cabinets in place while Zhang Maode stood by the south window next to the bed, wielding a machete.
Five refugees rushed into the Zhang family's home. Seeing the door barred, they guessed that valuables were hidden inside and began kicking at the door.
Zhang Wensheng exchanged a glance with his father, pushing against the cabinets while pleading, "Brothers, there's food in the west room; take whatever you want, just spare our lives, please? We villagers have suffered these past few years; why must we kill each other?"
One refugee spat, "That was before. Now we're going to be mountain lords. Hand over your money if you want to live!"
Zhang Wensheng: "We really don't have any money. All our savings went to buying seeds for this year!"
The refugees didn't listen. After several failed attempts to push open the door, three continued their threats while two quietly approached the windowsill, stepped on chairs, and raised their axes to chop at the window.
With a few fierce swings, the window shattered. Just as one refugee grabbed the window frame to climb in, Zhang Maode, who had been hiding, suddenly swung his machete and severed the refugee's head!
The refugee's body fell straight down.
Another refugee screamed and fled in terror.
After all, they were just a hastily assembled group of refugees. They grew bolder as long as their raids went smoothly, but once something went wrong, their courage quickly faded.
The three refugees outside heard the commotion and ran out of the main hall. Seeing the headless corpse under the eaves, they all felt their blood run cold.
Zhang Maode shouted, "Come on, if you're not afraid to die! Tonight, even if we die, we'll take some of you with us!"
Realizing they were dealing with a tough opponent, and knowing there were other houses to loot, they decided it wasn't worth risking their lives here and moved on to the next house.
Thus, the Zhang family survived.
When the refugees were captured, Zhang Maode emerged to stabilize the situation. He gathered the looted food and valuables and addressed the gathered villagers, "Don't worry. I and the second master of the Xiao family from Lingshui Village will personally guard everything here. Your belongings are safe. Right now, the most important thing is to help the injured neighbors. Let's check every household quickly!"
The villagers were still in disarray, so Zhang Wengong helped his father organize them into lines. He then asked skilled fighters like Xiao Zhen and Sun Dian to lead separate teams, each responsible for a different street.
When Xiao Zhen and his team arrived at a house, he recognized it as the Qi family's residence. In February, he had personally come to deliver good news and invited them to his wedding feast.
The door of the Qi family's house was kicked down from the inside, and both the front and back doors of the main hall were open, indicating an attack by the refugees.
In the eerie silence, Xiao Zhen first checked the east room and found the bodies of Old Lady Qi and her husband on the bed.
The image of Old Lady Qi kneeling and begging earlier that day flashed before his eyes. After a moment of silence, he turned to the west room.
In the west room, he found three dead bodies: Xiao Yuchan's sister-in-law and her two children.
The refugees, unaware of the Qi family's situation, did not notice the empty quilts on the bed. Xiao Zhen realized that Qi's second sister-in-law and her family might still be alive. He immediately called for villagers to search the front and back yards. Soon, they found Qi's second sister-in-law, trembling with her nine-year-old daughter Qi Lan and four-year-old son Qi Xu, huddled together in the outhouse.
Realizing they were truly safe, Qi's second sister-in-law hugged her children and knelt on the ground, sobbing, "Lanlan had a stomachache and came here first. When she didn't return, Xu woke up and said he also had a stomachache. I brought him here, but then chaos broke out outside. I was scared and kept hiding here with them, not daring to go anywhere..."
A villager sighed, "These two children saved your life."
After moving the five bodies to the cart used for transporting corpses, Xiao Zhen continued to the next house.
The night passed in such busy work.
According to Zhang Maode's count, Pine Village originally had seventy-six households with three hundred and ninety-one people. After the massacre by the refugees, only two hundred and eighty-six remained. Families with young men fared better, but those with only the elderly, women, and children were mostly wiped out.
Facing the rows of corpses, the surviving villagers wept bitterly.
Holding lanterns, Zhang Maode distributed the identified food and valuables to the villagers, keeping the unclaimed items aside. He said, "Tomorrow, I'll report to the authorities. For now, everyone should go home and rest. No matter what, life goes on, and the fields need tending. The officials will handle the rest."
The villagers dispersed, crying and wailing.
Zhang Maode then knelt before Xiao Shouyi and others from Lingshui Village, tears streaming down his face, "Thank goodness you came. Otherwise, these ruthless refugees might have massacred our entire village! What kind of world is this? If they suffer, they should target corrupt officials, not us poor villagers..."
Xiao Shouyi helped him up, holding his shoulders, "It has happened. Don't think about it anymore. With over a hundred deaths, the officials won't turn a blind eye. Once they deal with the scattered refugees, we'll have peace again."
Zhang Maode wiped his eyes and looked at the refugees kneeling opposite the corpses, pleading, "There are too many of them. I'm afraid they'll cause trouble again once you leave. Could you stay overnight to ensure they don't cause more problems until the officials arrive tomorrow?"
Xiao Shouyi agreed, turning to Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yan, "I'll stay with the fourth and fifth brothers. You can go back. Report that we're safe and get some rest."
He then glanced at the Sun brothers.
Sun Dian sent his brother Sun Wei back to the village while he stayed to help.
The three rode their mules side by side towards Lingshui Village.
Coming in haste, they returned with heavy hearts, no one urging their mules to hurry.
Sun Wei, worried, asked Xiao Zhen, "Xiao Er, do you think the officials will intervene this time?"
Xiao Zhen: "Over a hundred lives lost; the news will surely reach the capital. The magistrate won't want to lose his position and will try to make amends."
Xiao Yan: "What's the point of making amends? If they had acted sooner, those hundred people wouldn't have died, and Uncle Lu's family wouldn't have perished!"
Sun Wei smiled bitterly, "At least it's better than letting the refugees continue to wreak havoc."
Apart from cursing, what else could ordinary people do? They could only pray that such tragedies would never happen to them again.
—
Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yan returned home and first went to the West Court to see their father, reporting the situation in Pine Village.
Xiao Mu remained silent for a long time.
In the dead silence, the door of the main room suddenly opened. Xiao Yuchan, with her hair disheveled, stumbled out and stared at Xiao Yan, asking, "Third Brother, my father-in-law and the others, are they really gone?"
Xiao Yan turned his face away.
Xiao Yuchan sat down on the ground, covering her face as she cried.
Although she hadn't returned to the Qi family for a long time, and although she had just scolded her mother-in-law for being selfish that day, they were still the people she had lived with, living, breathing individuals.
Madam He didn't come out, but she heard everything inside. She stared blankly at the ceiling until a string of tears flowed into her ear.
Xiao Mu advised his granddaughter, "That's enough. Go to bed first, and go over there early tomorrow morning. Take Yao Ge Er along and have him pay his respects."
Xiao Yuchan went in, tears streaming down her face.
Xiao Yan glanced at the seven refugees sleeping in the southern room of the western wing and looked at the old man questioningly.
Xiao Mu also glanced that way and did not lower his voice, saying, "The Qin family must have tried to recruit them too, but they chose not to go, preferring to earn their money through hard work. This is enough to show that they are trustworthy people. Let's continue using them."
The seven refugees, who were listening nervously, all breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Zhen said, "Grandfather, you should go back. Have Third Younger Brother stay here to watch over Fifth Younger Brother."
Xiao Mu nodded and patted Zhang Chao's head, who had run out to hear the news: "Stay here tonight and follow me over there tomorrow morning."
Zhang Chao nodded, his eyes red, and said, "Thank you. It was you and Master Xiao Er who saved our village."
Xiao Mu: "Practice martial arts well. When you grow up, you'll have this ability too."
Xiao Zhen walked with the old man toward the central courtyard. After passing through the Moon Gate, the grandfather and grandson stopped together and waited, hearing Xiao Yan call softly for Ah Zhen to open the door.
Xiao Mu frowned.
Xiao Zhen advised, "Third Younger Brother probably wants to reassure Third Younger Sister-in-Law. You should go back to your room, and I'll wait here until he comes out before leaving."
Although the seven refugees in the southern room seemed reliable, they were numerous, so it was best to keep a close eye on them.
Xiao Mu was more concerned about his second grandson, who had been on night patrol last night, worked all day, and was now up late again. Suppressing his anger, he said, "You go back first. I want to see when he comes out."
Chasing after women and comforting wives is fine, but one has to consider the timing!
When Ah Zhen opened the door, Xiao Yan headed straight for the northern room where the couple slept. Unexpectedly, when he pushed the door, it was still locked.
He said anxiously, "Ningfang, why aren't you opening the door?"
Xiao Yan didn't believe that Lin Ningfang hadn't heard them talking under the eaves of the western wing; even his sister in the main room had heard.
From inside came Lin Ningfang's low voice, "Why are you coming back? Father and Fifth Younger Brother are not here. You should be watching those seven refugees."
Xiao Yan: "I want to tell you about Pine Village. Besides, from here, I can still hear any movement over there."
Lin Ningfang: "What if they have ill intentions and you don't hear anything? Do you know what the consequences would be?"
Xiao Yan: "Even if they had a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare. They know full well the capabilities of us men."
Lin Ningfang: "You're not afraid, but I am. I'm afraid they might sneak out unexpectedly, afraid they might go to Mother Yuchan to kill and rob, afraid Grandfather will scold you for being useless and scold me for being a troublemaker."
Xiao Yan: "..."
Hearing her words, Xiao Yan dared not take any chances and left dejectedly. He didn't go into the house but sat at the entrance of the western wing, just like the old man.
Seeing that he was willing to stay and guard, Xiao Zhen sent the old man back to his room, secured the two donkeys, and then returned to the eastern courtyard.
Tong Sui had been waiting inside the main room. Hearing familiar footsteps, she immediately opened the door and stepped out a few paces.
"How are you?" she asked, looking him over, "Are you hurt?"
Even the faint moonlight could not hide the concern and worry in her eyes.
Xiao Zhen reached out to pull his little wife into his arms, smelling the faint scent of soap in her hair. His fatigue finally washed over him: "I'm fine, just tired."