Chapter 9: A Chance Encounter, Blood Feud Forms

  Yang Chun led the charge, with a group of sturdy men from Dongzhuang village, their faces filled with deep-seated hatred and a desire for revenge. Yang Chun gripped his Bixue Baishan knife tightly in his hand, accompanied by his brothers, and did not show any weakness, directly charging forward. In the darkness of the night, it was impossible to see the appearance of the incoming people, but as they drew closer, just before engaging in a fierce battle, he finally caught a glimpse of them - each one wore a red headscarf, their weapons were disorganized and chaotic, with no discernible order or discipline.

  Yang Chun had doubts in his heart, but at the moment of the fierce battle, he didn't have time to ask questions, let alone allow you to speak. Yang Chun hastily thought that this group of people was here to assist the government army. In this way, he temporarily put aside the matter on his mind, with a knife in hand, and led the soldiers forward. The two groups of cavalry suddenly clashed together, each wielding their weapons and fighting against their opponents. With one move of White Snake Spits Letter, Yang Chun instantly cut down the two men in front of him.

  The men of the Shi family village were numerous, and their daily farm work had accumulated strength in their arms. Since Wang Jin arrived at the village and taught Shi Jin martial arts, they all yearned for it and made it a habit. Wang Jin also took advantage of his free time to teach one or two people, and the village's self-defense force was transformed, becoming different from other villages.

  Shi Jin, with his refined martial arts skills and the extraordinary Panlong staff, was naturally a heroic figure in the hearts of the Zhuang family men. Moreover, Shi Jin's generous and kind personality made everyone willingly acknowledge him as their leader.

  The men of Dongzhuang, seeing the bandits, were even more enraged, and their clubs and fists fell simultaneously. At this moment, relying on their numerical superiority, they brought out one by one the techniques they had practiced every day.

  A burly man with a fierce gaze grasped the fire poker in both hands and swung it around, using an open and straightforward style. Although his timing was off, he still managed to knock down one of the bandits. As he glanced sideways, he saw another bandit exchanging blows with Shi Xiaosan, who was fighting fiercely. With a loud shout, he took advantage of the bandit's momentary lapse in attention and kicked him in the ribs, sending him tumbling to the ground. Shi Xiaosan quickly followed up with a swift knife strike, finishing off the bandit on the spot.

  Thus, the people of Shijiazhuang killed with relish for a while, and they didn't lose much to the crowd on Mount Huashan. Both sides had their own strengths, fighting until the sky was dark and it was impossible to distinguish between them.

  And then the men of Dongzhuang intercepted Yang Chun and others, fighting in the threshing ground. The people from Xizhuang and Qianzhuang gathered together, rushing towards Zhu Wu's place, they fought desperately to rescue Shi Jin. At this moment, Zhu Wu had already arranged his formation, dozens of brothers held bows and arrows on the house, divided into three waves, with arrows on strings, waiting for the enemy to approach the front of the village fifteen steps before shooting the arrow signal, one round after another, immediately killing the vanguard, if they could hold their ground, there would be leaders coming up to talk, Zhu Wu had his own way.

  If these people came to force their way in, Zhu Wu would also fight to the death. Under the wall of the courtyard, Zhu Wu had set up an ambush with a group of axe-wielding men. When they arrived at the edge of the courtyard, they suddenly jumped out and attacked from mid-air, killing them before they could react. If that group retreated, it would be fine, but if they continued to charge forward to attack the gate, there would naturally be brothers waiting for them with spears and clubs, standing guard at the entrance. The brothers inside the courtyard were ready to fight in formation, now only waiting for the enemy to arrive.

  In addition, Zhu Wu picked up several brothers who were usually quick and agile, and had them carry Shi Jin from the front door to the back door, heading straight towards Shao Hua Mountain. Zhu Wu thought to himself, "Although these people have come with ill intentions, they think they can take Shi Jin's life? They underestimate me, Zhu Wu! Let me put on a show of the Empty City Strategy for them." As soon as Shi Jin was carried into the courtyard by the brothers, he immediately ordered all the torches to be extinguished, waiting for the people to arrive.

  Time waits for no one. In the blink of an eye, as soon as Zhu Wu's order was given, his brothers responded immediately and set up ambushes everywhere. Zhu Wu sent someone to move a chair, and he walked out of the gate with a calm expression, slowly inserting a pair of sharp knives into the ground, holding a torch in his hand, quietly watching as the crowd rushed towards him.

  The assembled strong men originally intended to sneak up quietly at night, and when they got close to the courtyard, they would launch a surprise attack. However, they were unexpectedly exposed by Yang Chun's shout. Having no other way out, they quickly charged forward, intending to use their lightning-fast invasion technique to break through the enemy lines in a sudden onslaught, causing the bandits to become disorganized and unable to attend to both front and rear at the same time. In the chaos of battle, it would be advantageous for them to divide into small groups of three or five people each, surrounding and attacking one bandit at a time.

  But Zhu Wu was being naughty, the villagers saw the thieves carrying Shi Jin, and they all went into the yard. The wall of the yard blocked their view, and they didn't know what happened next. They could only hope that the fire in the yard would be extinguished, but they couldn't see anything clearly. When the villagers approached the front gate, they saw a single torch five steps away from the door, illuminating a person sitting on a chair with two knives stuck in the ground and empty hands, behind him was a large open black gate.

  This situation was not in Zhuang Min's calculations, after all, they were just farmers who didn't understand the situation and had a confused mind. They had been running for a while, but now they were stopped by Zhu Wu's actions, lost their target, and had doubts in their minds, so they gradually slowed down. Not daring to get close to the firelight, they retreated and stood together in the darkness not far from him.

  Zhu Wu couldn't see the newcomer clearly, but their clothes were not uniform and didn't seem to be those of an official. Before he could think carefully about it, someone in the crowd shouted loudly: "You scoundrel, quickly return my family's eldest son! We'll spare your life!" This shout made Zhu Wu realize what was going on, and soon he too joined in the shouting. The crowd was large and noisy, making a chaotic din that was hard to distinguish. However, Zhu Wu had clearly heard the previous person's words and immediately understood the situation.

  Zhu Wu wanted to curse, these are the people of Shijiazhuang! Almost killed by mistake, but it was Yang Chun's side... Isn't it already a misunderstanding? Zhu Wu was in a hurry and had no choice, scolding heaven and earth in his heart, but for the time being, he couldn't find a way to clean up. Zhu Wu hastily said: "Everyone, I am the master of Shao Huashan, your young master has been sent to the mountain, you can rest assured..." At this moment, the villagers were angry when they heard it, and misunderstood Zhu Wu's words, thinking that he had taken Shi Jin away and was speaking nicely on purpose.

  This is also common in rural villages. Suddenly, he didn't wait to listen and interrupted his bird language, again shouting loudly.

  A few young and vigorous men, upon hearing that it was the master of the house, stood alone in front of the door. The bolder ones immediately rushed forward, wanting to bind him to exchange for Shi Jin. Those men grasped their knives and rushed towards Zhu Wu, but just as they were about to reach him, several arrows shot out and killed them instantly within fifteen steps.

  Zhu Wu shouted to stop, but his words were already drowned out by the angry roars of the villagers. The villagers saw their relatives and friends die in front of them, and with rage boiling over, they didn't care about anything else. With a loud shout, they charged forward, killing as they went.

  Zhu Wu's face turned pale with anger, but he restrained himself to avoid further bloodshed. He picked up his twin swords and leapt to his feet, rushing back into the courtyard. The villagers, seeing this, thought that the master of the house was weak-willed, and their courage grew, making them even more eager to kill.

  At this moment, the archers on the roof shot arrow after arrow, and the cries of agony rose one after another in front of the Zhu's mansion. Listening to this, Zhu Wu's heart was filled with horror, wondering how he would explain it if Shi Jing found out!

  Zhu Wu rushed to the courtyard but hadn't had time to pass on the order to stop shooting when the Pu Dao hands hiding in the courtyard suddenly jumped out and killed the guards near the courtyard, catching them off guard. Wherever the Pu Dao went, limbs were severed and bodies mangled. In no time at all, blood was splattered everywhere, dyeing the courtyard walls red.

  Zhu Wu took a look and suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Just at this critical moment, a group of people rushed out from the back of the village, holding torches, with distinct armor and grasping knives and guns, galloping and whipping their horses, charging straight over. Zhu Wu's feet paused for a moment, and he blurted out: "Heaven won't help me!" He feared that Shi brothers had also been caught by the government troops when they left from the back of the village and killed with one knife.

  At this thought, all thoughts turned to ashes... Gripping the sword tightly, there was no more worry in his heart, and he shouted: "Follow me out!" After speaking, he danced with a pair of knives and rushed straight out the door.