Chapter Ten: The Calamity Wave Crosses Over; Brothers Are Exhausted

  Zhu Wu, holding a pair of double-edged swords, stood on the high platform in front of the courtyard and shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me to break out from behind the village!" After that, he led many brothers to rush towards the back of the village to intercept and fight the government troops.

  At this time, the villagers in the backyard saw that the thieves from Shao Huashan were fleeing to the back, and they were very proud of killing them. Their morale was boosted, and they chased after them with their lives on the line.

  At that moment, the two groups of people began to fight and kill each other in Hou Zhuang. Knives clashed, arrows flew horizontally. The quiet village manor in the morning became a bloody hell at night. Before Zhu Wu could leave Hou Zhuang, the troops behind him had already mixed with the villagers and fought together.

  Zhu Wu let out a deep sigh, thinking to himself, "Could it be that I, Zhu Wu, will be buried in this place? Even if so, killing a few more of these evil soldiers would be a good way to go out." With that thought, he gritted his teeth and led the vanguard in a direct charge towards the rear village gate, unable to worry about the chaotic battle at the rear.

  However, when Zhu Wu kicked open the back door and was about to start a massacre, the scene in front of him made him take a big surprise. Under the dark night sky, except for the grass and trees swaying in the wind, it was empty, not even half a ghostly figure.

  Zhu Wu couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, and his confidence was shaken. Normally, he was known for his godlike intuition, with nine out of ten predictions coming true, and his military strategies were always flawless. But tonight, he had made mistake after mistake, as if heaven itself was playing tricks on him, one surprise after another, each one beyond his expectations.

  Zhu Wu was extremely dissatisfied, originally a good plan, unexpectedly rushed out to kill the government army and rescue Shi Jin, but now it has turned into this situation.

  Zhu Wu felt a sense of resentment in his heart, but who could he resent? This evil spirit couldn't be blamed on anyone. Zhu Wu thought about this and involuntarily let out a breath of anger, and with a burst of strength, he chopped at the back door with a demonic knife, cutting it seven parts into the wood.

  The brothers who guarded Zhu Wu's side did not know what he was thinking in his heart, but were suddenly startled by this knife.

  "You've reached the doorstep of a grand house, why don't you go in?"

  "The officers and soldiers have not yet taken this gate, and Second Brother is in danger!" Zhu Wu shouted: "Follow me to kill our way back and rescue Second Brother!"

  As the words went, the brothers followed Zhu Wu to kill their way back. The brothers who were trapped in the villa saw Zhu Wu killing his way back and felt a surge of emotions, with their morale greatly boosted! With an unknown burst of energy from the bottom of their hearts, they dodged and weaved, making every move a killing blow.

  Just as the blood was flying and the killing was at its worst, suddenly a multitude of figures leapt onto the wall, under the bright light of the torches, row upon row of bows were drawn taut, arrows stood upright, twinkling with a cold light that chilled the heart. Immediately after, a voice rang out like thunder, shouting "Halt!"

  Everyone was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, and they all jumped in surprise. Instantly, all the fists and feet froze, and the knives, guns, clubs, and rods slowed down. The people from both sides were stunned on the spot, not daring to make any further moves, only staring at these soldiers who seemed to have descended from the sky with their eyes wide open, secretly guessing their intentions in their hearts, carefully watching the arrows aimed at themselves, fearing that if they made a slight mistake, they would lose their lives right there.

  This sudden change was not expected by Zhu Wu, and he thought about the intelligence gathered in the past few days, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't guess where this group of people came from or who they belonged to. He had doubts in his heart, and secretly glanced at the soldiers on the wall, only to see that their armor was stained with blood, and there were knife marks all over the scales, which was not much different from the previous wave, it didn't seem like someone was pretending, besides, who would give up a peaceful life and be willing to come to such a troubled place.

  Zhu Wu thought about it, and the answer was only one, that is, those fleeing soldiers deceived Chen Da to lead him here, and now they killed him with a backstab. But who was behind the scenes, able to manipulate things so fiercely?

  That Chen Da, isn't he already caught in the ambush... And Yang Chun, only now thinking of Yang Chun, suddenly realized that in this vast Shi Jia Zhuang, apart from the crackling sound of torches and the snorting of horses, there was only an eerie silence and an inexplicable eeriness.

  Is the slaughter over? How could everything be gone? Did everything fail? Failed so thoroughly, and yet had to admit defeat. The ingenious plan ultimately couldn't win against fate. Thinking of this, Zhu Wu's eyes lost focus, and his heart suddenly felt empty.

  Brothers, wait for me a moment, I've avenged myself, now it's up to you.

  Zhu Wu tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, just as he was about to take a step forward and risk everything to avenge himself. Suddenly, a group of people jumped down from the wall, with the one in the middle wearing a tiger-face breastplate and a white swan feather helmet.

  That appearance was extremely arrogant, with a full display of official airs. Surrounded by more than a dozen small soldiers with drawn swords, several people in front and back holding torches, they swaggered through the crowd. Zhu Wu took a glance with his narrow eyes, and couldn't help but stifle a laugh, silently cursing: "This stinky little brat!"

  Chen Da stepped forward in front of Zhu Wu, didn't look at him, and shouted loudly: "Who is Zhu Wu?"

  As soon as Zhu Wu saw his demeanor, he immediately understood. He took a few steps forward, clasped his fists and bowed, saying: "It's really you!"

  "Wait for the heroes of Mount Huashan, and come with me," Chen Da said. Then he opened his throat and shouted loudly: "You bunch of disobedient people, all come to the threshing ground with Grandpa. One person from each household is enough."

  After that, the crowd put away their blades and dragged their guns. Just now they were fighting for life and death, but now they are walking on the same road as if nothing had happened. Sometimes, it's really hard to predict what will happen in this world. What seems inexplicable and unclear may be exactly where the truth lies.

  Before long, the crowd behind the village, each with a bloody face, walked to the threshing ground. When Zhu Wu arrived at the threshing ground, there were already two large groups of people standing in line, each in their own group. As he approached, Zhu Wu's heart suddenly felt joyful - who else could it be but Yang Chun and his men? The other group was naturally from Shi Jia Village, and besides them, there were some armored soldiers walking around among the crowd.

  When Chen Da and his men arrived at the threshing ground with Zhu Wu, several clan leaders from Shi Family Village came to pay their respects, bringing the genealogy to show to Chen Da. Chen Da handed over the genealogy to his subordinates to check clearly, and those who died in battle were marked in red.

  When Chen Da had finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the villagers of Shijiazhuang who were standing in front of him with a sullen face. "You ungrateful people," Chen Da said angrily, "do you still remember who gave you porridge to eat during the famine?" Chen Da took a few steps forward, thrusting the spear in his hand straight into the ground at his feet.

  Chen Da cleared his throat and said, "Today, Shi Taigong was framed by the evil officials and died at the hands of the county magistrate, that scoundrel. And Shi Jin was also surrounded by government troops. If it weren't for the heroes of Shaohua Mountain who risked their lives to rescue him, he would have almost lost his life too! But you bunch of ungrateful people, what kind of thing is this? Repaying kindness with enmity!"

  These few words are extremely vicious, attributing the crimes of disloyalty and unfilial piety to Zhuang Min. These villagers were terrified, but as the saying goes, "officials can crush people to death," they could only suffer in silence with no way to defend themselves.

  Then Chen Da told the county magistrate how to attack Shijiazhuang, how to use Shi Taigong, and how to harm him to death. Among them were what Chen Da had heard and his own exaggerated false words.

  The crowd of people in Shijiazhuang were all startled and frightened, then they all lowered their heads and sighed, with sounds of sobbing and weeping quietly rising up.

  Chen Da said, "I only regret that my general was blinded by silver and followed the evil county magistrate's scheme. Fortunately, I happened to be sent here today to mediate for you. If someone else had come, wouldn't it have resulted in a great injustice?"

  Chen Da sighed and said, "It's just that I'm in charge of such trivial matters, the yamen is no place for me to return to. Staying longer will be of no use, you all take care of it yourselves." Having said this, Chen Da again turned to the many "official soldiers" and said, "Brothers, we'll part ways here, each of you disperse and go your separate ways!" After speaking, he found a horse, but Shao Huashan and others tried to persuade him to stay but couldn't, so several people hastily mounted their horses and left.

  Zhu Wu took a look at Chen Da's perfect performance, which not only resolved the blood feud but also laid the groundwork for future developments. He was quite pleased and joined Yang Chun in one place, leading his troops to prepare to return to their headquarters. Just as Zhu Wu and his men were about to leave, someone suddenly shouted: "Good man, stop!" Zhu Wu turned around and seemed to understand, yet he was also perplexed.