Chapter 426 – Rebuilding Xiangyang County (Ten)
The young man with the surname Li, full of bravado, stated, “How can this splendid affair go without Brother Li?”
The young fellow from the troop smirked, turning to Li Yun, “Brother Li has already helped us with so much; we can’t let you put your life on the line again. With your skills and martial prowess, you’ll definitely find a way out. All we ask is for you to go to Xiangyang City and tell Young Master that although we come from a bandit background, we have our own dignity and will fight until the end. We won’t shame him today!”
Li Yun rose, holding a spear in his right hand, “You all are iron-boned and brave men; if I leave you behind, I’ll never be at peace in this life. No need for more words—either we charge down and fight together again, or we wait here for death, and no one stir up trouble.”
With Li Yun’s boldness, the somber mood of the crowd lifted considerably.
That’s right, what is there to fear about death?
Even if we can’t survive today, we’ll just take a stroll to the Yellow Springs; with so many loyal brothers by our side, we won’t feel lonely at all. They are bandits after all, living daily in blood-soaked days, having long since grown indifferent to life and death—at worst, they’d get a scar as big as a bowl and return to the mortal realm after eighteen years.
“Brother Li, I owe you two lives. If there’s a next life, I’ll gladly work for you like a horse or an ox.”
Li Yun’s martial arts were exceptionally strong; many in the troop believed he was even better than their captain. He wielded his spear with such prowess, effortlessly taking on ten opponents at once. If it wasn’t for Li Yun’s timely help, the troop would have been completely wiped out by now; they wouldn’t even have had the chance to discuss grand aspirations here.
Though Li Yun often appeared aloof and serious, deep down he was quite shy.
In response to the heartfelt words from his brothers, he displayed a bashful smile, with no hint of sorrow for facing death.
“We’re all brothers; who’s keeping score?”
The young fellow from the troop was taken aback, then after a moment, his eyes grew red as he replied, “Right, we’re all brothers!”
Given the current situation, the troop couldn’t care less about the common people anymore.
Initially, if they abandoned the common folk, the night raids from the Green Garment Army wouldn’t inflict much harm on them.
But they ultimately couldn’t bring themselves to abandon them. Once they did, it would be as if those people had been sentenced to death.
The Green Garment Army prided themselves on fighting for the common people, but in reality, they were just a mob venting their anger, running rampant wherever they went. Just look at the scenes left in their wake; even the bandits felt disdain, as their days of thuggery were tame compared to the audaciousness of the Green Garment Army.
Now, they were left with no choice. If they couldn’t save themselves, how could they protect these common folk?
The troop members quietly checked their quivers for the few remaining arrows, examined their crossbows, and cleaned their daggers or longswords—all with serious expressions, as if not heading toward death but rather to a solemn ceremony.
Everyone had resolved, even in death, they wouldn’t let those bastards have an easy time.
The grave atmosphere had impacted the young children around; a few began to wail.
One little girl in a red cotton coat, about four or five years old, who had fled with her sister, grabbed the corner of a bandit’s garment. Her watery eyes appeared even rounder from hunger, tears swirling in her eyes as she looked pitifully at the bandit, “Uncle—”
“Are you hungry?” The bandit lowered his head to her, silently meeting her gaze for a moment.
Then, he rummaged through his belongings, pulling out a bag of dry buns and taking off his water pouch.
“Take a sip of water, eat your fill before we head out. Don’t die like a starving ghost.”
The child, mumbling, was reluctant to accept the water pouch and bun.
“Uncle—don’t go—”
With a sigh, the bandit thought that if he hadn’t ended up in this gang, perhaps he could have married and had a daughter this age.
“Here, take it; I’ll drive away the bad guys, then we can eat together.”
Even though it was just a dry bun, being kept warm by his body and given the current warm weather, it wasn’t too hard.
With a bit of water to soften it, just half would satisfy him.
With a heavy heart, he pried the little girl’s chubby hand open, then set off towards his brothers, gathering with them.
Even if it meant death, before it came, he’d go for one last big score!
At the foot of the mountain, over four thousand Green Garment soldiers surrounded them, a hundred torches burning brightly, casting orange hues on their faces.
“Burn them! Everyone, stay here and see if they’re really as tough as they claim. I refuse to believe they won’t come out after being smoke and fire roasted! Kill anyone who comes out! Honestly, if they don’t come out, that’s fine… I’ve heard human flesh tastes quite good; if it’s cooked, we shouldn’t waste it.”
The cruel words came from a burly man, causing many in the Green Garment Army to show fear, but even more bore expressions of excitement, their raised torches ready to drop.
Buzz—buzz—buzz—
Arrows, with their final cries of rage, shot from the darkness, and several Green Garment soldiers fell in moments.
The Green Garment Army had already tussled with this troop several times, suffering greatly from their crossbows.
They learned their lesson, and as soon as the first round of shooting ended, those who weren’t injured immediately used their fallen comrades’ bodies as shields.
Seeing this, the burly man became furious, shouting, “Burn them, burn them all!”
Just as he finished speaking, a silver light shot through the air, straight toward his face.
The burly man was alarmed, rolling to the side to avoid it, but those standing next to him were not so fortunate; they were speared through by a silver gun.
Li Yun, taking cover from the troop, fought his way to confront the bandit leader.
His spear danced with such skill that it left countless afterimages, moving too fast for the eye to follow.
This intense assault forced the burly bandit leader to retreat repeatedly, even dragging a Green Garment soldier in front of him as a meat shield, making him a scapegoat.
Noticing this, Li Yun’s expression turned stern, “What a coward!”
With a shift in his spear’s momentum, it curved around the meat shield like a snake, aiming straight for the bandit leader’s face.
If it struck true, it would at least pierce through his skull.
Li Yun’s expression darkened; the feel of the spear wasn’t as satisfying as he’d hoped, causing him to sigh inwardly.
Retracting his spear, the bandit leader was indeed unhurt, but a deep, bone-revealing gash now marred his face.
What a pity.
“Brother Li, be careful!”
At the warning, Li Yun momentarily lost focus as a torch quickly loomed closer.
He narrowly dodged it but unfortunately got trapped in the encirclement of the Green Garment soldiers, several blades slashing toward him.
Though the Green Garment Army wasn’t particularly strong, they overwhelmed him with numbers. Several against one, no matter how skilled one was, it was pointless.
Li Yun’s left arm was heavily injured, and he could hardly block all the blades with just his right hand.
“Ugh—”
He opted to protect the vital over the minor; sustaining injuries was better than being minced into pieces.
In the end, aside from the expected pain of the blade in his back, he didn’t suffer the pain he had anticipated.
Thud—
Thud—
The sound of arrows piercing flesh echoed, blood splattering on his face.
Li Yun turned to see the previously attacking Green Garment soldiers wide-eyed, their faces frozen in fierce expressions.
