Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 111

Chapter 111 Blood For Blood
Hearing this, Lu Zhen’s expression suddenly changed. A trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes and he turned around to look at the bandits kneeling on the ground kicked by the soldiers.

At this moment, they had long since lost their ferocious aura, and all of them were silent like cicadas. Some of them even bowed and begged for mercy when they saw Lu Zhen looking over.

Seeing this, the coldness in Lu Zhen’s eyes did not disappear much. He only carefully sized up the captives before pointing his finger at one of the big-waisted fellows and saying, “Tell me, who exactly are you? Why do you dare to kill us here?”

That person was the hardest of the dozen or so people. Although he was kneeling on the ground with a knife on his shoulder, his head was raised high. Facing Lu Zhen’s serious question, he only snorted, “There’s nothing to say. Since it fell into your hands, you can kill or tear it to pieces. If you want me to betray the Stronghold Master, you’re delusional!”

“Good! He is indeed a man.” Seeing this, Lu Zhen clapped his hands with a faint smile. Just when everyone thought that he appreciated this tough guy and would try to persuade him, he suddenly sank his face and said, “Kill him!”

“Ah …” Everyone present was clearly stunned. It was obvious that they were unable to keep up with his pace as County Magistrate Lu. However, after seeing his gloomy face, the soldier who was escorting the opponent subconsciously kicked the man to the ground. Following that, he patched his saber, and the tip of the saber came in from his back, directly protruding out of his chest. The man looked at the bloody tip of the knife in disbelief before letting out a miserable scream and twitching twice before dying.

The scene instantly turned cold. The captive bandits did not expect this gentlemanly lord to order them to kill so directly. Even the soldiers were astonished. Good fellow, this one’s killing intent was even more decisive than those generals he was familiar with.

However, Lu Zhen ignored everyone’s thoughts. His gaze turned to another person and said, “Tell me the answer to the question just now.”

“I…” That person hesitated for a moment. He was somewhat afraid of death, but he still wanted to defend that little bit of righteousness.

However, Lu Zhen did not have the patience to wait for him to make a choice. He lowered his eyes and gave the order, “Kill!”

This time, the soldiers behind him were already prepared. As soon as he finished speaking, he had already kicked down the captives and stabbed them to death on the spot.

The two companions were killed in the blink of an eye, causing the remaining prisoners to panic greatly. Several of the timid ones were so scared that their faces turned pale and trembled. At this moment, Lu Zhen’s image in their eyes was almost the same as that of a demon, and the demon’s gaze was still sweeping back and forth on them.

When Lu Zhen’s finger touched another person’s body, his entire body almost collapsed to the ground, but he cried out anxiously, “I said … I said … we are people from the Crouching Tiger Village in the mountain, we ordered us to attack the adults …”

The corner of Lu Zhen’s mouth curled up as he stared at the other party and asked, “Then do you know our identities? A bunch of bandits actually dared to attack the people of the government. You guys are so bold.”

“I know … I know, our Stronghold Master knows your identities.” That person was scared out of his wits by the bloody slaughter just now. Now, he naturally knows everything about it. “But our Stronghold Master feels that you are no match for him. That’s why …”

“Even though he feels that we are few and easy to deal with, isn’t he afraid that he will become the target of the government’s crusade because of this?” Lu Zhen’s words reached the root of his question.

Although there were indeed bandits running rampant in the remote mountains and forests, that did not mean that they were powerful enough to make the government unable to exterminate them. After all, reality was not a legend, and Shuipo Liangshan could not exist in reality. The government did not move against them, either because they had colluded with each other, or because they were hiding in a remote enough place, so the army’s gains were not worth the losses, so they were allowed to exist all the time.

However, once these bandits at the top of the mountain had really done the trick of intercepting and killing the officials of the Imperial Court, the tolerance of the government would not exist. They would definitely send an army to surround and kill the bandits. How could the bandit leader, who had lived here for many years, not have thought of this?

That person hesitated for a moment, but after meeting Lu Zhen’s cold gaze, he hurriedly shouted, “Because … because someone invited our village to host all of this. That person has enough influence here to calm things down.”

“Who is that person?” Lu Zhen had already guessed the answer, but he still asked.

“Yes … it’s Guo Rong, Guo Jiazhuang’s Villa Master. He invited us to intercept and kill you!”

Although he had already guessed, after knowing this answer, Lu Zhen was still slightly stunned. Who would have thought that Guo Jiazhuang’s influence in this area would be so great, and that it would be so lawless! He actually dared to work with the bandits to attack him, the official of the Imperial Court, and it was only for the sake of a small dispute.

The soldiers in the surroundings were furious. Just because of that fellow’s selfishness, he actually killed ten of his brothers here. The others were all injured. If Wu Kui hadn’t brought his men to kill them in time, they would have been buried in this mountain forest.

Slowly, Lu Zhen took a deep breath and looked at the person in front of him, “I know that it’s good that you can explain everything!”

The prisoners heaved a sigh of relief when they heard his voice soften. It seemed that his life was finally saved for the time being. Although it would definitely end badly in the hands of the officers and soldiers, as long as they could live for a while, it would still be good.

But then, something terrifying happened to them. Lu Zhen turned around and waved his hand, “There’s no use keeping these people. Kill them all!”

‘”Ah” Everyone was stunned again. This person was too vicious. Even when they were capturing the captives, they didn’t dare to launch such a massacre.

“You … as an official of the Imperial Court, you actually went back on your word. You’re so despicable!” One of the captives immediately shouted in shock and rage.

Facing these curses, Lu Zhen only smiled contemptuously, “Since you dare to do this, you should have the consciousness of being killed. As for saying that I went back on my word, I never promised you anything, nor did I say that if you tell me the truth, you will be spared! Kill!”

Along with the last two words he coldly spat out, the soldiers finally regained their senses and swung down their sabers without hesitation, killing all the people in front of them on the spot.

To be honest, after seeing the ten or so fellow robes being killed by these bandits, they had already made a move of killing intent, so it was naturally impossible for them to be soft-hearted now.

Behind them, Chu Yunrong and Cuimei used their hands to press their mouths, watching the bloody slaughter in front of them in horror, and then looking at Lu Zhen had some other meaning in their eyes. Was this man who casually took the lives of so many people the good-tempered Lu Zhen he was familiar with?

Of course, Lu Zhen was the same Lu Zhen, but at this moment, he completely released the killing intent in his heart.

In fact, the Guang Ling’s offensive and defensive battle had left him with a deep resentment. Even though the Meng people were forced back in the end, the soldiers and civilians in the city were still greatly damaged. This made him feel depressed all the time, but this anger was forcefully suppressed by him.

After the dispute in Gushan Town, his anger was stirred up again, but for the sake of the overall situation, he still chose to tolerate it. If nothing happened later, this anger would always be suppressed in the depths of his heart, and he didn’t know when it would be released.

However, they encountered trouble again in this forest. A dozen soldiers were killed by bandits in order to protect themselves! At this moment, the anger that Lu Zhen had been holding back for many days finally erupted like a volcano.

Lu Zhen had always acted either without mercy or mercilessly. This was the case with the Thorn Tribe on the grasslands before, and with Zheng Fu and the others at the county government. Today, it was no exception for these people who wanted to take their lives.

Moreover, his anger would not be extinguished by the deaths of these prisoners. Because he knew very well that these people were only used by others at best, but the real culprit was the people from Guojiazhuang.

After making up his mind, Lu Zhen suddenly walked over to Li Hun, who was a little stupefied, and cupped his fists in salute, “General Li, please. This official has something I want to ask of you.”

“Magistrate Lu, you’re too polite. There’s no harm in saying something.” Li Hun hurriedly replied, his attitude even more respectful than before. If it was just admiration for Lu Zhen’s reputation, Li Hun was already somewhat in awe of him after witnessing his decisiveness in killing him.

“Since General Li is a general here, I’m sure he knows something about Guojiazhuang. I wonder what the situation is like there? How many troops are there?” As Lu Zhen asked, his gaze was already fixed on the other party’s face.

Li Hun suddenly made a sudden move. This fellow isn’t planning to go back and take revenge, is he? However, he still said truthfully, “This Guojiazhuang is actually just an ordinary village. It is only because of the accumulation of the Guo Rong family for several generations that they have some property and fame. As for manpower, they are only twenty to thirty Zhuang Ding.” After pausing for a moment, he hesitated and said, “I wonder if Magistrate Lu is planning to?”

“Since he actually dared to collude with the bandits to intercept and kill the Imperial Court’s lieutenant, this official naturally cannot allow him to be the one to be the cause of this calamity.” Lu Zhen’s eyes flashed.

“This” Li Hun wanted to persuade him, but the other party had given him such a high-sounding reason. He naturally couldn’t persuade him, so he could only shut his mouth in the end.

But then Lu Zhen’s words made him feel a little embarrassed, “Since General Li is the general here, he naturally has the responsibility of eliminating the thieves, so I hope you don’t refuse this matter.” Well, this time, he, Li Hun, is completely tied up with someone.

After Lu Zhen finished speaking, he looked at the others and said, “Everyone is tired after a night of fighting. Let’s rest first. After dark, let’s go to Guojiazhuang!”

When Wu Kui, Li Xian, and the others heard this, they all agreed. They naturally wanted to vent their anger and avenge their brothers!

At this time, the morning sun leapt up from the east, illuminating this mountain forest to a bright red, like fresh blood on the ground …