Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Search

"Here they come! The bandits really came!!!"

In the front yard of the Tan family, the young and strong men from Tan Village who had rushed over to help were shouting at the top of their lungs!

The front door had already been locked tight, but now, a tremendous force was repeatedly crashing against it. People listened to the continuous "thud! thud!" sounds, watching as the front door shook violently.

Just as they were shocked, another scream came from the side: "People! There are people on the wall!"

Everyone looked up and indeed saw the bandits' figures on the wall!

The scene immediately descended into chaos. The group of Bai, Mei, and others who had arrived at the front yard were tense, worried that the young and strong men from Tan Village might break and scatter in fear. Unexpectedly, after the initial shock, they quickly regained their composure.

"What are you standing there for?" The man with a horse-like face shouted loudly, "Feng Lao Liu, Wang Chongxi, Li Lao San! Go block the front door! The rest of you, come with me and knock those bandits off the wall!"

Saying that, he looked around and picked up a piece of broken porcelain that had been left from the afternoon walling.

The man with the horse-like face swung his arm and threw the porcelain at the bandit on the wall!

Although small, the object had a surprisingly powerful effect. The bandit on the wall was hit in the eye and screamed, falling backward.

Bai Zhengliu listened carefully to the sounds from outside, his lips curling into a quick smile.

As expected, when the bandit fell, he hit one of his own. How fortunate.

This small victory inspired the men of Tan Village. They snapped out of their initial fear, their eyes wide open with determination, fiercely guarding their positions. They would not let anyone break through the door! They would not let anyone climb over the wall into the house!

The Jianghu guests moved among the young and strong men of Tan Village. Whenever they missed something, Bai, Mei, and others would step in! For a time, the entire front yard was securely defended. Not to mention the bandits, even a mouse wouldn’t be able to sneak in!

In this environment, the man with the horse-like face spoke in a deep voice: "Good, just like this! As long as we hold out until the government soldiers arrive, all these bandits will end up in jail!"

Another young man shouted: "The officials are going to chop off their heads!"

Everyone laughed heartily: "Catch the bandits! Chop off their heads!"

"Chop off their heads! Chop off their heads!"

The excited shouts of the people surged like a tide, sweeping through the front yard.Bai Zhengliu listened carefully, and the corner of his mouth quickly curled up again—only to suppress it immediately.

Something was wrong.

His gaze fell on the main gate of the Tan family.

Since earlier, the force striking the door had noticeably lessened. Although the bandits were still clearly outside, compared to the previous relentless and ferocious battering, the current situation felt more like they were just shouting slogans to let everyone know there were still people outside…

“Not good!”

Bai Zhengliu’s expression changed. “The bandits must have circled around to the back. Mei brother, we—”

“Let’s go!” Mei Yinghan responded.

The Jianghu guests retreated from the front yard and moved to the main courtyard.

It was also a coincidence. As they stepped into the main courtyard, several figures appeared on the wall.

Before anyone else could notice, Tan Qiulang saw it. He immediately stood in front of his wife, his face pale and tense, but his body not allowing anyone to pass.

Meng Yuniang watched this scene, her face showing a complex expression. Her lips moved slightly, silently calling out: “Qiulang…”

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Several pieces of porcelain flew out from Bai Zhengliu’s palm!

Unlike the earlier pure coincidence of hitting the bandit on the wall in the eye, Bai Zhengliu wasn’t a master of hidden weapons, but he had been practicing with knives since he was young, and his wrist and arm strength were extraordinary. For each piece of porcelain he threw, a bandit cried out in agony, clutching their eyes.

The situation didn’t seem as bad as they had imagined earlier.

—This was the shared thought of everyone in the courtyard, aside from the Jianghu guests.

They had defended against bandits coming from several directions. As long as they could maintain the current situation, they could…

“They’ve come! They’re coming in!”Just as they were feeling fortunate, a young man from Tan Family Village stumbled towards them from the hallway direction, his shoulder drenched in fresh blood, soaked in deep crimson.

He hadn't run more than a few steps before his body froze in place, his lips trembling as he lowered his head to look at his chest.

A long spear was stabbed through his heart.

“Ugh!” The young man, who had barely escaped the bloody slaughter in the back courtyard, staggered, then fell to the ground.

Behind him, a bandit pulled the spear out, his gaze sharp and cold as he stared at the people in the courtyard.

At the same time, Bai Zhengliu heard a familiar “whoosh, whoosh!”

His body reacted instinctively before his mind. Before the arrows could strike, the swordsman’s body already twisted to the side. His shoulder, waist, and abdomen formed an incredibly graceful and agile arc in the air, as the tiny green arrow missed him by inches, only to be knocked down by the Twenty-Eight Generals!

Unfortunately, the others within the range of the hidden arrows weren’t as lucky.

Two more young men from Tan Family Village fell, their bodies struggling to rise, but their lips quickly turned purple, poisoned.

“Everyone, into the house!” In this critical moment, Bai Zhengliu immediately made the call.

The people from Tan Family Village hurried towards the house. Behind them, the Jianghu guests grabbed their weapons and formed a wall with their bodies to block the arrows.

The only exception was Jun Yang. When they had planned the defense for the night in the afternoon, the Jianghu guests had already considered the deadly hidden weapons they had encountered the night before. They knew that once the bandits used those short arrows, the people of Tan Family Village wouldn’t be able to retaliate. At that point, taking refuge in the house would be their only option.

—Meanwhile, Tan Family’s Uncle and Cousin were still among the crowd.

To prevent them from taking advantage of the chaos, Jun Yang also entered the house. He stood beside the people of Tan Family, vigilant, while also secretly observing the three men next to him.

Tan Yuanwai kept muttering the names of various deities and saying prayers like, “If we can survive this calamity, I will certainly make a golden statue of the Buddha.” His face was covered in cold sweat; his fear was genuine, as were his prayers for the future.

Tan Junqiu was quietly comforting his wife, then looked down at his child in his arms, sighing with relief: “This little one... in such a time, you’re still sleeping so peacefully…”

Meng Yuniang, on the other hand, kept reassuring her husband and father-in-law with the same words: “It’s fine. Even if there are bandits, they are only here for money. We will definitely be safe.”

However, if one paid close attention, they would notice that she had been deliberately turning her back on the Meng family two.

Jun Yang felt a slight movement in his heart.She, and the two members of the Meng family...

He was about to think more on it when, at that moment, more sounds came from outside.

The bandits had entered!

This was an inevitable result. With their numbers and the poisoned arrows preventing the Jianghu guests from getting close, they could only watch helplessly as the bandits climbed over the walls. At the same time, the man with the horse-face, along with several young men, stumbled in from the front courtyard, and even the main gate had been breached.

In a short amount of time, the expressions of the people from Tan Family Village went from relief to nothing but wariness. They glared at the bandits with hatred and caution, many of them already wounded. Seeing the Jianghu guests in the main courtyard, they quickly moved toward them.

The man with the horse-face spoke, “Why are there only a few of you? Where are the others?”

Mei Yinghan succinctly replied, “Inside.”

The man with the horse-face gave an ugly smile. “These damned things! Not only are the little arrows poisoned, but everything they brought is also poisoned. Fortunately, none of them used proper weapons, just wooden spears to deal with us. Otherwise, I’m afraid even I and the others would have fallen by now.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhengliu's heart stirred.

Why had they allowed the people from Tan Family Village to join in?

Because with just their own forces, it would have been difficult to hurt or capture the bandits. This point had already been verified the previous night.

So now?

The facts had proven that the young men from Tan Family Village couldn’t stop the bandits. Therefore, what needed to be done now was to move to the next step—

Exposing the bandits' faces to the Tan Family! Let spirits fight spirits, and evil ghosts fight evil ghosts!

Realizing this, Bai Zhengliu’s mind cleared up. He quickly said, “Since we can’t stop them, let those bandits come forward!”

The others looked at him.

Bai Zhengliu whispered, “We’ll find their leader among them! Capture the leader first, and the rest will fall apart!”

This statement had multiple meanings.

To the young men of Tan Family Village, it was: “That’s the way it should be!” It was the same as how the plays depicted it: when two armies battle, the general must be struck first! Once the general falls, the army will be thrown into disarray!They were energized and began actively searching for the leader among the bandits. At the same time, the Jianghu guests realized: what they needed to do now was find the third and fourth uncles of the Meng family, who had gone out earlier, among the group of masked men.

In theory, this was not a simple task.

Meng Family’s third and fourth uncles had likely changed their clothes after going out. Their physiques weren’t particularly special, and now that their faces were concealed, they blended into the crowd. How could it be easy to find them?

But!

Bai Zhengliu murmured, “Look for those whose face masks are clean, but whose eyes have injuries.”

The Jianghu guests’ minds cleared up. Indeed, Meng’s third uncle had been injured the previous night. Now that he had changed into new clothes, they could still identify him by his injuries.

With this awareness, the Jianghu guests’ attacks remained fierce, but their goal had changed.

They captured a bandit and, before the bandit could react, carefully scrutinized his eyes. If the eyes didn’t match Meng’s third uncle’s characteristics, they would discard the person... This approach didn’t provoke the intense resistance from the bandits as it had the previous night. Only the young men from Tan Family Village were slightly confused and exchanged hushed thoughts, “What kind of style do these Jianghu heroes follow? I don’t understand it.”

Among the Jianghu guests who were searching, Bai Zhengliu was different from the others.

After all, he had noticed the “martial arts practitioners” identity of Meng’s third and fourth uncles the very first day he arrived. Bai Zhengliu had a strong memory of their builds. With this alone, he was able to eliminate a number of bandits.

This one isn’t it, this one isn’t it... This one!

The swordsman’s eyes sharpened, and with lightning speed, he reached out and pulled a bandit hiding in the crowd!

Author's note:

Here they come!

There should be some new readers, so I’ll briefly mention the update situation for this story:

On rest days, the update time is uncertain. For example, tonight and last night, updates were generally at night.

On weekdays, updates will be in the morning at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and one more depending on the situation. I’ll consider tomorrow's schedule.

I can’t promise daily updates, as unexpected situations may occur. However, as long as conditions allow, I will update. Thanks for your support! 💖