As the saying goes, "never enter a forest blindly." This refers to how the terrain within a forest can be incredibly similar; if an unfamiliar person enters the woods, especially at night, they can easily lose their way or fall into an ambush.
However, by chance, most of the retainers Zhu Ci brought were locals from Jiading. Some were even woodcutters who made a living by chopping timber; while they didn't know the terrain of this forest like the back of their hands, they were familiar enough with it. Moreover.. the Magistrate had told him every specific location, leaving nothing but the maps left to give him, so what difficulty could there possibly be?
The only difficulty was that their numbers were fewer than those of the bandits.
This band of bandits is said to have about a hundred able-bodied men, with the elderly, women, children included, their numbers are quite significant.
It could be said that this was essentially a village that lived by banditry.
They not only rob but also kill. If the loot from travelers on the road is insufficient, they will even raid nearby villages.
The Magistrate's office frequently received reports, yet they had never taken action against them.
Magistrate Zhang's explanation was that there were too few runners to be a match for these people.
However, Zhu Ci felt that the fundamental reason was that this group paid "protection money" every year, which was why Magistrate Zhang turned a blind eye.
As for why they turned them in, it was obviously because wealth could not compare to their future prospects.
Zhu Ci led his men forward. There were patrols in the bandit camps, so it would have been impossible for so many people to move through the forest without making any noise at all.
He was not surprised when they were discovered; he immediately covered his face with a cloth, drew the Yanling Blade from his waist, shouted, "Charge!"
With his command, all the retainers were instantly deployed.
The bandits were instantly terrified, screaming frantically, "Enemy attack! The en—"
He only had time to let out a single cry before an oncoming Yanling Blade slit his throat.
The blood splattered onto the masked clothcloth was still warm, but Zhu Ci continued forward without so much as a blink.
Although that bandit only gave a single shout, it was indeed enough to startle many people. These bandits had always lived lives of licking blood from a blade, so their reactions were naturally very swift.
Soon, people rushed out carrying weapons; there were men, women, even teenagers among them.
Zhu Ci scanned the area, lowered his voice, said, "Don't hold back! Fire the signal rockets!"
The so-called signal flares were actually nothing more than red fireworks; they couldn't be compared to the signal flares of later generations, as their brightness and duration were inferior. However, since they were so close to each other, the bandits were not powerful enough to possess gunpowder, so no interference would occur.
As soon as this "signal flare" ascended, the other two routes had already received their orders.
The bandits rushing out hesitated for a split second when they saw the red fireworks explode, not knowing what had happened.
Immediately after, they heard a massive explosion ring out, the ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble, instantly scattering the bandits who had just rushed out.
After the smoke cleared, the thick smell of gunpowder mixed with the scent of blood made one feel almost nauseous.
The retainers had never seen such a scene before; even during their usual drills, they only practiced by detonating things in empty spaces, at most seeing trees, soil, or pebbles being blasted away.
While the retainers were standing there in a daze, several figures rushed forward.
Leading them was Zhu Ci.
The retainers stared at those few figures in a daze, until suddenly they heard someone shout, "This is our chance to establish great achievements!"
Achieving great feats?
Oh, right.
Only then did the retainers snap out of their daze, pushing forward while enduring their discomfort.
At this moment, the first wave of bandits had already been blown to death, those killed were the fiercest and most aggressive among the mountain bandits.
After this first wave was blown to pieces, their remaining combat strength was significantly diminished. Furthermore, since these men were already dazed by the explosions, they simply couldn't react in time.
The bandits did not have much experience, but even they knew of the existence of gunpowder. However, there was no gunpowder among the common folk, as the government strictly prohibited it, there was nowhere to buy it even if one wanted to.
As for the formula for gunpowder, it was naturally something that ordinary people could not even hope to come into contact with.
As a result, once the remaining mountain bandits reacted, their courage was utterly shattered by fear.
Immediately, someone screamed at the top of his lungs, "It's a devil! A devil!"
How could that be?
“Impossible.”
The term "Red Bastard" was a derogatory label for government soldiers; besides the soldiers, they couldn't imagine anyone else who could obtain explosives.
Zhu Ci said nothing, simply raising his blade and cutting down several mountain bandits who were reacting quickly and attempting to resist.
He glanced to the side, the person who had been following him closely immediately shouted, "Surrender and you live!"
Don't believe them, the red devils won't let us go!
Zhu Ci's eyes turned cold; if they refused to surrender, then they shouldn't blame him for being ruthless.
These bandits perhaps knew long ago that the business of dancing on the edge of a blade would never end well, so they had no intention of surrendering at all. Never mind the able-bodied men refusing to surrender; even the elderly and the children came out armed, every single one of them incredibly ferocious.
This sight made him dazed, reminding him of the drug-making village he had once besieged; they were just as ruthless and just as desperate.
However, this bandit camp was mediocre in terms of both its armed strength and its composition; he had only used two Single-shot Rockets, the opposition's morale had already collapsed. Although they were still resisting, they had already broken into a disorganized rout.
Then again, they were nothing more than desperate outlaws, incapable of having any strict organizational discipline; they weren't even as disciplined as the retainers he had trained for half a month.
When it finally ended, Zhu Ci bandaged the wound on his arm while ordering people to count the prisoners and casualties, also sending others to search the camp for treasure.
He did not follow them, wanting to see if the Retainers had actually listened to his words.
These people were used to being poor and might not be able to control themselves when seeing gold, silver, jewels, but it was simple: those who couldn't control themselves would either be punished or driven away.
However, after waiting for a long time, many chests of gold and silver had piled up before him, the retainers were also supervising each other to ensure no one was stealing, but the number of captives and the casualty data for his own side had yet to be reported.
Zhu Ci couldn't help but beckon to the most capable of these retainers. "Li Cheng, come here."
Li Cheng immediately came over, bowing slightly, asked respectfully, "What are your orders, Young Master?"
Zhu Ci frowned and said, "Go and see why no one has reported on the casualties and prisoners yet."
Li Zicheng went obediently; he had no choice but to be obedient, as the young person before him was truly a ruthless individual.
He hacked at people with a blade without even blinking; even when the explosives blew people into pieces, his expression did not change.
Many of them were over ten or twenty years older than this Young Master before them, by the end, they were hacking people to death while practically vomiting.
If Zhu Ci knew what they were thinking, he would only sneer and say, "This is nothing."
But back then, he.. he was actually not even as good as these retainers before him. When he killed his first person, it took him nearly half a year of psychological counseling just to help him slowly move past it.
Zhu Ci glanced at the wound on his body; medicinal powder had been sprinkled on the bandages, but he didn't know if it would be effective.
Sigh, he had been too impulsive; he had forgotten about tetanus, he hadn't even noticed how that wound on his forearm had even occurred.
While he was pondering these things, Li Zicheng ran over with a troubled expression and said in a low voice, "Young Master.. we.. we can't count them all."
"Huh?" Zhu Ci was exhausted to the limit, just as he was feeling that his physical strength was still insufficient, he was momentarily stunned and failed to react upon hearing those words.
Li Zicheng seemed a bit embarrassed: "We aren't very good with numbers."
Zhu Ci..
He knew that knowledge barriers were severe in ancient times, he was aware that there were many illiterates in this era, but he never expected someone could be this illiterate.
How could he not even be able to count correctly?
Zhu Ci sighed, just as he was about to say something, he heard someone shout, "Young Master, there are more people here?"
Hmm?
There are people hiding here too?
Zhu Ci immediately stood up and walked over. Once he arrived, he heard someone say, "I am not a bandit; we were all kidnapped by bandits."
Zhu Ci's expression turned somewhat strange. It was true that bandits kidnapped people, but they usually kidnapped women, sparing no one from the eldest to the youngest, while most men were killed outright.
And the one shouting was a man, who appeared to be a scholar.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: It's quite exhausting to go robbing with a bunch of illiterates. *Cat counting money while keeping accounts. jpg*
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 53
Zhu Ci walked over, everyone immediately parted to make a path.
The scholar knew at a glance that he was the leader of this group, at first glance, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Although his face was still covered by a black cloth, those eyes were as clear as autumn waters and as bright as the stars.
Just by looking at his features, one could tell he was a handsome youth.
Zhu Ci glanced at him and the people behind him. There were more women than men, with only one or two men present; besides the middle-aged man in front of him, there was also a young man, the two looked very much alike, though it was unclear if they were father and son or brothers.
Please, do not panic. We have come here on the Magistrate's orders to suppress the bandits. May I ask your honorable names, how you came to be stranded in this bandit camp?
Although the middle-aged man leading them looked quite disheveled, his manner was elegant. He bowed and said, "Greetings, martial heroes.. My surname is Huang, my given name is Unshheng. This is my younger brother. We were returning from Suzhou Prefecture when we encountered bandits on the road and were brought here. They intended to extort our family's wealth, but we were fortunately rescued by you heroes. We are immensely grateful."
As he spoke, he performed a deep bow, the younger brother behind him followed suit.
Zhu Ci immediately helped the two of them up and said, "You mustn't, you mustn't."
He glanced at the people behind Huang Unshheng and asked, "And the others.."
Huang Unshheng said, "The men were all kidnapped for ransom, but as for the women.. I don't know."
Those women each had dull eyes and numb expressions, appearing to feel no joy at being rescued.
Zhu Ci pondered for a long while; he hadn't expected to be able to rescue anyone here either. After a moment's thought, he said, "It is getting late, it won't be easy for all of you to return to your hometowns. Why not wait a while and return to Jiading County with us to rest for a day before heading home?"
Huang Unshheng said repeatedly, "This is only right. We are grateful for your help, hero."
Zhu Ci's eyes curved slightly as he turned to Jiang Quan and said in a low voice, "Send a group of people to take the valuables back to the camp. The rest of you come with me to the county seat. Oh, send someone to my manor to call Fu Chunsheng."
After he finished speaking, he turned to Huang Unshheng and the others and said, "Please wait a moment, everyone. This hasn't been dealt with yet; I shall go and take a look."
After Zhu Ci finished speaking, he cupped his hands toward those people and then turned to glance at Jiang Quan.
Although Jiang Quan was not good with numbers, he was not stupid; he immediately understood Zhu Ci's meaning and led his men to "protect" these people, preventing them from running around.
Huang Unshheng took a discreet glance and discovered that these "chivalrous men" acted in an organized manner; it was clear at a glance that they were not bailiffs from the magistrate's office.
He didn't believe for a moment that the Magistrate would order people to come and suppress the bandits; needless to say, many of them had known that this group of bandits had been entrenched here for over ten years.