allonlinenovel Chapter 442 The county government office was surrounded by bandits?
Chapter 442 The county government office was surrounded by bandits?
But before he could grab Lin Xiaotang's clothes, Huo Qi blocked his way.
"Get away from Xiaotang. If you lay a hand on her again, I'll make sure you regret it."
The man cried and said, "Miss Xiaotang, I was wrong. I promise I will never do such a beastly thing again. Fortunately, I didn't hurt you today. You have always been kind and helpful. Please forgive me this time and ask my brother for my forgiveness, okay?"
He desperately clung to the last straw, hoping for a chance to turn things around.
Lin Xiaotang had long since given up on giving this morally corrupt and incorrigible person a chance, so why would she plead for him?
So she wiped away her tears and pretended to be afraid, saying, "Uncle Huo, I almost lost my innocence. I don't want to see him again. Please make him leave."
Huo Qi glared at the man with disdain, then immediately asked Scarface, "Brother, don't waste your breath on him. Let's just decide on this. Tie him up and take him with us when we go down the mountain to the government office."
Scarface was silent for a moment, as if he had made up his mind. He said with a firm look in his eyes, "After all this commotion, everyone is tired. Let's rest for a day tomorrow and go down the mountain first thing the day after tomorrow."
He glanced at the man on the ground and thought to himself, based on his understanding of this man, this man was unwilling to go down the mountain to turn himself in. After this incident, he had not only failed to steal a chicken but also lost his rice, and was even forced to go down the mountain. He must be unwilling to accept this and would definitely try to escape before going down the mountain.
He cannot give this person a chance to escape and let him go unpunished.
So he instructed the bearded man, "Bearded man, take a few men and keep a close watch on this man. Tie him up tightly so he can't escape. Brother Liang, you're older and more reliable, so you can join the guard."
Uncle Liang and Big Beard immediately agreed and called seven or eight people to tie the man up. In an instant, the man was bound up like a rice dumpling.
All knots are tied in a tight knot!
Let alone breaking free of the rope and escaping, even a cricket pupa would have a hard time.
They carried the man into the bearded man's room, tied him to a pillar, closed the door, and all slept inside so they could keep watch together.
Among the remaining people, a few who were unwilling to go down the mountain quietly retreated, wanting to leave silently and go back to sleep.
Scarface coughed and called out to them.
"and many more……"
The group of people were shocked, realizing that they had been caught in the crossfire, all because of that beast who couldn't keep his belt tight.
They gave a wry smile and turned around in unison.
"Boss, it's late. The brothers have been drinking and have terrible headaches. It's time to go back to sleep. Is there anything else you need?"
Scarface glanced coldly at them all and issued a warning.
"The brothers will be going down the mountain the day after tomorrow. From now on, everyone will go their own way. I will lead some of the brothers to the government to surrender themselves and try to get a reduced sentence and be released from prison as soon as possible to start a new life. I am not the kind of person who would betray his brothers, but I will not let you occupy the mountain as kings and do whatever you want."
If I ever find out you've done anything heinous in the future, I will have the authorities arrest you. I'm only giving you one chance; I hope you'll cherish it for the rest of your lives.
The group looked at each other and could only nod in agreement.
"Alright, we'll do as you say, brother."
Actually, they were slightly dissatisfied because they felt that when Xiao Tang was not on the mountain, their eldest brother led them to rob people, which was just letting his brothers do whatever they wanted.
Now, they're going down the mountain to be good people, but they're not allowed to rob and make a living anymore. What kind of logic is that?
Despite their dissatisfaction, they dared not openly defy their elder brother.
Scarface waved for everyone to go back after seeing that they had agreed.
Before we knew it, it was time to descend the mountain.
Early in the morning, everyone packed their luggage, said goodbye to the brothers who stayed on the mountain, and went down the mountain together to the government office.
Lin Xiaotang and Huo Qi followed behind them in a carriage, carrying everyone's luggage, and escorted them all the way to the gate of the government office.
A soldier opened the government gate while yawning, and was instantly dumbfounded. He froze for a moment, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, as if he had seen a ghost. He slammed the gate shut with trembling hands.
"My lord... my lord, the bandits are here!" He ran back to report in a panic.
Someone in the crowd chuckled and joked, "We used to be like frightened mice when we saw officials, but today we've scared the soldiers."
"Stop showing off. If you scare people into holding a grudge, we'll be in trouble."
"That's true, let's keep a low profile!"
The soldier stumbled and crawled to the magistrate's room. Knocking on the door was awkward, but not knocking was also awkward. His hand trembled as he held it up in front of the door, his face full of panic and cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
"My lord... my lord, something terrible has happened! Have you gotten up yet?"
Just then, Magistrate Zhao Zihang pushed open the door and, seeing his subordinate's expression, said with some disdain, "What major event has happened? Did you see a ghost in broad daylight?"
The officer said, "Sir, you should go and take a look at the gate. It's scarier than seeing a ghost in broad daylight. Yes, yes, yes... we should call our men, we need to call everyone to go together."
"What the hell? Call everyone! The city gates have been breached by the enemy?"
The officer was so anxious he was almost incoherent. He took a deep breath and said, word by word, "The bandits from the mountains have stormed into the county and surrounded our county government office! Sir, we're surrounded by bandits, what should we do?"
What?
When they woke up, their county government office was surrounded by bandits.
Lord Zhao's face changed drastically, his legs trembled violently, and he roared, "You idiot, why didn't you say so earlier?"
After saying that, he realized he had spoken too loudly. If the bandits outside heard him and found out his location, they could come in and capture him immediately, and then he would be finished.
He quickly lowered his voice and said, "Go check the back door. Let's escape through that door. These bandits kill without blinking an eye. If we fall into their hands, how will we survive?"
As the saying goes, a true man can bend and stretch. They first saved their lives, then asked the imperial court for help, hoping that the court would send troops to wipe out these damned bandits, so that he would no longer have to live in fear.
He snorted coldly and said, "They are already lucky that I didn't send troops to wipe them out. They dare to come and cause trouble for me. This time, I will make sure they don't leave alive."
After speaking his tough words, his straightened back bent down again in an instant, and he pulled his subordinates to find the clerk to tell the people in the yamen to retreat to the back door together.
Scarface and his group waited outside for a long time, but no one came out. The bearded man went up and banged on the door, but no one came out even after a long while.
He asked doubtfully, "Hey, bro, do you think they're too scared to open the door because there are so many of us?"
"It's possible."
Qu Xiao glanced down at himself, then looked at everyone else and asked, "Are we dressed in such a way that people can immediately recognize us as bandits?"