Chapter 595 - 594: Farm Woman 23
With a miracle powder like that, wouldn’t dealing with the bandits be a piece of cake?
The women were worried, but they knew the others were setting out on an important task. Even if they didn’t actively seek out the bandits, with such a large group passing through, who’s to say the bandits wouldn’t try to rob them?
It was better to strike first, just as they were doing now.
After settling the women in a village at the foot of the mountain, Tan You led Chen Xi, An Wen, Zhu Rong, and the others up the mountain under the cover of darkness. The Beauty System flew ahead, guiding Tan You, and just like that, she led her people all the way to the entrance of Tiger Village.
This type of mountain stronghold would have watchtowers, and there would be guards at the entrance. Tan You had no intention of clashing head-on with the bandits. Instead, she checked the direction of the wind, stood upwind with Zhu Rong, and released the powder they had rushed to produce over the past two days.
As the two began, their companions all covered their mouths and noses in unison. Soon, a few THUDS echoed from the main gate, sounding like bodies hitting the ground.
An Wen held his breath. "Did it work?"
Tan You estimated the time. "That should be enough. Let’s go in."
She led the charge, rushing into the stronghold first, and the others who had come up the mountain all followed behind her. After entering the stronghold and scouting the area, they found that nearly all the bandits had been knocked out.
A few were still conscious, but their limbs were so weak they couldn’t walk. Seeing this group of people enter, one of them managed to muster the strength to speak. "You villains who only use such dirty tricks! If you have any guts, fight me fair and square—"
"How amusing," Tan You sneered. "A bandit talking to me about fighting ’fair and square.’ That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year."
"First, get a head count. Then, bring them all to the main hall." Tan You’s smile vanished, her eyes suddenly turning exceptionally cold and murderous.
In less than a quarter of an hour, over a hundred people were all tied up and thrown into the main hall.
Chen Xi frowned. "Mother, what do you plan to do? Kill them all?"
Tan You didn’t hesitate. "They rob and plunder; they were never good people to begin with. It’s time to send them on their way. I can smell the thick stench of blood on them. It’s clear they have many lives on their hands."
Tan You glanced at her. "If you can’t bear it, then go outside. It’s not good for children to see this, after all."
Chen Xi gritted her teeth. "Mother, I’m not leaving. It’s not that I can’t bear it. They’re bandits. They deserve to die."
Tan You smiled. ’Ah, Chen Xi, she really manages to surprise me every time. Compared to An Wen, she’s so much more outstanding.’
The leader of Tiger Village glared at Tan You. "You... you dare!"
Tan You found it amusing. "What wouldn’t I dare? You’ve already fallen into my hands, and you still dream that I’ll let you off?"
As she spoke, she grabbed the man’s neck with her right hand. With just a single squeeze, his head lolled to the side. Old Man Yang, who had followed them, watched with narrowed eyes. That method was too clean, too efficient.
Little did he know that Tan You had played with skeletons for so many years; she knew every fatal point with perfect clarity.
With Tan You taking the lead, the men in the hall were quickly dealt with by the others. After all, who didn’t hate bandits? It was their very existence that made this world so dangerous.
Chen Xi’s face was pale, but she stood there in the main hall and watched. How could she possibly feel any sympathy for bandits? If it weren’t for bandits, her father and older brother wouldn’t have died, and her family wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
She simply wasn’t used to such a bloody scene. After all, for a child, it was truly horrifying.
An Wen, on the other hand, had already gone outside the hall to throw up once after seeing the corpses lying strewn about. Only Chen Xi, aside from her pale face, looked no different than usual.
Tan You patted Chen Xi’s head. "Sometimes, you can’t be soft-hearted. Sympathy should be reserved for people. Are they people?"
Chen Xi looked up. "Mother, I understand."
Tan You smiled. "As long as you understand. Now it’s time to collect our spoils of war. I estimate it will take a while. Yue Shu, arrange for someone to go down the mountain and report back, so everyone can rest easy."
Yue Shu bowed and accepted. He had been the most active in the fighting, so Tan You naturally thought more highly of him. He picked two men to go down the mountain and deliver the message, while the rest followed Tan You to find Tiger Village’s stash.
It’s always been that killers and arsonists wear belts of gold, and though Tiger Village was a small stronghold, it was no exception. With the Beauty System’s help, no matter how secretly the bandits had hidden their private treasury, Tan You cleaned it out as if she were emptying a mouse hole.
The most abundant thing in the stronghold was grain, followed by all sorts of gold, silver, jewels, jade, calligraphy, and paintings.
Seeing all the grain, the tense expression Chen Xi had worn all night finally softened. "With this food, we won’t go hungry on the road back."
An Wen had recovered as well, his eyes practically turning into coins. "Aunt, we’re rich! How much grain could this buy?"
Tan You had also looked over the spoils. "Register and catalogue everything. We’ll eat the grain on our journey. As for the gold, silver, and jewels, thirty percent will go to the escort agency’s guards. The remaining seventy percent will be distributed within the clan according to labor once we return. Even though our clansmen are in Miao Gou Village, we are one people now. We must be fair and treat everyone equally."
"As for the calligraphy, paintings, and ancient books, the clan has a library. They will all go into the library."
No one had any objections. In fact, adding these spoils to the clan’s assets made everyone feel more at ease. At the very least, if the clan accepted these things, it would have to treat them, the outsiders, as equals.
Tan You saw through their thoughts. They were all just planning for their own futures; it wasn’t a sign of low character.
Because there was so much grain, the group acquired more carts and carriages after coming down the mountain. But as their "zero-cost shopping" sprees became more frequent, the number of grain-filled carriages they had also grew.
Just like that, Tan You led her people toward Miao Gou Village, engaging in one "zero-cost shopping" spree after another. From early spring to early summer, she was gone for over three months and brought back more than two hundred people. This wasn’t a large number, but Tan You had her reasons.
Firstly, the clan itself already had over six hundred members. If they took in too many refugees and those refugees turned on them, it would bring disaster to the clan. Therefore, Tan You was extremely selective. She didn’t accept anyone who was lazy or treacherous.
In the end, among those who were wandering, the capable and resourceful ones had mostly settled down along the way. Those who were still on the road were worth scrutinizing.
Bringing back over two hundred people and dozens of carts filled with grain, Tan You and her group trekked through mountains and waded through rivers to return to the clan. They deliberately chose smaller paths and traveled at night, worried about attracting unwanted attention.
Chen Tianshui had received Tan You’s letter long ago and led the clansmen out of the settlement to welcome them that evening. As for the refugees they had taken in, after several months of eating and drinking well with Tan You, they were no longer the emaciated skeletons they had once been.
Now, upon meeting the clan members, every one of them raised their guard.