Early in the morning, someone returned to the village.
Even the heavy rain couldn't stop the way home.
Last night, many terrifying noises were heard.
Especially in the cold night of the deep mountains, the more you listened, the more frightened you became.
Everyone didn't get a good rest.
Early in the morning, they couldn't hold back and returned to the village.
As a result, it seemed that Lord Liu's house was also quiet.
The heavy rain washed Lord Liu's tall walls clean, the green tiles were wet.
The colors were vibrant.
The villagers who were close by clearly heard cries.
But they never expected that when they returned to the village, it would be so quiet.
A group of people gathered, and then the bravest ones went to knock on the door.
The result was that with just a gentle push of the door, they saw Sixth Aunt's husband lying on the ground, with an arrow in his chest, eyes wide open, mouth agape, rain washing his face, the large mole on his face even more prominent.
Inside were various corpses, some familiar, some unfamiliar.
They found Hua'er's fiancé, Wu, who was pinned under the corpses.
When Wu saw the villagers return, he burst into tears.
He was truly scared.
His arm was grazed by an arrow, his leg might be twisted, but he didn't die.
Now he was cold and hungry, feeling like he was about to freeze to death, soaked in water, with a robber's corpse pressed on top of him.
"The robbers came, they killed Lord Liu, killed many people, and then for some reason, they started fighting each other, all dead, all dead..."
His lips were purple, trembling as he spoke.
The villagers dragged him out.
They went inside again.
Inside was also a scene of unspeakable cruelty.
The once high and mighty Old Madam Liu was dead, not wearing any clothes.
Suddenly, a villager wailed, kneeling on the ground, shouting with tears streaming down his face, "Hua'er, Hua'er, look, Old low woman is dead, dead."
His daughter Hua'er, who Lord Liu took a liking to, saying she was well-nourished, Lord Liu said they couldn't pay back the money, so he took the daughter as payment. Their family borrowed a bag of coarse grains at the beginning of the year to work for a year, but they didn't pay it back, thinking that at least their daughter could have a decent meal and not starve to death.
But on the third day, their daughter was beaten to death.
Old low woman said their daughter stole her earrings.
Beaten to death.
He wanted to see his daughter, to ask if she had eaten, but all he saw was a tattered straw mat, with a pair of feet exposed outside, covered in scars, no shoes, no...
"Hua'er, oh Hua'er... look, look."
The wailing continued.
Most of the villagers had returned to the village.
Old Fifth Uncle was old, but he couldn't make decisions, so he brought everyone to find Second Jiang.
After all, without Second Jiang this time, they would all be corpses.
Second Jiang had read books and was knowledgeable, so they wanted to ask him for advice.
Then they saw the Jiang Family of five returning.
Second Jiang was riding a white horse.
Today's Second Jiang seemed different from before, his face was so handsome, as if it had been exchanged by a demon in the mountains.
"Second, you're back, are you all okay?" Old Fifth Uncle shouted warmly.
Qin Luoxia greeted them with a child in her arms, "Uncle Dagen, Uncle Dagen, Snore Brother... why have you all come over."
Jiang Changtian quickly dismounted and politely said to the crowd, "Just come in directly, sit inside, we are all family, no need to be polite."
The crowd saw Second Jiang approaching and panicked, taking a step back in a fluster.
Is Second Jiang always like this?
Is he always like this?
I haven't really looked closely, coming and going early and late.
He looks too otherworldly.
The village's big girls can't find anyone prettier than him.
Looking at his beautiful and kind face, one would feel reluctant to say anything harsh to him.
No wonder Luoxia, that little girl, looks like a snow doll, just like she followed Second Jiang, identical.
The crowd was shocked by Second Jiang's appearance.
Then they remembered there was something even more shocking in front of them.
They're all dead, all dead, Lord Liu's family is almost all dead, many bandits are dead, what should we do?
…
Jiang Mianmian fell asleep swaying on her mother's back and woke up to the familiar smell when she got home.
Opening her eyes, she saw many people.
She also saw many ants.
Qin Luoxia went to open the door, she reached out, and the ants on the door scattered, then quickly disappeared.
She pushed the door open and entered the courtyard.
Everyone followed in, seeing that the courtyard was not much different from their own, just cleaner.
Jiang Mianmian fell into her sister's embrace.
Her mother went to pour water for everyone.
Jiang Feng helped his father greet the guests.
Jiang Yu was assigned to Jiang Mianmian.
She curiously held her sister to watch the excitement.
Jiang Feng served tea for everyone.
Moved chairs.
And handed out a piece of bread to go with the tea to each person.
Some ate directly, some put it in their bags, some awkwardly looked at Second Jiang sitting in front of them.
Second Jiang had clear features, a gentle demeanor, looking at him made people feel at ease, thinking he was a very good person.
"Second Brother, what do we do now? The bandits and Lord Liu's family are all dead, Cui's fiancé Xiao Wu survived, saying there was infighting among the bandits. Oh, and Sixth Aunt is still alive, but both legs are broken, can't really make out what she's saying, just groaning."
Old Fifth Uncle spoke up.
"They're all dead?" Jiang Changtian showed a shocked expression, followed by contemplation.
This unruly group of people surprisingly didn't interrupt when Second Jiang fell silent, but patiently waited quietly.
"Lord Liu's daughter is the county magistrate's concubine. If we report to the officials rashly, we might get blamed, we're all alive, how did Lord Liu's family end up dead? Secondly, this group of bandits is dead, there must be other bandits, if the bandits come again, I don't know when, then we definitely won't have this luck again, we won't be able to escape."
As Jiang Changtian spoke, he tapped his knee, sitting on a small stool, having also fled overnight, he looked like he had just returned from a heavenly peach banquet, even more beautiful.
"Old Fifth Uncle, if you trust me, I'll take charge for everyone. If you don't trust me, then our family dare not stay, we can just take our family to the capital city to seek refuge with a nobleman. That nobleman values our Feng'er very much, even leaving behind a horse, hoping that Feng'er will go to seek refuge with them."
"We trust, we trust!"
"Mr. Jiang, please don't leave. The entire village depends on you to show us a way to survive."
"Yes, Jiang, you must stay. We will follow your lead, whatever you say, we will do."
"Mr. Jiang, you saved the lives of my whole family. From now on, our lives belong to you. We will follow you wherever you go." A man patted his chest and spoke earnestly.
Old Fifth Uncle also stood up and bowed respectfully, "Jiang, Jiang Changtian, we all beg of you."
Jiang Changtian was persuaded by everyone.
He then said seriously, "Lord Liu's family has a good amount of food stored. If we distribute it among everyone, we should be able to last a few days. But at present, we are facing a life and death crisis, and our survival is uncertain. We must first unite and defend against external enemies. My daughter Feng has a secret manual given by a benefactor. She has been practicing for a short while and has made significant progress."
At this moment, Jiang Feng took out a sword, displaying only seventy percent of his skill, and with one strike, he split a tree stump in half as if it were tofu.
The onlookers were envious. If they had this skill, their wives and children would not have to go hungry.
"I can have Feng teach everyone how to practice. Men and women of all ages can follow along. Once we all improve, we can defend against external enemies together. As long as we survive, by next spring, we can divide the fields and mountains, based on everyone's performance. In the future, everyone will have their own land, their own fields, and enough food to eat, no longer oppressed by Lord Liu."
"Jiang!"
"Mr. Jiang!"
"Brother Jiang."
The eager calls echoed one after another, as the villagers thought about having land and fields to divide next year, and they trembled with excitement.
Watching Jiang Second as if he were a living bodhisattva saving the suffering and in distress.
Listening to the respectful calls, Jiang Changtian's expression became even more humble and kind, exuding a sense of ethereal aura.
He had visited each of these people's homes to treat illnesses and provide herbal medicine, helping each family establish themselves in the village.
Yet everyone called him Second Jiang.
Now, he had brought in bandits and killed an entire family.
Everyone called him Jiang, Mr. Jiang.
He was surrounded by the crowd and made his way through, seeing a figure bustling in the kitchen wearing an apron.
He smiled.
