bayedsolid Chapter 152 Descendants of Sinners
Chapter 152 Descendants of Sinners
"Father, save me! Save me!" A girl's cries broke the tranquility of a small mountain village outside Efeng Fort.
Two servants, each with a long knife at their waist, were dragging a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old out of a dilapidated thatched hut. A lame old man followed behind, staggering.
"Young Master Sak, please! Spare my daughter! Once I recover, I'll go up the mountain to dig ginseng and pay back the money as soon as possible. Please! She's my only daughter; how can I live without her!" The old man knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Old Wu, your leg is broken. You're going to die sooner or later anyway. How are you going to pay back the money! Only your daughter is decent enough, so I'll take her in. Hahaha!"
Riding on his horse, Sak, with his face full of scars, laughed triumphantly.
The surrounding villagers watched in stunned silence, their faces blank. This Sak was the son of Niru Zhangjing Etai, an arrogant, ruthless, greedy, and lustful man.
Over the years, several Han Chinese have died at his hands, and countless Han women have been violated by him. If Wu Xia falls into his hands, one can only imagine what will happen to her.
But they dared not resist. This Niru of Etai was specifically responsible for guarding the descendants of these criminals. They included people from several nearby villages, all descendants of those who had followed Wu Sangui in his uprising in Yunnan.
After Wu Sangui's rebellion failed, the ancestors of these people were sent thousands of miles to the Northeast as slaves. They eventually settled here, and over two hundred years, their numbers gradually grew to over a thousand.
The Manchus in Efeng Fort were their masters. They farmed, hunted, and panned for gold. They had to pay the Manchus a large amount of taxes, and they also had to work for their Manchu masters for two months every year for free.
In other words, the Northeast is sparsely populated and there is plenty of prey in the mountains, which is why they were able to barely survive.
Wu Decai broke his leg while hunting in the mountains before the New Year, and his wife died of illness in the winter. In order to pay for his wife's medical treatment and burial, he had to borrow five taels of silver from the Niu Lu magistrate.
Unexpectedly, Sak has now come knocking on the door to collect the debt. The original five taels of silver have ballooned to twenty taels with compound interest. How could the Wu family possibly come up with that money?
Unable to come up with the money, Sak made Wu Decai use his daughter to pay off the debt, and no one dared to say anything.
Just as the servants kicked Wu Decai to the ground and tied Wu Xia to the horse, the sound of hooves approached, and a troop of men galloped into the village.
"Young master, it's Beard!" a servant whispered tremblingly beside Sack.
"I don't know which leader is it, but I pay my respects to Sak in Lower Jaws Fonteburg!" Sak said, trying to appear calm as he clasped his hands in a salute.
“You’re Sack? Very good!” Stone nodded, giving a wicked smile.
"Take it!"
“Master, let’s talk this out! My father is Etai, the Niru Zhangjing of Efengbao. Whether you want money or grain, my family is willing to provide it!” Sak and his servants dared not resist and let the other party tie them up tightly.
"This is our leader, Pangolin! We want not only money and food, but also your lives! Hahaha!" A fat, dark-skinned bandit laughed arrogantly.
Upon hearing the other person's words, Sack's legs went weak with fear, and urine flowed from his trouser leg.
"Damn it! That son of a bitch actually peed his pants in fear! What bad luck!" The fat, dark-skinned bandit cursed and kicked Sak to the ground.
Shi Tou shook his head, dismounted, untied the little girl from the horse, and took out a dagger to cut the ropes binding her.
The little girl immediately stumbled back and hid behind her father.
"Heroes, thank you for saving me! I am deeply grateful!" Wu Decai stepped forward and bowed.
Stone waved his hand and glanced at the villagers huddled to one side. "Folks, I am the Mountain Leopard. We may have beards, but we never rob the poor. Rest assured!"
"We've come here to deal with the Jatai father and son. We'll take Jafeng Fortress soon. Everyone go and see for yourselves. Let's settle our scores and avenge our grievances!" After saying this, Shi Tou clasped his hands in a fist salute, mounted his horse, and rode away like a whirlwind.
"Are these bearded men really not going to rob us?" After Shi Tou and the others walked away, the villagers slowly gathered around and began to whisper among themselves.
"Are they going to attack Jafon Castle?"
"Yes! I've heard of this Mountain Leopard. He seems very powerful, with several hundred men under his command. Maybe he really can take down Jawful Fortress?"
"That would be great! The entire Ayatai family are wolves; it would be wonderful if they were killed!"
. . . . . .
Efeng Fort is over a hundred years old. It covers an area of 250 acres. The four-meter-high rammed earth walls are mottled from being washed by rain, and a flag hangs listlessly on the fort's tower.
Two soldiers in tattered uniforms leaned against the gate tower wall, chatting idly while holding their rifles. Inside the gatehouse below the city wall, two or three soldiers sat boredly on chairs, smoking pipes.
Four or five riders approached slowly from a distance, attracting the attention of the flag bearers on the gate tower. The two immediately went to the wall to observe.
"It must be Young Master Sak and the others returning!" a flag bearer said, yawning.
"Hmm! Isn't that Ashar in front? And who are those behind him? They look like Han Chinese." As the knights approached, the two slowly recognized who they were.
"Who knows? Maybe they're just merchants coming to buy mountain goods again!" said another soldier standing nearby.
Although their place was remote, Han Chinese merchants occasionally came to sell daily necessities and buy mountain products, which did not surprise the two of them.
"Don't try anything funny, cooperate with us to take the city gate. We'll spare your whole family once we're inside!" The fat, dark-skinned bandit Wang Meng said to Asiha beside him with a big smile.
"No, no! I will definitely cooperate, rest assured, heroes!" Asiha said repeatedly. He had no choice; he had already witnessed the hundreds of bearded men earlier.
They were all armed with the latest rifles; their Ophonburg was no match for them. He only hoped that after the fortress was breached, they would truly spare his family.
"Asiha! Didn't you go out with the young master to collect debts? Why did you come back alone? And what are they doing here?" The group walked to the fortress gate, and the guards at the gate didn't get up, but sat in their chairs and asked.
Jafonburg had been peaceful for centuries and had never been attacked. These people had absolutely no sense of vigilance.
"We're here to kill you!" Wang Meng pulled out the rifle wrapped in a sack, quickly cocked it, and fired a shot that killed the flag bearer who was questioning him.
The other three brothers also drew their rifles, and the guards at the gate were all shot down before they could react.
Wang Meng and his men dismounted, ignoring the two lookout posts on the city wall. Instead, they quickly sought cover and, guns drawn, began guarding the fortress.