After learning that the villagers of Tianjia Village had come to support her, Qin Sang devised a strategy to attack the enemy from both the front and the rear.
She had Da Zhuang, San Gui, and Hei Zi lead half of the villagers down the mountain from Sancha Gully, taking a detour through a neighboring village to circle behind the Rebel Soldiers.
Since the detour would take some time, Qin Sang stayed behind to draw the attention of Butcher Hu and the Rebel Soldiers, pretending that the villagers had compromised and were handing her over.
The reason Butcher Hu and his men fell for it so easily, without a single person checking their rear, was firstly because they weren't a regular army; they were an untrained, inexperienced rabble of refugees.
Secondly, they never imagined in their wildest dreams that the people of Tianjia Village would choose the risk of bloodshed over compromise. They didn't know Qin Sang's influence in Tianjia Village and underestimated the courage of its people.
Having faced ferocious beasts like the giant snake and the White-Haired Pig, the people of Tianjia Village now had the confidence to resist and understood the importance of unity even more.
Once the arrows and wooden spears were spent, the villagers released the Horses' reins, and Da Huang was also freed from his restraints.
The Horses charged into the rebel ranks, one kick from a hoof sending a man flying. With a toss of a head, the few remaining rebels were thrown into chaos. Da Huang charged forward alongside the villagers.
No one showed mercy. Facing these Devils who ate human flesh, drank human blood, and even tried to set the mountain on fire, they raised their knives and let them fall without a trace of pity.
After dealing with these forty-odd men, a thick scent of blood soon wafted through the area, and the earth was stained red with fresh blood.
After delivering the finishing blows, the villagers quickly used yellow earth to cover and extinguish the torches. Fortunately, in ancient times, firewood was the most important of the daily necessities; any fallen leaves or branches on the ground would have been taken home as fuel by the industrious villagers.
Furthermore, because Qin Sang had been purchasing Medicinal Herbs, and since the locust swarm had passed through leaving no grain to harvest, the back mountain was full of pits and hollows. The ground was clean with nothing to catch fire; otherwise, dozens of torches falling to the ground would have posed a significant hazard.
After being hit by an arrow, Butcher Hu took the opportunity to fall to the ground, then rolled to hide behind a large tree.
Seeing the villagers of Tianjia Village busy extinguishing the fire, Butcher Hu looked for a chance to escape, only to find Hei Zi leading several men to cut him off from behind. Immediately after, Qin Sang and the other villagers closed in on him, forming a perimeter in an instant.
Hei Zi gave a cold snort.
"Aunt, it's a good thing you told us to keep a close eye on this guy. He actually knew how to play dead! If we hadn't been watching him the whole time, he might really have gotten away."
Qin Sang hummed in agreement. To capture the rebels, one must first capture their Leader. Although Butcher Hu wasn't much of a Leader, he was a huge threat.
So, when Qin Sang first made the plan, she had Hunter Xu, the best archer, reward him with the very first arrow, ensuring it hit its mark.
Meanwhile, Hei Zi and the others were responsible for guarding this part of the forest. No matter what happened, they had to ensure that not a single rebel soldier escaped.
With this arrangement, the others could quickly deal with the torches. After all, the weather was dry; if the large trees caught fire, they would have to use their own water supplies to put it out.
Before, the villagers might not have understood why Qin Sang made these arrangements, but now it was clear that every step she took minimized the villagers' casualties.
Compared to the mental preparation they had made for a bloody fight to the death on their way here, their admiration for Qin Sang reached a new peak once again.
The already injured Butcher Hu fell to his knees with a thud.
"I beg you, please let me go this once. I know I'm guilty of terrible crimes and deserve to die a thousand deaths, but... I know where the Rebel Soldiers' treasury is! I... I'll take you there. Can you just let me off, please?"
Seeing Qin Sang and the others stop and exchange glances, Butcher Hu thought there was hope for his offer and immediately said:
"The rebels looted a lot of wealth and kept it all in a treasury. In the whole of Songbai Town, only Master Qian and I know about it. The copper coins are piled like mountains, and there's silver and gold too! I... I'll give all that treasure to you. Can I buy my miserable life with it?"
"I also have two children; my daughter is only a year old. If I die, they'll die too. Please, have some pity on them, won't you?"
"I promise, I promise I'll never do anything wicked again. I'll be a good person and do good deeds, okay?"
Butcher Hu begged frantically for mercy. Everyone remained silent, but Da Huang barked wildly at him. Seeing Butcher Hu kneeling and begging, the dog ran over, snatched the Butcher Knife away in his mouth, and continued to snarl at him.
"If you don't trust me, cut off one of my hands—my right hand, okay? Widow Tian, no..."
"Mother-in-law, dear mother-in-law, Er Fu and I were husband and wife. A day as a couple means a hundred days of gratitude. Er Fu is already my woman; I'll treat her well from now on, I'll protect her with my life! I'm your son-in-law; a son-in-law is like half a son..."
Qin Sang couldn't listen any longer and shouted sternly:
"Enough! Shut up!"
"Don't you dare try to claim kinship here. If I were the one surrounded today, would you have spared a thought for the fact that I was once your elder?"
"You'd probably have picked my bones clean and eaten my flesh, wouldn't you?"
Butcher Hu hung his head at the question. From Widow Tian's tone, he knew she wouldn't let him go.
Butcher Hu's eyes darted around rapidly, and then he suddenly lowered his head and lunged to the side, trying to break through the encirclement to escape.
"Pin him down!" Qin Sang shouted. Hei Zi, who had been on high alert, lunged forward and slashed his knife across Butcher Hu's back. Blood immediately poured out, and Butcher Hu was cut down to the ground, losing all ability to resist.
Tian Yougen stepped forward and pulled out the arrow lodged in Butcher Hu's back. The iron arrowhead brought out a clump of flesh and blood.
"Ah!" Butcher Hu screamed in agony, twitching on the ground.
"Spare me, spare my life! There really is a lot of treasure, really! I... I'll give it all to you..."
Tian Yougen looked at Qin Sang.
"This guy..."
Qin Sang took a cold look at Butcher Hu's miserable state.
"That money was just looted from the commoners you slaughtered; it's all stained with the blood of innocent souls. My Tianjia Village doesn't dare to take such money, nor do we care for it."
"As for you knowing the location of the treasury... Heh, let me guess. Is the treasury at the Magistrate's Office, or... at Steward Huang's Residence?"
When Qin Sang mentioned Steward Huang's Residence, Butcher Hu's eyes clearly flickered with the shock of her guessing correctly. A cold smile curled on Qin Sang's lips.
"It seems I guessed right. It's at Steward Huang's Residence."
Butcher Hu twitched in pain, the massive loss of blood making him feel cold.
"How... how did you know?"
Qin Sang shrugged.
"Is it that hard to guess? Why did you rebels cause such chaos? Wasn't it to seize money, women, and houses?"
"The most comfortable residence in all of Songbai Town is Steward Huang's Residence. The rebel Leader would definitely be living there."
"With all the wealth they worked so hard to plunder, would a rebel Leader leave it in some broken-down shack for his subordinates to guard instead of keeping it right under his own nose?"
Despair appeared in Butcher Hu's eyes. He knew he was finished; his last shred of hope was gone.
Qin Sang ignored him and said to the villagers:
"This Butcher Hu drove his first wife to her death, oppressed the people, ate human flesh and drank human blood, and almost set the mountain on fire to destroy all of Tianjia Village. His crimes are heinous."
"I suggest we use his head as an offering to the innocent people he killed and harmed."