Master Qian's eyes widened. He looked down and saw three wooden spears and two arrows buried in his chest.
"Who... are you people?"
After Master Qian finished speaking, a large mouthful of blood welled up from his mouth. He stared straight at Qin Sang, who was not far away.
Qin Sang hadn't intended to answer, but after thinking for a moment, she still said loudly:
"I am the Third Leader of Qingfeng Stockade on Qingfeng Mountain. Although my Qingfeng Stockade has become outlaws, we never oppress good and honest commoners."
"Having heard that you have turned a natural disaster into a man-made calamity, eating human flesh and drinking human blood, my Qingfeng Stockade has specially come down the mountain to punish evil and eliminate the wicked, acting on behalf of Heaven."
"As for the crimes you have committed, go to hell and repent to King Yama."
With just a few simple words, the image of the Qingfeng Mountain bandits was elevated by more than ten feet.
As Qin Sang's voice fell, everyone stepped back, and Master Qian's tall body collapsed to the ground.
Master Qian was dead.
Qin Sang breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stepped forward to have everyone check for injuries.
Fortunately, apart from a few blade marks on the wooden shields that had been struck, everyone was fine.
Hei Zi was the boldest. He stepped forward and stripped all the valuable jewelry from the man named Qian, handing it to Qin Sang.
Qin Sang wrapped them in a cloth bundle and ordered:
"Collect all the weapons. Twenty people will dig a pit to bury the bodies. The remaining ten will form a small squad and search in different directions. Don't be afraid if you encounter enemies; just follow the steps we practiced earlier. Report any situation immediately."
Steward Huangs Residence was very large and spacious. After the group split up to search, they quickly cleared the inside and outside. They also found the warehouse. Tian Sangui and the others came over excitedly and said:
"Mother, we found the warehouse! There's so much food, as well as silver and copper coins."
"Da Zhuangs Mother, the well in the backyard still has water."
"There's also a Horse and three oxen in the livestock shed—more than what your family has!"
Regardless of ancient or modern times, wealthy people were very particular about building houses and would even hire professional Feng Shui Masters. It wasn't surprising that the well at Steward Huangs Residence could still produce water.
There was certainly money and grain. Since they robbed good families, even those fleeing the famine, there would more or less be some life-saving food left.
What surprised Qin Sang was that there was still livestock.
Thinking of A Shui's mother, Qin Sang's heart felt cold. In such a world, a human life was not even as valuable as livestock.
Qin Sang hadn't expected the excuse she came up with to accurately hit the greed and selfishness of Master Qian and his men.
Even with food and water, they wouldn't share a single bite with their low-level subordinates, choosing to keep it all for themselves.
Instead of slaughtering livestock, they chose to slaughter people.
If he had been even a little better to those people, they wouldn't have ended up killing each other.
But then again, if they weren't greedy and selfish, they wouldn't have become Devils who ate human flesh and drank human blood.
Expecting a demon to have a conscience was a joke.
The so-called warehouse was actually the best room in the house.
A carved bed, round tables and stools, and an exquisite dressing table—this was likely Madam Huang's room. Although they had moved their valuables, they couldn't take this furniture with them.
Qin Sang saw a pile of grain on the floor and a cabinet full of treasures.
The grain was mostly Millet and wheat, and one could see sand and dirt mixed in. There were also some dried vegetables and salt—not much, about three or four thousand catties in total.
The cabinet contained mostly silver hairpins and bracelets. Many of the silver bracelets were the kind worn by infants. There were also about a dozen silver hairpins for women, as well as some Longevity Locks and Silver Ingots, totaling about two to three hundred taels.
Under the cabinet, there were also some exquisite porcelain, calligraphy, and paintings. It was unclear if they were valuable.
Beside the cabinet was a red-lacquered wooden chest for clothes that had already been opened. It was full of copper coins, estimated to be at least thirty thousand.
On the round table, there was also a large bundle of clothes and fabrics, some of which still had bloodstains.
In the corner by the bed, many cotton quilts and clothes were piled up like a small mountain.
Many villagers were stunned into silence when they saw so much money and food.
"Da Zhuangs Mother, these things..."
Everyone's eyes fell on Qin Sang. Along the way, Qin Sang had already become their backbone and spokesperson.
Qin Sang's expression darkened slightly:
"Take it all. We'll talk once we get back."
Although these things weren't the goal, since they were already here, even if Qin Sang didn't care for them, the other villagers wouldn't agree to leave them. Moreover, they needed to solidify the fact that bandits had looted the place.
Joy appeared in everyone's eyes, and they began to move the items.
Led by the villagers, Qin Sang went to the backyard.
The area around the well in the steward's house was paved with bluestone slabs, and the wellhead was made of bricks, with a rainproof shed built over it.
Qin Sang took a look. Although there was water, it wasn't much—only a shallow layer. This amount of water was enough for three people to survive.
She didn't have everyone fetch the water. Instead, Qin Sang turned to the livestock. One of the oxen looked a bit familiar to her, like the one Old Man Hu used for his ox cart.
She didn't know if Old Man Hu had met with misfortune.
The Horse and oxen were kept together and were eating Millet greedily. Tian Yougen said indignantly:
"That man named Qian was really a piece of work. He'd rather give grain to livestock than give his subordinates a single bite."
Qin Sang shook her head and smiled:
"I suspect that man named Qian was planning to flee, which is why he gave them a full meal. Otherwise, look at how thin they are."
Tian Yougen looked closely and saw the shape of the ribs on the ox's belly. He scratched his head and said:
"Da Zhuangs Mother still sees things most clearly. Then what about these animals?"
Qin Sang raised an eyebrow:
"Since they've eaten their fill, they can help us carry those things back."
Tian Yougen was overjoyed. This meant that these four animals now belonged to their Tianjia Village.
"Understood!"
With the help of the three oxen, moving the items from the warehouse became much easier.
They also dismantled a bedboard to carry A Shui.
They didn't take the road back to Tianjia Village, but instead took the winding mountain path that Steward Huang had pointed out earlier.
She arranged for ten people to follow slightly behind to prevent being tracked and to hide their tracks.
When they encountered refugees taking shelter in the mountains, everyone told the same story, saying they were from Qingfeng Mountain. Knowing they were bandits, no one was bold enough to try and rob them; instead, they all trembled with fear, afraid that Qin Sang and her group would target them.
Qin Sang had Tian Yougen distribute a little food to them and informed them that the Rebel Soldiers in the Town were all dead, and there was still water to be drawn from the well in Songbai Town.
Along the way, the bandits of Qingfeng Mountain became the living Bodhisattvas who saved people from suffering in everyone's eyes.
Among the refugees, a young man lowered his head as Qin Sang's group passed by.
His eyes flickered with a surging hatred.
Passing through Sanchagou from the neighboring village, Hei Zi and Hunter Xu went to pick up A Jing, Horse, and Da Huang from the village. By the time they met up, it was already the Hour of the Dog.
No one intended to set up camp on the spot. Qin Sang understood that everyone wanted to return to the campsite early to divide the spoils. Having been out for so many days, she also missed Eldest Girl and home, so she agreed to travel through the night.
Holding torches and having such a large harvest, no one felt tired at all, even while traveling at night.
Tian Yougen deliberately lagged behind a bit, walking beside Qin Sang, and asked in a low voice:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, what about A Shui and A Jing..."