OBS Chapter 1234 Qin Hao Trains His Brother
Chapter 1234 Qin Hao Trains His Brother
The bloody smell in the cave had not yet dissipated, and the villagers gathered around the four bandit corpses and discussed it. Some suggested just throwing them in the cave, while others advocated burying them on the spot.
Qin Hao walked up to Bai Jiaxuan and said, "Da, we can't just deal with these bodies like this."
Bai Jiaxuan was holding Bai Ling and trying to comfort her. He frowned when he heard this: "Baby, what do you mean?"
"Take them back to the village and hang them at the entrance of the village for public display." Qin Hao's voice was not loud, but the surrounding villagers could hear it clearly.
An elder in the village was immediately shocked: "This is unacceptable! What if the bandits have accomplices? Isn't this just asking for trouble?"
The other villagers echoed this, with fear written all over their faces.
Bai Jiaxuan looked at Mr. Zhu hesitantly. Mr. Zhu twisted his beard and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Hao'er is right. Displaying the bodies of these villains is to let other bandits know that Bailuyuan is not a place where they can run wild!"
Mr. Zhu's voice echoed in the cave: "To be kind to the wicked is to be cruel to the good. If we let these bandits off easily today, more villains will come to attack Bailuyuan tomorrow."
Seeing his brother-in-law say this, Bai Jiaxuan immediately decided: "Lu San, go find some hemp ropes! Everyone who is young and strong can lend a hand and carry these bodies back to the village!"
In the twilight, a strange team slowly marched towards Bailu Village. The bodies of the four bandits were tied to wooden poles, and blood trailed long trails on the loess road. Qin Hao walked in the front, followed by the young men carrying the bodies, followed by Bai Jiaxuan and Mr. Zhu holding Bai Ling, and finally the villagers who were still in shock.
Under the memorial archway at the entrance of the village, Xiancao was leaning against a pillar and looking around. Her forehead was still wrapped in white cloth, and blood was faintly visible. When she saw the baby in Bai Jiaxuan's arms, she rushed over like an arrow.
"Ling'er! My Ling'er!" Xiancao took her daughter tremblingly and put her face against the baby's delicate face. Her tears instantly wet the swaddling clothes. Bai Ling giggled and waved her little hands in the air, as if to comfort her mother.
Bai Jiaxuan patted his wife's shoulder and said, "Thanks to Hao'er, if it weren't for him..."
Xiancao then noticed the bodies being carried back and took two steps back in fear. When she heard that these were the bandits who kidnapped her daughter and that they were all killed by Qin Hao alone, her expression became complicated.
In the ancestral hall, the blue brick floor cast mottled shadows. Shitou was tied up and kneeling in front of the ancestral tablet. The thick hemp rope cut deeply into his flesh, leaving two bloody marks on his wrists.
The villagers surrounded him in three layers, like an impenetrable human wall.
Some cursed at him, some spat at him, and some even picked up the soles of their shoes and smashed them in his face.
"If you want to hit me, hit me!" Shitou's wife cried heartbreakingly. Little Shitou was so scared that he cried loudly, but he also opened his hands like his mother.
The crowd's anger finally subsided. Suddenly, three gongs sounded outside the ancestral hall. The villagers parted like a tide, making way for a passage. Bai Jiaxuan walked in front, followed by Mr. Zhu and several white-haired elders. The elders' crutches hit the blue bricks, making a dull "dong dong" sound.
When Shitou's wife saw Bai Jiaxuan, she fell to her knees, her knees hitting the ground with a dull sound. She grabbed her son's collar and pressed little Shitou to the ground to kowtow.
"Jiaxuan." Her forehead was red from hitting the brick floor. "Shitou has been blinded by greed. Our whole family feels sorry for you."
She suddenly turned around and punched her husband on the back with her fist: "You have no conscience! Have you forgotten who rescued you from death row?"
Shitou's back was pounded, but he clenched his teeth and said nothing. His wife was tired of beating him, so she turned back and hugged Bai Jiaxuan's legs: "For the sake of our bloodline, please forgive him this time! In the future, our whole family will work like slaves to repay him."
Bai Jiaxuan looked at the crying woman, then glanced at the trembling little stone, and his brows relaxed unconsciously.
He was about to speak when he felt his sleeve being gently tugged.
Qin Hao leaned close to his ear, his voice was as light as a feather, but it was as heavy as a thousand pounds: "Da, if I hadn't risked my life to break into the cave today, and if I hadn't been lucky enough that the gun didn't miss or jam, Ling'er and I might not see the sun tomorrow."
Bai Jiaxuan trembled all over. Yes, when the gunshots were heard in the cave, he almost fainted. Ling'er is his only daughter, and Hao'er is the heir of the Bai family, the next generation leader who has the best chance of leading the Bai family to achieve family leap.
Thinking of this, he slowly pulled back his legs and walked towards the ancestral tablets with heavy steps. Three yellow incense sticks trembled slightly in his hands. After lighting them, he inserted them into the incense burner, and the green smoke rose straight up to the beams.
"A country has its own laws, and a clan has its own rules." When Bai Jiaxuan turned around, his voice was as steady as a rock. His index finger pointed at the stone like a sword drawn from its sheath: "He colluded with bandits, murdered his own people, and even spared a one-month-old baby - what do you think should be done?"
The ancestral hall suddenly exploded.
"Beat him to death!" Bai Xing'er was the first to jump out, "Throw him into the mass grave and feed him to the wild dogs!"
"It's too easy for him!" Lu San led Heiwa to the front and said with gritted teeth: "He should be buried alive! Let him taste the feeling of being buried up to his neck in the dirt!"
When Shitou's wife heard the words "buried alive", her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Little Shitou was so scared that he cried loudly, but was forcibly dragged aside by several women.
Shitou suddenly jumped up, and his bound body bounced like a fish out of water: "Come on! If I frown, I'm not my mother's son!"
"Okay! You want to die, I'll grant your wish!" Bai Jiaxuan got furious when he saw that he had no intention of repenting.
"According to our ancestral family rules, if you are beaten to death, you will not be allowed to be buried in the ancestral tomb after death!"
Eight strong men immediately came out holding jujube wood sticks as thick as bowls. These sticks were usually used to support the gate of the ancestral hall, and now they glowed coldly under the firelight.
Shi Tou was put into a sack and pressed to the ground. When the first stick fell, Shi Tou's screams came from the sack.
Shitou's wife suddenly rushed out from the crowd, looked at everyone and smiled miserably: "Since you all must kill him, then I will die with him."
As he said that, he got into the sack.
Little Stone's crying suddenly became louder, like a knife cutting through the roof of the ancestral hall.
The young and strong men in charge of the execution looked at Bai Jiaxuan with embarrassment.
Bai Jiaxuan was at a loss for a moment. Seeing this, Mr. Zhu beside him bowed to several elders.
"Although Shitou deserved his punishment, it is unkind for a son to kill his father. God is merciful. Why not show him some mercy, beat him with 30 sticks, drive him out of Bailuyuan, and never let him return home? How do you think?"
Lu Taiheng exchanged glances with several elders, but none of them raised any objections.
Bai Jiaxuan subconsciously looked at Qin Hao. Qin Hao sighed secretly. Killing him forcibly would only make the tribe members think that Bai Jiaxuan, the tribe leader, was cold-blooded. Meeting such a wife was a blessing in disguise.
"Da, you are the patriarch, you decide."
Bai Jiaxuan had the two people shaken out of the sack, and then shouted sternly: "You can be spared the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of living. You will be beaten with a stick thirty times and expelled from Bailuyuan. You will never be allowed to set foot in the village again!"
Shitou spat out a mouthful of blood and said, "Pah, if you want to leave, then leave. I will never stay here to see your faces even if I starve to death."
When Shitou's wife heard that her husband's life was saved, her legs went limp and she fell to the ground.
……
When they got home, Xiancao had already gently placed the sleeping Bai Ling on the kang. Seeing Qin Hao coming back, she immediately pulled the two brothers Bai Xiaowen and Bai Xiaowu and knelt down in front of Qin Hao with a plop.
"Hao'er, thank you for saving Ling'er." Xiancao's voice was choked with sobs. Although her two younger brothers didn't understand what was going on, they also kowtowed.
Qin Hao quickly bent down to help her: "Auntie, what are you doing! Get up quickly!" As soon as his hand touched Xiancao's arm, Lu San rushed in with Heiwa.
Heiwa had a cloth wrapped around his head and bruises on his face, but he looked very energetic.
Lu San held his son's shoulder and said, "Thank you, young master, for saving my life!"
Heiwa knelt down and kowtowed three times.
Qin Hao had no choice but to hold up the fairy grass with one hand and pull up Lu San with the other hand: "Uncle San, aren't you shortening my life?"
He then said to Heiwa and the others who were still kneeling, "Get up. There is no candy on the ground."
Heiwa got up and stared at Qin Hao with sparkling eyes: "Brother Hao, can you teach me how to use a gun? If I knew how to shoot, I wouldn't have done that today."
As he spoke, his voice lowered, but his fists clenched tightly.
Bai Jiaxuan seemed to remember something and asked in confusion: "By the way, Hao'er, how do you know how to use a gun? I remember that we don't have such a thing at home."
Qin Hao rolled his eyes and said calmly, "Some of our classmates' families are officers in the army. Sometimes during holidays, we often go to the military camp together to play. After a while, we learned it."
Bai Jiaxuan nodded and didn't ask any more questions. In his mind, his eldest son had been very smart since he was young, and he learned everything quickly, so it was no surprise that he could use a gun.
"Brother Hao, just promise me!" Heiwa pulled Qin Hao's sleeve, unable to hide the desire in his eyes.
Qin Hao looked at the four seized Mauser pistols and dozens of bullets and said with a smile, "Well, these guns are just sitting there anyway."
Seeing this, Bai Xiaowen also shouted: "Brother, I want to learn too!"
Xiancao pulled him and said, "You are not even as tall as a gun, why are you learning this!"
Qin Hao advised: "Aunt, as the saying goes, many skills are good. And I think the world will be in chaos in the future. Boys should learn some martial arts, which can not only strengthen their bodies, but also help them deal with things calmly."
Bai Jiaxuan nodded while holding his pipe in his mouth: "Yes, a man should act like a man. Not only filial piety and literature, but also filial piety and martial arts!"
Seeing that her husband had spoken, Xiancao had no choice but to stop objecting.
But soon Bai Xiaowen felt a little regretful for being jealous of Heiwa.
Before dawn the next day, Qin Hao pulled Bai Xiaowen and Bai Xiaowu out of bed. Heiwa had already been waiting in the yard, as energetic as a little rooster.
"Brother, it's not dawn yet," Bai Xiaowen complained, rubbing his eyes.
Qin Hao said seriously: "A gun only has a few bullets. If you use up all the bullets and someone gets close to you, you will be slaughtered without a strong body. From today on, practice physical fitness first!"
After that, he started running around the village with the three half-grown children. At first, Bai Xiaowen could keep up, but he started to pant after running less than two miles. Heiwa and Bai Xiaowu, however, seemed to be full of energy and followed Qin Hao closely.
"Brother, I can't run anymore." Bai Xiaowen held his knees, gasping for breath.
Qin Hao turned back and said sternly: "You're already complaining of being tired after running so short? The enemy won't let you go just because you're tired!"
Bai Xiaowen wanted to cry but had no tears, so he could only grit his teeth and continue. After running five miles, he collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. Heiwa and Bai Xiaowu were not much better, but their eyes were shining with excitement.
At lunch time, Xiancao looked at her sons wolfing down their food with concern. Bai Xiaowen couldn't even hold his chopsticks steadily, and Bai Xiaowu even fell asleep on the table while eating.
"Hao'er, they are still children," Xiancao couldn't help but say.
Qin Hao put down his bowl and chopsticks: "Aunt, it is precisely because they are still young that we need to lay a solid foundation. When they grow up, these skills may save their lives."
Bai Jiaxuan nodded in agreement: "Hao'er is right. When I was their age, I had to go to the fields to work before dawn."
Xiancao sighed and said no more. After dinner, when she was about to fetch water to clean her two sons, she saw through the crack in the door that Qin Hao was giving his brothers a massage to relax them.
Xiancao quietly withdrew and never asked about the brothers' training again.
She knew that although Qin Hao was strict, he truly cared about his younger brothers.
For three consecutive days, Qin Hao took Heiwa, Xiaowen and Xiaowu brothers to "jump up and down" in the village, which also attracted many young and middle-aged people in the village, especially when Qin Hao was explaining firearms.
Although these honest farmers don't even have guns at home, it does not prevent them from being curious about firearms.
After all, guns are a romance that belongs exclusively to men.
"Brother Hao, can you let us shoot a few shots too?"
"I'll just shoot once, just one shot."
Facing the "old-fashioned" people around him, Bai Xiaowen put on a condescending attitude: "Go away, go away, what are you doing here? This is a real gun that can kill people. It's not something you made of wood. Can you just fire it casually?"
The onlookers could not hide their disappointment and were about to leave when they saw Qin Hao slap Bai Xiaowen on the head.
"If you keep talking in that tone, I'll beat you to death. I've said before that the Bailu and Bailu families are from the same clan and have the same origins. Only by supporting each other can we maintain our family tradition despite all the troubled times. Put away your damn sense of superiority."
Heiwa's eyes lit up, and like the villagers around him, he looked at Qin Hao with admiration in his eyes.
Bai Xiaowen did not dare to retort even though he was beaten in public. He had realized that in this family, both his parents and his grandmother listened to his eldest brother. If he went back to complain, his parents would not blame him but would scold him severely.
Qin Hao glanced at the laborers around him who looked thin but were actually strong. He couldn't help but have an idea and raised the rifle in his hand.
"It's fine if you want to shoot a gun, but you have to understand the structure and principle of a gun first. Otherwise, if I give you a gun, you won't know how to maintain it, and when you really need it in the future, it might explode and injure you." (End of this chapter)