OBS Chapter 1233 Being targeted
Chapter 1233 Being targeted
Chapter 1233 Being targeted
Bai Jiaxuan cracked down on gambling with thundering means, which greatly changed the atmosphere in Bailu Village. The villagers returned to their peaceful life of working from sunrise to sunset.
Xiancao held her one-month-old daughter Bai Ling in her arms and gently advised, "Jiaxuan, the tribe members are afraid of you, but they also resent you. This time, Ling'er's full-month banquet should be bigger, and everyone should come to have a few drinks to ease the relationship."
This time Bai Jiaxuan did not refuse. He knew that he had indeed been too harsh, but the villagers were already wild and this evil trend could not be stopped without severe punishment.
After receiving Bai Jiaxuan's letter, Qin Hao took leave and rushed back from Xi'an. He also brought two bags of sugar cubes for Bai Xiaowen and Bai Xiaowu. The two little guys were very happy to eat them.
On the day of the banquet, more than a dozen elm tables were set up in the Bai family's courtyard. The women steamed buns and stewed meat, while the men brought wine and slaughtered sheep.
Fatty, shiny bacon was piled up like a mountain, jelly mixed with chili vinegar and water was piled in a coarse porcelain basin, children gathered around the stove to secretly gnaw on bones, and a few local dogs were drooling all over the floor because of their greed.
After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere at the banquet became even more lively. Bai Jiaxuan was drunk until his face turned red. He knew that the villagers were resentful of him, so he accepted all the drinks and drank a lot of them, bowl after bowl.
Seeing that Bai Jiaxuan was almost drunk, Qin Hao stepped forward to help him block a few bowls of wine, then helped him sit aside.
"Da, why haven't Auntie and Ling'er come out yet?"
Bai Jiaxuan waved his hands drunkenly: "Women are trouble..."
Qin Hao frowned. In his impression, Xiancao was not a procrastinating person. After realizing something was wrong, he rushed home immediately and opened the courtyard door, only to find Xiancao lying at the door of the inner room with blood oozing from the corner of his forehead. There was only a messy swaddling cloth left on the earthen kang in the room, and a letter was placed glaringly on the edge of the kang.
Lu San staggered over, his face pale, "Young Master, the bolt on the backyard door has been pried open! Heiwa... Heiwa is missing too!"
Qin Hao grabbed the letter. The crooked handwriting on the paper was like a poisonous snake spitting out words: "Five thousand dollars in exchange for two lives. Come to Heishuigou to redeem them in three days. If you dare to report to the authorities, you will have to wait for them to collect their bodies!"
"Young Master, what's written in the letter?" Lu San asked nervously as he couldn't read.
Qin Hao finished reading it word by word, and Lu San's eyes went dark, and he almost fell down: "What should I do? Five thousand dollars, even if I burn my bones dry, I can't afford it."
"Uncle San, Heiwa suffered for our Bai family. No matter what, we will not abandon him."
Lu San's legs went limp, and he was about to kneel down to Qin Hao, but Qin Hao lifted him up by the arm: "Uncle San, time is running out, this is not the time to talk about this. These people should not have gone far, and it may still be in time to catch up with them now."
At this time, Bai Jiaxuan also rushed back, and as soon as he entered the yard, he hugged Xiancao and burst into tears.
"Da, Auntie just fainted, it's nothing serious. The key now is that Ling'er and Heiwa have been kidnapped. We have to quickly send people to block the road to Xiayuan. As long as they are still on the plain, we won't be completely passive."
Bai Jiaxuan suddenly woke up after hearing this, and roared so loudly that dust fell off the eaves: "Lu San! Ride your horses to each village to call for help, and block the road to Xiayuan!"
The Bai family’s horse had been taken away, so Lu San had to go to the Lu family to get the horse.
Bai Jiaxuan held the fairy grass and put her on the bed. He was about to gather the villagers to chase after the person, but Qin Hao stopped him.
"Da, think about it, have you offended anyone recently?"
Bai Jiaxuan frowned and recalled - whipping stones, banning the cultivation of poppies, heavy penalties for gamblers... But he didn't believe that his tribesmen would collude with bandits.
At this time, Mr. Zhu rushed over after hearing the news: "Hao'er's guess is not unreasonable. The bandits sneaked into the village as if they were in an empty place. There must be an insider."
Bai Jiaxuan has always trusted his brother-in-law, and seeing that he said so, he told him about the recent severe punishment of gamblers.
When Qin Hao heard the name "Shitou", he immediately said: "Da, take Shitou to the ancestral hall. I have a few questions to ask him."
Bai Jiaxuan was slightly startled: "Are you suspecting Shitou? That shouldn't be the case, right? Although I beat him, I later asked Mr. Leng to treat his injuries, and our family saved his life before."
"Da, I also hope it's not him, but this involves the lives of Ling'er and Heiwa, I'd rather kill the wrong person than let him go."
Looking at his murderous son, Bai Jiaxuan opened his mouth and finally agreed.
Qin Hao stood in the center of the ancestral hall, with rows of tablets of the ancestors of Bailu Village behind him, and Mr. Zhu sat beside him.
As soon as Bai Jiaxuan arrived with the stone, two sturdy members of the Bai family closed the door of the ancestral hall.
Shitou was startled: "Jiaxuan...what are you guys going to do?"
Qin Hao sneered, "If you don't do bad things on weekdays, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night. In broad daylight, are you feeling guilty?"
Shitou said nervously: "What are you saying? I don't understand."
Qin Hao stepped forward and grabbed his wrist: "Don't understand? Do you dare to say that you didn't collude with the bandits to kidnap my sister?"
Shitou wanted to break free, but he found that the boy's hands were like iron clamps, and he couldn't break free with the strength he had gained from years of farming.
"I didn't, don't wrongly accuse me." Shitou shouted to Bai Jiaxuan beside him, "Jiaxuan, what do you mean? In terms of seniority, I am of the same generation as you, but you let a junior interrogate me. Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"
Bai Jiaxuan was a little shaken for a moment. After all, he had beaten the other party before, and now...
However, Qin Hao did not give Shitou a chance to continue explaining himself and dragged him to the ancestral tablet.
"Since you say you are innocent, do you dare to swear in front of the tablets of your ancestors?"
Shitou was sweating profusely at this moment: "Why should I swear? I am innocent."
Mr. Zhu, who had remained silent, slapped his chair and shouted, "If you are innocent, why don't you dare to swear?"
Shitou looked at the rows of ancestral tablets with a vague look in his eyes: "Okay, I'll swear..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Zhu shouted again: "Look carefully, these people are all your ancestors. If you have any expectations of them, your descendants will lose their protection in the future, and they will not be allowed to be buried in the Bai family's ancestral tomb after death!"
In an instant, Shitou felt that the row of tablets in front of him suddenly turned into human figures, who shouted at him and asked: Why do you want to expire for our ancestors!
Shitou's legs went weak and he knelt down, finally crying: "I... I hate Jiaxuan for beating me up like that in public. I didn't take their money, I just wanted to vent my anger..."
Upon hearing this, Bai Jiaxuan rushed forward, grabbed Shi Tou by the collar and lifted him up.
"You son of a bitch, if you have the guts, just come at me. What's the point of harming my Ling'er..."
Qin Hao stepped forward to stop him: "Da, it's more important to find out Ling'er's whereabouts first."
Bai Jiaxuan calmed down and threw the stone on the ground: "Tell me, where did those bandits take my daughter?"
Shitou cried and said, "I don't know. They just told me to go to Sanligou to get the money afterwards."
Mr. Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Sanligou is less than ten miles away from Bailu Village. These bandits are cunning enough. They want to play tricks on us."
Sure enough, not long after, Lu San sent back a message that the bandits’ carriage had been found, but there was no one in the car, and no strangers were seen entering or leaving the villages on the plain.
At this time, Bai Jiaxuan had already rung the big bell in the ancestral hall, gathering all the people in Bailu Village.
Although he wanted to tear out Shitou's tendons and skin him in front of the whole village, Bai Jiaxuan suppressed his anger and called on the villagers to rush to Sanligou.
When the villagers heard that the bandits had not even spared a one-month-old baby, they were all filled with indignation. They picked up hoes and sickles and headed towards Sanligou.
……
The bandit leader "Scar Li" was dreaming of getting rich, when he suddenly heard deafening shouting outside the cave and was immediately startled.
Heiwa saw this and immediately shouted: "I am Heiwa, we are here..."
"Damn it, this kid is awake, quickly shut his mouth!"
Scar Li slapped Heiwa directly in the face, loosening two of his teeth and filling his mouth with blood. However, Heiwa still glared at the bandits with anger.
"Hey, this kid is pretty arrogant, just kill him with one knife."
The bandit cursed.
Scar Li stopped his men and said, "How can you ask for money if you kill the hostage?"
Scar Li stood on the earthen slope at the entrance of the cave, looking down at the villagers who had gathered around him.
The Mauser pistol in his hand gleamed coldly in the sunlight. The muzzle of the gun waved across the crowd intentionally or unintentionally, causing the villagers to retreat one after another.
Bai Jiaxuan clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he had to suppress his anger - his daughters Bai Ling and Heiwa were still in the hands of the bandits.
"Chief Bai, have you thought it through?" Scar Li grinned with his yellow teeth. The scar ran from his brow to the corner of his mouth, making him as hideous as a centipede. "Five thousand dollars for two lives, one penny less..." He deliberately lengthened his voice and pointed the muzzle of the gun into the cave.
Bai Jiaxuan's forehead was bulging with veins. He was about to speak, but Qin Hao stepped forward first and said, "Five thousand dollars is not something you can gather in a short time! The total cash in the whole village is only three thousand! It's all here."
After saying that, Qin Hao shook the sheepskin bag in his hand, and a sound of silver coins colliding with each other came out.
Scar Li narrowed his eyes and suddenly spat, "Are you kidding me?" He raised his gun and pointed it at the crowd, "Who doesn't know that you guys in Bailuyuan are rich from growing poppies? Can't you even get five thousand dollars together?"
The villagers lowered their heads guiltily. They originally thought that the bandits were heading for the clan leader's house, but they didn't expect that they were targeting all of them.
"That's just hearsay. Most of the money earned from opium was taken away by officials. Common people like us can only earn hard-earned money. Three thousand dollars has already emptied our family's savings. Believe it or not, it's up to you."
There were murmurs of discussion coming from the cave. Scar Li turned around and whispered to his accomplice, greed flashing in his eyes: "Bring the money first! As for the hostages..." He smiled sinisterly and kicked the tied Heiwa: "Wait until we get off the plain before releasing them!"
"How can we trust you?" Qin Hao suddenly raised his voice, "What if you took the money and killed the victim? At least let us see that the person is still alive!"
Scar Li cursed, grabbed Heiwa, whose hands were tied, and pushed him to the cave entrance. The boy's mouth was bruised, but he held his head up stubbornly. Seeing this, Lu San rushed forward like crazy: "Kid——!"
"Bang!" The bullet rubbed Lu San's toes and exploded the dirt. Scar Li's gun muzzle was smoking: "One more step forward, I'll blow his head off!" Hei Wa took the opportunity to charge at the bandit, but was hit on the back of his head by Scar Li's gun butt, and blood immediately flowed down his neck. Lu San screamed and fainted, and the crowd became agitated.
Qin Hao and Mr. Zhu exchanged glances quickly.
Qin Hao whispered, "Uncle, these guys are not ordinary bandits. They are very accurate with their guns, and they all have guns. We can't defeat them by force, so we can only outsmart them."
Mr. Zhu looked at Qin Hao, who had a resolute expression, and sighed: "Go and do what you want. Remember that money is only a thing outside of the body. Life is more important than anything else."
Qin Hao nodded, and regardless of Bai Jiaxuan's obstruction, he walked towards the cave carrying the sheepskin bag. Scar Li saw that he was a teenager, so he sneered and let him in.
After Qin Hao handed over the sheepskin bag, Scar Li immediately changed his expression: "You are the eldest master of the Bai family, right? You are much more valuable than your sister. Come with us."
Qin Hao pretended to tremble: "You don't keep your word."
Several bandits burst into laughter: "This kid must have read too much and become stupid. He is talking to a bandit about his credibility."
Scar Li didn't take Qin Hao seriously at all. He reached out and picked up the sheepskin bag. When he opened it, the white dollars inside dazzled the bandits' eyes.
At this moment, Qin Hao suddenly jumped up, and a cold light flashed from his sleeves!
A dagger fiercely stabbed into Scar Li's wrist holding the gun! As the Mauser pistol fell to the ground, Qin Hao turned around and knocked over the bandit on the left with an elbow, then picked up the fire tongs on the ground with his right hand and smashed the other man in the face.
The cave was in chaos in an instant. Scar Li covered his wrist and howled, "Kill this little beast!"
However, the next second.
"bang bang bang"
A series of gunshots were heard from the cave. Outside the cave, Bai Jiaxuan's legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground. Lu San lay on the ground, crying bitterly.
Mr. Zhu yelled, "Rush in and rob people!"
The villagers finally reacted and picked up their hoes and sickles and rushed towards the cave on the slope, but they all ran slowly because the bandits had guns.
However, when the villagers were about to rush up the slope, they saw Qin Hao coming out of the cave holding a baby in a cradle, followed by a dark-skinned boy.
"Heiwa, my dear." Lu San got up from the ground and rushed to his son. Fortunately, except for some skin injuries, there was no "eye-catching" thing on his body.
Bai Jiaxuan also reacted, rushed to Qin Hao, and said incredulously: "Wait, are you okay?"
Qin Hao smiled and said, "Da, not only am I fine, Ling'er is fine too."
Bai Jiaxuan then looked at Bai Ling in the cradle and found that she was not crying but was laughing instead.
"This girl will definitely be fearless in the future." Bai Jiaxuan held his daughter and smiled foolishly.
Mr. Zhu smiled and said, "Don't be too happy too soon. This may not be a good thing."
Qin Hao laughed secretly. This uncle seemed a bit like a prophet.
The villagers then walked into the cave and found that the four bandits were lying in a pool of blood and were not breathing. A strong smell of blood filled the entire cave, and the villagers who entered were nauseated by the smell.
Everyone looked at Qin Hao with fear in their eyes.
That’s four lives, and they were killed by bandits who killed people without blinking an eye.