Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

The bandits never thought of outsiders from the beginning to the end. They expected that someone was deliberately targeting them, but they did not guess that it was not another wave of bandits targeting them, but a group of villagers who were powerless. They also had no idea that someone would know about their actions.

Huang Ping and others at the official post at the foot of the mountain tipped off the news. Both the people at the official post and the officers escorting the prisoners, although they did not completely believe it, made some preparations with the attitude of preferring to believe it.

The leading officer had received favors from General Xie before, and he did not make things difficult for the Shen and Xie families who had their properties confiscated and were exiled. He knew that General Xie and his son were very skilled and that the shackles would be easy for them to remove. So when they were leaving the capital, the heads of the two families came to offer silver to remove the shackles, and the leading officer immediately agreed.

When the bandits attacked this time, the leading officer directly stuffed two long swords into the hands of Xie Hong and Xie An. With the two of them around, they would be more secure.

As for the other members of the Xie family... the leading officer gritted his teeth, feeling a bit of a headache. These people have been making trouble every day since they were exiled. Only General Xie's family could tolerate it. If it were him, he would probably kill them one by one. If it weren't for General Xie and the silver, his brothers would have been dragged out and whipped during these days on the road.

No matter how much trouble they make, as long as it doesn't happen to you, just turn a blind eye.

When it was dark and windy at night, the officials gathered in the yard. Xie Hong settled his family and walked out with his son Xie An. They stood together with the officials, and everyone looked at the moonlight and waited quietly.

Huang Ping and others were also standing in the corner, looking nervous, worried about their family members in the mountains.

Inside the house, the second and third rooms of the Xie family were huddled together, moving all the usable things to block the door, completely disregarding the safety of Xie Hong and Xie An.

The second branch of the Shen family was also in the house. They were disgusted by the behavior of these people, especially the second branch of the Shen family, who muttered and cursed several times.

The bandits arrived at the official post station at midnight. Facing the dark post station, they all laughed.

"Brother, look at these people. They are probably sleeping soundly right now. To deal with them, there is no need for so many of our brothers to come here."

The bandit leader was smiling, and seemed to agree with his men, but he still said, "Just in case, this is our last mission, so everyone should cheer up and don't let go of any food or money."

When the bandit leader said this, his brothers immediately responded.

The subordinate standing beside the bandit leader laughed, with an extremely obscene expression: "Brother, if there are any good-looking women here, can we take them away? Many of our brothers haven't married yet. I heard that the women in the families of those who are exiled are all very good-looking."

Noticing the eager expressions of his brothers, the bandit leader laughed and said, "Okay, take away any woman you like, and leave no one else alive."

If it were in the past, robbing property and women would be fine, but now the people they were robbing were officials. If they left any of them alive, they would inevitably be held accountable by the court in the future, so it was better to kill them all.

The people behind the official post station gate were very angry when they heard these people talking recklessly outside. They wanted to rush out and kill these bandits to vent their anger, but they also knew that now was not the time to act on impulse. They raised their hands and made a gesture, then slowly retreated under the eaves, wrapped in darkness.

With a shout of "Go!" from outside, the gate of the official post station was broken open by brute force and was on the verge of collapse.

The officers drew their swords in an instant and rushed forward before the bandits could react. Xie Hong and Xie An watched from the side.

The villagers of Dahe Village had no skills, so they were arranged to guard the door of the room to prevent bandits from taking advantage of the situation and breaking in to harm people.

The bandits who had been robbing for years and the officials who had been escorting criminals to exile for years were equally skilled, with the officials even being better. With the presence of General Xie Hong, who was invincible on the battlefield, the fight was a foregone conclusion. In just a quarter of an hour, the bandits had lost nearly half of their men.

The bandit leader wanted to retreat, but Xie An was blocking the door. Every bandit who tried to escape was killed by Xie An. With the moonlight on his back and his body covered in the blood of bandits, he stood at the door of the official post station like a god of death.

"Brother, we've been fooled," the officers' reactions showed that they clearly knew the truth.

The bandit leader had already thought of it, and his first reaction was that there was a traitor. However, when he saw that the other party showed no mercy to a bandit, he dismissed his guess again, and stood back to back with his brothers, guarding against the sudden attack of the officials. He said in a deep voice: "It seems that something unexpected has happened. Everyone, find a chance and run if you can."

The officers also realized that the bandits wanted to escape, so they began to press forward and surrounded them all.

At this time, on the hillside five miles away from the official post station, a simple carriage was parked quietly there. In front of the hillside stood two people, one tall and one short. They were Song Shiwei and Zhang Wu who had left long ago. They stood on the hillside and looked at the official post station from afar.

"It seems that the village chief has listened to your words, my master. I don't think those bandits can hold out for much longer," Zhang Wu grinned.

Song Shiwei had no expression on his face and said calmly: "I am just giving you a reminder. As for what to do, it is still their choice."

"Then Master, when do we set out?"

Song Shiwei glanced at the official post station and said lightly, "I think the scenery here is really nice. Let's rest here tonight. By the way, go to the mountains to collect some firewood and come back to eat roasted rabbit meat tonight."

Zhang Wu responded with a "OK" and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth as he turned and left.

Although Song Shiwei said she was going to collect firewood, Zhang Wu understood that she wanted him to go to the cave where the villagers of Dahe Village were staying to see if there were any large wild animals nearby to prevent those people from getting into any accidents.

Therefore, Zhang Wu quickly moved forward towards the villagers' cave. After arriving at the place, he did not go in to disturb them. He just observed the surroundings carefully and finally picked up a bundle of firewood on the way back. It took him more than an hour to go back and forth.

When he came back, Song Shiwei had already set up the tent and lit a fire, and the rabbits were skewered on wooden sticks and roasted over the fire.

Zhang Wu walked silently to her side, put the firewood aside, and prepared to build two more fires around her at night to prevent wild beasts from approaching.

"Master, I looked around the area, and probably because it was too hot, I didn't see any large wild animals. But I did see quite a few pheasants and rabbits. I didn't hunt them, thinking we wouldn't be short of meat for the time being."

Song Shiwei nodded gently: "Meat doesn't keep well in this weather. There are many mountains and forests along the way, so there will be no shortage of meat."

Zhang Wuen nodded, thought for a moment and then said, "When I came back, I saw what was happening down the mountain. Almost all the bandits were killed by the officials. Only the bandit leader and his two brothers escaped. I guess they were all injured."

"Well, let's rest early tonight. We will go down the mountain early tomorrow morning. It's too dangerous to take the mountain road. There are many cliffs. We will walk on the official road for a while and then switch to the mountain road."

Upon hearing the news of departure, Zhang Wu immediately became energetic and responded loudly.