Chapter 14: Chapter 13 A Pack of Wolf Cubs Chapter 14: Chapter 13 A Pack of Wolf Cubs Yang Zhenshan glanced at Scarred Liu lying on the ground, withdrew his long spear, and ferociously confronted the rushing bandits.
The Yang family’s ancestral spear technique is rooted in a strong stance; the body follows the legs, the arms follow the body, the wrists follow the arms, all moving as one complete force.
Advance with sharpness, retreat with speed, the movements are dangerous, the rhythm is short, still as a mountain, dynamic as thunder.
With Yang Zhenshan’s terrifying strength using the Yang Family Spear, its power was fully unleashed, like breaking bamboo, in just a breath’s time, more than a dozen bandits lay on the ground, wailing in agony.
At this moment, no one outside the door dared to rush in, even the remaining bandits scattered in terror like startled birds.
Scarred Liu’s condition was unknown, and more than a dozen fierce bandits slaughtered, facing such formidable Yang Zhenshan, the bandits who bullied the weak and feared the strong dared not stay here.
“Jiang He, finish them off!”
Yang Zhenshan dropped a remark and sprinted out with his long spear.
If not chase the victory now, then when?
Driven to eradicate evil, Yang Zhenshan would certainly not stop at this moment.
Inside the courtyard, Jiang He, and the other vigorous youths were all stunned.
“Too strong!”
“So terrifying!”
“Uncle Zhengshan killed the bandit leader!”
The crowd was astounded by the display of martial prowess by Yang Zhenshan, muttering to themselves in shock.
Even Jiang Cheng, who had lived for most of his life, was left breathless in astonishment.
However, being an experienced hunter, Jiang Cheng had a greater endurance than the younger ones.
His steps somewhat frantic, he walked over to the barely breathing Scarred Liu and harshly chopped his machete on Liu’s neck.
Actually, he shouldn’t have approached, even if Scarred Liu was dying, he shouldn’t have gotten close.
On the off chance that Scarred Liu still had some strength left, Jiang Cheng might have lost his life.
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, the machete fell, embedding into Scarred Liu’s neck but not severing his head.
“Dad!”
Jiang He snapped out of it and hurriedly pulled Jiang Cheng.
“Be careful they might be feigning death!”
Jiang He cautioned while drawing his bow and shooting arrows at the bandits on the ground.
Yang Zhenshan rushed towards the Jiang family’s main gate, only to see previously surrounding bandits now fleeing towards the east of the village.
“Thinking of running, too late!”
He thrust the long spear into the ground and drew two Short Spears from behind, striding boldly into the smoke-filled air.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh~~
Short Spears flew one by one, each claiming a life.
“Damn, run!”
“He’s coming!”
“Brothers, run!”
The remaining bandits were terrified, frantically trying to escape.
The spreading smoke and leaping flames obscured Yang Zhenshan’s vision. Having thrown all ten Short Spears, he reluctantly stopped and picked up two long spears.
This pause allowed the remaining bandits to escape towards the Jiang family village.
Bandits rushing into the smoke-filled Jiang family village, felt a brief joy of having narrowly escaped, but this joy didn’t last long.
“Bandits over there!”
A shout arose.
Immediately followed by a burst of noisy footsteps and shouting.
“Don’t panic, don’t rush, stick with me!”
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
Among the murky smoke, vague figures wielding long spears charged at the bandits who had just fled.
When Yang Zhenshan came out of the Jiang family village, he saw Yang Zhengxiang leading the young men of Yang Family Village in a fierce slaughter.
Armed and eager to kill.
Although the young men of Yang Family Village had not been in battle or experienced killing, they all practiced martial arts and had fantasized about a grand slaughter on the battlefield.
Thus, facing the current situation, their mentality differed from that of Jiang family village’s strong youths.
They were exhilarated and excited, howling wildly, charging forward like young wolves. If not for the restraint of Yang Zhengxiang, they might have rushed to the frontlines already.
The escaped bandits were quickly turned into bloody sieves.
“I killed one! Haha~~ cough cough~~” Yang Chengxu, holding a bloody spear, laughed excitedly, but he seemed to forget the surrounding smoke and started coughing.
“Zhengshan!” Yang Zhengxiang remained calm, continuously observing the surroundings. Seeing a figure possibly holding two Short Spears emerging from the fire, he uncertainly shouted.
“Clan Leader, it’s me!”
Smoke lingered, visibility was obstructed, and to avoid any misunderstandings, Yang Zhenshan quickly responded.
“Uncle Zhengshan!”
“Grandpa Zhengshan!”
Seeing Yang Zhenshan, the young men of Yang Family Village grew even more excited.
“Are you hurt?” Yang Zhengxiang quickly approached Yang Zhenshan, sizing him up.
“No!” Yang Zhenshan shook his head.
Seeing his unchanged expression, Yang Zhengxiang finally relaxed. “How’s the situation?”
Yang Zhenshan said gravely, “Let’s go over there and talk.”
He had managed to rescue the Jiang family, but many people in Jiang Family Village had died under the bandits’ slaughter.
A crowd followed Yang Zhenshan into Jiang Family Village.
The fire was still fiercely burning, and the smoke continued to spread everywhere.
“In-law father!”
“Yang Clan Leader!”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes reddened when he saw Yang Zhenshan and Yang Zhengxiang.
“Old brother, let’s put out the fire first!” Yang Zhenshan said simply, not elaborating further.
Jiang Cheng and Yang Zhengxiang nodded, quickly directing their young men to fight the fire and rescue people.
The fire lasted a day and a night, finally being extinguished by dawn the next day.
Most of Jiang Family Village had been engulfed by the fire, only the few houses surrounding Jiang Cheng’s home remained intact.
As dawn broke anew, the entire Jiang Family Village felt as if it was pressed down by a great mountain, the heaviness suffocating.
At the entrance of the village, rows of bodies were laid out on the ground, including white-haired elders, young children with double buns, and many souls buried in the ashes.
Beside them, more than thirty bodies of bandits were piled up haphazardly.
“It’s too tragic! Ah~~” Yang Zhengxiang sighed sorrowfully as he looked at the bodies scattered all around.
Yang Zhenshan took a deep breath, unsure of what to say or do in such a moment.
Any words of consolation seemed feeble and powerless now.
He could only stand quietly beside, watching those villagers immersed in grief.
Subsequently, a simple funeral was held in Jiang Family Village, and the villagers’ bodies were moved to the hill behind for burial.
As for the bandits’ bodies, Jiang Cheng had already sent people to inform the county government, which would naturally arrange for their handling.
Especially Dào Scar Liu, a person named in the Bounty Order, carrying a bounty of 300 taels of silver; this money should rightfully belong to Yang Zhenshan.
However, Yang Zhenshan did not stay in Jiang Family Village to wait for the government officer from the county government. With Yang Zhengxiang and Jiang Cheng there, his reward silver would not be short, unless the county government refused to pay.
After briefly speaking with Yang Zhengxiang and Jiang Cheng, Yang Zhenshan took Yang Yunyan back to Yang Family Village.
Although the bandits had been eliminated, Jiang Family Village was still a mess and Yang Yunyan was pregnant; Yang Zhenshan could not rest easy about her continuing to stay there, and had to take her back to the Yang family first.
With Ms. Wang, the Li family, and his younger daughter to look after her, Yang Yunyan could find some peace at the Yang family.
Sitting in the ox cart, Yang Yunyan’s face was somewhat pale; she had been scared and fearful throughout the day and night, and had not yet recovered.
Yang Mingcheng steered the ox cart, while Yang Zhenshan followed behind, reassuring: “All right, you’re pregnant, don’t think too much, get a good sleep when we get home.”
He wasn’t really good at comforting people, and given that the person he was trying to console Williams, his adopted daughter; but seeing Yang Yunyan’s wretched state, he couldn’t help but try to comfort her.
In fact, Yang Yunyan was only sixteen now – in his previous life, she would still be a middle school student.
At twenty-eight, Yang Zhenshan felt it slightly amiss to be her father, but being an uncle was undoubtedly sufficient.
“Dad, I’m all right!” Yang Yunyan forced a slight smile.
“Uh, by the way, did you finish making the cotton-padded clothes I asked you to make?” Yang Zhenshan, not knowing how else to comfort her, changed the subject.
“They’re ready, I’ve already packed them!” Yang Yunyan indicated the bundle beside her.
“That’s good, the weather is getting colder these days; I’ll deliver them to your grandparents tomorrow,” Yang Zhenshan said.
“Are all the winter clothes at home finished?” Yang Yunyan’s attention shifted, worrying about her maiden family’s affairs.
Yang Zhenshan smiled, “Your sister-in-law and second sister-in-law have prepared everyone’s winter clothes in our family, but I’ve taken two apprentices recently and they don’t have winter clothes yet.”
“Let your elder brother go to the county town tomorrow to buy some more cotton and cloth; stay at home for a few more days and make two sets of winter clothes for them.”
“Dad took apprentices?” Yang Yunyan looked surprised.
“Yes, two apprentices.”
The two chatted sporadically about casual matters and soon arrived back at Yang Family Village.
Compared to the grief-stricken Jiang Family Village, Yang Family Village was as ever peaceful and calm.
Oncehome, Yang Yunyan received care and attention from the family, which helped calm her frightened heart.
However, the Yang family’s house was too small, and there were no spare rooms to accommodate Yang Yunyan alone; she had to share with Yang Yunxue and Wang Daya.
Looking at his bustling family, Yang Zhenshan felt a sense of ease.
However, his two grandsons seemed somewhat afraid of him; the usually lively and active Yang Chengye did not dare to come close to him, as if he were not their grandfather but some fierce beast.
Children are the most sensitive, and though Yang Zhenshan’s heart had calmed, a faint aura of bloodlust lingered, not having fully dissipated yet.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t mind; he wasn’t yet able to control the aura of killing, and could only rely on time to gradually erase it.