Chapter 37: Luring The Snake Out Of Its Hole
Just as Li Xiao snatched away the Hou Family women, the people of Hou Village had already gathered in the village.
A total of more than six hundred people, men, women, young and old, all present, with an extremely oppressive atmosphere.
Everyone’s gazes turned to the very front, where there was a high slope two people tall.
A group of people stood on the high slope, led by an old man around sixty years old.
His hair was graying white, his face full of wrinkles, he was not tall, with a hunched back.
The most eye-catching thing was still his clothes, a full set of brocade, completely out of place with the surrounding herdsmen.
“Do you know how the ‘Hou’ in Hou Village came about?” The old man let out an aged and furious roar.
Standing on the high slope, like a rooster, his gaze swept over everyone in Hou Village.
No one he looked at dared to meet his eyes; they all silently lowered their heads.
The old man was very satisfied with the attitude of these herdsmen.
But since he was going to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, he definitely had to achieve the best effect.
“I tell you, first there was our Hou Family, then there was Hou Village.”
“Our Hou Family is the sky of Hou Village, the master of Hou Village.”
“But some people, ungrateful and daring enough to betray our Hou Family, wanting to rebel against heaven.”
As his words fell, the crowd was immediately scared silent, no one daring to speak.
“Bring him up.”
The old man waved his hand, and a robust man in his thirties was dragged up by two young and strong men from the Hou Family.
This robust man was covered in blood, full of whip marks, clearly having suffered cruel punishment.
“Lin Dazhuang!”
“This man received favors from our Hou Family, yet instead of repaying them, he secretly tried to release our Hou Family’s major prisoner.”
The old man pointed at the robust man and said in a cold voice.
“This act is utterly rebellious and deserves death by a thousand cuts.”
“Today, in front of everyone, we will dismember Lin Dazhuang by a thousand cuts.”
Hearing the old man’s words, the people below immediately erupted in an uproar, but no one dared to speak up for Lin Dazhuang.
They also knew what crime Lin Dazhuang had committed.
The Hou Family was holding a group of people, mostly soldiers from the Battle of North Mountain.
One of them knew Lin Dazhuang and had a good relationship with him.
Lin Dazhuang couldn’t bear for the Hou Family to send him to die in the hands of the Geluolu People, so he secretly released him.
But unexpectedly, the man’s injuries were too severe; he didn’t get far before being caught back by the Hou Family.
Upon careful investigation, it turned out to be Lin Dazhuang’s doing.
Thus, Old Man Hou decided to kill the chicken to warn the monkey and inflict extreme punishment on this Lin Dazhuang who had colluded with outsiders.
After all, this was a critical moment for the Hou Family; once successful, the Hou Family would become the leader of the Han People in Jin Prefecture.
Old Man Hou did this also to intimidate the others in Hou Village, lest these lowly people cause trouble during cooperation with the Geluolu People.
“Woo woo woo woo~”
“Dad, Dad~”
“Don’t kill my dad~”
“Let him go, please, Grandpa Hou~”
As the old man’s words fell, cries from Lin Dazhuang’s family members rang out from the crowd.
But they were firmly blocked and, as expected, could only watch helplessly as Lin Dazhuang met a tragic end.
“Now you know fear?”
“Hmph, too late.”
Old Man Hou said disdainfully.
However, when he saw Lin Dazhuang’s daughter, a strange smile appeared on his old face.
He beckoned to a young man from the Hou Family: “Third Nephew, tonight send Lin Dazhuang’s daughter to my room.”
Hearing this, Hou San showed an understanding smile on his face.
“Elder Uncle, rest assured, I’ll arrange it all perfectly for you.”
Old Man Hou was the previous village master of the Hou Family; in his old age, he had passed the position to his son.
However, Old Man Hou’s status in Hou Village was still such that his word was law.
He was despicable and shameless, worse than a beast, and at his advanced age, still fond of women.
He had already married several young concubines, but that wasn’t enough; now he had his eyes on Lin Dazhuang’s daughter, who was just fourteen.
“Damn it, why don’t you just drop dead.”
Hou San smiled and promised to handle the matter while cursing inwardly, wishing he could replace Old Man Hou.
Their conversation was overheard by Lin Dazhuang, whose body began to struggle violently, but unfortunately, his mouth was tightly gagged with a horse bit.
He could only make “woo woo” sounds.
His eyes were bloodshot red, glaring at Old Man Hou with a man-eating expression.
“Hehe, what, want to kill me?”
Old Man Hou didn’t care at all about the threat from a dead man and even repeatedly struck Lin Dazhuang’s face with his walking stick.
He said disdainfully: “Too bad, you can’t kill me~ And you, you’re about to die.”
With that, Old Man Hou turned directly and said to a Hou Family member: “Execute him.”
Dismember Lin Dazhuang by a thousand cuts, let everyone in Hou Village see this is the fate of opposing the Hou Family.
But before the executioner could bring down the first blade, a Hou Family member squeezed through the crowd in a disheveled state and came before Old Man Hou.
He said in panic: “Old Village Master, big trouble, the young madam has been snatched by horse bandits.”
Hearing this, Old Man Hou’s face froze instantly.
“What?”
“Xiuer was snatched by horse bandits?”
Old Man Hou seemed a bit unable to react.
His grandson had taken his grandson’s wife to Huangsha Village, and they had just set off not long ago—how could something have happened?
“What about Tiancai?”
“Is Tiancai alright?”
Old Man Hou hurriedly asked.
Although his grandson’s wife was important, she was far from comparable to his grandson, not to mention that Hou Tiancai was the grandson Old Man Hou favored most.
He was the next village master candidate for Hou Village.
“The young village master is fine, but he’s about to go mad with rage. He sent me to gather men and horses to charge out and rescue the young madam.”
Hearing that his grandson was unharmed, Old Man Hou breathed a slight sigh of relief. After calming down, he asked: “How many horse bandits are there?”
The man thought for a moment and replied: “About twenty or so.”
Hearing that the enemy had only twenty-odd people, Old Man Hou relaxed.
Not a large number.
On the Western Regions grassland, besides the tribes of nomadic people and the fortresses of Han People, there was another special group.
Horse bandits.
These were rogue herdsmen who banded together, either survivors of clans wiped out by enemies or escaped slaves; in any case, they were disgusting like flies.
They would occasionally harass villages, endlessly annoying.
A band of more than twenty horse bandits was already considerable, no wonder they dared to act wild at Hou Village!
“How long ago did they leave?”
“Just left.”
Hearing this, Old Man Hou calculated the time; if they sent people now, it was still possible to catch up.
After all, Huang Xiuer’s status was special.
If it were an ordinary woman, he could just have his grandson divorce and remarry her.
But Huang Xiuer’s father was the village master of Huangsha Village.
Right now, the Hou Family needed the strength of Huangsha Village, so it was best not to let this matter with Huang Xiuer create a rift between the two families.
Thus, Old Man Hou directly ordered: “Immediately gather a hundred young and strong men and set out now. You must rescue Xiuer.”
“Yes.”
“Woo woo woo woo woo~”
After the man left, Lin Dazhuang made woo woo sounds again.
But this time, his face was full of smiles.
His eyes showed undisguised mockery.
Hou Tiancai’s wife was snatched by horse bandits?
Serves him right—who made the Hou Family do all sorts of evil, utterly heartless?
What perfect retribution!
“You~”
“Lin Dazhuang, even at death’s door you’re still defiant, hmph, do it.”
“Start from the feet.”
Old Man Hou said in a cold voice.
Soon after, a hundred young and strong men charged out of Hou Village in a grand manner, all riding war horses, holding spears and bows and arrows.
They looked ready for battle, poised to strike.
Hou Tiancai was at the very front, radiating killing intent, eyes bloodshot, with a chilling expression that kept others at bay.
“Third Uncle, which direction did those horse bandits go?”
A middle-aged man from the Hou Family looked at the hoof prints on the ground and immediately said: “They went west.”
“Let’s go, chase.”
Hou Tiancai roared in fury, his horsewhip constantly lashing the horse’s back, speeding up relentlessly.
As soon as he recalled that bastard just now reaching into Huang Xiuer’s clothes, Hou Tiancai couldn’t suppress his rage.
What man could tolerate such humiliation?
He itched to rush before Li Xiao right now and kill him.
Every second Huang Xiuer stayed in Li Xiao’s hands made Hou Tiancai feel suffocated.
He wouldn’t rest until he killed Li Xiao.
“For every horse bandit killed, I’ll reward two ewes.”
“For killing the bandit leader, I’ll reward two cattle.”
To take down Li Xiao and avenge the wife snatching, Hou Tiancai issued a heavy bounty.
Most of the land and cattle and sheep in Hou Village belonged to the Hou Family; the others in Hou Village were more like tenant farmers of the Hou Family, with not much personal wealth.
So, the reward of two cattle and sheep was considerable wealth for these young and strong men of Hou Village.
Everyone immediately felt their fighting spirit rise.
For the cattle and sheep, they had to fight.
Meanwhile, ten li west of Hou Village, in an area of undulating slopes.
Li Xiao was, with the help of Da Hu and Tie Tou, putting on his iron armor.
Behind him, the other nineteen heavy cavalry were similarly donning heavy armor with their companions’ help, and even their war horses were draped in iron armor.
Fully armed.
Although Li Xiao didn’t know if his provocation tactic had worked, he still waited with some hope for Hou Tiancai to appear.
Fortunately, his wait finally paid off.
A scout came to report: “Da Long Ge, people from Hou Village have come out.”
“About a hundred, charging straight toward us.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao’s face broke into a smile.
He knew his plan had succeeded.
This battle at Hou Village was basically a sure win.
Thinking this, his gaze turned to Huang Xiuer, who was curled up on the ground.
“Madam Hou, it seems your husband values you greatly!”
Huang Xiuer looked at Li Xiao in terror, her gaze sweeping over the more than a hundred cavalry behind him, including twenty heavy cavalry.
At this moment, Huang Xiuer naturally understood everything.
These people weren’t horse bandits at all, but from another fortress.
Most importantly, when Huang Xiuer saw these twenty sets of heavy armor, she knew Hou Village was done for.
Huang Xiuer looked at Li Xiao and asked in a shocked voice: “Who exactly are you?”
