Chapter 11: The Bandits in Jiang Family Village
At noon, due to the additional two mouths to feed at home, Old Lady Wang prepared an extra dish.
Lin Zhong sat at the dinner table, following the rules, while Wang Da Niang looked somewhat nervous and tense. However, Yang Yunxue, being a kind and gentle girl, kept comforting Wang Da Niang.
After finishing their meal, the two of them relaxed a bit.
Just after lunch, Yang Zhengshan arrived with three 14- to 15-year-old youths.
Yang Zhengshan was taken aback but didn’t refuse, as they had already brought the youths.
The three youths were Yang Zhengshan’s grandson Yang Chengze, and two other talented young men from the Yang clan, Yang Chengxu and Yang Qingwu.
Yang Zhengshan had his own private motives, but Yang Zhengshan didn’t mind.
Taking care of his own grandchild was a natural and normal thing, not a big deal.
Their elders, Yang Chengxu and Yang Qingwu’s relatives, also came, bringing gifts.
The gifts weren’t expensive, but in Yang Family Village, they were considered good things, including tea leaves, cloth, and some sugar candies.
Yang Zhengshan accepted their gifts and promised to teach them martial arts for an hour every morning at 7 o’clock.
As they were all from the Yang clan, they already had a foundation, so Yang Zhengshan wouldn’t need to start from the basics. He could teach them his experience and point out their flaws.
Time flew by, and half a month passed. The weather grew colder, but Yang Family Village became more lively.
Every morning, there would be seven or eight people practicing martial arts in the Yang Family Village courtyard, including Yang Zhengshan himself.
He would simultaneously guide Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi, but leave Yang Yunxue, Lin Zhong, and Wang Da Niang to their own devices.
They were still young and couldn’t withstand high-intensity training, so their gun practice was limited to practicing routines only, and hadn’t reached the stage of intense training.
As for guiding Yang Mingcheng and the others, Yang Zhengshan felt confident and at ease.
First, he had the memories of his past life, and second, he had been practicing the Yang clan’s ancestral gun techniques. His understanding of the Yang clan’s gun techniques might not be as good as in his past life, but it was close.
“You’re not just practicing gun techniques to master them, but to feel the changes in your body’s power and understand the skills of manipulating that power.”
“The first level of martial arts is to comprehend the power of substitution, which is the skill of calling upon your body’s power.”
“Watch closely!”
“White Snake Spits Out Fog!”
“The moving part is the arm, the long gun is thrust out, but the root of the power comes from the waist and back.”
“With the waist as the axis, the heart as the commander, in an instant, burst forth with your entire body’s strongest power!”
As Yang Zhengshan demonstrated and explained, the people around him listened intently, twisting their waists and mimicking the movements, although they looked a bit comical.
Just then, Yang Yunxue suddenly cried out, “Father!”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Zhengshan’s voice grew concerned as he stopped teaching and looked towards Yang Yunxue.
Yang Yunxue’s face was deathly pale as she stared towards the west, her voice trembling. “Jiang Family Village…”
When Yang Zhengshan looked towards the west, his brows immediately furrowed.
Under the clear sky, the mountain ranges stretched out, but in front of the layered mountain shadows, a large amount of smoke spread out, with faint firelight flickering.
The position of the firelight suggested it was coming from Jiang Family Village.
“Father, something’s happened in Jiang Family Village! Eldest sister…” Yang Mingcheng’s face was filled with worry.
Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath and said, “You go notify the clan leader, the others shouldn’t move, wait for the clan leader’s arrangements, I’ll go take a look!”
With that, he ignored the others, put on his backpack with ten short guns, and rushed towards Jiang Family Village.
His backpack was made by Old Lady Wang and had ten pockets, each holding a short gun over a meter long.
“Father!” Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi wanted to stop him, but Yang Zhengshan was too fast, and in a flash, he was already out of the village.
There was no way to stop him, so Yang Mingcheng could only rush to find Yang Zhengshan.
Actually, he didn’t need to find him, as Yang Zhengshan had already arrived at the west of Yang Family Village with several people.
Jiang Family Village was only six or seven li away, and at this time, the smoke above Jiang Family Village was billowing, visible even from a distance.
Yang Zhengshan moved quickly, and in just a moment, he reached Jiang Family Village’s vicinity. However, he didn’t rush in immediately, but instead quickly climbed up the mountain behind the village to observe the situation.
The thick smoke obscured Jiang Family Village, making everything vague, but he still saw many shadows and heard lots of battle cries and screams.
“It’s indeed the mountain bandits!”
Yang Zhengshan’s face turned gloomy as he looked at the vague shadows of Jiang Family Village.
Yang Yunxue was his eldest daughter, and although he had only met her twice, he was still wearing the cotton clothing she had made for him.
He could ignore others, but not this daughter.
Thinking this, Yang Zhengshan took out a short gun from his backpack and approached the position of Jiang Family Village.
At this time, Jiang Family Village was already in chaos, with dozens of fierce big men killing and rampaging, while many villagers’ corpses lay scattered on the ground.
However, some villagers were resisting, and Jiang Family Village, although not like Yang Family Village with a martial arts tradition, had many skilled hunters.
Most of the hunters were skilled in archery, and if the mountain bandits hadn’t arrived so suddenly, catching the villagers off guard, they wouldn’t have easily entered the village.
As Yang Zhengshan entered Jiang Family Village, he saw a tall, imposing figure standing in the wild land behind the village, laughing maniacally and shouting, “Brothers, let’s kill, ha ha ha~~”
The man wielded a large saber and had a scar on his face from top to bottom, which twisted into a savage smile as he laughed.
Yang Zhengshan immediately recognized the scar-faced man as Dao Piao Liu, a notorious bandit wanted by the authorities.
According to the wanted poster, Dao Piao Liu was a ruthless and cunning bandit who had repeatedly raided villages and had been pursued by the government many times, but always managed to escape.
Yang Zhengshan naturally wouldn’t be tempted by the bounty, so when he saw Dao Piao Liu, he didn’t approach him, instead secretly entering the village.
The location of Jiang Family Village was to the west of Jiang Family Village, and at this time, most of the bandits were gathered in the east of the village.
When Yang Zhengshan reached the vicinity of Jiang’s home, it was surprisingly quiet.
As Yang Zhengshan cautiously observed his surroundings, he knocked on the door of Jiang’s home.
“Who?”
A voice came from inside, and Yang Zhengshan replied, “It’s me, Yang Zhengshan!”
The door creaked open, and Jiang Cheng looked relieved and happy to see Yang Zhengshan.
“Father-in-law!”
Yang Zhengshan entered the house and asked, “Is everyone alright?”
“We’re fine, fine, the bandits haven’t come yet,” Jiang Cheng hastily replied.
At this time, there were over a dozen young men from the surrounding neighborhoods gathered in the courtyard, and Yang Yunxue was sitting inside, her face pale.
“Yang Yunxue, I’m here,” Yang Zhengshan said as he approached her.
Without time to say more, someone outside whispered, “The bandits are coming!”
Yang Zhengshan didn’t have time to comfort Yang Yunxue, quickly walking out of the main room.
Everyone in the courtyard had already climbed up the walls and onto the rooftops, preparing for battle.
However, they were only young men and not real soldiers, and facing the ruthless bandits, they couldn’t help but feel fear in their hearts.
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