Pay attention, this bandit leader is named Wang Batiao.
There are many wicked people whose evil nature has been deeply ingrained in their bones since the day they were born, making it impossible to change. These are naturally evil people.
Wang Batiao himself had already forgotten his original name.
When he gathered his followers and started his uprising, he earned this title because he consecutively killed eight people.
Although seven of these eight lives were women and children, the eight lives were real.
Wang Batiao was inherently cruel and bloodthirsty.
Especially in recent years, as the imperial court's control over the world has worsened, the arrogance of Wang Batiao's bandit group has grown even more rampant.
Wherever they went, not even a chicken or dog was left, and not a blade of grass grew.
Today, Wang Batiao's gaze fell upon the small village of Lu Family Village.
Lu Family Village was small, sparsely populated, and remote. Furthermore, the people in this village severely lacked food, and most of them, to reduce consumption, lay in bed all day and rarely went out.
This was the intelligence Wang Batiao had obtained from his reconnaissance.
"Brothers! Lu Family Village is just ahead! I've already investigated thoroughly; this village has many young women and young wives, especially tender ones. When we rush into the village, brothers can kill and play to their hearts' content..."
Seeing Lu Family Village close at hand, Wang Batiao encouraged his bandits as he walked.
At this moment, Lu Family Village presented a different scene.
When the village chief, Lu Dazhi, heard from the returning patrol villagers that the bandit group numbered fifty or sixty people, his vision went dark, and he nearly fainted.
"No... wasn't it said there were only a dozen bandits...?"
Lu Dazhi's legs turned to jelly; he could barely stand steady.
A villager who had just run back gasped for breath, his legs also trembling: "Village chief, maybe... maybe those dozen bandits were just scouts, and we didn't expect there to be so many people!"
"Our Lu Family Village is finished!"
Lu Dazhi murmured, "Fifty or sixty people... fifty or sixty people..."
If there were only a dozen bandits, Lu Family Village might still be able to put up a fight.
But if there were fifty or sixty, Lu Family Village had no chance of winning.
Lu Dazhi had lived for nearly fifty years and had been village chief for over a decade, so he had some experience.
He was all too clear about the current situation in Lu Family Village.
Most of the men, women, old, and young in the village were so hungry their faces were sallow, they were skin and bones, and their hands and feet trembled. Even holding a slightly heavy hoe was difficult; how could they resist vicious bandits?
Lu Dazhi was almost dying of regret.
If he had known there were so many bandits, he would have fled, even if it meant abandoning most of his family's wealth and food.
But now, he couldn't even run away.
Not to mention whether he could escape the bandits' pursuit, even these villagers wouldn't let his family escape alone.
But Lu Dazhi couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
After a brief thought, he announced loudly:
"All able-bodied men in the village, grab your tools and gather at the village entrance, prepare to meet the enemy!"
The male villagers, holding various clumsy farm tools, surged chaotically towards the village entrance.
Lu Dazhi, meanwhile, hurried home to instruct his parents, wife, and children to quickly pack up their valuables, so that when the bandits arrived, they could flee into the mountains behind the village amidst the chaos.
Lu Dazhi also wanted to escape.
But several young men from the village kept close to him, seemingly having already seen through his little scheme.
Even if he wanted to escape, he had no chance.
When Lu Dazhi came out of his house, he held a large saber, looking quite manly.
He gritted his teeth: "Go! Let's fight these bandits!"
Then, with a wave of his hand, several people rushed towards the village entrance.
As they reached the village entrance, they saw a large group of bandits rushing down the hillside outside the village, full of momentum, charging towards the village.
Under the setting sun, the gleaming sabers in the bandits' hands appeared exceptionally dazzling.
Lu Dazhi quickly roared: "Quick! Everyone, line up!"
After a chaotic clamor, the villagers barely formed a crooked line.
The villagers in the front row held their iron shovels and forks extended forward, a formation that looked quite intimidating.
But anyone with a discerning eye could tell that these people were merely putting on a brave face.
The farm tools in their hands were all shaking, clearly indicating a lack of strength.
Many others couldn't hold on for more than three breaths before their so-called weapons drooped powerlessly and rested on the ground.
Lu Dazhi sighed inwardly; how could these frail villagers possibly stop bandits as fierce as wolves and tigers!
He regretted it again.
If he could have given them more coarse rice, they might have had more strength.
However, it was too late to say anything now.
Even if they were fed until they were full, they wouldn't have the strength to fight.
After all, how could the physical weakness caused by prolonged hunger be remedied by just a few full meals?
As Lu Dazhi was feeling distraught, he suddenly saw two women, one tall and one short, in the back of the crowd.
"Isn't that Xie Qiao, the wife Lu Chen bought a while ago? She's so thin and small, why is she getting involved?"
"And, is that Zhao Tiedan's daughter, Zhao Daya? Hasn't she been tormented to death by Tiedan's wife yet?"
"What are they doing? They're not here to watch the excitement, are they? They really don't know what's good for them; is this a place to watch excitement?"
However, when Lu Dazhi saw the small iron shovel in Xie Qiao's hand, an incredible thought suddenly arose in his mind.
"Could it be that Lu Chen's wife intends to help fight the bandits? That's ridiculous!"
The small iron shovel in Xie Qiao's hand seemed very amusing in Lu Dazhi's eyes.
If that small iron shovel hit a bandit, it would probably only knock off a few specks of dust from him, not even count as an itch scratch!
Furthermore, Xie Qiao was not tall, resembling a slightly older girl.
And she's here to fight bandits?
That boy Lu Chen, why isn't he here to manage his wife!
Lu Dazhi looked around but did not see Lu Chen.
However, given Lu Chen's physique, it wouldn't make a difference whether he came or not.
He heard that Lu Chen had fainted from hunger yesterday, and he wondered if he was still lying in bed at this moment.
As Lu Dazhi was thinking, he suddenly saw a flicker in front of Zhao Daya.
"That's... a long saber!"
Zhao Daya stood as steady as a tree stump in the crowd.
The tip of the long saber in her hand was pointed downwards, and she was propping it on the ground with both hands.
"Where did she get that saber?"
To Lu Dazhi's knowledge, the entire Lu Family Village only had one decent weapon, which was the large saber in his hand, belonging to him, the village chief.
In previous good years, a few hunter families still had some bows, arrows, and knives for hunting.
In these past few years of famine, the hunters had long sold these possessions for food.
At this moment, Zhao Tiedan, who was in the crowd, also saw Zhao Daya.
Zhao Tiedan rubbed his eyes, still unable to believe it.
Hadn't Zhao Daya died? How was she standing here alive again?
Even if she hadn't died, she would at most have been barely clinging to life.
But the Zhao Daya before him, though still slender, was full of vigor and spirit, showing no signs of weakness whatsoever.
For a moment, Zhao Tiedan even thought she just resembled his daughter and wasn't truly his daughter.
Among the hundred or so men in Lu Family Village, Zhao Daya stood out like a crane among chickens, appearing so tall and resilient.
Zhao Tiedan had the urge to go and inquire, but when he saw the cold, knife-like eyes of his daughter, a chill ran down his spine, and he instantly dismissed the idea.
Although Zhao Daya was looking straight ahead and didn't even glance at him, her father, with her peripheral vision.
But Zhao Tiedan was still frightened by the chilling coldness emanating from her entire being.
Was she truly his biological daughter?
"Kill!"
A earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted.
It made the villagers tremble.
Zhao Tiedan, even more so, couldn't help but shiver.
He looked forward.
He saw a large group of bandits, waving sabers and long spears, shouting loudly, charging fiercely towards them.