Chapter 49 Night Raid

Having arrived in the southern mountain hollow, Shen Bangzi ordered his men to find a place to settle down.

After all, he was a disciple of the Red Fragrance Society, so he had some alertness. After arranging everything inside and out, he personally checked it again, and arranged for a dozen sentries, rewarding each with two cornbread buns to eat while on duty at night.

But no wine was given, for fear of drunkenness.

Although it was said to be setting up camp, they were currently lacking tents and military supplies. They only set up three or five tents in the mountain hollow, enough to accommodate a few small leaders.

The other three hundred men were scattered around the mountain hollow in groups, each finding a soft pile of grass. At night, they hugged their weapons and dozed off against the big trees, considering it sleep.

They guarded until Xu hour (7-9 PM) without any other movement. Shen Bangzi had a large capacity for alcohol, and he would need at least three or four jars to feel satisfied. However, Yang Gong advised him to be careful that day, so he didn't drink enough in Yang Gong's tent. He originally wanted to listen, but he couldn't fall asleep after lying down.

He simply got up and had his men bring a jar of wine to drink. Drinking alone was not enjoyable, so he called over the small leaders and confidants around him, just wanting to get drunk quickly and go to bed early.

One thing led to another, and by Zi hour (11 PM-1 AM), the tent was already full of drunken men. Even the guards who were supposed to rotate shifts, seeing them drinking in the tent from afar after finishing their two cornbread buns, felt bored and found a grassy nest, their eyelids starting to droop.

In the second half of the night, someone's figure faintly appeared on the small road facing the mountain hollow. The person used a little ghost, circled around the camp, returned, and kowtowed to the person, saying:

"They're all asleep, Master, all asleep!"

"..."

"As expected, just a rabble!"

Hearing this, the person only sneered coldly and called over the people following him.

He was just a small leader, a *gongfeng* (a kind of honored position) in the True Meaning Church, but different from the altar master who had been beheaded earlier. That altar master had led five hundred followers, mostly recruited from Mingzhou, listless and extremely conspicuous.

But he only had twenty people with him. Eight were originally from Guanzhou and followed him here, and twelve were originally disciples of the Azure Cloth Gang. After the Azure Cloth Evil Ghost was killed, they hid in the mountains and were discovered and recruited by him when he went to the countryside.

They quietly approached the mountain hollow, sneering to themselves: "Xu Dahu, the Sixth Altar Master, is a half-baked *zouguiren* (one who practices necromancy), not very capable, but he obtained the Hundred Ghost Banner bestowed by our General, and he seemed extremely powerful by summoning evil ghosts."

"Don't think he was killed because he had poor eyesight."

"Some methods in this world can withstand the military aura, while others lose their effectiveness when impacted by human *qi*."

"His Hundred Ghost Banner was originally very powerful. If he had time to summon ghosts in a one-on-one fight, I'm afraid even three of me wouldn't be his match."

"But he just happened to encounter these brave and fierce people. The hundred ghosts were suppressed by the human *qi* and couldn't come out to harm people. That's why he was swarmed and killed by this group of bandits. I only brought twenty of you here, but I want to take this opportunity to show off our prestige."

"..."

Hearing this, the subordinates said one after another: "Brother, just give the order. We're just thinking about earning merit and rewards. If we can take down this battle first, wouldn't we be promoted to altar master when we return?"

The small leader said: "Don't ask about anything else. Just enter the battle and kill people when you see my flag."

"The knives must be sharp, and the movements must be light!"

"..."

These subordinates agreed. He went alone to the mountain peak next to the mountain hollow, overlooking the area. Shen Dabang arranged manpower to watch the left and right, but he didn't watch the mountain peak behind him, so he was able to touch the high ground at once.

Looking up, the moonlight slowly sank into the dark clouds.

The person untied a package from his back. Inside was a bronze figure about three *chi* (one *chi* is about 1/3 meter) long.

It was cast with a fierce face, glaring strange eyes, and blood-red lips.

The small leader performed a ritual on the mountain peak, worshiping four times. Then, he cut his finger with a small silver knife, and pointed his fingertip at the mouth of the bronze figure.

Faintly, the blood seeping out of the fingertip seemed to be drunk by the bronze figure. In the howling wind, he could even hear the sound of gulping. He, who had been radiant, gradually became sallow and emaciated.

After feeding for a long time, he let go of his body, held the bronze figure with both hands, and placed it properly, its position facing the mountain hollow below.

As the mountain mist rose, the valley was full of gloom, but the group of people sleeping soundly in the mountain hollow had no reaction at all.

The person slightly raised his eyes, knowing that the spell was completed. He breathed low, took out a small flag from his arms, and waved it down below.

"Grandpa is waving the flag."

His personally passed down disciples were nearby.

Before long, he saw a sentry leaning against a tree sleeping on the roadside. He slit the sentry's throat with one knife, picked up the sentry's waist token as a replacement, and continued to move forward, actually sneaking into the mountain hollow.

He saw groups of people sleeping everywhere in the mountain hollow. They didn't care about anything else, assigned positions, and rushed in different directions.

They went up to the sleeping people and slashed their necks with knives, their strength fierce and skillful, directly cutting off their heads.

The dull sound of cutting meat, the sound of chopping bones, and the sound of blood spurting from the neck echoed continuously in the mountain hollow.

This movement was not unnoticed. Some people were awakened by the sound of their heads falling to the ground, and they saw blurry figures shaking in front of them. A burst of bloody smell assaulted their nostrils, and they wanted to shout.

But although their eyes were open, they still seemed to be asleep. They wanted to shout, but they couldn't make a sound. They wanted to struggle to get up and take a knife, but their bodies were still asleep and couldn't move.

They allowed the knife to cut their necks, not even knowing whether it was a dream or awake.

Knives rose and fell, until they killed into the camp. Shen Bangzi, after all, had followed the Red Lantern Mother. Although he was a *fuling* (a person possessed by a spirit), and lost his source of magic after leaving the Red Lantern Society, he still had instinctive alertness. In a daze, he felt something was wrong.

Suddenly, he wanted to flip over and jump up. But for a time, he only felt dizzy and heavy-headed. Vaguely, he saw a blue-faced, fanged, blood-mouthed evil god standing on his chest, pressing him down, unable to wake up.

He only saw the bright knife cutting towards his neck.

A sense of unwillingness reached its peak at this moment.

From the hands of the human traffickers to the Red Lantern Society, and from the Red Lantern Society to this family now...

The good days hadn't been enough...

Accompanied by this thought, his head was cut off, and immediately someone picked it up in his hand. No sound was made, but two lines of bloody tears seeped from the corners of his eyes.

...

...

"Brother Yang Gong, it's my fault, I shouldn't have drunk alcohol at night."

Ten miles away, Yang Gong had checked the camp and just returned, falling asleep in his tent. He suddenly dreamed of Shen Bangzi, holding his own head, rushing to his bed, crying and saying: "I followed you, how many life-and-death situations have I survived?"

"I always thought I was lucky, and God wouldn't take me away early, but I never thought that before I could see real wealth and prestige with you, I would lose my life..."

"..."

"Ah..."

Yang Gong suddenly woke up from his bed, covered in cold sweat, but there was no one around him, only a sinister wind quietly dissipated.

"Not good!"

Realizing something, he shouted loudly and jumped up, grabbed a horse, and rushed towards the mountain hollow. The patrolling sentries and the awakened small leaders were all shocked when they saw this, and hurriedly followed behind.

They lit lanterns and torches, illuminating the surroundings brightly. The people who heard the movement all rushed over, and the sound of horses' hooves and shouts was in a chaotic mess in the mountains.

Rushing to the front of the mountain hollow, the torches illuminated the front, and the shouts suddenly disappeared.

The strong smell of blood poured directly into the nostrils. Everyone seemed to be choked, and could not make a sound for a long time. They opened their eyes wide, but only saw a hellish scene.

Before dark, there were more than three hundred people who came to this mountain hollow, but now, not a single living person could be seen. Everywhere they looked, there were only human heads tied to the trees in the forest, staring with dried, pale eyes, looking straight at them.

Some were even piled on the ground in a pile, forming a *jingguan* (a mound of enemy corpses), with Shen Bangzi's desperate and stiff face at the very top.

"My brother..."

Yang Gong jumped off his horse, wanting to go forward and pick up Shen Bangzi, but he felt cold all over and burst into tears.

Behind him, the countless young and strong men who had followed him, who had just won a battle at dawn and were full of courage, were now shocked by the heads hanging in the forest. They only felt their spirits and souls dissipate, and their hearts trembled with fear.

Their blood had only been hot for a day, but now it was already half cold.

...

...

At the same time, Hu Ma had returned to the village in Qing Stone Town. After asking Li Wa Zi, and knowing that nothing had happened recently, he didn't say anything else. He placed the stone box he had brought back with him, neatly on the table in the main room of his inner courtyard.

As for the Punishment Official Broadsword, he just casually mentioned it and placed it in the corner of the wall. It had no objections.

Hearing the sound of his return, several people immediately drilled out of the side room, all with excited faces, giggling.

It was Zhou Datong and others. They also returned from the mine, preparing to return to the village for the New Year, but they left a few days late, and walked slowly on the road, so they just arrived at the village now. Hearing Hu Ma's return late in the evening, they hurried out to say hello.

Seeing them, Hu Ma was just about to order something, but he felt a gust of cool wind sweeping in from Old Yin Mountain.

He smelled the strong bloody smell in the wind, and his face changed slightly. He lost his mood to joke, and after a long time, he said in a low voice: "Rest early today, and prepare a table of high-quality food tomorrow."

"Perhaps there will be guests coming to this village soon."

(End of chapter)