Chapter 546 - 546: Sea of Bitterness
Ah Lian spat at him and stepped on his face. La Mei also went forward and kicked him a few times. Four women with scars on their faces came out of the inner courtyard and saw a living enemy. They rushed forward and punched and kicked him, pulling his hair and biting him. Big Stone screamed repeatedly and wished he could die.
Seeing that they were almost done venting, Li Yu said to them, “Sisters-in-law, leave him alive and help the government office find the bandits who escaped.”
Ruyi and Ji Xiang went forward to stop the women and snatched the Big Stone from their hands.
The crippled woman looked up at Li Yu unhappily and sneered. “Hehe! Hand it to the government office! Everyone knows that the government office is in cahoots with these evil thieves. Otherwise, why would our Liang Village be like this? We don’t live like humans or ghosts. It was done by the government office and these dogs.”
Li Yu didn’t want to explain too much to these women who had been tortured by hatred for many years. She said to Ruyi and Ji Xiang, who were stopping these women, “Ruyi, Ji Xiang, let go of him and hand him to them. Let them deal with him.”
“Yes, Madam.” Ji Xiang and Ruyi let go of Big Stone and retreated to the side. When the four women and Ah Lian saw that Li Yu had indeed handed him over to them to deal with, they stood there motionless again.
Ah Lian looked at Li Yu and then at her sisters. She said to the crippled woman, “Ying Tao, let’s listen to Madam Li. We have to find the evil thieves who escaped and avenge the wronged deaths.”
Yingtao looked at Ah Lian and nodded after a while. “Alright, we’ll listen to Sister-in-law.”
Ah Lian bent her knees and bowed to Li Yu. “Madam Li, you’re magnanimous. Don’t lower yourself to my sister’s level.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I understand. There’s food in the house over there. Go get some to eat first and rest for a while.”
“Madam, I’ll be honest with you. This residence belongs to my family. My father-in-law was the village chief of Liang Village. My mother-in-law, my man, my two sons, my daughter, and my two uncles were all killed by those evil thieves.”
Ah Lian’s tears fell and she choked a few times. “In the blink of an eye, only Aunt and I were left in the entire family. Aunt’s teeth and legs were also knocked away and broken by a wretched thief because she bit off a piece of that evil thief’s lip.”
Yingtao and the women looked at the crying Ah Lian and thought of their dead relatives. They also cried. The women’s sorrowful cries sounded in the courtyard.
Ji Xiang was so angry that he kicked Big Stone. “You’re worse than an animal. How can you kill an unarmed commoner?”
Big Stone screamed and fainted. Ah Lian and the others stopped crying when they heard the scream and turned to look at Ji Xiang.
Ji Xiang pointed at Big Stone. “I was so angry that I kicked him.”
Seeing Ji Xiang’s awkward expression, Ah Lian wiped her tears and said, “Thank you, Little Brother. We’re fine.”
Seeing that it was almost dawn, Li Yu said to Ah Lian, “Go get something to eat. We’ll move those corpses to the straw shed outside and wait for the officials to pull them away.”
With that, he, Ruyi, and Ji Xiang walked towards the inner courtyard. They entered the inner courtyard and brought the two of them to the study. They opened the secret room. When they arrived, Ji Xiang and Ruyi were stunned.
Ji Xiang exclaimed, “Oh my god! There are so many weapons and armor. Are they preparing to rebel?”
Ruyi looked at Li Yu with a smile. “Madam, let’s choose a few suitable ones?”
Li Yu thought of the ones in her space and smiled. “Choose! After you’re done, go to the cellar and get Old Lin out. There are still two corpses inside. Search them and see if there are any clues.”
“Yes.” Ji Xiang and Ruyi chose a machete and a crossbow respectively and carried them out the door.
When she returned to the courtyard, Li Yu recalled that the bandit called Big Stone had said that the manor head had gone out yesterday and would be back today. She said to Ji Xiang and Ruyi, “After dawn, the two of you quickly go back and report that you’re safe. Then, bring the officials over. I’ll go to the forest at the village entrance and wait for the manor head to return.”
The two of them agreed and Ruyi said, “Madam, Uncle and Zhao Cai went to
Shanyang County to look for you. I wonder if they’ve returned?”
“Go back and send the news to them. They’ll naturally come back.”
Li Yu thought about how her disappearance this time must have frightened Li Qing and Zhou Jia, causing Zhao Cai, Ruyi, and the others to be afraid. Also, Yang’er and the twins were probably looking for their mother.
She looked at Ruyi and Ji Xiang apologetically. “You were frightened, right?”
Ji Xiang scratched his head. “Madam, you’ve really frightened us this time. When we go back and find that bastard Li Fengqi, we’ll definitely teach him a lesson.’
“Alright, put him in a sack and beat him up.” Li Yu smiled.
The few of them searched the bandits’ bodies. They didn’t find anything else but some silver.
Li Yu handed the silver to Ji Xiang and said, “When you come back later, buy some clothes, cloth, bedding, and mosquito nets for those women. If it’s not enough, let’s add some. It’s best to bring Granny Chen over so she can check on them.”
“Yes, Madam.” Ji Xiang and Ruyi dragged the two corpses out.
It took the three of them two trips to move all the bodies out and put them in the empty straw shed, covering them with straw.
After getting Big Stone into the cellar and seeing Old Lin, Ruyi and Ji Xiang gave him a few more blows each. Li Yu told the two of them that he was a fake. The three of them dragged the corpses and Old Lin to the courtyard, planning to let Ah Lian and the others recognize him.
Li Yu threw Old Lin at the side of the warehouse. La Mei walked over and looked at Old Lin for a while before shouting, “Ah Lian, Sister-in-law, come and take a look! Is this dog the evil thief who cut the Yang Liu’s face?”
Ah Lian and the women ran over. Everyone stared at Old Lin and San Qiao shouted angrily, “It’s him. I remember even if he turns to ashes.”
Yang Liu looked at Old Lin. He closed his eyes and did not dare to look at Yang Liu and the others. They could only see the flesh on his face trembling in fear.
Yang Liu looked at Old Lin and thought of those humiliating days. She turned around, entered the house, and ran out with a kitchen knife. “Bastard, I’ll kill you!”
Yang Liu raised her knife angrily and slashed. Ruyi went forward and snatched the knife from her hand. Everyone smelled a stench. The ground under Old Lin was wet. It turned out that Old Lin had peed his pants in fear.
Only then did the women realize that the usually arrogant thieves could also be afraid.
Everyone glared at Ruyi, pointed at him, and shouted, “Why are you protecting him?”
“He’s still useful, ” Li Yu said to Ah Lian.
Ah Lian glanced at Li Yu and said to Yang Liu, “Yang Liu, this evil thief is still useful. Don’t kill him.”
Yang Liu glared at Ruyi angrily and walked towards the kitchen with the knife. The other women followed.
Ah Lian looked at Ying Tai, Yang Liu and the other sisters, who were silent and sitting there in a daze.
“Sisters, now that we’ve escaped the sea of bitterness, what are your thoughts? What are your plans for the future?