Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 533, Section 532: The Courtyard of Gathering Righteousness
After listening to Hei San Niang's introduction, Feng Xiu Hu looked at her with newfound respect.

Just in terms of their foresight and combat skills, the Copper Whistle Gang has already left ordinary bandits far behind.

As they approached the village entrance, some villagers carrying baskets on their backs were about to go out when they saw Hei San Niang's figure approaching from afar. They quickly waved enthusiastically, "San Niang! Why are you only coming back now? Lao Huang and A Qing arrived in the middle of the night last night."

Hei San Niang nodded with a stern face: "Something came up and I was delayed. Are the brothers all alright?"

The villagers replied with a smile, "I heard that a few people were injured, but fortunately they all came back unharmed."

After parting ways with the villagers, the three continued walking towards the village.

Feng Xiuhu asked her, "Was that one of your bandits just now?"

Hei Sanniang shook her head: "He's just an ordinary farmer, not a bandit who lives on the edge of a knife."

Feng Xiuhu asked curiously, "Then why isn't he afraid of you?"

Hei Sanniang sneered: "Why should we be afraid of me? Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows. Ever since the Copper Whistle Gang took root here, Kanzi Village has never been robbed by bandits again. They're too busy kowtowing to me!"

Feng Xiuhu fell silent—though that's true, reverence and fearlessness are two different things.

Upon entering the village, the bandits finally received the news. Before long, a group of bandits emerged one after another from each household, shouting "Boss!" and then escorted Hei San Niang towards the village's house with a separate courtyard.

Feng Xiuhu and Hua Changrui were pushed to the back.

Feng Xiuhu could clearly see that Hua Changrui had become much more nervous, so he asked with concern, "Are you shy?"

Hua Changrui kept a close watch on the crowded people around him and whispered, "We are outnumbered. If she turns against us now, we're probably in trouble."

His concerns were not unfounded. Although the bandits were all ordinary people, they were still vulnerable to the enemy's firearms.

Feng Xiu thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "I think you're right. Why don't you strike first and just go up and kidnap her?"

Hua Changrui was taken aback and asked, "And what about you?"

Feng Xiuhu waved his hand: "Don't worry, I'll just say I don't know you."

Hua Changrui swallowed hard: "I...I'll think about it some more."

……

Upon arriving at the residence, someone had already brought out a tiger-skin chair and placed it in front of the courtyard.

Hei San Niang didn't stand on ceremony and sat down with great poise.

The remaining chairs were brought in one after another and arranged in rows from both sides of the tiger-skin chair downwards.

The bandits sat down in an orderly fashion.

Feng Xiuhu looked around but couldn't find his seat, so he stepped to the chair on the left and stared at the bearded man on the chair.

The bearded man, confused, asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Hey! Are you trying to provoke me?"

Feng Xiuhu exploded at the slightest provocation, grabbing the bearded man by the collar and throwing him to the ground.

The bearded man flew into a rage, scrambling to his feet and yelling, "Who the hell are you?!"

"Hey?"

He suddenly remembered, and pointed at Feng Xiuhu, saying, "Aren't you that guy from the inn, that... who was it again..."

Feng Xiuhu reminded him: "Run for mayor."

The bearded man slapped his thigh: "That's right! That idiot who said he wanted to be mayor!"

Feng Xiuhu's face darkened.

Fortunately, Hei San Niang came to the rescue in time: "Old Huang, shut up."

The bearded man immediately fell silent and turned to look at Hei San Niang.

Hei San Niang gestured to the side, "Give him the chair, you go sit over there." The bearded man had no objection and obediently went to sit down by the well.

Sitting to Feng Xiuhu's right was a young bandit. He hadn't shown up at the inn last time, so he hadn't seen Feng Xiuhu before. He looked at him curiously and asked, "Hey, are you really the mayor?"

Feng Xiuhu patted his chest and guaranteed, "It's genuine!"

The young bandit exclaimed, "Our leader is truly skilled; he even managed to kidnap the mayor!"

This time, it was Hei San Niang's turn to turn pale. She yelled at them, "A Qing, don't talk to him!"

Aqing shrugged and kept her mouth tightly shut.

One after another, bandits in charge of various functions came forward to report on things such as the casualties and results of last night's operation.

After listening for a while, Feng Xiuhu finally understood why the Copper Whistle Gang was able to storm into the city so easily last night—it turned out that Shen Morou had used her position to find out the patrol routes of the police that night.

Of course, there were also more detailed arrangements, such as having a small group of bandits cause trouble in the north of the city first to lure away the main police force.

Without going into further detail, at the end of the report, Old Huang by the well got up and told Black Third Sister some good news.

"Boss, guess who else we invited?"

Before Hei Sanniang could speak, Aqing, who was next to Feng Xiuhu, interrupted first: "Come on, Lao Huang! The boss has even kidnapped the mayor. Your little thing is probably no match for him."

Old Huang glared at him fiercely: "I think you're still half asleep. Open your eyes and take a good look. How does this idiot look like a mayor?"

Feng Xiuhu slapped the armrest and stood up, pointing at Lao Huang and cursing, "I've put up with you for a long time, Li Kui!"

Old Huang retorted without backing down, "What are you going to do about it? This is the Copper Whistle Gang's territory! And who is Li Kui?"

Hei Sanniang interrupted again, angrily shouting at Lao Huang, "Enough!"

Then he turned to look at Feng Xiuhu, trying to keep his tone even: "...Sit down first and wait for him to finish speaking."

Feng Xiuhu sneered: "Fine, I'll give you, Yizhangqing, face."

Hei San Niang took a deep breath and raised her hand to signal Lao Huang to continue.

Old Huang clapped his hands, and a bandit brought a person in from outside the courtyard and threw him on the ground.

Feng Xiuhu took a closer look and laughed – it was someone he knew.

Old Huang, beaming with pride, cupped his hands in a circle around him before pointing at the people on the ground and saying to Hei San Niang, "Boss, look—we've brought Ma Er here!"

Hei San Niang's eyes lit up, and she craned her neck to carefully examine the short, stout figure on the ground: "Ma Er?"

Feng Xiuhu was also observing – where was the "Second Master" who was so glamorous yesterday?

His body was covered in whip marks, his long robe and jacket had been stripped off, leaving him only in a thin, blood-stained undergarment with exposed white, fleshy flesh. He huddled in the cold wind, shivering.

Upon hearing Hei San Niang's question, "Second Master" didn't even dare to raise his head, only sobbing and crying out, "Misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! I'm really not Ma Er!"

Hei San Niang cast a questioning look at Lao Huang.

Old Huang spat on the ground and cursed, "Pah—don't listen to his nonsense! When this guy first came yesterday, he swore that he was Ma Er and asked the brothers to let him go for his sake. But after a few beatings, he changed his mind and denied it."

Hei San Niang asked, "Then is he really Ma Er?"

"Second Master" yelled at the top of his lungs, "It really isn't!"

Old Huang's voice drowned out his: "He clearly is! Our brothers can testify—"

After saying that, he clapped his hands again, and several more people came in from outside.

Feng Xiuhu looked up and laughed again—well, yesterday's "fellow inmate" has returned.

The bandits who had been to the police station's jail identified the suspects.

“That’s right! Boss, this is Ma Er. We saw it clearly. Even the head of the police station has to serve him carefully. Who else has that kind of face besides Ma Er?”

(End of this chapter)