New and dark light years

Chapter 333 We Can Only Escape

After his routine patrol around the county town, Li Lin returned to the county government office and then went to the post station.

As a county magistrate, he had the authority to use the 'functions' of the post station, and this was the first time he had used it.

"Send this letter to the Jin County military camp and give it to Commander Mu!"

This is an official document, sealed with vermilion lacquer and stamped with an official seal.

The messenger nodded, picked up the disguise and a series of wilderness survival preparations, and set off immediately.

Three days passed quickly, and the messenger returned from Jin County at breakneck speed.

At the same time, he brought back a letter to Li Lin, which was also an official document, the kind with an official seal.

Upon opening the envelope, there was only one short sentence inside.

'If you accomplish what was entrusted in the previous letter, then I will surely fulfill your wish. The Empress will also be pleased to hear of this. Go ahead and do it; the Empress will be your support.'

After reading it, Li Lin smiled and immediately burned the letter.

He then returned home and told Huang Qing about his upcoming departure.

Huang Qing sighed softly, "My lord is working too hard. He has only been back from Tianjin for a few days and he has to go out on business again."

She now harbors a deep resentment, regretting that she had taught her husband to seek fame and fortune.

Li Lin laughed and said, "The world is undergoing tremendous changes, and many things will change along with it. This is only the initial stage. If we cannot seize the initiative, we will definitely regret it in the future."

“I understand the reasoning.” Huang Qing’s eyes were red. “But the thought of my husband being away from home for several more days makes me unhappy.”

Li Lin patted her head: "I'll be back as soon as possible."

Huang Qing nodded slightly.

The next day, Li Lin led three thousand soldiers straight to Yourong County.

Yourong County is not far from Yulin County; even a large army would only need two days to reach it.

When Li Lin arrived in the county town, he first camped outside the town, and then discovered that... Rong County actually closed its city gates, preventing people from entering or leaving.

"It's actually been taken over by a cult?" Li Lin exclaimed in surprise.

Logically speaking, a county town should have at least three to five hundred local militia stationed there. Even if a cult is plotting a rebellion, it shouldn't have been able to take down a county town so quickly.

Unless... it's a coordinated effort from within and without.

If that's the case, then this so-called cult rebellion becomes quite intriguing.

……

On the other side, in the Rong County government office.

Zhang Zouzhi sat in the main seat of the courtroom, opposite him kneeling three middle-aged men.

Judging from the style of the official robes, it should be the county magistrate, county assistant magistrate, and county commandant all here.

“It’s quite amusing for the three of you to kneel before a commoner like me, my lords.” Zhang Zouzhi’s dark face was full of a gleeful smile. “What goes around comes around. Two months ago, you three were high and mighty, while I was kneeling below you, being tortured by you. Now it’s your turn to suffer.”

"How dare you!" The magistrate was so angry that he was about to stand up.

But a man next to him with a long stick swept it across.

The magistrate was struck in the back of the leg and immediately knelt down again, screaming in pain.

The two county officials standing nearby trembled as they watched.

"Guards!" Zhang Zouzhi slammed his gavel on the table: "Prepare to torture the three lords."

Several constables walked up tremblingly, carrying instruments of torture in their hands.

The three county officials were furious upon seeing this.

"How dare you lay a hand on us? Are you plotting a rebellion?"

"I am the county magistrate, who dares to touch me?"

"You're tired of living, you're all tired of living."

In their panic, the three county officials began to curse loudly.

The constables dared not speak, but instead subjected the three men to torture.

Soon after, the three county officials began to wail and howl like ghosts.

Then a man walked in from outside; he had an extremely menacing appearance.

He glanced at the three disheveled county officials, sneered, then walked to Zhang Zouzhi's side and asked, "We've almost ransacked the homes of those three corrupt officials and those gentry. Do you know how much silver and treasure we've found?"

"How many?"

"After conversion, it should be more than a million taels of silver."

"It's all the people's hard-earned money, let's confiscate it all."

What will happen to their families?

Zhang Zouzhi thought for a moment and said, "Kill all the men, and give the women to the brothers so they can have a taste."

"I understand."

“Wait a minute…” Zhang Zouzhi thought for a moment and said, “Girls under the age of ten, just give them a quick death.”

"Yes!"

"Also, we will only kill officials and gentry, not ordinary people. Anyone who dares to disobey, I will kill him."

The man lowered his head and said, "Yes."

After the man left, Zhang Zouzhi continued to enjoy watching the three county officials' ugly behavior under torture.

After a while, a young man hurried in, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Brother, a troop of soldiers has come from the west and is now stationed outside the city. Look at the flag on the camp; it has the character 'Li' on it."

Zhang Zouzhi was silent for a while, then said, "They came so quickly, and they even have the surname 'Li,' so it can only be Li Lin, the county magistrate of Yulin."

"How could they have arrived so quickly!" the man exclaimed. "Aren't soldiers supposed to be extremely slow?"

Zhang Zouzhi said, "Li, the county magistrate of Yulin, is a good official, unlike these three beasts. I'm not surprised he arrived so quickly. Tell me, if we had been born in Yulin County, would we have ended up like this?"

The young man beside him remained silent. Zhang Zouzhi then said, "Forget it, there's no point in investigating this now. Take me to the Yang family."

He stepped down from the main seat, looked at the three county officials who had been tortured to the point of exhaustion, and said, "When they die, cut off their heads, hang them at the execution ground, and throw their bodies into the street to feed the dogs."

Having said that, he left the county government office.

At this time, the streets of Yourong County were deserted and quiet.

Zhang Zouzhi mounted his horse and rode off, soon arriving at the gate of a large house in the north of the city.

The sign above the door reads "Yang Residence".

The signboard was painted with the finest black lacquer, but now it was stained with drops of blood.

Several men dressed in green robes were gathered around the entrance of the Yang residence, chatting and laughing.

"Women from wealthy families are just so straightforward."

"Actually, men are not bad either, it's just a pity that the boss wants to kill all the men. I think that young master has fair skin and tender flesh, no less than a woman."

"Hiss, where did you get this brother?"

"Shu County..."

"Oh, no wonder."

Zhang Zouzhi dismounted, and the gatekeepers, upon seeing him, immediately clasped their hands and called out, "Boss!"

Zhang Zouzhi nodded and asked, "How is Lord Yang doing?"

"He's still breathing."

"Take me over there and have a look."

The group immediately cleared the way, and soon Zhang Zouzhi arrived at the main hall.

There are several women being violated by a group of men. Two of them seem to have already died, while the others have vacant eyes as if they have no souls left.

Behind them, there were many men queuing up.

At the very front of the main hall, an old man with white hair was tied to a pillar, watching all of this with red eyes.

But he seemed to have lost the strength to be angry, and just cried out in a hoarse voice.

They looked extremely pitiful.

Zhang Zouzhi strolled over, glanced at the women, then looked at the men around him whose heads had been almost all chopped off, and asked with a smile, "Master Yang, we meet again."

When the old man surnamed Yang saw Zhang Zouzhi, his eyes flashed with resentment and malice. His face contorted as he shouted, "Beast! You beast!"

The shrillness of his voice and the trembling of his body testified to the unparalleled depth of his resentment.

"An animal?"

Zhang Zouzhi took out a horsewhip and lashed it hard.

A diagonal bloodstain appeared on Yang Gong's face.

"A year ago, I was in the same situation as you, watching my wife and children being humiliated by your eldest son. What do you think I was thinking back then?"

Yang Gong ignored him, only glaring at Zhang Zouzhi and muttering curses, "Beast, beast."

"Is this all the words you know?" Zhang Zouzhi asked.

Yang Gong continued to curse.

Zhang Zouzhi smiled and shook her head.

He then glanced at the women, a surge of pleasure crossing his mind, and shouted, "Brothers, County Magistrate Li from Yulin has arrived outside the city. Let's hurry up and enjoy ourselves!"

Then he said to the person next to him, "In two hours, whether these women are dead or alive, push them into the room and lock them up. Then burn this place down. Understand?"

"Yes!"

As Zhang Zouzhi walked out of the Yang residence, he looked back at the gate number and smiled, a sense of relief washing over him after his great revenge had been fulfilled.

He then went up to the city wall and looked ahead.

From a high vantage point, one can see very far.

About a mile along the official road, a camp had appeared out of nowhere, and on the camp's banner was indeed a large character 'Li'.

Zhang Zouzhi looked around and asked, "Who has the guts to go and deliver a few words to the other side?"

Many men came out.

Zhang Zouzhi looked around and pointed to a man who was as thin as a monkey: "You're the one."

The thin man smiled broadly: "Thank you for your appreciation, brother."

"Aren't you afraid of dying? The other side are government soldiers, and it's that righteous and incorruptible County Lieutenant Li. You might not be able to come back alive."

"It's alright, I have no regrets."

"what have you done?"

“I killed that beast who insulted my mother, peed on his head, and fucked his first wife seven times. That’s enough.”

Zhang Zouzhi laughed heartily and patted the other man on the shoulder: "That's right, a man should be like that. A true man takes revenge when he has a grudge."

The skinny man looked extremely proud and smug.

The other men looked on with envy.

Zhang Zouzhi pointed to the camp ahead and said, "Go tell County Commandant Li that he is a good official and I do not wish to be his enemy. If he is willing to wait two more days, I will withdraw from Yourong County in two days, and then he can recapture this city."

“I’ve got it, brother.”

"Go."

The thin man removed his weapons, mounted a skinny horse, and headed straight for the government troops' camp ahead.

Zhang Zouzhi took a deep breath and said, "Send another person to tell all the brothers to get ready. We'll leave quietly from the south gate late tonight."

"Didn't you say we'd wait two days..." someone asked from the side.

“The better the official, the less likely he is to let us go,” Zhang Zouzhi laughed. “County Commandant Li is a formidable man; I’ve taken note of his deeds. He’s invincible! To have survived the southern campaign is no small feat. We can’t beat him; we can only flee, understand?”

(End of this chapter)