New and dark light years

Chapter 334 Ambush
Inside the military commander's tent.

Several fully armed captains escorted a thin man in.

"Commander, this man claims to be a messenger from the rebels, saying that the rebel leader has something to tell you."

Li Lin was quite surprised. He looked at the thin man in front of him and asked, "What did the rebel leader send you to tell me?"

“Our boss said that you are a good official and he does not want to be your enemy. If you give him two days, he is willing to withdraw from Yourong County and let you take over.”

Li Lin raised an eyebrow: "What does your leader need two days for?"

"Of course it's revenge!" the skinny man sneered. "We've all been harmed by those corrupt officials and scumbags. Now we're taking our revenge in the city!"

Li Lin frowned: "How will you take revenge?"

"Of course, we'll kill anyone who has bullied us!" the skinny man said. "Our boss forbids us from harming civilians, but we'll kill all the tyrants who have bullied us."

"Kill them all?" Li Lin asked casually.

“Yes,” the skinny man laughed loudly, “We will treat them the same way they treated me before.”

Li Lin asked with considerable curiosity, "How did they treat you?"

“My father was beaten to death by tax collectors because he didn’t have enough money and grain to pay the tax. I was only eight years old at the time. My mother was taken by a wealthy man surnamed Huang because she was pretty. He did it right in front of me. Later, my mother couldn’t bear the humiliation and committed suicide by jumping into a well!”

The skinny man's eyes were filled with hatred.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the command tent frowned.

Li Lin asked slowly, "So how did you take your revenge later?"

"Hahaha, the boss led us into the city, and I surrounded the Huang family with dozens of brothers. I also forced that old bastard Huang Shi to watch me marry his first wife. I even smashed his youngest son to death right in front of him, turning him into mincemeat with a thud."

The skinny man's laughter was very sharp and shrill.

Li Lin sighed softly and said, "Do you know what will happen to you?"

"I know!" the skinny man said nonchalantly. "It's just death. I knew before I came, and the boss told me too. Anyway, I'm alone, I've avenged myself, so dying is fine!"

Li Lin nodded and said, "Take him to the training ground and behead him... Never mind, let's leave him with a whole body and give him a proper burial."

The skinny man was not afraid of death; when he heard he was going to be chopped up, he didn't care at all.

But when he heard that Li Lin wanted to leave him with a complete corpse, his expression changed.

“The boss is right, you really are a good official.” The skinny man looked at Li Lin: “If you were an official in Rong County, we wouldn’t be in this state now.”

Li Lin sighed softly, then waved his hand gently.

The thin man was taken away without any struggle, and he cooperated very well.

Li Lin summoned the four commanders to a meeting.

Soon, all four of them arrived.

Li Lin pointed to the sand table and said, "At dusk, apart from Commander Xiao, the other three led their men to guard the east, south, and north gates. I estimate they will try to escape tonight."

Didn't they say two days later?

"You believe what the rebels say?" Li Lin smiled.

Xiao Chunzhu said, "Commander, isn't it a bit unsafe to leave only about eight hundred men here?"

"It's alright." Li Lin waved his hand: "I have a life-saving technique. Even if you all die, I might not be hurt."

Hearing Li Lin say this, Xiao Chunzhu stopped trying to persuade him.

He is now a commander with a force of a thousand men under his command.

This already represents a great deal of power for him.

How many people are there in the entire Lingxiao Sect?
Not enough to reach one hundred.

Moreover, life is so hard, even if one becomes the leader in the future, how much power will one have?

The current commander has all his food, clothing and daily necessities supplied by the imperial court, and he can manage thousands of people. He is not someone that a Lingxiao Sect leader can compare to.

He increasingly felt that his choice was right, and at the same time, he was more and more grateful for Li Lin's guidance.

Without the help of a benefactor, it would be impossible for him, a mere江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world), to become an official.

As evening approached, the three armies, under the cover of darkness, silently left the camp and headed to their designated destinations.

Li Lin stood on the observation platform in the training ground, looking into the distance.

In the darkness outside the camp, many tiny infants could be vaguely seen flying around, their large black mouths open as if laughing, yet they remained silent.

After the red mist, Li Lin could vaguely see these strange creatures. He no longer needed to wear the mask given to him by the Tree Fairy Goddess to see things he couldn't see before.

It's unclear whether Huanggui was strengthened by the red mist, or whether he himself became stronger, or both.

In any case, the enhancements brought by the red mist benefit not only the monsters but also humans.

Overall, the human race benefits more, after all... humans possess intelligence, while the monsters have almost no intelligence.

…………

As night fell in Yourong County, the rebels almost all gathered at the East Gate.

The city gates were closed, but they could easily open them.

Zhang Zouzhi sat on a wooden bench placed on the side of the street, surrounded by a large crowd.

After a while, he stared at the eastward direction for a long time by the candlelight in the distance before asking, "Has everyone arrived?"

"There are still a few people who haven't arrived."

"He didn't die from a woman, did he?"

The people around burst into laughter.

Zhang Zouzhi smiled, stood up, and said, "It's alright if you don't come. You chose this yourself. Tell the brothers on the city wall to come down. We're leaving."

Someone nearby laughed and said, "That corrupt official, Lieutenant Li, never expected that when we said it would be two days later, we were actually lying to him. We'll leave tonight, hahaha."

The group laughed again.

They numbered a little over a hundred, and none of them looked particularly strong, yet they easily captured Yourong County.

The poor fighting strength of Yourong County was one factor, but the bravery and ferocity of these people were also a very important reason.

Zhang Zouzhi waved his hand: "County Commandant Li is a good official, and we should treat him with some respect."

The group immediately stopped laughing. Zhang Zouzhi arrived at the city gate and shouted upwards, "Open the gate, let's go!"

Soon, the winch turned, and the city gate gradually rose.

When they had driven almost the entire distance, Zhang Zouzhi made a gesture: "Let's go!"

A group of people slowly walked out of the city gate.

There was no moonlight tonight, and visibility was poor. Zhang Zouzhi said, "Let's light the torches and leave immediately. It would be bad if someone leaked the news."

The crowd nodded and followed behind Zhang Zouzhi.

As they walked away, the city gate behind them gradually closed.

It was the guards who hadn't been killed who had returned.

Walking on the official road, Huang Gui didn't dare to approach them because of the boiling murderous aura of more than a hundred people.

"Boss, where are we going now?"

Zhang Zouzhi laughed and said, "Head east, rob the towns you pass through, but try not to hurt civilians, understand?"

"That's really refreshing!" Everyone burst into laughter.

They like their current situation very much.

He can kill people and steal women; how wonderful!

Laughter carried far, echoing through the woods at night.

Zhang Zouzhi took a few steps, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He subconsciously looked towards the woods and frowned.

"What's wrong, boss?"

“Could it be this quiet in the woods?” Zhang Zouzhi said. “Logically, there should be the sounds of insects chirping and owls calling.”

"Could something have disturbed them?" The person next to him pondered for a moment and said, "Could it be a tiger... With so many people, the tiger wouldn't dare to come. If it does come, we'll just turn it into meat."

Everyone laughed again.

They feel very happy now, the whole world is at their disposal, this is a life they've never experienced before.

Zhang Zouzhi frowned more and more as he looked at it, and then said, "Let's go, speed up."

After saying that, he quickly started walking away.

The people around were taken aback and quickly started walking away.

They hadn't gone far when suddenly a large number of torches were lit in the woods on both sides of the official road, illuminating the surroundings almost instantly.

They were situated in the middle of the official road, caught between two sides.

Zhang Zouzhi looked around, his hair and beard standing on end, and roared, "Go!"

With a roar, he sprinted forward, his muscles bulging, making him seem to have gained weight, and charged ahead.

The others reacted quickly and followed suit immediately.

Meanwhile, the soldiers on both sides of the woods were already drawing their bows and ready to fire.

"Fire arrows!"

In Zhang Zouzhi's peripheral vision, he saw a man who clearly looked like a military officer suddenly waving his hand downwards.

Then, a dense barrage of arrows came flying at us.

Zhang Zouzhi suddenly drew his waist knife and began to wield it with lightning speed.

The blade flashed and transformed into a ball of silver light, protecting his entire body.

Many arrows dodged, but were deflected to the side by the flash of the blade.

But his 'brothers' behind him weren't so lucky. They also tried to block, but they weren't as fortunate as Zhang Zouzhi.

Screams rang out one after another, and a volley of arrows felled more than twenty brothers.

Some people were screaming in pain, while others lay motionless on the ground.

Li Lin had guessed his actions... At this moment, Zhang Zouzhi realized that these were soldiers from Yulin County.

Is this what a real military officer is like?
My little tricks probably seem as ridiculous to the other person as a child's tricks.

Zhang Zouzhi paused, looking at his fallen brothers, appearing hesitant.

Those rebel soldiers who were still breathing on the ground shouted directly to Zhang Zouzhi, "Brother, run!"

Then, one of them took a knife and slit his own throat.

Seeing this, the others didn't want to drag Zhang Zouzhi down with them, so they followed the man's example and slit their own throats.

Seeing this, Zhang Zouzhi's eyes turned red, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "I'll leave first and come back to take revenge later."

After saying that, he ran ahead again.

The others quickly followed.

"Nock the arrow, fire..."

Another volley of arrows came.

By this time, Zhang Zouzhi and the others had already run a distance, and this time they were experienced. Upon hearing the sound of arrows being fired, the group immediately scattered and each blocked the rain of arrows.

Because of the proper response, only a dozen or so people were hit by arrows this time.

Those who were hit by the arrow, as long as they were not dead, immediately slit their own throats and committed suicide without any hesitation.

Zhang Zouzhi glanced back, his eyes bloodshot.

He continued running forward, but suddenly stopped.

Because there was an army blocking the way in the middle of the official road ahead.

In front are swordsmen and shieldmen, and behind them are spearmen.

Because the other party didn't have a torch in the dark, they could only be spotted when you got close.

Zhang Zouzhi looked around and noticed a gap on the right, as if the government troops hadn't had time to complete the encirclement. He immediately pointed there and said, "Brothers, let's fight our way out from there."

(End of this chapter)