CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62: FORMING AN ALLIANCE WITH LU QING, ATTACKING THE STRONGHOLD IN THREE DAYS

Tang Zan fought fiercely with the exiles while making his way towards Lu Qing.

On his way, he discovered the hidden eldest uncle, who attacked Tang Peilin’s back with a knife, severing both his left and right hands.

When the hand fell to the ground, several fingers twitched a few times.

Tang Peilin knelt in agony, howling in pain, tears and snot flowing, his blood staining the land red.

The vengefulness of the villain was evident.

For an ordinary person, this cut would have been fatal, but not Tang Peilin.

Shu’er: "..."

The power of the plot is truly remarkable.

Yet, this only extended his suffering. Shu’er watched Tang Peilin writhing in pain and it seemed he wished for nothing but death.

Lu Qing sensed several experts approaching and with a chilling gaze, retreated to the side.

Tang Zan and Shu’er pursued relentlessly.

Knowing he couldn’t escape, Lu Qing engaged in combat with Tang Zan.

Shu’er then realized that Lu Qing, usually unremarkable, also possessed inner strength.

However, Lu Qing’s inner strength was clearly not as formidable as Tang Zan’s.

Yet Tang Zan held back his power, and their fight was closely matched, gradually distancing them from the group.

Shu’er hurriedly chased after them, wielding her large knife.

When Shu’er caught up, Tang Zan whispered, "Lu Qing, I’m Tang Zan, and she’s Shu’er."

The moment he heard this, Lu Qing’s hand trembled, nearly dropping his knife. It was truly hard to reconcile the two bandits before him with Tang Zan and Shu’er.

Even at such a close distance, he couldn’t sense anything unusual.

Tang Zan said, "Don’t stop, keep fighting."

So the two began to fake fight.

Soon, Shu’er joined the fake fight.

The trio’s fight was soft and sluggish, yet the clashing of blades resounded unusually loud.

Tang Zan said, "We will act three days from now. We will set the stronghold on fire and open its gates. You can attack the stronghold then."

Lu Qing frowned, "Why should we believe we can overthrow this stronghold?"

By now, most of the exiles in his charge had sided with the bandits.

The remaining exiles were not united with them, making it impossible to win this battle.

Shu’er said, "We have allied with the Lady of the Village, who has medicine to temporarily incapacitate the bandits. We will strike then."

Lu Qing shook his head, "All we want is the map. If we confront these bandits, we can’t walk away unscathed."

Shu’er said, "We also need to rescue our relatives, and we discovered the dungeon here holds over thirty constables too."

Constable refers to the government officer escorting the exiles.

Lu Qing was stunned, never expecting so many constables to be imprisoned.

He had thought these colleagues were killed by the bandits.

Shu’er said, "These past few days, I have fed them well, so they have regained their strength. We can eradicate this stronghold together then."

Shu’er did not find this cruel; she only recently discovered that the area around the stronghold had inhabitants who were either driven away or brutally killed by the bandits.

Children were eaten, and children born from women humiliated were also eaten.

These bandits, guilty of heinous crimes, were not worth her sympathy.

Lu Qing faked fighting in silence, as if mulling over the feasibility of Shu’er’s words.

Shu’er continued, "Moreover, the dungeon still holds over twenty women, who can also be a fighting force."

After a pause, Shu’er added, "Lu Jieguan, these bandits have been a scourge for a long time. Every time the court’s exiles are transported here, the losses are heavy."

"The court has issued a mandate to eradicate the bandits. If we succeed, our merit would not be insignificant."

Lu Qing finally looked at Shu’er, noticing the determination and wisdom in her eyes. Clearly, she had made up her mind.

In exile destinations, people of noble status could have extra privileges but would still lack freedom.

Otherwise, they would face hard labor or become servants.

Worse, they could become cannon fodder in the military for dangerous missions.

By eradicating the bandits, military credit could be accumulated, providing future options at the exile destination.

Such credit would at least offer choices rather than being allocated randomly; ending up as a servant would be truly dismal.

Lu Qing smiled slightly, "Alright, let’s work together to eradicate this stronghold."

Listening to Shu’er and Tang Zan, it seemed everything was well arranged, and with the prisoners’ help, he was less worried.

These bandits, whom he also deeply despised.

On their way back, Shu’er picked up every knife and sword she saw from the bandits, wrapping them in clothes.

With so many eyes watching, she didn’t expose her means.

These weapons were intended for the constables in the dungeon.

Tang Zan protected Shu’er along the way, as weapons have no eyes.

The two reached the Big Master’s place, where Shu’er placed some weapons in front of him and hid more discreetly.

She had no choice but to, as her actions of collecting weapons were drawing too much attention.

The Big Master nodded, "Well done."

Shu’er smiled and said, "Congratulations, Big Master, for the great victory in this battle. Lu Qing was also severely injured by Da Gao and several experts."

The Big Master and the Second Master exchanged glances, both showing smiles.

The Third Master stood silently to the side, but no one could ignore his presence.

He was the true hero of this battle.

At night, when Shu’er cooked for the prisoners in the dungeon, she made extra porridge, thick and filling.

As she fed them, Shu’er walked ahead while Tang Zan carried a bucket of porridge in his left hand and a bucket of water in his right.

When they encountered constables, Shu’er ladled porridge into their bowls, and the constables were startled, looking up at Shu’er.

Shu’er kept her head down, ladling porridge while speaking quickly in a low voice.

"Three nights from now, we’ll act. We’ll release you then, and we’ll eradicate the bandits together. Recover your strength for now."

A glimmer of hope appeared in the constables’ previously dim eyes, and they quickly looked at Shu’er.

Shu’er discreetly left several bottles of golden sore medicine for those trustworthy constables after observing them.

Then, she moved on to the next cell.

The constables quickly hid the golden sore medicine, their eyes excited as they looked at Shu’er, seeing hope.

They initially thought they’d be tortured here daily, dying either from grievous injuries or mental breakdown.

Otherwise, they’d be forced to join the bandits and live a life of walking corpses.

They had truly reached their limits, with multiple festering wounds, and some were too severe to even move their limbs.

But now, there was a ray of light.

It told them they could resist, and they had the means to resist.

At the Third Room’s cell, Shu’er shared the plan with its occupants.

"If all goes well, we will act three nights from now. Then we’ll come for you, and you can escape with us."

The occupants of the Third Room were momentarily stunned, then expressed joy.

Shu’er did not mention to others that after she finished serving dinner, she would not lock the cell doors. Whether they manage to escape would depend on their own abilities.