CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER 361: TEMPTING WITH MONEY

Shangguan and Sisi’s expressions changed, they called to the students behind them to quickly climb up the slope beside the road. They were in luck, since the slope was concave, forming a natural barrier, very suitable for hiding.

Sisi gathered up all the guns, the bullets were limited, so they had to be used sparingly. Shangguan had the other students busy collecting stones and carving wooden arrows, getting as many as they could.

The tractor was packed with people, each wielding a homemade gun, exuding an aggressive aura, and several trucks trailed behind it, also filled with people wearing vicious expressions, their faces full of stinginess.

Among one of the trucks, there were clearly Professor Ma and Liu Xuelian among them—it seems that the villagers had first gone to the hillside. Li Xueqi and the other students all secretly let out a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that they followed Sisi, otherwise, they would have ended up captives like Professor Ma and his group.

"Wait!"

Jin San, from atop the tractor, with keen eyes, spotted the traces of trampled weeds beside the road and called out to the tractor driver.

Jin San jumped off the tractor and carefully examined the row of trampled weeds, spitting out and sneering coldly, then shouted to the villagers behind him: "They are up there!"

All the vehicles stopped, and the villagers from the trucks jumped off too. Professor Ma and Liu Xuelian were pushed off as well, and from the last truck, three door panels were carried out, on which there lay three corpses.

It turned out that after Red Sister had died the previous night, two of Jin San’s men hadn’t made it through the night—one of which was Chen Liu. The other was also a local from Lupanxia Village, who, although not as influential as Red Sister’s family, also bore the Chen surname, sharing a common ancestor.

Although Chen Liu was not favored by the villagers typically, that was a private family matter. Now that he had died at the hands of outsiders, of course, the people of Lupanxia Village could not stand for it. It was as if how they mistreated their own things was their business, but it was unacceptable for others to do the same.

Therefore, with the villagers of Lupanxia Village already having bandit-like temperaments and seeing that three young men from their village had died, how could they stand by?

Moreover, with Jin San incessantly fanning the flames on the side, the able-bodied men of Lupanxia Village came pursuing revenge in high-spirits, resolved to demand a blood debt from Sisi and her companions.

The truck drivers, upon receiving Jin San’s approval, one by one fled in panic, not caring to stay and watch the commotion, only thinking about getting far from this place of trouble—at the sight of those three corpses, fearing the outbreak of severe chaos.

Down below was a dense crowd, over a hundred strong, each one armed with weapons: homemade guns, hoes, wooden sticks, carrying poles, etc., their approach fierce and threatening.

"Watch closely, down there are your teachers and classmates. Come down nicely for me, otherwise, I’ll slaughter them!" Jin San snarled and pointed a homemade gun at Professor Ma and the others beside him.

Liu Xuelian screamed incessantly in terror, and the other male students were also scared out of their wits, some of them crying uncontrollably. Professor Ma was also fearfully trembling. However, being older and bearing the responsibility of a teacher, he forced himself to stay calm and spoke to Jin San:

"Let my students go, they are innocent. I will stay by myself."

"You old fool, they’re innocent? If they’re innocent, how did my three brothers die?"

Jin San’s face suddenly twisted, using the butt of his gun to smash at Professor Ma, knocking him to the ground with a head bleeding profusely.

"It wasn’t us who killed your brothers, it was He Sisi, all her doing, the prettiest female student killed them, truly!" Liu Xuelian suddenly screamed out, her voice shrill.

"Really ungrateful!"

Sisi was indifferent, feeling no hope, thus no disappointment. She had never had any positive feelings for Liu Xuelian, and now Liu Xuelian’s self-destructive actions were only pushing Sisi to be even more heartless.

"Liu Xuelian, what nonsense are you spouting? How could He Sisi possibly have such great ability?" Professor Ma, lying on the ground, hurriedly scolded Liu Xuelian.

At that moment, Liu Xuelian only thought of implicating Sisi to make Jin San let her go, refusing to heed any advice, still insisting that it was He Sisi who killed him.

"I’m not talking nonsense, it really was all He Sisi alone. She even killed many Vietnamese soldiers on the front line before, her marksmanship is impressive. There’s a head for every grievance, a debtor for every debt. Go to He Sisi to seek revenge and let me go!"

Liu Xuelian’s words caused the faces of Jin San and the other villagers to change, no wonder Red Sister and the others were killed, it turned out there was a tough nut in their midst!

"It seems we really didn’t recognize Mount Tai, to think that we had a combat hero among us!"

Jin San said with a smirk, but his expression changed instantly, and he said viciously: "Whether you are a Sharpshooter or a combat hero, as long as you killed my brothers, you have to pay with your life for my brothers, and all the others are accomplices and will have to be punished as well!"

"Yes, a life for a life!"

"How dare anyone mess with our people from Lupan Gorge, they must have the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard!"

...

The villagers shouted loudly, their voices overlapping and deafening.

"Dear brothers, don’t be used by that Jin San, if it weren’t for Jin San and Chen Liu trying to bully a female classmate of our class yesterday, we wouldn’t have come into conflict with Jin San and his gang, resulting in the death of three of your villagers. For this, I express my apologies, and I am willing to offer economic compensation, one thousand yuan per household, I wonder if you all can accept this?"

Sisi reasoned with them and tempted them with interests, hoping the villagers could be persuaded by the prospect of money and stay out of this matter. This way, only Jin San and his people wouldn’t be able to make much trouble.

One thousand yuan was indeed a huge temptation, and many villagers were tempted, their faces showing hesitation.

Seeing this, Jin San hurriedly said loudly: "Pah, do you think we people from Lupan Gorge are so greedy for money? My brother’s life can’t be replaced by all the wealth in the world, you think you can buy my brother’s life with one thousand yuan, dream on!"

With Jin San’s words, those villagers who were tempted also felt embarrassed to express their willingness to accept the compensation. Sisi calmly continued, "If one thousand yuan is not enough, how about two thousand yuan? As long as you are willing to accept my compensation, the price is negotiable!"

"No amount will do, we want your life, to make you pay for my brother’s life!" Jin San yelled in agitation, having already staked his claim, fearing that the villagers he had managed to convince might be persuaded otherwise.

Sisi gave a light smile, took out five ten yuan notes wrapped around small stones, and threw them down to the villagers, causing many of them to scramble for the money.

"Any brothers who are willing to go back will also receive fifty yuan from me as hard-earned money. I, He Sisi, keep my word. How about it? Doesn’t anyone want to leave? This is fifty yuan!"

Sisi strategically said, and indeed the villagers below were stirring with excitement. Fifty yuan! They could work to death for half a year and not make this much money!