Chapter 47 Surrounded by Fierce Bandits
"What's wrong? It's just a bunch of minor thieves, it shouldn't be a problem right?" Seeing Lin Yi's huge reaction and face full of anxiety, Zhao Rong raised his brows and asked in surprise.
Lin Yi looked at him without a word.
Zhao Rong was the Chief Escort Head of Dragon Gate Escort Agency and came from Huashan upper courtyard, he himself was also a second-rate expert and enjoyed great fame in Jianghu. Naturally, he wouldn't pay much heed to minor thieves.
But Lin Yi was well aware of how little the Lin family could do about thieves, so much so that they were nearly helpless against them. Even if Lin Zhihu went back, there wasn't much he could do, except maybe borrow the name of Dragon Gate Escort Agency in exchange for a few more days.
And this was under normal circumstances.
Now that the era of chaos had arrived, the situation was greatly different.
The vast majority of people did not know what it represented, but Lin Yi knew it very clearly.
Having undergone that period of time personally during the game, he was only too clear about the brutality of it. Countless civilians lost their lives and homes. Countless minor sects and clans were massacred.
It was a period of great turbulence and chaos.
Thieves surged everywhere and acted with ruthlessness.
If they felt like it, they would carry out massacres at any moment.
The Lin family had encountered the most dangerous moment yet.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi could no longer stay still. Disregarding Zhao Rong's cordial pleas to stay, he quickly said his goodbyes.
If it were under normal circumstances, Lin Yi naturally would have placed great importance on Zhao Rong's pleas and make use of the chance to establish good relations with him. To be on good terms with the Chief Escort Head of Dragon Gate Escort Agency would be of great help when the time came to compete for the position of Huashan chief disciple.
But right now, it was a critical moment for the Lin family.
Faced with choosing between the position of chief disciple and the lives of his family, Lin Yi chose the latter.
He did not regret his choice.
He could always find other ways to work on becoming chief disciple, and he could also salvage the relations with Zhao Rong at a later time. But his family could only live once. Once killed, they would no longer exist.
Although he did not feel much towards the Lin family, he had the responsibility to protect them.
No matter what, he had to shoulder the responsibility.
Otherwise, this matter would become the regret in his heart forever, turning into his inner demon.
Cracks would then appear in the heart of his martial way, rendering it forever incomplete.
Besides, his martial way was to protect everything that he was supposed to protect.
Walking out of Dragon Gate Escort Agency, he mounted his horse and urged it forward, galloping out of Leizhou City.
"I will surely make it in time, surely!"
Lin Yi whipped his horse desperately, maintaining the fastest speed as he sped towards home and prayed in his heart.
......
The Lin Village.
The entire Lin family residence was surrounded by dozens of bandits wielding sabers and mounted on horses.
The blades gleamed icily, making them shiver in trepidation.
The farmers in Lin Village tightly shut the doors of their homes, not even daring to give one look at the bandits, and covered the mouths of their own children, afraid that the frightened cries of the children would attract the attention of these bandits.
"Oh god, what kind of sin is heavens committing? Landlord Lin's family attracted the attention of bandits half a year ago and his son was kidnapped. After getting through the crisis with much difficulty and barely started to enjoy some peace and quiet, the bandits are here again. And the bandits this time are even more intimidating and scary than those the last time. This Landlord Lin's family is so full of misfortune!"
"Isn't this all caused by money? Landlord Lin has so much land and wealth as the richest man in Yu City, can it not attract bandits?
"How can one live in such a state of affairs! I heard that nearly all rich families within a hundred li were given an ultimatum by the bandits to hand over 50,000 taels of silver. A few days ago, the Wang family in the neighboring city were massacred by this group of bandits because they failed to gather the money in time. The 200 odd family members, including the young and old, were all burned to death and not even a single one survived. That scene was truly cruel and terrifying!
"Don't say it anymore, not to mention seeing it with your own eyes, even just listening to you is terrifying me! This damned state of affairs, these damned bandits, why isn't anyone dealing with them?
"Deal with them? Can the government deal with these people of Jianghu? Even the major sects behind the government currently have their hands full from dealing with the demonic cults, where would they find the energy to deal with such matters. Besides, rumors say that in many areas where the major sects have withdrawn their forces, many other forces of Jianghu are fighting for the territories that are now devoid of influence. The degree of chaos could be described as rivers of blood flowing!"
"Ai, these damned demonic cults, isn't it better to live the days peacefully? Alas, they just had to incite trouble, giving these bandits a huge opportunity! I wonder how Landlord Lin's family is going to overcome this crisis."
"That's going to be hard, 50,000 taels of silver isn't a small sum. Even if Landlord Lin truly possessed that much wealth in total, within such a short time limit, how could they manage to gather it in time?"
The farmers whispered to themselves while hiding at home, each of them wearing worried and frightened expressions on their faces.
In the main hall of Lin family, the maids and servants were completely silent and hid at one corner, trembling from fear.
Lin Zhilong held a teacup with shaky hands, the tea spilling out continuously due to the shaking.
After taking a sip with much difficulty, Lin Zhilong sighed in grief.
At one side, Madam Lin had a pale-white face full of fear, and she sobbed softly while wiping her tears.
"Crying is the only thing you know! What use is there from crying?"
Seeing Madam Lin behave in this manner, Lin Zhilong pointed at her nose and scolded angrily.
"Old Master, what are we going to do? 50,000 taels of silver is impossible to gather!" Madam Lin's crying face was an ugly sight.
"Ai, 50,000 taels of silver, these bandits are asking for too much! How can I gather this amount in just a few days? What is wrong with this state of affairs? First Yi-er gets kidnapped, now they are even coming here openly to extort money. Why isn't there anyone dealing with these abominable bandits?" Lin Zhilong sighed constantly, his heart full of grief and despair.
There was no way he could gather the 50,000 taels of silver demanded by the bandits in just a few days.
Looking at Lin Zhihu who sat at the side, he said: "Second brother, can you think of something to help us overcome this crisis?"
Lin Zhihu had an unsightly and helpless expression, and said hoarsely: "Elder brother, I am out of ideas. One look and you can tell that these bandits have nothing to lose, even the name of Dragon Gate Escort Agency is not going to do much good. They are resolute in demanding 50,000 taels of silver!"
"If they don't see the money, these bandits are going to charge in and look for it themselves! A few days ago, these group of bandits massacred the Wang family from the neighboring city by burning all of them to death and it was exactly because they failed to gather the money!"
Lin Zhilong's face was as white as a sheet and he was completely out of ideas.
His heart was full of despair.
Now that he thought about it, if they had sent Yi-er to Huashan a few years earlier, they might have been able to intimidate these bandits using the fact that Yi-er was a Huashan disciple.
But Yi-er had only entered Huashan for half a year!
What could one learn in just half a year?
How could he be a match for these ferocious bandits?
Regret, endless regret!
He should have done that!
How good would it have been if he had sent Yi-er into Huashan earlier!
Lin Zhihu at the side was also desperate.
Using his judgement, he naturally discerned the strength of these bandits.
Among the dozens of bandits, even the weakest pawn was on par with himself, not to mention the 2 chiefs who had came!
If he guessed correctly, those 2 chiefs were very likely to be third-rate experts who possessed internal arts.
Internal arts!
Even ten of him would not be a match for one of them.
Lin Zhihu's heart was icy cold.
"Old Master, the bandits are calling!" A servant walked in while trembling and said with great fear.
"Let's go talk to them and see if we can ask for a few more days." Lin Zhilong stood up and sighed, then led the rest out of the hall.
......
At the main entrance, 2 bandit chiefs rode on large horses that stood at the door.
"3rd Head, do you think this Lin family will be able to hand over 50,000 taels of silver?" One of them held a horse whip and said as he pointed at the Lin family residence.
3rd Head replied with an ingratiating look: "7th Master, regardless of whether they can manage to hand it over, aren't we going to massacre them anyway? Heh heh, the Lin family owns great amounts of land and wealth, their assets are sure to be bountiful."
7th Master was surprised for a moment before breaking out in great laughter. He pointed at 3rd Head's face and said with a laugh: "Ha ha, 3rd Head indeed knows me well!" Staring at the Lin family residence with a savage expression, he shouted viciously: "When we break into the residence later, everything here belongs to me!"
3rd Head wiped the sweat on his forehead. It was no easy task to serve this 7th Master. He nodded and replied with a laugh: "I even heard that the madam of this Lin family is a rare beauty who was famous for her looks within a radius of hundred li back then. Although she has given birth and her age has passed thirty, but she has maintained her figure very well and her skin is still as smooth and tender as a young girl. What makes it even better is that she possesses a mature charm compared to young girls."
7th Master's eyes shone with light and he licked his lips with his tongue. "This Master loves young married women the most, ha ha, young married women taste much better than those young girls! After we break into the Lin family, this Madam Lin will be mine. The rest of you can take the young girls!"
3rd Head was delighted and quickly thanked him: "You have my gratitude, 7th Master!"
Taking a look at the huge amount of taels of silver carried on the dozens of horses, 7th Master nodded with a smile: "This trip has been a fruitful one. After we are done with the Lin family, we will finish up! The brothers are all tired, and besides, my elder brothers back at the stronghold are also waiting impatiently for me right?"
"Not tired, we are not tired at all! These days of following 7th Master have been passed in comfort!" 3rd Head quickly shook his head, but thinking otherwise deep in his heart. This 7th Master had an insatiable greed for money, and once he joined the stronghold, he took 3rd Head and all the brothers to visit every rich family within a radius of hundred li.
First they delivered a message to each of these rich families, demanding 50,000 taels of silver to be handed over in 7 days.
After 7 days, the outcome was decided purely by 7th Master's mood.
If he was in a good mood, he would let off those that handed over the money. If not, even if they did hand over the money, he would massacre the family and treat the women in the family as playthings before killing them all.
This degree of ruthlessness had frightened even 3rd Head who was also a bandit himself.
He thought to himself, no wonder this man is a member of the demonic cults, he acts in such an unscrupulous and vicious manner.
Compared to his 6 elder brothers, this 7th Master was even more of a bandit than 3rd Head, who was a true bandit!
"To all the good men here, please let me say something!"
At this moment, a person appeared on the walls of the residence and spoke in a loud voice.
It was Lin Zhihu.