Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 319: Bearded Man Slaughters the Village
"Father, where did the bearded men massacre the whole village? Sandaomiaoling?"

Qu Shaoyang was eating wontons. When he heard this, his hands shook and the wonton soup in the bowl almost spilled out.

"No way? There are many hunters in the village, and they all have guns."

"Well, why would I lie to you?
How many households are there in Sandaomiaoling? Even if they have guns, can they have more guns than Hu Zi?
What about the more than 200 members of the Zhandongshan Gang? They are in a very tight control and it would be like a piece of cake for them to massacre an entire village, right? "

The old man selling wontons shook his head and sighed.

"No, old man, what happened yesterday?"

After the New Year, Qujiang and Xingye came to Shuangdianzi to collect pig bristles, skins, etc., and also went to Sandaimiaoling. Everything was fine at that time.

I heard from Qu Jiang and his men later that they used guns and ammunition to exchange for a lot of leather, pig bristles and other things.

"What day ago? Only seven or eight days ago.

Oh, it was such a tragedy, many people died, and all the things were taken away by Hu Zi." The father-in-law said, shaking his head.

"Chuanzhi, let's go back to the inn to pack up. I want to go to Sandaomiaoling to take a look."

Qu Shaoyang had no appetite for the wontons at the moment, so he simply threw down his chopsticks, got up and left.

When Zhou Chuanzhi and others saw Qu Shaoyang stand up, they hurriedly poured the wontons and soup in their bowls into their mouths.

Then he raised his hand to wipe his mouth, and quickly followed Qu Shaoyang away.

Fortunately, they had just settled the bill, and the old man was not in a hurry. He just shook his head as he watched Qu Shaoyang and others leave.

"The village is gone, what can I see if I go there? Sigh."

At this time, Qu Shaoyang had already walked quite far away and did not hear what his father-in-law said.

Last winter, Qu Shaoyang and his people lived in Sandaimiaoling for some time. He got along well with Lao Mengtou, Meng Lanjun, Zheng Qingshan and others.

If he hadn't come, I wouldn't have known about it, but now that I've heard the news, I have to go and see if there are any survivors.

In this way, Qu Shaoyang led a dozen followers, left Dianzi Street on horseback, and headed straight for Sandaomioling.

There is only one small road from Dianzi Street to Sandaimiaoling, winding among the mountains.

In winter, the trees wither and the leaves of the broad-leaved trees fall off, but it doesn't seem like a big deal.

But it was summer now, and the group was walking in the valley, with tall and dense trees on both sides, blocking out the sun, making the view narrow and walking difficult.

The group climbed over mountains and crossed ridges, stopping and starting, until they finally arrived at the top of the ridge at noon.

However, the scene before him surprised Qu Shaoyang.

Originally, there were more than thirty households scattered on that wide flat land, but now there are broken walls and ruins everywhere, all pitch black. One can tell at a glance that it was burned by a fire.

In other words, that group of bandits not only killed people and robbed things, but also set fire to the village.

"Damn." Qu Shaoyang looked at the desolate scene in front of him and didn't know what to say for a moment.

He originally wanted to see if there were any survivors, but seeing the scene before him, how could he expect anything?

"Sir, do we still need to go into the village to take a look?" Zhou Chuanzhi and others were a little surprised when they saw the scene in front of them, and asked hesitantly.

"Let's go and take a look." Qu Shaoyang nodded, took the lead and walked into the village.

Just as the old man said, the village was empty. I guess those bandits must have looted everything and then set it on fire.

However, Qu Shaoyang and his companions went around each house and did not see any dead people.

The crowd walked from the west end of the village to the east end, and finally found a number of mounds on a hillside.

Those earth mounds were very new, probably having been piled up only a few days ago. Qu Shaoyang took a rough look and saw that there were about thirty or forty of them.

There are more than 30 households in Sandaomiaoling, with 120 to 130 people. If each household had a mound, then the entire village would be wiped out. If each person had one, perhaps many people would have escaped.

But there was nothing in front of these mounds, and Qu Shaoyang was not sure what was going on.

"I don't know whether these graves were buried by people from nearby villages or by people who escaped from the village and returned to bury them."

The attendant beside him sighed as he looked at the scene before him.

"It should be someone from a nearby village who did it. Otherwise, how did the news get out?"

Qu Shaoyang shook his head. He didn't think the survivors dared to come back.

What if those bandits didn't go far and were waiting in the dark, and the survivors secretly came back to collect the bodies of their loved ones, wouldn't they be ambushed?

Everyone thought about it and said, "Sir, what should we do now? Go back?"

The village is empty, with only the graves on the hillside left. There is no point for them to stay.

"Come on, follow me to a place." Qu Shaoyang's mind moved, and he suddenly remembered the two old mountain dogs.

If there are still survivors in the village, will they hide in the mountains and forests?
Perhaps, Mr. Cong and his team could have some clues.

The group was led by Qu Shaoyang. Wherever Qu Shaoyang said to go, the others just followed without even asking.

In this way, Qu Shaoyang led everyone over mountains and across rivers for more than an hour, and finally arrived at the cellar under the stone ladder.

Qu Shaoyang asked the others to wait where they were. He led Zhou Chuanzhi to the cellar and stood outside the door, greeting them loudly.

"Grandpa, Grandpa Cong, are you home?"

Qu Shaoyang shouted several times, but there was no movement from inside. It was obvious that Mr. Cong was not there.

Qu Shaoyang looked around the cellar carefully and found no signs of a fight or blood.

His intuition told him that the old man probably didn't encounter any accident, but perhaps he just went out and never came back.

"Let's take a rest here and have something to eat, we have to wait here for a while.

I guess the old man is out on some business and may come back in the afternoon.

If the old man doesn't come back tonight, we will go to Diaowolazi early tomorrow morning. If there is no news from there, we will go back."

Qu Shaoyang didn't give up and still wanted to find out the truth.

So Zhou Chuanzhi and others found a flat place, sat down to rest, and ate some dry food and drank some water.

When they had waited for enough time to rest, they started chopping trees and collecting firewood. If the old man didn't come back, they planned to stay nearby for the night.

Just as everyone was busy, a gunshot was suddenly heard.

When gunshots were heard, everyone immediately raised their guns and stood on guard.

At this time, an old voice was heard from a distance. "Where did this bastard come from?"

As soon as Qu Shaoyang heard the noise, he knew it was Grandpa Cong who came back, "Grandpa, it's me, the one who exchanged things with you last winter."

Qu Shaoyang put his hands to his mouth and shouted loudly to the opposite side.

There was no movement from the opposite side. After a long time, an old man wearing patched clothes and carrying a gun on his back was seen walking towards him from the opposite hillside.

"Mr. Cong, it's me.

Last year, I came to see you with Grandpa Meng and Lan Jun, and you gave me a lot of good things in return."

Qu Shaoyang asked everyone behind him to put down their guns, then he waved at the old man opposite and spoke loudly.

(End of this chapter)