Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 340: Invasion of the Mountain Village
Ever since Zhan Dongshan led his men down the mountain and left Fanduo at home to guard the village, Fanduo has been uneasy. He always feels that something is wrong, as if something is going to happen.

Fan Duo did not dare to be careless. He arranged people to guard the main roads in and out of the mountain stronghold, and also arranged people to patrol back and forth.

Even so, he was still worried and didn't dare to sleep, so he just sat in the Juyi Hall waiting.

Every once in a while, Fan Duo would take out his pocket watch to check the time and roughly guess where Zhan Dongshan and the others should be.

Just as he was trying to take out his pocket watch for the fourth time, two people came running in from outside.

"Second boss, it's bad. The first boss sent someone back to ask for help. He said they had an accident on the way."

He stood up from the chair and said, "I told you something was wrong, but the boss refused to listen.

Quick, gather the people and support the boss."

Fan Duo estimated the time and roughly deduced that Zhan Dongshan and others might have encountered trouble in Hulukou.

The time and distance match, which just confirms what Fan Duo said before.

So he didn't think about anything else, and immediately gathered people and took guns to support Zhan Dongshan.

These people were left in the village and they gathered together quickly.

Fanduo led his men to the gate of the village and saw a few small leaders outside.

"Dazhuzi, where did the boss talk to someone?"

Fanduo acted cautiously and did not ask anyone to open the door directly. Instead, he questioned the people outside.

“The second in command is at Hulukou.

I don't know where this group of people came from, but they have strong firepower. The boss is leading his men to fight against them and asked me to come back to report.

Second in command, quickly bring your men and come with me to provide support." The small leader outside replied according to Qu Shaoyang's instructions.

Sure enough, it was exactly as Fanduo had guessed, "Quick, open the door.

Leave a dozen brothers to guard the village, and the rest of you come with me to support the leader." Fanduo immediately gave the order.

The people in the village hurriedly opened the gate, then rushed out with hundreds of bearded men and went straight down the mountain.

However, they had not walked far when gunshots were heard in the surrounding woods.

Chen Yunhan and his men lay in ambush in the surroundings, waiting for anyone to come out of the village before launching an attack.

The bearded men on the mountain were caught off guard and many of them were killed on the spot.

At this time, Qu Shaoyang and others who deliberately followed at the back of the team also seized the opportunity.

While the gate was still open, they shot and killed the guards and sentries and went straight into the village.

Most of those who are in charge of turning the stomping grounds understand astronomy, geography, divination and fortune-telling, and are considered to be people with a relatively high level of education.

Of course, most of them are half-full and are not immortals, nor do they have the ability to predict the future.

It's acceptable to let them act like gods and fool people, but asking them to lead troops to fight is a pure joke.

When the gunshots rang out, Fanduo was stunned and quickly looked for a place to hide. At this time, Chen Yunhan had already rushed up with his men.

Chen Yunhan's side had the advantage in numbers, advanced guns, and comprehensive firepower suppression.

It didn't take much effort at all, and the remaining bearded men were defeated and simply dropped their guns and surrendered.

The battle ended quickly. Some of the bandits inside and outside the stronghold were killed, some surrendered, and no one escaped.

Qu Shaoyang led his men into the gathering hall and sat on the tiger-skin chair where Zhan Dongshan sat.

"Bring that Fanduo up here. I have something to ask him." Someone immediately went to bring Fanduo up. The little old man, who was in his fifties, was trembling with fear, and his legs were shaking.

After entering the gathering hall, he knelt on the ground without waiting for Qu Shaoyang to say anything.

"Please spare my life, sir, please spare my life, I am just a thug, I don't have any special skills.

I didn't join them in robbery or kidnapping, nor did I do anything else bad.

Please, sir, spare my life for my age." He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

Qu Shaoyang looked at the people kneeling below and snorted coldly, "You said you didn't do anything bad? You are fooling people.

You are Fanduo, the gang's military advisor. Without your advice, how could Zhan Dongshan have grown stronger in recent years?
Those bandits are robbing, killing and setting fires outside. Which one of them didn't you give the advice behind it?
You say it has nothing to do with you when you are about to die. Why didn’t you say it had nothing to do with you when you went up the mountain to serve as a military advisor?

When the gangsters were making big money and you were taking your dividends, your pockets were full, and you were going out to eat, drink and have fun, why didn't you say it had nothing to do with you?"

With every word Qu Shaoyang spoke, his face turned paler.

In the end, Fan Duo looked as pale as death and fell to the ground, not knowing how to defend himself.

“However, considering your age, I don’t want to embarrass you.

How about this, as long as you tell me where the gangsters' money is hidden, I can consider it and spare your life."

Qu Shaoyang touched his chin, changed the subject, and took the initiative to give Fan Duo a chance to redeem himself.

"To tell you the truth, your boss and the other pillars of the family have all died in the gourd.

You don't have to expect anything anymore. From now on, the Zhan Dongshan gang will no longer exist.

Think about it yourself. Do you want to keep silent and lose your life? Or do you want to tell me everything you know and I can spare your life."

Qu Shaoyang looked at Fanduo who was kneeling below and threatened.

"I'll tell you, I know all about the treasury in the village and the boss's private treasury. I'll take you there."

Fan Duo originally thought he was going to die, but now that he knew there was still a glimmer of hope, how could he let it go?

Anyway, the gang has been wiped out. It's useless for him to insist on not telling the truth. They will find it eventually if they dig deep into the ground.

It’s better to say it out loud, maybe you can save your life.

Qu Shaoyang nodded to Zhou Chuanzhi and others. Several people came forward, grabbed the bag and asked him to lead the way to find the gang’s treasury and Zhan Dongshan’s private vault.

After a while, someone came back to report.

"Sir, come and take a look at the vault. Wow, I have never seen so much gold, silver and jewelry."

Qu Shaoyang was chatting with Chen Yunhan. When they heard this, they both stood up immediately and followed the visitor to the back mountain of the village.

The treasury of the Zhan Dongshan gang is in a cave in the back mountain.

The cave should have been formed naturally, and a part of it was excavated later, so it is quite spacious inside.

Qu Shaoyang and others went in with torches and saw that there were quite a few boxes on the ground.

It was filled with gold, silver, jewellery, silks, precious leathers and other things.

Qu Shaoyang took a quick look and saw that the gold alone filled two boxes, the silver filled more than twenty boxes, and the rest of the jewelry filled more than ten boxes, and the silks and satins were countless.

I think that the silver must have been extorted by the Zhan Dongshan gang from various mountain areas.

As for the others, they should be the proceeds from smashing kilns, kidnapping, robbing passing vendors, or extorting money from merchants in Dianzi Street.

(End of this chapter)