Hunter Xu answered in a deep voice:
"No. When we were gathering, Tian Hongmei insisted that the village head was responsible for everyone. She said since they weren't going up the mountain, the village head should stay in the village with them and guard it. She forced the village head to stay."
Tian Yougen's eyes nearly burst from their sockets with rage:
"No! My father doesn't care about being village head at all! He was afraid his bad leg would slow us down, so he just went along with Tian Hongmei's demand to stay.
I planned to get my family up the mountain first, then come back for him tonight. Who knew these Rebel Soldiers would come so fast? It was those two brothers who led them here.
Tian Jinshui, if anything happens to my father, I'll kill you!"
Furious and desperate, Tian Yougen smashed his fist into Tian Jinshui's face, splitting his lip and knocking out a tooth.
Qin Sang stopped Tian Yougen:
"Besides the village head and Tian Hongmei, are there others in the village who didn't go up the mountain?"
"Zhou Lin's family, and the three families he scared off today by saying there were giant snakes and beasts in the mountains, that going up meant certain death."
Tian Yougen said mournfully, clearly already imagining the worst.
"What about Old Man Qiao and the Xia family?"
Tian Sangui answered:
"Old Man Qiao didn't want to go at first, but Qiao Lei practically pushed him up the mountain in a cart. Aunt Xia's family also went up. Her second uncle was pushed up by Aunt Xia herself."
Having learned this, Qin Sang knew she couldn't just stand by. She looked at Tian Jinshui:
"Did you kill anyone after entering the village? What's the situation? How many people are still in the village?"
Dazed from the beating, Tian Jinshui didn't react for a long moment. Qin Sang snapped angrily:
"If you don't speak now, I'll kill you right here."
She pressed her dagger against his throat. Tian Jinshui's legs gave way, and he immediately knelt down, begging for mercy:
"We didn't kill anyone, no one's dead! They're all alive, locked up! They're in the village, right in the village! There are about a hundred people left! Please don't kill me..."
"You'd be that kind?" Qin Sang pressed.
Tian Jinshui didn't dare hide anything:
"We knew you'd gone into the mountains. We planned... if we couldn't find you... to use the village head to force... force you to hand over grain in exchange for him..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, another slap landed on Tian Jinshui's face:
"You're also surnamed Tian! My father is your uncle! How could you be so utterly heartless?"
Tian Yougen was so enraged he wished he could slap him to death.
Tian Jinshui mumbled:
"Who told you to drive the two of us out of the village? Why didn't you say we were also surnamed Tian back then?"
Tian Yougen was about to hit him again but was stopped by Qin Sang:
"The urgent matter now is how to rescue them."
Only then did Tian Yougen relent. He looked at Qin Sang:
"Do you have a plan? There are over a hundred people in the village, and it's just a few of us..."
Hunter Xu glanced at the other unconscious men on the ground:
"The question is, does Da Zhuang's Mother still have that knockout drug?"
Qin Sang had used a Powerful Sedative, available for purchase in the Mall:
"Yes. I need water and food."
Tian Yougen immediately said:
"The villagers are not far ahead. If it's not enough, I'll go back and get more."
...
Tianjia Village
Tian Hongmei's house by the well was noisy with commotion:
"Is there any more cured sausage? Hurry up with the food!"
"What about the fried noodles? I bet your family's still hiding some! Bring it out quickly so we can eat our fill, or else you'll be sorry!"
"Your two brothers made us run around for nothing! Come out now, or I'll kick the door down!"
Tian Hongmei's bedroom door was being pounded loudly. Tian Hongmei's husband and children huddled inside, trembling. Zhong Pingan, his face full of suppressed anger, glared hatefully at Tian Hongmei:
"Is this the kind of thing your Tian Family does? You're a curse! Stopping us from going to the mountains was bad enough, but now you've brought Rebel Soldiers right into our home! I should have divorced you long ago, sent you packing out of Tianjia Village with your two brothers.
We could have had a way out. As long as we didn't say the villagers went to the mountains, we could have secretly gone to the mountains to ask for help. But now it's ruined. These men will definitely chase after the villagers. Even if the Rebel Soldiers leave satisfied afterwards, we'll be hated by the whole village."
"It's all because Mom was too scared of dying. Zhou Lin was beaten so badly but didn't talk. Mom, on the other hand, was practically ready to lead them up the mountain the moment they asked."
The whole family was blaming Tian Hongmei, making her both furious and frantic:
"Yes! I'm scared of dying! If it weren't for me, you'd have been chopped down by the Rebel Soldiers already!
I stopped you from going to the mountains? Could I have stopped you if your own legs didn't want to go? Clearly, you yourselves were afraid life in the mountains would be hard and didn't want to go either! Now that the Rebel Soldiers are here, you're blaming me?
Don't I want what's best for you? Did I want things to turn out like this? Everything I did was for your sake! Zhou Lin was beaten like that—did you want your mother to be beaten like that too?"
Before the family could argue any further, the bedroom door was kicked open:
"What are you all hiding in there for? Get out here and make us some food!"
Tian Hongmei jumped in fright and hurriedly put on a smile:
"Sir... the food in the house... it's... it's all gone..."
The Bearded Man's gaze turned cold as he looked at them:
"Gone? Then we'll drag out your son and daughter to cook. We'll cook the young ones first, then you old ones."
The man's words were filled with a murderous gleam. Inside the room, Zhong Pingan and the others paled with fear.
Terrified by his words, Tian Hongmei's legs nearly gave out, and she almost knelt on the spot:
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll go cook right now, right now!"
Not daring to delay any longer, Tian Hongmei dragged out the sack of grain hidden under the bed:
"I'll go cook. It'll be quick, very quick..."
Tian Hongmei carried the grain sack to the kitchen. Zhong Pingan looked at his son and daughter and sighed:
"You see the situation we're in now. Because of your mother, we're hated on both sides. It seems our only choice is to join these Rebel Soldiers. Girl, come here."
Looking at his daughter's tear-stained, terrified face, Zhong Pingan's heart ached. He wiped her tears and smoothed her disheveled hair:
"Xinger, it's not that your father doesn't care for you. Given our circumstances, there's only one way now. In a moment, I'll call the leader in here. You... don't resist, understand? Otherwise, our whole family will die.
If you... if you're more compliant, you'll... you'll suffer less..."
"Father?"
The Zhong Family Girl stared at her father in disbelief, unable to understand why he would call that man-eating monster in, and even more confused why he was telling her not to resist.
Zhong Pingan pulled his son out of the room, closing the door tightly behind them, not letting his daughter follow.
He smiled obsequiously at the Bearded Man who was watching:
"Sir, could my son and I follow you from now on?"
The Bearded Man glanced at the room and curled the corner of his mouth:
"Oh? Wanting to join us isn't hard. Have you killed before?"
The man's stare sent a chill up Zhong Pingan's spine. Steeling his heart, he clenched his fists and said:
"I haven't before, but I can learn. My son is great at chopping wood—he splits all the firewood at home. He'll definitely know how to kill."
The man was amused by this. He slapped the table and said:
"Alright then. Go to the yard right now and each kill one person. If you do that, I'll allow you and your son to join us."