Chapter 4: Bandits

Shen Liancheng, trembling, lit all the candles he could find in the room. Once the entire room was filled with light, the couple finally regained their composure. After sitting on the bed in a daze for a while, Shen Liancheng suddenly remembered something. He quickly put on his outer garment and, gathering his courage, was about to push the door open and go out

However, when it comes to ruthlessness, those soldiers posing as bandits are far more brutal than the real bandits. Real bandits usually only go as far as necessary, merely intimidating their victims. In contrast, the fake bandits, fearing exposure and recognition, often resort to exterminating entire families. There have even been reports of entire villages being wiped out by these fake bandits.

When have the villagers ever seen such a scene? At that moment, everyone was too frightened to make a sound. The deputy officer repeated himself, yet no one responded. He cursed and unbuckled his holster, just as he was about to make an example of someone. Suddenly, Commander Lang from behind stepped forward and kicked the deputy officer out of the way. He then personally addressed the people standing on the stage, saying: "I won't waste my breath with you poor folks, so listen up! The selected guides will each receive five dollars! If we successfully capture the bandit leader, each of you will receive an additional ten dollars! You poor folks have probably never seen fifteen dollars in your lives, have you? Why does everyone look like a bunch of old women? If you have the guts to make some money, step forward!"

"If it weren't for that dreadful dream, do you think I would dare to go out?" Shen Liancheng had originally mustered all his strength just to reach the door, but now, stirred by his wife's words, he recalled the ghosts he had seen in his dream. At that moment, his body began to tremble again, and despite exerting himself for a long time, he couldn't even push the door open.

At this moment, Shen Liancheng recounted the beginning and the reasons behind the matter

After listening to me, Shen Liancheng chewed on his betel nut. He glanced at the ten or so soldiers in the carriage, noticing that they were laughing and joking, oblivious to the three of us. At this moment, the truck had started moving again, speeding towards the location of Zuizi Mountain. Seeing that no one was paying attention, Shen Liancheng then whispered to me: "Don't mention it, the elders in the clan had already sent me dreams. I never expected to still be unable to escape this calamity; it is all fate..."

The leader of the Wolf Fang Brigade did not expect things to turn out this way. He raised the bounty to thirty dollars, yet no one dared to approach. At that moment, this leader of the brigade became furious; he drew a Mauser pistol from his holster. With a loud bang, he fired a shot into the sky and, with a fierce expression, demanded: "Where is the village chief of your fortress? Come out!"

While speaking, Master Shen glanced at the clock placed on the table. It was already 4:30 in the morning, and there was just over an hour until dawn. The several hundred people in Shen's fortress were all in a daze; it would be quite good if half of them could be roused in this hour. At that moment, Shen Liancheng changed his mind and said to Shen Dequan: "Go to the courtyard and ring the bell! Just say that the bandits from the mountain have come down to borrow food, and tell everyone to hurry up and get up. I will take them and run! Also, bring the old shotgun from home, and while ringing the bell, fire the gun!"

Hearing that Master Shen's ghostly dream did not involve him, the steward finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to offer some words of comfort to Shen Liancheng, Master Shen spoke first: "Dequan, you should immediately take the long-term and short-term workers living here. Go door to door to wake everyone up..."

Finally, Shen Liancheng became anxious and called the maid who was waiting outside to open the door. It was then discovered that in the midst of the panic, the door bolt had been forgotten. After a flurry of activity, the candles in the outer room were lit, and at this moment, Shen Laoye felt somewhat reassured. He then ordered the little maid to wake everyone in the household and specifically instructed the steward, Shen Dequan, to hurry over, as Shen Laoye had matters to discuss with him.

The soldiers disguised as fake bandits, due to the lack of a place to hide meat tickets, only engaged in robbery and rarely participated in the business of kidnapping for ransom. The belongings of these fake bandits were also genuine items, and when they encountered troops under the command of Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian Army, they were uniformly equipped with Liao-made guns, far surpassing those of ordinary bandits.

The cause was still that nightmare. After waking up, the couple sat on the bed and recounted the dreams they had each experienced. Their nightmares were identical; when Shen Liancheng recited the first half of a sentence spoken by his uncle in the dream, his wife was able to complete the second half. After a few exchanges, a chill crept up their spines. When they reached the part about thunder, they both dared not continue.

Shen Liancheng shouted himself hoarse, and despite firing more than ten shots, he could not gather half of the people from Shenjiabao to the courtyard before dawn. As dawn approached, only half of the villagers, with their families in tow, arrived at the courtyard. Shen Laoye was so furious that his teeth itched, wishing he could escape with only the people present, yet he was reluctant to leave behind the other slow-moving fellow villagers.

The wolf leader chuckled and said to the soldiers holding their guns: "Put down your weapons. Which of you clowns fired accidentally? Who still dares to take us to the frog's mouth..."

The woman who was still sitting on the bed, upon seeing this, hurriedly jumped down. She grabbed Shen Liancheng and said: "Master, what do you intend to do at this late hour? After just having that terrible dream, do you still dare to go out now?"

Just as Master Shen instructed the butler to bring the long-term workers from the household to gather the villagers who were still dawdling, the first rays of morning light had already shone down from the horizon, and the sky began to gradually brighten. Watching the sky grow increasingly bright, Shen Liancheng recalled the words spoken to him by Shen Zengshou in his dream last night, and his heart sank to the depths.

When Shen Dequan, still groggy from sleep, stood before Master Shen and heard about the scene that his master had just dreamt of, all traces of drowsiness vanished from him. Both he and his father had served as stewards for the Shen family, growing up alongside Shen Liancheng, and they knew that their master never made such ghostly jokes. Listening to the wailing outside, which sounded like a ghostly lament, a chill surged up Shen Dequan's spine. After a shiver, Shen Dequan, feeling anxious, cautiously asked his master: "Master, was I in that dream?"

After dawn, the people of Shenjiabao finally gathered together, just as Shen Liancheng was about to lead them towards the train station. Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose in the distance, and moments later, two Japanese-made yellow trucks appeared at the edge of the village, rushing over in the blink of an eye. At that time, more than half of the population in China had never seen what a car looked like, and the villagers were immediately frightened by the two large vehicles, lacking even the awareness to flee in panic.

At this moment, Master Shen had already understood where last night's dream should lead. He sighed inwardly, thinking that if he were to follow Shen Zengshou's words from the dream, today all the villagers would be doomed to die at the hands of these soldiers

Upon hearing that there were fifteen dollars to be earned for guiding the way up the mountain, the villagers immediately became excited. Young and strong laborers began to show eagerness to try their hand at it. If it were not for the soldiers in front of them still aiming their guns in their direction, they would have already rushed forward at that moment

After the truck came to a stop, five or sixty soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Fengjun jumped down from the vehicle. Once these soldiers disembarked, they raised their guns, shouting and cursing, driving the already frightened villagers back into the courtyard. It was only after all the villagers had been herded onto the stage in the courtyard that a middle-aged man, resembling an officer, jumped down from the second truck.

Two trucks, one in front and the other behind, trapped these terrified villagers in between. Most of the villagers were puzzled: Wasn't it said that the bandits were coming down the mountain to seize grain? How could this guy directly produce two large trucks? Which group of bandits has such significant resources? There are only a few of these large trucks in the entire Northeast, and suddenly two have appeared. This is not merely bandits seizing grain; it is clearly an act of rebellion.

Amidst a throng of soldiers, the officer approached the gathered villagers. After glancing at the seemingly distressed populace preparing to flee, the officer spoke a few words to the adjutant standing behind him. The adjutant then stepped forward and addressed the people on the stage: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am the adjutant of Commander Lang of the 108th Regiment under General Zhang. Commander Lang has come here under General Zhang's military orders to eliminate bandits, who have now fled to the Zui Zi Mountain behind your fortress. Commander Lang has issued an order for your fortress to send two guides to lead the way in the pursuit of the bandits. If you delay our military operations, the people of your fortress will be treated according to the law against banditry!"

Despite all the commotion, we still failed to gather all the villagers before dawn. At first, we genuinely believed that bandits were descending from the mountains to seize grain, so when everyone got up, instead of thinking about fleeing for their lives, they began to pack their valuables. Although there wasn't even a single tael of silver among them, the loss of their homes was worth a fortune. Even if they escaped, without their possessions, they would find it impossible to resume their lives upon returning.

The villagers, who were almost ready to rush forward, seemed as if struck by lightning upon hearing the words "toad's mouth." Their bodies swayed slightly before retreating back to their original positions, and the excited expressions on their faces vanished without a trace. In their place were looks of panic and confusion on each of their faces

In those years, there was little difference between soldiers and bandits, as soldiers often used the guise of bandits to commit robbery. However, there were clear distinctions between the two; true bandits, while also engaging in robbery, primarily focused on kidnapping for ransom. Moreover, genuine bandits possessed a variety of weapons, ranging from a few old rifles to those who, in dire straits, would consider a kitchen knife as part of their arsenal