Chapter Eighty-Five: Thief Village

Zhou Zhi clasped his fists toward Liu Hui and bowed. “Many thanks, Brother Liu Hui!”

Then he turned, and his face suddenly grew grave. His cold, sinister gaze swept one by one across the forty or fifty hoodlums and street toughs before him, and his heart sank heavily.

Since they were going to rescue someone tonight, a fight was unavoidable. But these men before him... alas. Rabble would always be rabble. Not one of them had any spirit; their discipline was lax and scattered. Could this really succeed?

Then another thought came. If it would not do, what else could he do? This was the only way. Aside from going to Xin Village and seizing the man back, there was likely no other road left.

MacArthur had once said: what we need are lions on the battlefield; remember that a flock of sheep led by a lion will defeat a pride of lions led by a sheep.

In the end, everything depended on him, the leader.

With that thought, Zhou Zhi’s face turned instantly icy, stripped of every trace of expression. Standing there, he seemed like a solid block of ice, ceaselessly exuding a chill that quickly sobered every man present. Unconsciously, they straightened their backs and tightened their grips on the weapons in their hands.

Zhou Zhi said nothing at all. He merely stood there for about five minutes, and the bearing of those forty or fifty ruffians changed markedly. A grim, murderous air even began to show through.

Seeing that Zhou Zhi had stirred the men’s morale without uttering a single word, Liu Hui felt even greater awe for him.

Liu Hui, too, stood before the crowd with a cold face and said in a deep voice, “Today, when you brothers go do this job with Brother Zhou Zhi, there will be no reward, only punishment. Whoever refuses to obey Brother Zhou Zhi’s orders from this day forward will no longer be a brother of mine.”

The weight of those words was considerable. These loafers ordinarily treated Liu Hui as their chief; if they truly lost his protection in the future, they would have no way to survive in their circle.

When Liu Hui finished speaking, he turned to look at Zhou Zhi.

With an icy expression, Zhou Zhi strode out of the yard. Then he waved a hand, and the others followed in a body.

The moon was bright and clear. The party slowly departed South Village.

South Village was a large village, but most households had already put out their lamps, so as they left, they met very few people on the road.

Once outside the village, Zhou Zhi increased the pace.

Xin Village lay about seventy li from here. It was only a little past dusk now; at this rate, they should arrive around midnight.

Zhou Zhi had only heard Wang Ren mention that Xin Village stood on the border between Qingdu County and Tang County; as for its exact location, he had no way of knowing. Fortunately, Liu Hui’s underling Zhang Dong was thoroughly familiar with the place.

Keeping close behind Zhou Zhi, he ran while giving him a low-voiced account. “Young Master Zhou Zhi, Xin Village is far from us, so many people don’t know much about it. Uncle Zhou and the others were definitely duped this time. Xin Village is a thieves’ village, a place of notorious infamy.

“To speak of it, Xin Village has no more than a hundred-odd people, but everyone there steals. They often form gangs to rob other villages, or join together to pick pockets at the market. Worse still, when crops ripen, they go in bands to steal grain from other people’s fields.

“Xin Village lies in a desolate place, in a district where neither side truly governs, so the authorities simply turn a blind eye.

“Now that Uncle Zhou and the others have lodged there, nothing good can come of it.”

Zhou Zhi cursed inwardly. Damn it! A village of thieves, where every last person steals, and in the end they pinned the blame on his father. Since he was headed into this den of thieves tonight, he would see exactly what tricks they thought they could play.

The roughnecks behind him were accustomed to moving by night, so they were skilled at traveling in darkness. This body of Zhou Zhi’s was strong and sturdy, and his walking pace was not slow; the hoodlums and idlers were able to keep up.

The bright moon hung high, the north wind howled, and it was blowing at their backs. The farther southeast they went, the fewer villages there were. Words like vast land with sparse population and bleak wilderness suited this place perfectly.

Before they knew it, they had been striding swiftly for nearly two double-hours when the shadowy outline of a small village appeared ahead.

Zhang Dong said softly, “Young Master Zhou Zhi, we’ve arrived. That ahead is Xin Village.”

His father, Zhou Tie, was being held in Xin Village. At such a moment, Zhou Zhi could not help but feel stirred. He stopped at once, forcing himself to calm down as much as he could.

When Zhou Zhi halted, the men behind him naturally stopped as well.

He turned to look over them. Every face was stern, their momentum unbroken, and Zhou Zhi secretly let out a breath of relief.

On his side there were close to fifty men. According to Zhang Dong, Xin Village had only around a hundred people. If fighting truly broke out in a moment, fifty against a hundred might not necessarily put them at a disadvantage. After all, it was already the middle of the night; it was impossible that this nest of thieves would be on guard.

At first Zhou Zhi had intended to take only a few men into the village to scout things out. If a handful of them could settle Geng Zhong and rescue his father, that would be best. But after hearing Zhang Dong’s account along the way, Zhou Zhi considered matters again and changed his mind. He decided to bring everyone into the village. First of all, they had to overwhelm this thieves’ village by force of presence; after all, there was strength in numbers.

He first had Zhang Dong pass the word to each man: once inside the village, no one was to make a sound; they were to enter silently.

By now, after the journey, the street toughs had long since heard from Niu Desheng and Liu Wa how formidable Zhou Zhi was, how he bore the title of the Cold-Faced Butcher. They had also seen their own boss, Liu Hui, show him exceptional respect, and they had witnessed the killing chill in Zhou Zhi’s face. At this point, every last one of them had developed an instinctive fear of him. Since Zhou Zhi had spoken, they all nodded in assent.

Zhou Zhi still walked at the front, with Zhang Dong at his side. As for Liu Hui, he took the rear, guarding against anyone discovering them from behind so he could respond in advance if necessary.

The group entered the village on light feet, but no sooner had they stepped inside than barking erupted from all directions. Zhou Zhi and the others were startled despite themselves.

Truth be told, the common people of the Great Ming lived in considerable hardship, and ordinary households did not keep many dogs. Yet from the sound of it now, it seemed every family in Xin Village kept dogs, and more than one at that.

A village of thieves, was it? Their guilty consciences made them judge others by their own crooked standards, so they kept several dogs to guard against being robbed themselves.

So many barking dogs were a real nuisance. Every house in the village had been dark, but now several households suddenly lit their lamps.

Wang Ren had described it clearly: Geng Zhong’s home was a large courtyard with six tiled rooms, enclosed by a fenced wall. There were not many households in the village, so Zhou Zhi quickly led the men around the entire place and found a residence matching Wang Ren’s description exactly. This had to be Geng Zhong’s house.

Zhou Zhi stood outside the courtyard and pondered briefly. Then he had the others halt, while he took Zhang Dong and three more men toward the gate.

The courtyard gate was flimsy. One of Zhang Dong’s brothers swung his cleaver once, and the gate split open. The four of them entered the yard.

Lights had already been lit in Geng Zhong’s house. Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Zhi strode toward the door, raised a foot, and kicked it open. Then he flashed inside at once.