The panicked shouts instantly caused panic among the villagers.
Some older people hid in their homes for fear of being caught by bandits.
The men, led by the village chief, picked up their chores and hurriedly guarded the village entrance.
They vowed to protect their homeland, even if they risked their lives, they would never let bandits harm their wives and children!
The village women, led by Ma Guihua, tied up Lan Lian, Han Ruoshui, Aunt Wu and her daughter-in-law to the entrance of the village.
They are the closest people to Lin Xiao and Lin Xiaowu, so it is most appropriate to use them to scare Lin Xiao and the bandits.
Ma Guihua pulled the village chief aside and asked in a low voice:
"Old man, what's going on? Why did Xiao Linzi rebel?"
The village chief shook his head and smiled bitterly:
"Who knows! I heard from them that the bandits were brought down from the mountain by Xiao Linzi and the others. What else could it be if it wasn't rebellion? Isn't it possible that Xiao Linzi persuaded those murderous bandits to surrender?"
Ma Guihua curled her lips:
"If bandits can be persuaded to surrender so easily, are they still bandits?"
The village chief sighed and shook his head:
"We can only take one step at a time. If necessary, those women and men must be killed!"
Ma Guihua nodded:
"Don't worry, old man, I will control this!"
The couple's eyes were filled with fierceness.
Now we have reached a critical moment of life and death, and there is no room for any kindness from women!
Lin Xiao and the others had no idea that the people in the village would be waiting to greet them.
When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they were dumbfounded when they saw villagers standing at the entrance holding tools.
Especially when they saw Lan Lian, Aunt Wu and others being tied up, their faces suddenly became extremely gloomy!
When Han Ruoshui saw Lin Xiao, he immediately shouted with a mournful face:
"Master, save me!"
"What are you doing? Release them immediately!"
Lin Xiao roared at the villagers.
She didn't know what was going on, why did she become like this in one night?
The villagers ignored Lin Xiao.
The village chief stood up, looked at Lin Xiao coldly and said:
"Xiao Linzi, let me ask you, are the people behind you bandits?"
"Yes, but they..."
"Just admit it! Tell me, why did you bring the bandits into the village?!"
The village chief interrupted Lin Xiao before she could finish her words.
"I'll take them down the mountain to live a normal life! They don't want to be bandits anymore!"
Lin Xiao explained loudly, hoping that everyone would believe her words, but the village chief did not believe it:
"Nonsense! If the bandits want to live a normal life, they must first pay all the taxes and compensation they have evaded over the years. This is a big expense. Do they have the money to pay it?"
Lin Xiao was speechless.
The village chief continued to ask:
"Besides, as bandits, who have no lives on their hands? They want to live a normal life, and those who died on their hands can come back to life? I think you, a little bastard, are a scourge!"
The village chief's words became more and more unpleasant. After hearing this, the bandits all lowered their heads and said to Gao Jin aggrievedly:
"Brother, we have never killed anyone in these years as bandits. The most we do is scare them, that's all. You know all this!"
Gao Jin didn't inherit the memory of the original owner, how could he possibly know this.
But seeing that these bandits were so aggrieved and didn't look like they were lying, Gao Jin softened his heart. He coughed lightly and said:
"I know, I will handle this matter."
After saying that, he turned to look at Lin Xiao and said to her:
"I believe what they say. We only seek wealth, not life! And as far as I know, what we eat is rice bran with bran. Which real bandit is not a big fish and a big meat?"
Lin Xiao nodded:
"I see."
After saying that, Lin Xiao turned his attention to the village chief:
"As the saying goes, a prodigal son never comes back with gold. They have no choice but to turn into bandits. Why can't we give them a chance to change their ways?"
Lin Xiao knew that she sounded like a bitch when she said this, but she didn't feel that she was wrong.
No matter what era we live in, it is an eternal principle to keep a line in life so that we can meet each other easily in the future.
If this group of bandits who want to return to normal life are really forced to a dead end, these bandits will definitely retaliate against them at all costs, and it is not impossible to even massacre the village!
When the village chief and villagers heard these words, they fell into silence.
The village chief didn't know how to refute.
"I will pay the taxes and fines personally for them, and they will all work in my new salt workshop from now on. I hope you can treat them equally. If given the choice, no one would want to be a bandit!"
Lin Xiao's voice was not loud, but it was sonorous and powerful.
The village chief was stunned:
"I I promise you"
The village chief knew that Lin Xiao was a person who kept his word, and he also clearly understood that if Lin Xiao had not led the whole village to make and sell salt to earn extra money, I am afraid that in a few years they would have been taxed heavily.
It’s so hard to fall into a trap!
The village chief had spoken, so the villagers naturally did not dare to tie up Lan Lian and others anymore, and hurriedly untied them.
They are not idiots and know the consequences of a head-on conflict with bandits.
Gao Jin and his party of more than 20 people all temporarily stayed at Lin Xiao's house.
The bandits who tied Lan Lian and Han Ruoshui to the table apologized to them with shame on their faces.
Han Ruoshui was so frightened that she hid behind Lan Lian, but Lan Lian calmly waved her hands to a few people, showing that she didn't care.
Then I got into the kitchen and got busy.
She has a very heavy task today, she has to cook meals for twenty or thirty people.
Yu Xilin saw the people in the courtyard and heard Lin Xiaowu say that Lin Xiao persuaded the bandits to surrender. Only then did he recover from his confusion.
After persuading the village chief, he stayed at home waiting for Lin Xiao to come back.
He waited until early in the morning, couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep in a daze.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of his sleep, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps. He thought it was Lin Xiao coming back, but he didn't know that his door was locked from the outside by someone.
He was extremely anxious and thought of many ways. Just when he decided to climb out of the window, he heard someone shouting from outside the house, "Xiao Linzi has brought bandits into the village."
He felt dizzy.
How could such a righteous person like Lin Xiao rebel?
It shouldn’t be!
He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out the reason.
It wasn't until his door was opened, he saw the people in the courtyard, and he heard Lin Xiaowu's explanation that he knew the truth of the matter.
He hugged Lin Xiao excitedly:
"Xiao Linzi, you are too..."
Before he finished speaking, he was kicked aside by Li Yuyan:
"Just talk, don't hug me!"
Yu Xilin got up from the ground, looked around, then at Li Yuyan and Lin Xiao, and finally stared at Li Yuyan and said dissatisfied:
"I said, brother and sister, why are you so domineering? Xiao Linzi and I are both brothers, so we can't even hug each other?"