"What's going on?" Liu Heng appeared outside the yard.
Chen Xunping said: "As soon as our people surrounded the courtyard, they were discovered by the villagers in the courtyard. The other party wanted to take action, but our people used firecrackers to force them into the house behind the courtyard."
"Let's go in." Liu Heng stepped into the courtyard from the courtyard gate.
Chen Xunping led his men and followed him. The firecrackers on the courtyard wall jumped down one after another, with wary expressions on their faces. The firecrackers in their hands were always pointed at the house behind the courtyard.
Two corpses dressed as villagers were left in the yard. Liu Heng glanced at them and walked past.
"Master, be careful, don't get too close. Those villagers have weapons in their hands." Chen Xunping stopped Liu Heng who was approaching the house.
Liu Heng nodded, stopped walking forward, and stood in the middle of the yard.
Ma Yunjiu also came to the yard and said, "What should we do? Do we want to attack by force?"
Liu Heng waved his hand, looked at the room in front, and shouted: "People inside, listen, we are from Hutou Village. We only seek wealth and do not hurt anyone. Now put down your weapons and surrender, and I will keep you safe."
Inside the house.
A village man leaning in front of the house said: "Brother, he is a bandit from Hutou Village."
The man called eldest brother said angrily: "I have grown ears."
"They said that as long as they lay down their weapons and surrender, they won't kill us. How about we surrender?"
"Shut up, do you dare to believe what the bandits say? How did the two people in the yard die? They were not killed by the bandits."
Mentioning the two dead villagers in the yard, the villager leaning in front of the door shivered in fright.
He saw with his own eyes that the stomachs of the two villagers were beaten to pieces, and a piece of intestine leaked out. The villagers couldn't stuff it back.
In the yard, Chen Xunping said: "It seems that these people want to fight to the end, so they might as well take action directly."
Ma Yunjiu on the side also said: "There are many villagers in this village. They are wanted criminals by the government. They are desperadoes and have a lot of ferocity. These people will not surrender easily."
Liu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Go find some firewood and lay it outside the house."
Ma Yunjiu was shocked: "You want to set them on fire?"
"These people are just trapped beasts still fighting. There is no need to cause more casualties to our people. If they are not willing to surrender, then they will be buried with Zhuangzi of the Xu family." Liu Heng said indifferently.
To him, no matter how many villagers die in Zhuangzi, it is not as valuable as the lives of his gangsters, so he will not let his men risk their lives and rush into the house to catch the villagers in Zhuangzi.
If these villagers don't surrender, they might as well be burned to death.
Chen Xunping arranged for someone to prepare firewood.
There was no shortage of firewood for the winter in Zhuangzi. It didn't take long. One person came back with a bundle of firewood and piled it outside the house where Zhuang Ding was hiding.
The firewood was piled up, and several bandits holding torches stood aside, ready to burn the house at any time.
Liu Heng said loudly to the people in the room: "I will give you one last chance. Drop your weapons and surrender immediately, otherwise I will set fire to this courtyard."
The torch in the bandit's hand burned, making a crackling sound and lighting up most of the yard.
In the room, the village man who was near the door peeked out through the crack of the door. He was startled and said hurriedly: "Brother, it's not good. They really want to burn us to death. There are already piles of firewood outside."
The man who was called eldest brother was also shocked.
It's dry this season, and it's hard to burn the entire Zhuangzi to a crisp.
"Brother, what should I do?"
All the villagers in the room looked at the elder brother, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"They don't dare. This is Zhuangzi of the Xu family. If Zhuangzi is really burned, can the Xu family let Hutou Village go?" The man who was called the eldest brother said hesitantly.
"They are bandits and are not afraid of the Xu family at all. I heard that the last time the army went to Hutou Village to suppress the bandits, more than a hundred thugs from the Xu family's iron yard were killed by the Hutou Village bandits."
"Brother, you have an idea! If we really set a fire, we will all be burned to death."
"Brother, why don't we surrender? Didn't they say they won't kill us?"
The villagers in the house were afraid that the bandits outside would really set fire to the house, so they said anything and many people were tempted to surrender.
"Surrender?" the leader asked.
The other villagers in the room nodded.
The leader said: "Skinny man, tell them that we surrender, but our lives must be guaranteed."
The thin man was the village man near the door. He nodded and shouted to the outside through the crack of the door: "Don't do anything, we surrender, but you must keep your word and cannot kill us."
"I am Liu Heng, the head of Hutou Village." Liu Heng said, "We are only seeking money and not harming lives. Now you throw the weapons out, then put your hands on your head and walk out of the house."
The door of the house was opened from the inside, and weapons were thrown out.
After throwing away the weapons, the thin man closest to the door put his hands on his head and walked out of the house.
Behind him were all the villagers, including the big brother who took the lead.
"Go, squat down against the wall." Chen Xunping pointed to the north courtyard wall with his hand.
The man named Shouzi walked in front and came to the north courtyard wall and squatted in a row with the others.
Some bandits came over, checked these people to make sure they had no weapons, and tied them up one by one with ropes.
The house was checked again to make sure no one was there, and then the villagers were escorted to the north courtyard.
At this time, there were dozens of servants and villagers from the village in the north courtyard, squatting on the ground one by one, surrounded by bandits with weapons.
Arriving at the North Courtyard, Chen Xunping asked Liu Heng, "Master, how should we deal with these people?"
Liu Heng thought for a while and said: "Leave everything to Chen Daqing for interrogation. Gather the valuable things in the village. If there are important criminals wanted by the government, send someone to the government at dawn, and send the rest to the iron yard for digging." mine."
Chen Daqing stayed outside Zhuangzi. After receiving the news from Zhuangzi, he quickly came to the North Courtyard.
As the deputy captain of the intelligence team, he is more professional than others in interrogation.
The interrogation of Zhuang Ding's servants in Zhuangzi was left to him. Liu Heng, Chen Xunping and Ma Yunjiu came to the main room in the north courtyard.
"Ma Tou, please wait a moment. By the time Chen Daqing interrogates everyone in the village, the wealth in the village will be almost exhausted." Sitting on the chair in the room, Liu Heng said to Ma Yunjiu with a smile.
Ma Yunjiu smiled and said, "There's no rush."
Capturing Zhuangzi could get him a fortune, which was a free benefit for him. No matter how much it was, he didn't care. The two hundred taels Liu Heng gave him was enough for him to go back and give Shi Yunhu an explanation.
Winter nights are especially cold, and the servants in the yard are shivering from the cold.
"Zhuang Ding stands on the left, and the servants stand on the right." After Chen Daqing finished speaking, he immediately said to Wang Jia and Ma San, "You two, keep an eye out. If Zhuang Ding mixes in with the servants, or the servants mix in, When you enter the village hall, I will ask you two."
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand, I understand."
Wang Jia and Ma San nodded and bowed, looking pleased.
With the two villagers, Wang Jia and Ma San, the people in the village naturally did not dare to cheat. The villagers and servants stood separately.
There are only a dozen servants in Zhuangzi, and the remaining more than fifty people are Zhuangding.
"Take these servants to search Zhuangzi." Chen Daqing said to a bandit squad leader.
When it comes to familiarity with Zhuangzi, these servants of Zhuangzi know him best.
