Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 86 Mutinous Soldiers

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Bai Lian stood on the roof, torn between two conflicting thoughts: she had always taken it upon herself to eliminate evil and uphold justice, and now that the rebels were committing violence, she absolutely could not stand idly by. But if she went down to stop them, what would happen to the two people behind her?

Finally, several rebels arrived at the house and began banging on the door. The landlady, fearing looting by the soldiers, had piled up some tables and chairs at the entrance to temporarily block them. The men smashed a crack in the door, but couldn't open it. They started calling for their accomplices nearby; in their minds, such a tight security meant there must be a lot of money.

The rebels quickly gathered a dozen or so men, and together they pushed the door open. Downstairs, only the homeowner and her mother-in-law were there. They had been trembling with fear from the sound of the banging on the door, and when they saw a group of ferocious men rushing in, they screamed even louder.

The three men tensed simultaneously, preoccupied with their own concerns and forgetting the elderly woman and child below. Bai Lian drew her hidden sword and jumped off the roof. Before she even reached the top of the attic, she heard an old woman's voice from downstairs: "Gentlemen, please spare my wife..." Before she could finish, an impatient voice rang out, "You old hag, get out of the way! Don't block my way!"

Then came the sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh, and the old woman's voice abruptly stopped. A young woman's voice rang out, exceptionally shrill: "Grandma!"

Bai Lian sensed something was wrong and, without even taking the stairs, jumped directly from the attic. The rebels were stunned to see a white figure descending from the sky.

Bai Lian looked closely and saw the old woman lying in a pool of blood, her neck severed, and she was already dead. The landlady's clothes had been torn open, clearly indicating that the rebels had taken advantage of her young age and attractive appearance.

Enraged, Bai Lian roared, "Beast!" and swung her hidden sword, which shot out like a meteor, instantly piercing the chest of a rebel soldier, killing him immediately.

The rebels, having fought their way through, were already in a frenzy of killing. Outnumbered and outmatched, the sight of their comrades killed only fueled their ferocity, and they roared as they swung their swords. Bai Lian, with nimble footwork and using the tables and chairs in the room as cover, parried the swords of more than a dozen rebels. Her figure flashed, never even touching the hem of her clothes. Wherever her swords pointed, rebels were repeatedly stabbed, and in no time, two more fell.

Liu Ye and Ling Xi'er also came downstairs, taking the opportunity to rescue the landlady and run up to the attic. Once upstairs, Liu Ye asked the still-shaken landlady, "Do you have any lime?"

The landlady took a while to come to her senses, and answered blankly, "No, what can that thing be used for?"

Liu Ye then asked, "Is there always flour?"

People from Shandong love to eat noodles, and flour is something every household has. "Yes, we have it; there's a bag of it in the attic."

Liu Ye found a bag of flour in the corner of the attic, along with a bag of soybeans. He dragged it to the bottom of the stairs, scattered the soybeans on the steps, and then shouted downstairs, "Fairy, hurry up and come up! Don't fight them head-on!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Lian leaped out of the encirclement, quickly grabbed the handrail, and swiftly climbed the stairs. The rebels, lacking such agility, could only obediently climb the stairs. The first man slipped on a soybean, tumbling down the stairs. The others avoided him, holding onto the wall, using their feet to clear away the soybeans, and cautiously climbed upwards.

Liu Ye grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at the faces of the rebels. Several rebels, their eyes covered in flour, saw nothing clearly and lay prone on the steps, afraid to move lest they fall. Liu Ye then grabbed a stool and threw it at them. The rebels, unable to open their eyes and dodge, screamed and tumbled down the stairs after being hit.

Ling Xi'er peeked out and stuck out her tongue: "You're amazing, a few handfuls of beans and flour are enough to stop them..."

Liu Ye said with a wry smile, "This is just children playing house. It won't hold out for long. If there were a bow and arrow, one person could hold it off."

Hearing Liu Ye mention bow and arrow, Ling Xi'er's eyes lit up, and she said to Bai Lian, "Master, don't you have hidden weapons?"

Liu Ye felt relieved. Having hidden weapons made things easier. He looked at Bai Lian expectantly: "Fairy, do you really have hidden weapons?"

Bai Lian nodded, took out a small, antique-looking wooden box from her bosom, and opened the lid to reveal a dense array of silver needles inside.

"This was passed down to me by Xi'er's great-grandmaster, who is also my master. Although my master was skilled in martial arts, he was also a benevolent doctor who practiced medicine. This box of silver needles can be used for acupuncture in normal times, and can also be used as a hidden weapon for self-defense when necessary. It can save lives, and it can also kill!"

Liu Ye's spirits lifted considerably. "Having hidden weapons makes things much easier and allows us to hold out for a few more hours." These rebels are only after silver and women; they won't risk their lives here for no reason. Once they learn their lesson, they might turn around and rob the next place.

Just then, the remaining rebels went upstairs again. Bai Lian gently waved her hand, and a silver needle flew out, accurately hitting the forehead of the first man. He groaned and fell backward, tumbling down the stairs. The others, seeing that there were hidden weapons, were so frightened that they all ran far away.

Liu Ye was overjoyed; if he shot a few more, they would probably turn around and run away.

Sure enough, after several people were killed or wounded, the rebels calmed down and began to whisper and discuss among themselves, occasionally looking up at the building as if weighing the pros and cons.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded outside, as if a large group of people were passing by. As they passed the wide-open doorway, someone exclaimed "Hey!", peeked in, and shouted, "What are you little bastards still doing here? The higher-ups have given the order that this whole area is ours to take! Hurry up, or you'll be eating shit before it's even hot!"

The rebels, as if seeing a savior, rushed forward to report: "Commander Liu, there are some tough guys here who have killed many of our brothers..."

The man known as Captain Liu strode in, shouting, "Since you killed our brothers, just kill them all! What are you dawdling for?"

Upon entering, following the rebels' directions, he looked upstairs and caught sight of Bai Lian and Ling Xi'er. The officer, Liu, gasped in astonishment; such beautiful women were rare even in the entire Dengzhou city. His eyes darted around, and he ordered his men, "Men! Charge in, capture these two little vixens alive, and present them to our general! We'll guarantee a few of us brothers a captain's rank!"

Bai Lian was furious upon hearing this. She pinched a silver needle and aimed it at the captain.

Seeing this, the rebel soldiers nearby shouted, "Sir, be careful! This woman can use hidden weapons!"

Liu, a veteran of many battles, reacted quickly. Upon hearing this, he immediately raised his sword to protect his face and retreated hastily. At that moment, the silver needle was already launched. Because his face was blocked, it embedded itself deeply in his forearm, so deeply that even the tip of the needle was not visible.