Chapter 53: Coal

to handle the shopping for your three meals a day."Let's go take a look now and arrange everything properly. We'll aim to start construction tomorrow!"Heaven has bestowed upon him an open-pit coal mi...Wang Tiezhu held the chicken and took advantage of the situation to run behind Yang Lin, his little face already as pale as a sheet.

Yang Lin still held his crossbow, aiming at the bandits.

Although the bandits have surrendered, he still doesn't dare to relax. If any bandit dares to act recklessly, he will shoot them without hesitation!

However, it turned out Yang Lin had overthought things.

The bandit leader is dead, and the remaining seven bandits are terrified. They are all lying on the ground, trembling and shaking, not daring to resist in the slightest.

The bandit was so honest that he left Yang Lin completely dumbfounded.

Originally, he didn't intend to let these bandits live!

Now that everyone has surrendered and isn't resisting at all, I can't just go around executing each one individually, can I

"Come out!" Yang Lin shouted.

The bandits were stunned and cautiously glanced at Yang Lin.

What's coming out What came out

There was absolute silence all around, not a single sound.

Yang Lin was also speechless.

Only then did he realize, he had specifically instructed the women earlier that he could only shoot an arrow when he shouted "let go," and under no circumstances should they move regardless of what they heard.

The guard team was also under the same instructions. He told them that they could only come out when they heard him shout "quickly, quickly, quickly". Otherwise, no matter what they heard, they were not allowed to leave.

Hurry hurry hurry!

"Get out here!"

Yang Lin hurriedly shouted.

Hip hip hooray!—

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

Damn it!

Upon hearing the "signal", Zhong Tao charged ahead, leading his security detail, shouting as they rushed out.

Then...

They were all stunned.

Seeing the seven bandits lying on the ground, trembling with fear, all the guards were dumbfounded.

What's going on

What's going on, bandits

"They took their weapons and tied them all up!"

Seeing that the guards were still stunned, Yang Lin hurriedly reminded them.

Only then did the crowd come to their senses. They rushed forward, taking the bandits' weapons and hurriedly finding ropes to tie them up.

"Spare our lives, please! We are not bandits, we were also deceived."

"We all just do what the boss tells us. He's the real bandit, we're just up here trying to survive."

"This is my first time... sniffle sniffle..."

The bandit started crying and, without waiting for questioning, spilled all their secrets.

According to them, the only real bandit was the one Yang Lin had killed. The rest of them were just idle villagers from surrounding villages who got a bad idea and turned into bandits.

They have never killed anyone, nor do they have the courage to kill. They only robbed a few villages while following their leader.

The looting process was also very simple, because when the villagers heard the word "bandits," they were too afraid to resist. So wherever they went, they let them loot at will.

But I didn't expect that, coming to Koushan Village, someone would dare to resist.

And as soon as he made his move, he took out their leader!

This completely scared them. Zhong Tao asked, "What should we do with these guys"

"Here comes the official!" Yang Lin said.

Zong Tao hesitated: "According to them, they aren't exactly heinous bandits. If we hand them over to the authorities, they might end up with their heads."

Looking at these trembling bandits, thinking that they were once ordinary people too, Zhong Tao felt a twinge of sympathy.

"Maybe... we should just let it go They promised they wouldn't do it again, right"

Zhong Tao looked expectantly at Yang Lin.

Yang Lin coldly said, “Brother Zhong, at this time, you can't be merciful!”

"They say they're not bandits, so they're not They say they've turned over a new leaf, so we should give them a chance"

Yang Lin shook his head and said, "No matter who they were before, the moment they stormed into our village and started looting our money and grain, they became bandits!"

"The times are hard, and life is difficult for everyone, but that's no reason for them to harm others!"

Although I also believe they haven't killed anyone, what about the villages they plundered Whose food wasn't carefully saved and rationed What have those people who were robbed done wrong

“Everyone is responsible for what they have done! Since they chose to be bandits, they should be prepared to face the consequences of being a bandit! I don't care if they were successful or unsuccessful bandits, they were still bandits!”

"Now you feel sorry for them Want to let them go Did they ever feel sorry for us If we are unable to protect ourselves, can they let us go"

"Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself!"

Each of Yang Lin's words struck Zhong Tao's heart deeply.

After Yang Lin finished speaking, Zhong Tao had already hung his head in shame.

Many of the guards present shared Zhong Tao's sentiments. Facing these "disappointing" bandits, they felt a twinge of pity.

But after hearing Yang Lin finish speaking, they realized that they had all been wrong!

Totally wrong!

"I understand!"

Zhong Tao nodded heavily. He didn't care how these bandits cried and begged for mercy; this time, he was determined to see it through.

They tied the seven bandits to a large tree nearby, waiting for the village head to return before taking them to the authorities.

At this time, all the women also ran out. Li Yuyao and Liao Hongying came out first. When they saw Yang Lin single-handedly defeat the bandits with just one arrow each, they were astonished.

They were both a little disappointed. They had planned everything so meticulously, but in the end, it all proved useless as Yang Lin had resolved it himself.

What should I do next

Li Yuxiang asked.

All these scoundrels will be sent to the authorities and punished according to law.

"As for this deceased... just leave it to the authorities to handle."

Yang Lin didn't want to deal with the government at all.

They were a pack of ravenous wolves who devoured their prey without mercy!

Bringing down Liu Youcai was justified, but it took four hundred taels of silver and a lot of effort to settle. At one point, things almost went wrong!

Four hundred taels of silver, a sum that ordinary people wouldn't even dare to dream of, was almost all Yang Lin had saved up. This finally satisfied those big shots.

And this time, the bandits raided the village, the dead were easy to handle, but those seven captured bandits became a problem.

Kill not, nor let go.

Therefore, reporting to the authorities and leaving it to them to handle is the best approach.

Yang Lin was also worried that those hungry wolves in the county town would retaliate and take the opportunity to frame him...

Just then, Zhong Tao, who was leading the search of the bandits, ran over, holding something in his hand for Yang Lin to see.

"Yang Lin, take a look at this stone. Is it useful The bandit said that this kind of stone can be used to start a fire. Do you recognize it I don't think it's possible, how can a stone catch fire But the bandit described it very convincingly, and said they have many such stones."

Zhong Tao handed Yang Lin a dark stone.

When Yang Lin saw this stone, he was astonished and widened his eyes.

"Coal"ad already slipped away from the back.Not far away, at the edge of a small grove of trees, Yang Lin sat on a large stone, gazing at the emerald green forest in contemplation. The bustle of the village...