She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

Banxia didn't care about that. She was hiding on the side of a house in the center, peeking out to look into the middle.

The huge sheds were filled with people, and several large bonfires illuminated the sheds.

The second-in-command, who had just become the boss, was sitting in the middle of the crowd, happily inviting everyone to eat and drink well, and giving a pre-meal speech. Everyone else was either sitting or standing, listening to him out of courtesy.

Although the chief was dead, he left some of his men in the stronghold to win their allegiance and to make the others more obedient.

The second-in-command has been bringing out his best stuff to treat everyone these past few days.

After all, only when these people listen to him and his position is secure can he rely on these brothers to plunder more wealth.

This second-in-command is clever; he knows how to make choices and achieve great things with minimal investment!

What Banxia didn't expect was that she saw a familiar face in front of the second-in-command.

Wasn't that the thug who tried to take her away earlier, the one with the fawning smile and a severed wrist, the one who was trying to steal her?

Banxia's expression darkened slightly as she scanned the crowd, and sure enough, she spotted two more familiar faces.

After they stopped collecting materials, they never saw the five people again. Banxia assumed they had gone to escape the famine, but she never expected them to have joined this bandit stronghold.

Banxia clenched her fists. She thought she roughly knew why these bandits had ambushed Yaoli Village; these people must have provided them with information.

Otherwise, robbing a few refugees, or even a whole village, wouldn't require more than a hundred strong men.

Damn it, Banxia's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Fortunately, the area around the shed was quite lively, and her little commotion went unnoticed.

After waiting a while longer, the second-in-command finally finished his rambling and started eating.

A large pot of stewed potatoes and meat was served spoonful by spoonful, and almost everyone got a few pieces of meat, enough for a small bowl.

These mixed-grain steamed buns, paired with wild vegetable and egg soup, were a truly good meal during this famine year.

Meanwhile, Banxia, ​​Yao Lizheng, and the others watched coldly from the shadows as these people ate the poisoned food, one bite at a time.

Yao Daniu clenched his fists and waited anxiously. Finally, the first person fell down, and he was overjoyed and wanted to rush outside.

"Wait a little longer, let's wait until they all have their attacks before going out." Yao Lizheng quickly pulled the person back; it was too early to go out now.

The young master said that this thing is highly poisonous, and even a small amount can cause a person to lose most of their fighting ability.

However, the toxins take longer to take effect after being diluted, so you need to be patient.

At this moment, chaos had broken out in the shed. After the first bandit who had been wolfing down his food collapsed, the others were initially puzzled, and then more and more people fell down one after another.

Those who were among the first to receive food, and who wolfed it down the most, naturally had the fastest onset of symptoms.

"Boss, what's going on? The brothers seem to have been poisoned!" The man with the severed hand exclaimed in surprise, as if he had just realized something.

"Damn it, drag those women who are cooking over here!" The bandit known as the leader threw down the bowl in his hand and shouted in fear.

To put on a show, he would wait until later to eat even when the food was served to him, but he had already taken several bites. How could he not be afraid?

The women who were cooking and helping to serve food were in one corner of the shed, and they were immediately pulled over there.

"Tell me, what poison did you give me?" The gang leader grabbed the woman's hair viciously and yelled.

"I...I didn't," the woman explained timidly, she didn't know what had happened either!

In just a short while, several more bandits collapsed, foaming at the mouth and convulsing uncontrollably, just like the previous ones, as if they had epilepsy.

"Boss, the brothers are dying! We need to find the antidote quickly!" several bandits shouted in panic. They didn't want to be poisoned to death.

"Damn it, I've been too good to you guys, believe me or not I'll kill you!" The leader hurriedly pulled out a knife and was about to hold it to the woman's neck.

"Attack!" Yao Lizheng shouted, leading more than twenty men out.

As his voice fell, more than twenty villagers from Yaoli Village rushed out from the opposite side of the shed.

Banxia leaped to a high place and aimed her hidden arrow at the leader's throat.

Although bamboo arrows cannot pierce a person's skull, they can certainly pierce the throat.

With a whoosh, the leader froze, turned his gaze toward Banxia, ​​and collapsed, clutching his bleeding neck.

The large knife he was holding clattered to the ground beside the woman being held captive, startling the bandits.

"Uncles and brothers, we must kill these bastards today! Charge!" Yao Daniu, his eyes bloodshot, rushed to the front and shouted loudly.

"Damn it, the boss is dead! We've been ambushed! Brothers, grab your weapons and kill them!"

"Kill them! I'm going to kill these bastards for daring to run wild on my turf."

"..."

The bandits realized what was happening and grabbed their weapons while cursing.

Because they were all a motley crew and didn't really trust each other much, and everyone carried their weapons on their person, the bandits immediately grabbed their weapons.

However, before they could even brandish their weapons, they felt a sharp pain in their bodies, and even those with mild poisoning began to experience symptoms.

Some with weaker immune systems collapsed and joined the convulsions, while others endured the pain and fought back against the villagers of Yao Li Village.

White Umbrella wiped out half of the bandits, and the remaining half were also greatly weakened by poisoning. In addition, their leader was shot dead by Banxia, ​​leaving the Knife Bandits leaderless and in great chaos.

So what appeared to be an evenly matched battle was actually a one-sided affair. In less than a quarter of an hour, Yao Li Village had killed all the remaining bandits.

None of them suffered any losses; at most, they were only slightly injured.

"Everyone, take a look and finish off all the bandits. Leave no survivors," Yao Lizheng ordered sternly, looking at all the fallen bandits.

"Yes, village head." The villagers, their eyes bloodshot with rage, immediately responded and looked around.

Those who had already collapsed from poisoning, just in case, all of them swiftly slit their own throats and then delivered a final stab.

Because it was mealtime, all the bandits in the mountain stronghold gathered here, and not a single one escaped. As for the few guards at the gate, they were also dealt with by Yao Lizheng's men.

The two hunters in the village were excellent archers, and they had just gotten a lot of bows and arrows from the bandits.

Soon, only a dozen or so women and about twenty children aged seven or eight remained in the entire mountain village.

Yao Dahe ordered his men to gather them together and keep an eye on them, preventing them from running around.

The women were terrified, not knowing what had happened. They had been hiding in the kitchen eating simple food when suddenly chaos erupted outside.