A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

Those burly men had such menacing eyes; they were either bandits or seasoned soldiers. They reeked of blood from head to toe, and the number of people they had killed was probably no less than the number of people they had sold.

Jin and his men are all in this line of work to make quick money; very few of them actually want to risk their lives.

Seeing that the other party was not someone to be trifled with, he began to have second thoughts and wanted to run away.

But it was too late to escape. With a few soft sounds, four more burly men of the same caliber jumped down from the wall behind them. Their only two directions were blocked, and they had been caught like turtles in a jar.

"Grandpa..." One of the braver men knelt down abruptly upon seeing this, kowtowing repeatedly and begging for mercy: "Brothers, esteemed heroes... we were blind and didn't recognize your power, but it was all unintentional! Whether you want money or people, please spare our lives! I have elderly parents and young children to support; we're so poor we can't even afford food, which is why we've resorted to this kind of work. If I die, they won't survive either. Please, have mercy... spare my life..."

Brother Jin never expected his subordinate to be so spineless; he panicked at the slightest intimidation, without even lifting a finger. Enraged, he kicked him and yelled, "You bastard, don't you have any backbone?"

The man not only ignored him, but also crawled forward a little, turned around and pointed at him, saying:

“This is our boss. He’s the one who sold people and made the money… He’s been doing this for decades. If you’re going to arrest someone, arrest him. Don’t arrest an innocent person.”

"Bullshit! You traitorous idiot, I'll kill you today!"

Enraged, Brother Jin drew his knife to strike him. The man was bold, but incredibly skilled, darting nimbly through the alley to dodge the blade that could strike at any moment.

The guards were a little bewildered and looked at the parasol tree.

Wutong felt from the bottom of her heart that this plea for mercy came too early and was too strange. Would someone who dared to do this kind of deadly business with Brother Jin be so afraid of death? Brother Jin wasn't the type to lose his mind when angry…

She carefully observed the direction the two were chasing and finally noticed something amiss. She shouted, "They're trying to escape! Stop them!"

Jin Ge had planned to use the chaos to escape, but she discovered him first. So he stopped chasing his subordinate and started running away with his knife.

The guards gave chase, and Wutong, along with the last two men, dealt with the rest of the people in the alley. Half an incense stick later, the guards returned with Jin Ge, who was panting heavily, and his subordinate.

The two men were already bound. The guard threw them in front of Wutong and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, everyone has been captured. What's next?"

king?

Upon hearing this address, Brother Jin felt a jolt in his heart, vaguely making a connection to something.

Unless she was the king of a mountain stronghold, there was only one woman in the world who could be addressed in such a way—the Queen of Dongqi.

They actually captured the King of Dongqi... Recalling what happened back then, Brother Jin was filled with remorse.

Wutong had already planned ahead. She went over and pulled on the ropes binding Jin Ge, saying to the guards, "They're tied too loosely. Tie them up again, then throw everyone out to the marketplace."

The guard responded, but Brother Jin was not very happy about it.

He lay at the foot of the sycamore tree, struggled to lift his face, and said resentfully:

"I was defeated by you, so I can say I died a worthy death. But if you want to kill me, then kill me. Why throw me out in front of the people to be humiliated?"

The sycamore tree lowered its eyelids coldly, its once lively eyes now devoid of any smile.

"I have no interest in killing you, but I do want some."

Someone wants to kill you. If the people you sold are all around, they could eat you alive.

Jin Ge imagined the scene and couldn't help but shudder, before forcibly trying to explain himself.

"I only sold people, I never killed anyone, why are you killing me? I'm reporting this to the authorities!"

“No one was killed…” Wutong raised an eyebrow, her face showing a mocking expression, as if she had heard a joke.

“You didn’t kill anyone, but how many people have died on the vast ocean? How many have died on the long road? How many have died in your cell, which is worse than a pigsty? You didn’t kill them, but they died because of you, and you used the money earned from their lives to indulge in pleasure. In my opinion, you are the one who killed them with your own hands!”

Jin Ge had no way to refute it and stared blankly with his mouth agape.

Wutong didn't want to say another word to him and said to the guard, "Make your move."

The guards carried them, and Jin Ge, not wanting to suffer the tragedy he had imagined, struggled with all his might.

The guard tried for a long time but couldn't lift him; instead, he was bitten. Wutong watched for a while, then picked up a broken brick from the ground and smacked him on the head.

Jin rolled his eyes and fainted.

Wutong and the guards moved the group to the street entrance. It was early morning, the night watchmen had already gone home, the pancake vendors hadn't gotten up yet, and the street was deserted.

Several stray dogs smelled the scent and ran over, but were too intimidated by their imposing presence to bark.

Wutong left the man in a corner of the market, leaving two guards to watch over him, while he and the others planned to rescue him.

The town wasn't big, and they soon arrived at the abandoned courtyard. Wutong told everyone to slow down, and she led the way, cautiously approaching.

There were many more guards, one of whom had a bandage wrapped around his head and was a man with a goatee.

A quarter of an hour...two quarters of an hour...

While they were distracted and dozing off, Wutong led his men to swarm in, quickly dispatching the gatekeepers, finding the new key on them, unlocking the brass lock, and kicking open the dilapidated wooden door.

The people inside were already asleep, lying haphazardly on the floor. As soon as the door opened, a stench wafted out on the wind, and the guards, who were visiting for the first time, couldn't help but cover their mouths and noses.

Wutong was already used to it. She strode in and woke everyone up, saying, "Get up, I've come to save you."

Those people looked up at her, struggling to make out who she was by the moonlight shining in from outside.

Some people were overjoyed, while others looked like they had eaten shit.

Wutong ignored them and said, "I've already brought the human traffickers to the market. If you want them to get the punishment they deserve, come with me. After dawn, stand up and accuse them of their crimes, so that everyone in town knows what they did."

As soon as she finished speaking, the excited people fell silent. Although the room was packed with people, no one responded to Wutong's words.

She had a bad feeling and frowned as she asked, "Don't you want to?"

A weak voice came from the corner: "It's not that we're unwilling to help... You know, we're powerless. What if the authorities don't arrest them after we step forward, but instead release them, and then they come back to retaliate?"

"How could the authorities let them go after they committed such a crime?"

"That's not necessarily true... These days, aren't officials and the rich all in cahoots? It's just ordinary people like us who are pitiful."

1 = Lao Qu said