In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

While Zhang He and the skinny monkey were locked in combat with Liu Yu, on the city wall, other refugees were also engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a dozen or so soldiers guarding the city. The hundreds of refugees had only crude weapons, and it was clearly not an easy task for them to face a dozen or so soldiers in armor and carrying standard military knives.

However, due to their superior numbers and fearlessness, the refugees ultimately gained the upper hand and quickly killed the soldiers on the city wall one by one.

"Well done, brothers!"

Zhang He, whose eyes were constantly on another battlefield, couldn't help but get excited. With all the soldiers on the city wall dead, Liu Yu was now trapped. No matter how thick his armor or how sharp his weapons, he couldn't possibly defeat so many of them.

"It's over!"

While Zhang He was excited, Liu Yu felt despair and pleaded, "Hero, we have no grudge against each other, why must we fight to the death?"

"No injustice or enmity?"

Zhang He sneered, "When you killed my brother, why didn't you say you had no grudge against him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang He roared, "Brothers, kill!"

Instantly, all the surrounding refugees swarmed forward and hacked Liu Yu to death on the ground.

"Brother Zhang, are you alright?"

Only after seeing that Zhang He was completely dead did the refugees notice his blood-soaked right arm. At this moment, the sleeve of Zhang He's right arm was stained red with blood, and his face was extremely pale, making him look somewhat frightening.

"I'm fine!"

Zhang He tore a piece of cloth from the body of the dead Liu Yu and wrapped it around the wound, then asked, "How are the casualties among the brothers?"

"very bad!"

Skinny Monkey, who had already quickly counted the number of men, said with a grim face, "The soldiers guarding the city are all wearing armor, which makes them extremely strong defensively. As a result, our brothers suffered extremely heavy casualties. A total of 30 brothers died and 20 were injured."

Upon hearing this, Zhang He's face showed a trace of self-reproach and pain. These brothers trusted him so much, but he... couldn't lead them to survive!

"Brother Zhang, don't blame yourself. The brothers were willing to do this with you, so they were already mentally prepared to die," Skinny Monkey said, seemingly noticing the expression on Zhang He's face.

"Yes, Brother Zhang, don't blame yourself."

“Those brothers who died certainly wouldn’t want Brother Zhang to blame himself.”

"Brother Zhang, let's talk about what we should do next."

"..."

Others also spoke up, and their words of comfort greatly eased Zhang He's feelings of self-blame.

Zhang He walked slowly to the edge of the city wall, gazing at the county town barely illuminated by the afterglow of the setting sun, his eyes flickering.

As the city gates opened, a large number of refugees rushed into the city. These refugees were obviously not like Zhang He and his group who had a clear goal. After entering the city, these starving refugees instantly lost their minds and broke into houses and shops in twos and threes, plundering the food and money inside!

At this moment, shouts of fighting and killing echoed throughout the county town. The area near the city gate had completely lost its order. The irrational refugees had unleashed their primal instincts. They would kill the men in the houses who tried to resist, and as for the women... it was easy to imagine what their fate would be.

"Big brother."

A young, strong man following behind Zhang He looked down greedily and said, "Should we go and rob some too?"

Not only the young and strong, but everyone else also stared greedily at the grain that the refugees below had looted, wishing they could personally join in the robbery. They hadn't had a full meal in too long and could hardly resist the temptation of the grain.

"Do you want to die?"

After scanning the crowd, Zhang He said coldly, "If we work for the powerful, we might have a chance to survive. But if we join them in robbing, we definitely won't live to see tomorrow!"

Why did Zhang He not dare to kill the city guards and enter the city before, but dare to do so now?

Because killing the city's guards was tantamount to rebellion, a certain death sentence;

And now... the nobleman in the city has made a promise to him. As long as he can do what the nobleman asks of him, the nobleman will cover up his killing of the city guards and breaking into the city, and will give him and his brothers a legitimate identity so that they no longer need to be vagrants!

Although working for a powerful person is extremely dangerous, there is always a glimmer of hope, and besides...

The benefactors will also grant them legitimate status, and may even bestow upon them medicinal herbs, giving them the opportunity to become martial artists!

"Let's all be rational!"

Skinny Monkey also promptly reminded everyone, "Robbing like them is no different from rebellion, and we'll only face death! Only by following Brother Zhang and fulfilling the nobleman's request can we survive!"

Zhang He and the skinny monkey's words promptly curbed everyone's greedy thoughts, and they all regained their rationality.

“Brother Zhang is right, we absolutely cannot go and steal food.”

"Just follow Brother Zhang's lead! No one is allowed to act on their own."

"Brother Zhang, what do you suggest? We'll do whatever you say."

"..."

Looking at the eager faces of his brothers, Zhang He pondered for a moment and said, "Those who are strong, put on the armor of the city guards, and let's go do something big together!"

Soon, Zhang He selected a dozen or so of the stronger brothers, had them wear armor stripped from the city guards, and then everyone descended the city wall and headed straight for the wealthy area inside the city, but...

Even Zhang He himself didn't notice that as his team was moving forward, two figures completely shrouded in black night clothes had somehow blended into his ranks.

"I never expected that a dignified county magistrate would wear clothes like those worn by thieves, such as night clothes."

A man dressed in black, whose face was completely covered by a black mask with only his eyes showing, said that this man was none other than Li Hu, the owner of the Fuhu Boxing Gym.

The man in black beside him was none other than County Magistrate Xu Zhiwen.

"Master Li's words are somewhat biased."

Xu Zhiwen chuckled and said, "Those dressed in night clothes are not necessarily thieves; they could also be brave warriors like Master Li!"

"Ah."

Li Hu was unimpressed. Instead, he turned to look at the city gate behind him, where the sounds of battle were still ringing out. His brows furrowed slightly beneath his veil: "Lord County Magistrate, is this something you expected to happen?"

"no!"

Xu Zhiwen shook his head. He was the benefactor Zhang He and the others had mentioned. After contacting Zhang He and his group and gaining their trust, he had arranged for them to carry out the plan to eliminate the Zhu family, but unfortunately…

Plans can't keep up with changes. He never expected that Zhang He and his men's rush into the city would cause such a change and create such chaos within the city.