She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

"We didn't intend to hurt anyone. Since you attacked first, don't blame us. Brothers, let's attack together!"

At the bandit leader's command, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides, with the sounds of clashing knives and clubs filling the air.

During the fierce battle, Shen Man discovered that the bandit leader was actually skilled in martial arts and was not easy to deal with.

She focused her attention and engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the bandit leader. Suddenly, Shen Man found an opening in the bandit leader's defenses and kicked him in a vital spot, sending him sprawling from his horse.

The bandit leader was taken aback, never expecting Shen Man to be so strong.

He dismounted and tried his best to steady himself, but the ground was uneven and he twisted his left ankle.

Shen Man reacted quickly, taking advantage of his pain to firmly bind his hands with the horse rope.

The horse was startled and wanted to run away, but Shen Man whispered something in its ear, and the horse obediently stopped and kept rubbing its head against Shen Man.

"Your leader has been captured, so you'd better surrender!"

When the bandits saw that their leader had really been captured, they deflated like a punctured balloon, their morale plummeted, and they quickly surrendered.

The bandit leader was utterly astonished to find himself defeated by a mere young girl; it was simply unbelievable.

"Take them back to the village and let everyone see what bandits look like!"

When Shen Man returned to the village with her large group, Sun Ergou had already been tied up again by the villagers and bound to a large camphor tree.

Seeing the bandit leader who was also tied up, he exclaimed in surprise, "Boss, how did you get arrested too?"

The bandit leader glared at Sun Ergou, cursing inwardly, "You're such a fool, good for nothing but causing trouble."

"Grandpa Village Head, we've captured all the bandits who came this time," Shen Man happily reported to the village head.

"Good, good, Man'er, you've done a great job tonight! I'll definitely give all the members of your self-defense force a commendation later!" the village head said with a hearty laugh.

The idea of ​​recording villagers' merits to encourage them to contribute more to the village was a suggestion Shen Man made to the village head. At the end of the year, those who had received merits would be rewarded with money; conversely, those who had received demerits would have their pay reduced.

This reward and punishment system was warmly welcomed by the villagers, who eagerly volunteered to do good deeds for the village, resulting in a significant improvement in the overall quality of the villagers.

Shen Man smiled and thanked the village head, then looked at Sun Ergou, who was tied to a tree, with a cold gaze.

"Sun Ergou, what else do you have to say!" she shouted sternly.

Sun Ergou lowered his head and remained silent.

At this moment, a villager shouted, "This kind of scourge should be handed over to the authorities directly!"

“That’s right, we should hand them all over to the authorities. We can’t let them harm people anymore!” Other villagers echoed.

"Wait, if you're going to send someone to the authorities, then send me instead! Release all my brothers!" the bandit leader suddenly said.

"Oh, I didn't realize you, a bandit leader, were so loyal. But why should I agree to your request?" Shen Man said calmly.

By the light of the torches held by the villagers, Shen Man was able to see the bandit leader's face clearly.

He appeared to be around thirty or forty years old, with a standard square face that gave him an extremely resolute and decisive air.

He didn't give the impression of a bandit leader who committed arson, murder, robbery, and all sorts of evil deeds; rather, he seemed like a chivalrous knight who would draw his sword to help those in need.

"Do you think we're stupid?!" a villager shouted. "Are you going to release your brothers so they can go back and report to us, and then kill us all?"

"I swear!" the bandit leader said hastily.

"What good is an oath!" another villager cursed. "Who knows if you'll keep your word!"

"So what do you want?" the bandit leader asked.

“Unless…” Shen Man began, “you can give us a convincing reason.”

The bandit leader hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. "I can tell you the reasons, but can you make the decision on this matter?"

Shen Man glanced at the village head, who nodded and said to the bandit leader, "She can make the decision!"

“Alright, let’s find a place where we can talk alone…” Facing the suspicious looks from the villagers, he added, “You can rest assured, I can’t beat her!”

"Man'er, go and hear what he has to say!" The village head gave the order, so Shen Man untied him and took him home.

"You can say whatever you want to say now!" Shen Man asked him to sit down in the living room and then said to him.

The bandit leader sighed and explained the reason for the incident.

"Originally, I wasn't a bandit in the mountains, but a member of the Meng family army. Have you heard of the Meng family army, young lady?"

“Of course I’ve heard of it.” Shen Man nodded.

She had certainly heard of the Meng family army; it was the elite army of the Crimson Flame Kingdom, and it was said that every soldier in it was brave and skilled in battle, capable of taking on ten men at once.

However, twenty years ago, in a battle against the Qi Rong people, General Meng made a strategic error that led to the annihilation of his entire army. The Meng family was later punished by the emperor, and not a single member was spared.

“I am Meng Zhuo, the second son of the Meng family. Twenty years ago, around this time, I was just sixteen years old and was stationed with my father and brother on the border of Ling’an Town. That day, we suddenly received an urgent report of an enemy attack, and we immediately mobilized our troops to surround and annihilate them. We pursued them relentlessly until the enemy finally hid in the mountains.”

The bandit leader sighed, "But who knew it was a trap. We were ambushed in the mountains and suffered heavy casualties. With my father and brother's desperate cover, I led the remaining few hundred brothers to escape into the deep mountains."

Shen Man frowned and said, "Didn't you report this to your superiors?"

"How could there be none?" The bandit leader smiled bitterly. "But none of the men we sent out came back. Later we found out that someone had deliberately plotted to wipe out our Meng family army."

Shen Man was silent for a moment, then asked, "So you stayed here and became bandits?"

"We had no other choice," the bandit leader said. "If we didn't do this, we would starve to death sooner or later. Over the years, although I have been investigating the murder of Meng Jiajun, I have no clue whatsoever."

Originally, they wanted to stay in the mountains and expand the team, but unexpectedly, some brothers left and some died, and the number of people dwindled.

"My original plan was to split the loot evenly among them after today's robbery and then call it a day, but I never expected to be defeated by you... It seems I really am useless! Not only can I not avenge my family, but I can't even support my brothers!"

Shen Man looked at him and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

These people were originally warriors who defended their country, but they ended up like this because of a conspiracy.

"There's always a way out. If you truly want to avenge your family, you must pull yourself together!"