Chapter 341 Trapping
Ren Xiaosu had originally wanted to stay in this mountain hideout for a while to observe them. However, Yang Xiaojin’s looks sure made it easy for the bandits to want to lay their hands on her. If it weren’t for this matter, Ren Xiaosu wouldn’t have suddenly made that move.
But since he acted, he would have to ensure there wouldn’t be trouble afterwards. He wasn’t going to learn from the stronghold residents and fake mercy.
However, the turn of events seemed a little unexpected. Ren Xiaosu realized that after Jin Lan and the others had been overpowered, they did not have any hate for him or even say any harsh words. Instead, they wanted this supernatural being to lead them to something greater!
What kind of freaking mindset was that?!
Seeing this band of bandits addressing Ren Xiaosu as their boss, even the refugees standing nearby were stunned. They could never have expected such a reversal!
It was also at this moment they realized Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin were no ordinary people. The couple had not come to their settlement because they wanted to farm. In fact, they might even be bandits from another mountain hideout.
Yang Xiaojin went on guard. She was responsible for preventing anyone from secretly attacking them with their guns. But after a while, she realized these people were actually serious about acknowledging Ren Xiaosu as their boss.
He was here to exterminate the bandits, so how did it end up with him becoming the bandit leader?
However, the first thing Ren Xiaosu said was, “Hurry up and move the firearms and fuel cans far away from me. By placing all the firearms in one spot, aren’t y’all afraid you’ll blow yourselves up?”
Jin Lan, whose nose was bleeding, hurriedly stood up. “Listen to the boss. Hurry up and shift the things away. Don’t keep them there and cause an eyesore to the boss!”
Yang Xiaojin came to Ren Xiaosu’s side and watched the group of people busy themselves with their tasks. She said in a low voice, “How are we going to put a stop to this mess now?”
Ren Xiaosu pondered for a long time. “Look at the logic you’re going by! We’re here to destroy the bandits, aren’t we?”
“Yes.”
“We’re here to figure out where all the bandits are hiding so we can capture them
all!”
“Yes.”
“Then look at it this way. If we go through so much effort to find them and then draw the terrain map,” Ren Xiaosu said, “when the Zong Consortium and Yang Consortium’s troops come storming, we might not be able to find them.”
These bandits were like rats, and the valley that had been cut through by rivers was like a sewer. It would be really easy for the regular combat troops to come here to fight them. All they had to do was send more people here, and they would have no problem dealing with the bandits. Ren Xiaosu did not believe the Zong Consortium would be so utterly defeated unless they had other motives.
However, if the combat troops were not familiar with the terrain here, it would be impossible to exterminate the bandits entirely. Strictly speaking, it was not that it couldn’t be done, but it was just not worth the effort.
“So...” Yang Xiaojin looked at Ren Xiaosu.
“We’ll have the bandits come to us instead,” Ren Xiaosu decided.
At this moment, Yang Xiaojin did not realize what it would lead to, mainly because Ren Xiaosu’s thinking was quite different from others. Under normal circumstances, it would not be possible to guess what he was thinking.
Ren Xiaosu looked at the refugees. “Let’s go back to farming!”
The refugees were stunned for a moment. “We can go back to farming?”
They had thought Ren Xiaosu would stay here at the mountain hideout as the bandit leader while they continued being their captives. After all, the bandits in the valley were all birds of a feather. But Ren Xiaosu was actually thinking of bringing them back to farm?
“That’s right.” Ren Xiaosu said excitedly, “Haven’t y’all dug the irrigation ditches already? Since they’ve already been dug, we have to sow the land! Now that we have weapons, we can choose not to be bandits and use them to protect our crops so that other bandits can’t hurt us!”
The refugees were stunned. However, they still did not dare pick up the weapons. It was as though they would get into trouble the moment they picked one up.
Not everyone liked fighting and killing. They chose to escape here to farm because they wanted to avoid everything that was going on in the outside world and find a quiet place where they could settle down.
Among the refugees, if there were ruthless people such as Ren Xiaosu, then there were also cowardly ones who sought to avoid conflict. However, it was not exactly as simple as calling them cowardly. It could only be said that they were unwilling to fight others.
Ren Xiaosu said, “We will definitely not take the fight to others. But if you don’t have any means of protecting yourselves, then don’t even think about being able to farm in peace. Think of your family and children!”
At the mention of the word “children,” some of the refugees were moved. Being used to the easy and comfortable life in the valley, they’ve realized it was no longer as safe in recent years. They had started becoming the targets of the bandits.
Just like today when the bandits came and took them away, they were not even capable of retaliating. The children had to suffer as a result, while their wives might even end up becoming someone else’s wife.
Weapons could be used to invade, but they could also be used for protection.
Some of the refugees slowly picked up the brand-new firearms. However, they did not even know how to use them. All it did was boost their courage for now.
But when they held the cold and unfeeling firearms in their hands, they somehow felt a sense of security.
Ren Xiaosu beguiled the refugees and escorted Jin Lan and the others back the way they came while riding pillion on Yang Xiaojin’s motorcycle. Earlier on when no one was looking, Ren Xiaosu even threw an entire box of grenades into his storage space.
A grenade was similar in power to the Explosive Poker’s four “threes,” so this could save Ren Xiaosu quite a few gratitude tokens.
After returning to the settlement, Ren Xiaosu gave Jin Lan and the others a mission. “All y’all used to be refugees too. For now, don’t think about being a bandit anymore. Behave yourselves and tend to the land here, ya hear?”
Jin Lan and the others had bitter looks on their faces. The bandits from the other mountain hideouts all abducted refugees and turned them into bandits. Meanwhile, even though they were also bandits, they had been abducted back to the settlement by refugees to farm.
Yang Xiaojin watched as the refugees started plowing the fields again. She asked, “What do you plan to do with these refugees and bandits?”
Ren Xiaosu looked at the sky and smiled. “We wait.”
Right at this moment, another cloud of dust kicked up in the distance. Yang Xiaojin looked at the gang of bandits screeching their way over and realized, “You were waiting for them to come knocking on our door....”
Just as Ren Xiaosu had said, it was too slow to go around looking for these people one by one.
Based on what Jin Lan had said, all the bandit gangs were trying to expand their strength and would not pass on raiding any human settlements they came across.
In that case, why would Ren Xiaosu bother to go looking for them? He could easily wait for the bandits in the entire area consisting of Mt. Daban, Mt. Tangwang, and Mt. Guang to find him instead.
Trapping!
“But we can only catch some of the small-time bandits in the south this way,” Yang Xiaojin said with a laugh.
“That’s fine. I would be really afraid if the stronger bandit gangs showed up. Don’t worry, we’ll be able to defeat the bigger bandit gangs soon!” Ren Xiaosu said in high spirits.
When this new band of bandits was about to arrive, the refugees who had just returned to the settlement started panicking and did not know what to do. They had just returned home, and now they were about to get taken away again by other bandits? But while they were panicking, they saw Ren Xiaosu rush up to those bandits excitedly.
Just by looking at Ren Xiaosu’s expression, it was as though he were going out to receive his relatives!
Yang Xiaojin had already set up her sniper rifle atop a hill and was prepared to give Ren Xiaosu some long-range cover. Through her scope, she gazed at the band of bandits who were still unaware of what was going to happen. She suddenly felt that this expedition would turn out to be very interesting
At the very least, it was going to be much more interesting than when she last came here.