The men who had originally come to see what was happening, upon witnessing the scene inside the room, quickly pretended to be calm and looked elsewhere.
In the room were more than ten young girls and gers, locked up. They were disheveled, their clothes barely covering their bodies, huddled together as if they were livestock kept in a pen.
Seeing people coming, their first instinct was to hide.
Seeing this, it was certain they had suffered inhuman treatment, truly a pitiful sight beyond endurance.
"Ge Liang, take some men and search the stronghold for some clothes."
Ge Liang didn't say a word and immediately left with a few men.
The people of the Wild Tiger Stronghold proved even more despicable than those of the Black Wolf Stronghold. The latter had at least kidnapped people for forced labor, but the Wild Tiger bandits neither opened fields nor engaged in production, relying entirely on plunder for survival. They had ruined countless young women and gers.
The group that came were all men, so it was inconvenient for them to enter. They could only wait for someone to go back and fetch clothes for them to make do with for now.
Following the usual procedure, Huo Shu asked the common people detained in the stronghold where they were from and if they wanted to return home.
Those who wanted to go back were given enough rations to last until the autumn harvest and sent off.
There weren't many common people here to begin with. Aside from those who wanted to leave, only a handful remained. It was impossible to leave them here, so they had to be taken back to the village.
However, few of the young women and gers who had been abducted were willing to leave. It wasn't that they didn't want to return, but that they had lost the face to go back.
Having fallen into such a bandit den, returning home would only mean being pointed at and gossiped about.
The cost for these people was truly much greater than for ordinary abductees.
Ultimately, it was caused by the bandits who were able-bodied but refused to make an honest living.
"What about the remaining bandits? Same as before, send them to the authorities?"
Huo Shu's eyes darkened: "Scum who commit rape and pillage, every extra moment they live is a scourge."
"Just leave them all in the stronghold. It saves us further effort."
Everyone understood his meaning. Even among bandits, there were distinctions. Some truly did not deserve to be considered human and warranted no chance at life.
After clearing the stronghold, Huo Shu set it on fire with a single torch, to prevent it from becoming a hideout for other bandits.
The group waited until the fire had completely burned down the mountain stronghold before heading back triumphantly with the seized provisions.
By the time everyone returned to the village, it was already the middle of the night.
Returning with such fanfare inevitably woke up the villagers who had already gone to rest.
People were already worried about those who had gone out to suppress the bandits. Hearing the commotion, they certainly got up to look.
Ji Taoyu, sleeping alone at night, felt somewhat unsettled. Afraid of letting his thoughts run wild, he carried Xiao Taohe from the crib to the big bed to sleep.
Father and son sleeping together, it was the little kid's first time on the big bed. Although so small, he was very curious. Seeing Ji Taoyu lying beside him, they stared at each other, wide-eyed. He was very happy and, unusually, did not fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, babbling and playing with Ji Taoyu for a long time before finally sleeping.
Ji Taoyu, snuggling against the chubby little kid, found it very warm.
He felt considerably more at ease, but it was his first time sleeping with the child, so he couldn't help but feel somewhat unaccustomed to it. One moment he was afraid of rolling over and crushing the child, the next he worried the child wasn't covered properly and would catch a chill.
After tossing and turning for half the night, it was already very late. He had just managed to feel drowsy and closed his eyes, not yet fully asleep, when he heard noise coming from outside.
Ji Taoyu threw on his clothes, made sure Xiao Taohe was covered, and ran out. Seeing the large group returning with torches, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Waiting for people to enter the large courtyard, he discovered they had actually brought back a great deal of provisions.
Huo Shu saw Ji Taoyu standing under the eaves, draped in a coat. He dismounted and walked over: "I'm back."
Ji Taoyu pressed his lips together and didn't speak.
It was good that he was back. Returning in the middle of the night was even better than returning tomorrow morning. Coming back a moment earlier meant worrying a moment less.
After the hustle and bustle lasted most of the night, and with dawn approaching, everyone got things in order and returned home.
Huo Shu settled the people from the Wild Tiger Stronghold over in Caochang Village.
That area was mostly populated by Northern Territories people, where certain social conventions were not as rigidly held. Moreover, there were already quite a few people there who had suffered in bandit dens themselves, so they should be able to coexist more harmoniously with the newcomers.
Their own Lin Village, when it came down to it, was mostly made up of people from the Tongzhou area. Even if they dared not say much due to fear of Huo Shu's authority, there would inevitably be some gossip in private.
"What do you plan to do with these provisions?"
Ji Taoyu leaned over the grain storage, looking at the sudden addition of over a hundred dan of grain. Added to what they had stockpiled before, it must be around two hundred dan.
"We don't know exactly who they robbed it from. Handing it over to the authorities is out of the question. We expended the effort to suppress the bandits, there's no need to let the authorities take all the advantage."
Huo Shu said: "The New Year is almost here. Distribute some to each household. We'll keep the rest on hand for now. No one finds this stuff takes up too much space."
Ji Taoyu responded: "Alright."
After the suppression of the Wild Tiger Stronghold, the bandits in the southeastern area grew almost completely quiet. That torch fire had made Huo Shu's reputation known to every bandit.
Thank you for the updates!!!
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