Chapter 84: Individual Plans

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Qiu Zhu closed the door of the small courtyard after Sun Yi left. She asked Qiu Zhu to stop anyone from entering. The news that Qiu Yuetong was injured spread quickly the next morning. The entire fortified village was alarmed. She had been injured at a crucial time.

Mu Yi had injured many people the night before even Qiu Yuetong was injured. All of the injuries had happened because of Li Hu. The people in the fortified village were divided.

Some people thought they had to fight and resist Mu Yi no matter what. Some people thought that the one who had offended the person should bear the responsibility. A true man would have the courage to accept the consequences of his actions.

Nobody could actually agree on how to handle it. Qiu Yuetong needed to show up to help but she didn’t. She didn’t even send anyone to express her opinion on the subject. Her courtyard was sealed.

If she didn’t express her opinion, there was no way they could come to an agreement. Li Hu was the second brigand chief and had some people on his side. However, Qiu Yuetong had been injured because of him. Nobody wanted to listen to what he had to say.

Some people even wanted him to bear the responsibilities and give himself up. The idea made him furious. He knew he wouldn’t be able to escape death with just luck. Mu Yi had taught the others a lesson. Li Hu wasn’t naive. How could he surrender and accept death?

“Second Chief, the Chief won’t show up. What should we do?” asked someone.

They were speaking to Li Hu. Li Hu was rather close to this person.

“What do you mean what should we do? You want me to surrender and accept death too?” said Li Hu.

His expression was gloomy and his eyes glinted with fury.

“I wouldn’t dare,” said the man.

He was obviously frightened by Li Hu.

“I know her well. She’s not coming out because she’s injured. If she can’t help, we can’t face that guy. We would all die if we did. We need to find another solution,” said Li Hu.

He stood up and left the room. All the people who came to his place were close to him. They wouldn’t betray him.

“We could flee,” said the person.

The idea wasn’t bad but where would they go? The other members of the fortified village would have to decide for themselves what they wanted to do. Some people had already died. The chief had been injured. If they tried to fight against such an enemy, they would all die.

Of course, they were terrified. Everybody was afraid to die. Why would they choose to die if they didn’t have to? The only solution was to leave.

Li Hu asked for everybody’s opinion. The one proposed that they flee was someone he was close to. He had previously asked him to go ask people’s opinions. He needed to know who supported him and who didn’t.

He wasn’t satisfied with the results in the end. Some people were hesitant but that wasn’t a problem. He was sure that Qiu Yuetong was injured now. He wanted disappear as soon as possible.

Li Hu didn’t love Little Frost anyway. He had decided to stay in the past because the old man had made him second brigand chief. He would have never thought Qiu Yuetong would get injured. He would have never thought such terrifying people would threaten Little Frost.

Qiu Yuetong was the old man’s only daughter so she would inherit everything. He had never felttouched because he had been given a position. He had always felt that Qiu Yuetong had stolen what should have been his.

He had made friends with many people the year the old man died. He also knew Qiu Yuetong was a particular person. He had tried to establish a romantic relationship with her to aid his cause. She was very beautiful after all. Li Hu had previously thought of about being intimate with her.

Nobody would have been able to stop him if he became the main leader that way. Qiu Yuetong had been furious. He was rather stunned, but he had given up.

He wouldn’t have thought he’d end up offending someone. Someone that was even stronger than Qiu Yuetong. His life wasn’t great, but it was still his life. Therefore at this crucial time, he decided to care only about himself. He was sure that she would be able to survive without him.

There were things he disliked about Qiu Yuetong. If those things were considered, it was a perfect time to cut ties and leave with his friends. Li Hu didn’t care if Mu Yi was furious and destroyed Little Frost. He did think that it’d be a pity that Qiu Yuetong would maybe die. She was so beautiful.

“Alright, silence,” said Li Hu.

A short time had passed. A crowd of people were standing in front of him. Everybody stopped talking and looked at Li Hu. After he discovered what it felt like to have power and influence his ambitions grew unfettered.

“Everything is my fault, but I did all this for the sake of the clan. I did it for Little Frost’s fortified village. After Qiu Yuetong became the leader, she prevented us from doing many things. This year, we all went through a lot of hardship.

Li Hu glanced at the crowd before he continued.

“Don’t forget that I’m a mountain bandit, a robber, and a criminal. We should all be rich. We should celebrate and have huge meals every evening. We should drink the finest liquors. Each of us should have several women waiting for us in bed in the evening. That’s what our lives should be like. Our goal was never to be chivalrous and help those in need without reward. Do you not agree, brothers?” Li Hu said.

The crowd’s heartbeats accelerated. Li Hu was an expert at rousing spirits.

“Indeed, you’re right, Chief. We’re bandits so we should live like bandits!” someone yelled

“I agree with you, Chief!” said someone else.

“We all agree with you, Chief!” the crowd shouted in unison.

They felt excited after hearing his words.

“Tell me something, do you want silver?!” shouted Li Hu while stomping on the ground.

“We do!” they yelled.

“Do you want to drink huge bottles of fine liquor and eat huge plates full of meat?” He asked.

“We do!” they screamed.

“Do you want to sleep with young and beautiful virgins every evening?” He asked.

“We do!” they shouted.

His voice resonated in the room. Everybody was losing their cool because they were so exhilarated by the speech. If Li Hu had told them to take weapons and go invade the main city of the county right now, they wouldn’t have hesitated.

Li Hu didn’t know that as he was shouting all of this, someone was hiding outside in the shadows. The person was only one zhang away from the guard at the door. The guard didn’t notice them at all. The person shook their head finally and left slowly. It was as if they had never been there.