Chapter 144: Behind the smelly outhouse, digging, digging, and digging

In Heyang County, at the Zhang residence.

On this morning, a trusted servant whom Zhang Zishen had left behind in Xinzhou City hurried back.

The purpose of the servant's return was to inform Zhang Zishen that the gang of bandits on Kuiran Mountain had been completely wiped out, and even the two bandit chiefs had been captured.

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Zishen was instantly dumbfounded.

He simply could not believe that Baimo and Peng Dong, with so many men, could actually have been destroyed by Xu Mo's group of rustic bumpkins.

Seeing Zhang Zishen standing there in a daze for a long time, the servant hurriedly asked, "Young Master, Young Master? Are you alright?"

Only then did Zhang Zishen snap back to his senses, but his expression and look were extremely panicked. "What should I do? What should I do? Those two bandit chiefs have seen me. If they rat me out, won't I be completely ruined?!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zishen paced back and forth in the room, his face filled with incomparable anxiety.

The servant quickly comforted him, "Young Master, don't panic! Although those two bandit chiefs have seen us, they don't know your name, nor do they know who we are. There are countless people surnamed Zhang in this world; the authorities certainly can't arrest people based on just that!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zishen's heart immediately settled slightly.

But immediately afterward, Zhang Zishen grew worried again. "No, no, no. Those two bandit chiefs know I am from Heyang, and they also know my surname is Zhang. Once captured, they will definitely make a confession. Xu Mo is not a fool; the moment he hears it, he will be able to guess it's me!"

The servant said again, "Young Master, even if he guesses it, so what? With no proof and no evidence, there is nothing he can do to us! As long as we stubbornly insist we know nothing, nothing bad will happen."

Zhang Zishen immediately retorted, "Nothing bad will happen? Then let me ask you, if the authorities come knocking and have those two bandit chiefs identify me in person, what should I do?"

"This..." The servant suddenly was at a loss for words.

A moment later, the servant said, "Young Master, surely it won't come to that? With your status, how could the authorities believe the words of bandits?"

"What if? What if they do believe them?" Zhang Zishen asked rhetorically.

The servant fell silent, his brows furrowing slightly.

At this time, out of irritation, Zhang Zishen began pacing the room back and forth again, incessantly complaining, "It's all your fault! I said long ago that I couldn't show my face, couldn't show my face! You stubbornly refused to listen and insisted on making me go see those two stupid bandits. Now look at what's happened—things have blown up, and we've got a huge problem, haven't we?"

The servant at this moment also had grievances too bitter to voice, thinking to himself, *If those bandits had been willing to see me, would I have needed to ask you to go?*

Suddenly, Zhang Zishen stopped in his tracks and said to the servant, "Listen to me, I don't care what method you use, those two bandit chiefs must die!"

Zhang Zishen's thought was that as long as the bandit chiefs were dead, there would be no living testimony for the matter, and he would thus be safe.

The servant said with a troubled expression, "But Young Master, the people have already been locked up in the county prison. How are we supposed to get rid of them?"

Zhang Zishen said, "Idiot, can't you bribe the jailers to poison the two of them?"

The servant was left speechless on the spot, thinking to himself that while it sounded easy when said, do you have any idea how difficult it is to actually pull this off?

However, coming back to it, difficult as it was, the method itself was a good one.

Helpless, the servant had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Young Master, your subordinate will definitely do my utmost!"

"Not do your utmost, you must succeed!"

Zhang Zishen said fiercely, pointing at the servant as he warned, "If those two don't die, when the matter blows open later, I will shift all the responsibility onto you and make you take the fall in the big prison!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the servant's face instantly turned pale.

Because the servant knew very well that whatever Zhang Zishen said he would do, he could actually carry out.

Moreover, relying on the financial resources and influence of the Zhang family, in order to protect the young master, making a scapegoat out of himself would definitely not be a difficult task.

"Young Master, rest assured! Even if your subordinate has to go through fire and boiling water, I will surely accomplish this!"

Helpless, the servant quickly pledged his absolute determination.

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Ever since the bandit gang of Baimo and Peng Dong was eliminated, the road from Gushan Village to Xinzhou City was finally peaceful.

Everyone originally thought they could live in peace, but after just a few days, refugees started appearing near the village once more.

However, these refugees were different from the group led by Baimo and Peng Dong. Most of them traveled with their families, with women, children, and the elderly accounting for nearly half of their number, and they did not look aggressive at all.

Upon inquiry, they learned that some areas along the northern border were suffering from a locust plague, and these people had been driven by sheer desperation to head south.

At first, the villagers didn't pay much attention, but later everyone discovered that things were starting to go missing around the village.

Moreover, what was lost was basically food—things like chicken, duck, fish, meat, leftovers, and even dried wild herbs were stolen by someone.

Then, one night, some villagers finally caught a thief.

Sure enough, it was indeed done by the refugees nearby.

The captured refugees knew they were in the wrong, so they began kowtowing frantically for mercy, crying and pleading about how they hadn't eaten for days, how their wives and children hadn't eaten for days, and how they had been driven to this out of sheer necessity.

The villagers were simple and kind-hearted by nature, and everyone was used to living hard lives themselves. Seeing the other party looking so pitiful, even though they had wanted to give them a severe beating as a lesson, they couldn't bring themselves to do it anymore.

Therefore, after consulting with each other, Xu Mo, the village chief, Niu Da, and the others decided to reorganize the joint defense team to protect the safety of the village day and night.

Additionally, several watchtowers were added to the village, and high fences were built in certain spots to prevent refugees from sneaking in to steal things.

On this morning, Chen Miaoyi finished making breakfast and wanted to call Xu Mo to eat.

However, after searching the room, she couldn't find anyone, and finally, after calling out a few times, she heard someone answering from the direction of the outhouse.

Chen Miaoyi walked over and looked, only to be surprised to find Xu Mo squatting behind the outhouse, digging up dirt.

Beside Xu Mo was a wooden tub, which already contained a small half-bucket of soil.

"Husband, what are you doing?" Chen Miaoyi asked, puzzled.

Xu Mo looked up at Chen Miaoyi, then smiled and said, "Can't you see? I'm digging, digging, digging..."

"Digging what?" Chen Miaoyi asked with a face full of curiosity, failing to understand what there was to dig behind the stinky outhouse.

Xu Mo suddenly felt a playful impulse rise within him, and with a smiling, cute expression, he sang out, "Behind the stinky outhouse, digging, digging, digging! Digging up some whitish dirt, to make... to make, make..."

Having sung just two lines, Xu Mo got stuck because he couldn't think of a rhyming word: "Miaoyi, wait for me a second, let me think of a rhyming word..."

By this time, Chen Miaoyi had already been amused by Xu Mo's comical appearance.

"Husband, speak properly. It's early in the morning, what on earth are you doing?" Chen Miaoyi asked with a smile.

Only then did Xu Mo turn serious and reply, "Miaoyi, I'm collecting this whitish dirt. You have no idea, these are all treasures!"

Chen Miaoyi was stunned on the spot, thinking to herself that her husband really had a screw loose somewhere, actually treating the dirt behind the outhouse as a treasure?

Thinking of this, Chen Miaoyi reached out her hand wanting to feel Xu Mo's forehead while asking, "Husband, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Xu Mo immediately dodged her hand and said earnestly, "No! I'm making saltpeter... Look, the white dirt in this bucket is the raw material for making saltpeter!"