"Brother Zhuzi, there are over thirty of us here, and we're in the shadows—can't we handle twenty bandits?"
Yang Hua's mind was full of thoughts about killing bandits for rewards, completely ignoring Liu Tiezhu's warning.
Seeing that he couldn't talk him out of it, Liu Tiezhu could only say that these bandits were trained fighters and urged him to be careful.
These days, saying too much wasn't necessarily a good thing; he'd made his point.
Whether Yang Hua took it to heart or not was none of his concern anymore.
The two chatted for a while, and everyone started boiling water and cooking.
Yang Hua's guard unit, including Liu Tiezhu, had eight people in total.
The Zhang family had issued sixteen jin of meat and eight jin of rice—enough for six people for one meal.
After lunch, the others had nothing to do and sat around chatting.
Liu Tiezhu made an excuse and went home for a bit.
He didn't return until eight in the evening.
Then Zhang Huaihai came to notify everyone to gather at Liu Jingshun's house to hear Zhang Mingtao assign tasks.
When Liu Tiezhu and the others arrived, the yard was already packed.
"Time is tight, so I won't waste words."
"To keep this operation from leaking, I've decided to reorganize you into new groups."
"Each group will have four different members, and you'll keep an eye on each other."
As Zhang Mingtao spoke, he immediately read out the names of over a dozen people, and Liu Tiezhu was among them.
Liu Tiezhu kept his expression calm, but inwardly he grew wary.
Soon, all members finished regrouping.
With a command from Zhang Jingyang, everyone immediately surrounded the bamboo grove.
Liu Tiezhu's guard unit, ten people in total, stayed at the back of the line.
The team leader was a man named Huang Pu, a burly guy around thirty.
He always looked at Liu Tiezhu with hostility.
The other members were between twenty and twenty-five.
They stuck close to Huang Pu, and their gazes at Liu Tiezhu were equally unfriendly.
"I'm the leader. Everyone follows my orders from now on, or this gun of mine won't be polite."
After walking a distance, Huang Pu spoke coldly.
His words seemed directed at everyone, but they were really a warning to Liu Tiezhu to obey.
Liu Tiezhu naturally caught Huang Pu's underlying meaning.
An hour later, the group reached the bamboo grove.
The four guard units spread out to the four corners: east, south, west, and north.
Their orders were to attack at ten o'clock at night.
Each leader had a watch, and when the time came, they were to converge on the center of the grove.
At the designated spot, Huang Pu ordered Liu Tiezhu to lie down at the front and keep watch.
He and the others stayed behind.
Liu Tiezhu showed no sign of displeasure, took his gun, and moved to a spot six meters away from the group.
As he lay down, he quietly pulled out the compound crossbow strapped to his back and placed it beside him, also chambering a round in his rifle.
After doing all this, Liu Tiezhu didn't let his guard down, constantly glancing back.
When Zhang Mingtao mentioned regrouping to prevent leaks, the other three groups had their members swapped, but only his current group remained unchanged.
This seemingly reasonable arrangement, Liu Tiezhu saw through at once.
But he didn't say anything.
Zhang Mingtao wanted to get rid of him, and he, in turn, wanted to get more resources from the Zhang family.
Though the nine men were all armed, he wasn't worried at all.
With the compound crossbow in hand, catching them off guard, he was confident he could kill them all within three minutes.
Seeing Liu Tiezhu already lying in front, Huang Pu and the others exchanged glances, their murderous intent barely concealed.
Tonight, besides wiping out the bandits, their task was to kill Liu Tiezhu.
Once he was dealt with, each of the nine would get twenty yuan.
With such a generous reward, they'd agreed without a second thought.
"Ma Han, Cao Ying, you two cover the left and right. I'll handle the middle."
"Remember, no noise."
With that, Huang Pu drew a short knife from his waist.
The other two big men nodded, pulled out their own weapons, and followed Huang Pu toward Liu Tiezhu.
When they got within two meters of Liu Tiezhu, he spotted their weapons.
"Damn it, they really want my life." Liu Tiezhu sneered but still didn't react.
When he ate with Yang Hua and the others this afternoon, he'd sensed danger, so he'd used the excuse to go home and grab the compound crossbow and enough bamboo arrows.
Sure enough, his prediction was spot on—the Zhang family still wanted him dead.
Huang Pu's heart pounded, a cold smirk on his face.
Just a few more steps, and they could pounce and finish Liu Tiezhu.
The three exchanged looks, feeling each other's racing hearts.
Liu Tiezhu gripped the compound crossbow, mentally calculating the distance.
"1.5 meters."
"1.3 meters."
"1 meter."
When they reached one meter, Liu Tiezhu suddenly spun around.
He pulled the trigger on the compound crossbow.
The bamboo arrow pierced Huang Pu's skull, blood splattering everywhere.
The other two were startled and lunged at him.
Swish, swish, swish...
Liu Tiezhu emptied the crossbow's bamboo arrows in one go.
The two men stared at the arrows embedded in their flesh and collapsed stiffly.
The six behind didn't realize their comrades were dead.
Seeing them fall, they assumed Liu Tiezhu had been taken down.
Liu Tiezhu quickly reloaded the crossbow and fired another arrow into each of the three men's heads.
After that, he searched their bodies for items.
Then he propped Huang Pu's corpse up, grabbed his hand, and waved it repeatedly.
"The boss is calling us over. Looks like they've dealt with the kid."
The six behind barely saw Huang Pu waving and thought it was over.
Without a shred of caution, they slung their rifles over their shoulders and walked over.
Liu Tiezhu rested the compound crossbow on Huang Pu's shoulder, silently gauging the distance of the six men.
When they were three meters away, he pulled the trigger.
Swish, swish, swish...
A sharp whistling sound cut through the air as six bamboo arrows were fired within a minute.
Liu Tiezhu didn't check the results and quickly loaded another row of arrows.
Of the six approaching, three were killed instantly.
The remaining three took arrows in the shoulders but weren't fatally wounded.
Realizing they'd been tricked, they tried to swing their rifles off their shoulders.
But by then, the second wave of arrows was already upon them.
This time, they weren't so lucky—the arrows pierced their hearts.
They opened their mouths to shout, but only faint, broken sounds came out, unheard by anyone.
Liu Tiezhu walked over, fired another arrow into each of them, ending their suffering.
After looting their belongings, he reloaded and shot five or six more arrows into each body, making it look like they'd been riddled with arrows.
Done, Liu Tiezhu checked the watch he'd taken from Huang Pu, then quickly retreated from the bamboo grove, hiding in a ridge twenty meters away.
No sooner had he hidden than he heard hoofbeats, followed by over sixty horses forming a circle and surrounding the grove.
Seeing this, a chill ran down Liu Tiezhu's spine.