Run faster, faster...
When the old farmer finally arrived at the entrance of Qiuhai Village after tumbling and crawling all the way, all he saw was the dazzling flames, the corpses of villagers lying all over the place, and the Japanese pirates who had burned, killed, and looted and were now venting their lust on the women in the village...
"Beasts, a bunch of beasts..."
The old farmer knelt at the entrance of the village which was like hell on earth. Looking at the burning houses and the bodies of his fellow villagers lying all over the place, he could not help beating his chest and stamping his feet, crying loudly. He hated himself for running too slowly and not being able to remind the villagers to escape in time. He hated this world where people were living in misery. Of course, what he hated most were the inhumane Japanese pirates who were worse than beasts.
The sudden appearance of the old farmer and his loud crying startled the Japanese pirate leader who was venting his animal desires. His body shuddered and the incident was over in an instant. He felt humiliated in front of his subordinates and cursed "Baka". He grabbed the Japanese sword and swung it towards the source of the crying without even looking. The sword flew straight like a crossbow arrow and pierced the old farmer's throat. The remaining force nailed the old farmer to a big tree behind him.
"A spoilsport old dog!"
The young leader of the Japanese pirates stood up, pulled up his trousers, tied his belt, walked up to the old farmer, stepped on the old farmer's body, and pulled out his Japanese sword.
"Little bastards, pull up your pants, we are going to the next village. If we get there too late, the women and money will be taken away by others, and we won't even get to take a shit. Don't blame me for killing people when the time comes."
The young leader of the Japanese pirates waved his sword, pointed the tip of the sword in the direction of a village, and gave orders to the pirates under his command.
"Ahhh..."
Upon hearing this, the Japanese pirates immediately became like wolves and tigers, howling and rushing towards the village with ferocious looks.
…
The sun is shining brightly, the autumn breeze is blowing, and Jingnan County is as bustling as ever.
There were as many people enjoying the cool air in front of the city gate as usual. The teahouses, wine shops, butcher shops and other shops on both sides of the street were doing good business, with customers coming in from time to time. There were two rows of small vendors with large tarpaulin umbrellas selling various goods in the open space outside. There were pedestrians on the street, some delivering goods in ox carts, some selling farm products, some stopping in front of the small vendors to bargain, and some just chatting and strolling...
"Eh? Look, there's a fire over there. It's coming from the direction of Zhangqiu Village. Could it be that some stupid woman burned down her house while cooking? The fire might have set the neighbor's house on fire as well?"
Someone among the crowd who were enjoying the cool under the city gate suddenly noticed a fire and thick smoke rising into the sky in the distance, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
“It’s true.”
Upon hearing this, people stood up and looked in the direction of the fire. They gathered together to watch the fun and made curious guesses.
"It's strange, why are the flames getting bigger and bigger, as if the whole village, every house is on fire."
The people watching the excitement realized something was wrong. The original one fire quickly turned into two, then three, and soon there were dozens of fires. It felt as if every household in Zhangqiu Village was on fire.
"What the hell, what's going on? Look, look, there's a fire over there, and over there, there's a fire over there too. That's the direction of Zhulou Village, Shilipu Village, and Shangyao Village, right? Why are they all on fire?!"
"What's going on? Look, there's another fire. Is that Xulou Village? Why is it on fire too?"
"Something's wrong, something's wrong, this is very wrong... Why are so many villages on fire?"
At first people thought it was just a fun thing to watch, but as they watched, they gradually felt something was wrong and their faces became serious.
Just when everyone was puzzled, a ragged, staggering villager ran down the avenue in front of the city gate, crying and shouting to the people watching the excitement at the city gate:
"The Japanese pirates are coming, the Japanese pirates are coming to kill us..."
"The damn Japanese pirates killed people without blinking an eye. They killed everyone in our village, leaving no one alive. It was so tragic. I was lucky to escape."
The words of the villagers who were running for their lives were like a bolt from the blue, exploding over the heads of everyone in the city gate.
The Japanese pirates are coming!!!
The Japanese pirates are coming!!!!
The ruthless Japanese pirates are coming!!!
When people heard that the Japanese pirates were coming, they turned pale with fright, and the timid ones even wet their pants.
The reputation of a person is like the shadow of a tree. The cruelty of the Japanese pirates is known to all the people in Jingnan County. Jingnan County is located on the coast and has experienced several robberies by Japanese pirates. Even the county town of Jingnan was attacked by Japanese pirates twice. When the Japanese pirates passed through the border, they killed everyone, young and old. Some beautiful women might be spared, but being spared was definitely a greater disaster for them than death. After being robbed by the Japanese pirates, they would be endlessly harmed by a group of Japanese pirates, unable to live or die, and miserable.
Soon, the news of the arrival of Japanese pirates spread into the county town. This news spread faster than the plague and caused more panic than the plague.
It's a mess.
All hell breaks loose.
The entire Jingnan County was in chaos. Street shops were closed, street vendors were packing up, and people were in a panic. People on the streets were screaming and shouting in fear, running around like headless flies, rushing home to pack up their things and prepare to escape. Passers-by bumped into each other and there was a lot of crowds... The entire county was in chaos.
When more than a dozen Japanese pirates with bald heads and bare feet, full of murderous intent and showing off their might appeared in the distance within the field of vision of the east gate of Jingnan County, the panic and chaos in the entire Jingnan County reached its peak.
While the Japanese pirates had not yet surrounded the city, people packed up their belongings and rushed madly to other city gates to escape. The west gate of the county town was especially crowded with fleeing people, pushing and shoving, crying and shouting, and people were vying to escape the city.
The well-informed wealthy families were the first to pack up their belongings and flee the city with their families. They were followed by some officials and runners from the county government, who also fled with their families. The people who heard the news and fled were as numerous as ants. In order to be the first to leave the city, they pushed and shoved each other, refusing to give way, and blocked the city gate.
"Close the city gates! Close the city gates! The county magistrate has ordered that the city gates be closed without fail! Those who disobey the order will be killed without mercy!"
Liu Dadao led a team of yamen runners, holding a document with the county magistrate's seal, and rushed towards the west gate while shouting. Liu Dadao led the way, bravely and fiercely, and rushed to the city gate. He shouted loudly, threw the document to the soldiers guarding the city, stretched out his arms and pushed the people blocking the city gate two steps away, then drew his sword, and stood in front of the city gate with the momentum of a single man blocking the pass, intimidating the people rushing out of the city, and ordered the yamen runners and soldiers guarding the city to close the city gate.
When the gatekeeper saw the document with the bright red seal of the magistrate, he dared not disobey and closed the city gate together with the yamen runners.
At the same time, Liu Mu, Liu Dachui and Liu Daqiang also held the same official documents and rushed to the East Gate, South Gate and North Gate with the yamen runners. They closed the city gates as soon as possible before the Japanese pirates entered the city.