25: What are soldiers and bandits?

In a chaotic world, soldiers and bandits ran rampant.

So... what exactly were soldiers and bandits?

Li Qi hadn't understood before, but now he did.

Soldiers were bandits... and bandits were soldiers!

After the Divine Might Army entered the city, they showed Li Qi the essence of this concept.

As Li Qi was walking home after collecting his monthly pay from the Gang, he passed by Yicui Brothel and noticed it was exceptionally noisy. Many nearby commoners were gathered there, whispering about something.

“Sigh... this is too tragic.”

“With something like this happening, the Yan family will probably have a hard time from now on.”

“The Yan family? There might not be a Yan family anymore.”

“Sigh... forget it, let's not talk about it anymore, everyone disperse.”

“Loose lips sink ships, don't say anything more...”

Li Qi pushed his way into the crowd and immediately froze on the spot.

At the entrance of Yicui Brothel... a person was hanging by a rope!

“Lord Yan?!”

Li Qi knew this Lord Yan; he was a well-known gentry in Chuan Prefecture, with a prosperous family and considerable wealth.

After Eternal Joy Gang was taken down a few days ago, Yicui Brothel fell into Huang Yuanqing's hands, and then Huang Yuanqing sold it off. It was transferred to this Lord Yan.

At that time, Li Qi had planned to visit Yicui Brothel to broaden his horizons, but after learning that Yicui Brothel had changed owners, he lost interest and returned disappointed.

Seeing him again today, the owner of Yicui Brothel... was actually hanging at the main entrance!

Upon closer inspection, Lord Yan had many bruises on his body and was motionless, having died a long time ago.

“Ah... this?!”

Li Qi's eyes widened, unable to believe it.

The owner of Yicui Brothel just died like that?

And his corpse was hung in front of the main gate of Yicui Brothel?

Who did it?!

After some inquiries, Li Qi finally understood what had happened.

It was because of the Divine Might Army!

Not long ago, several junior officers from the Divine Might Army came to Yicui Brothel for entertainment, ordered some girls to play with, and had a great time... but after they were done, they left without paying.

How could Yicui Brothel allow that? A dispute immediately arose with these junior officers from the Divine Might Army. The guards of Yicui Brothel stopped these junior officers, insisting they pay before leaving, which stirred up a hornet's nest.

The Divine Might Army had always been arrogant and accustomed to being overbearing. They only demanded money from others; when had they ever been asked for money?

What if they didn't pay?

Freeloading was justified!

Next time might not be the same!

Several fierce junior officers immediately erupted, drawing their long sabers and cutting down several ordinary guards, spilling blood everywhere!

But their actions didn't fully satisfy them. They immediately dragged out the owner of Yicui Brothel, beat him to death with a flurry of punches, and hung him in front of Yicui Brothel.

“So barbaric?”

“This is the Great Han official army?!”

If the official army was like this, then perhaps this Great Han... was rotten to the core!

He looked at the old man hanging in front of Yicui Brothel's gate, feeling how absurd and ridiculous this world was.

Suddenly, Li Qi understood something.

He finally knew why Huang Yuanqing had transferred all of Eternal Joy Gang's assets. Huang Yuanqing must have received news beforehand; he knew the Divine Might Army would definitely come to Chuan Prefecture City!

Huang Yuanqing had foreseen what would happen today!

If he hadn't transferred Yicui Brothel in time, then the one hanging at the main entrance today wouldn't have been Lord Yan... but him, Huang Yuanqing.

On the first day the Divine Might Army entered Chuan Prefecture City, they had killed Fang Zhuo, the leader of a Gang in Chuan Prefecture City. It wouldn't be surprising if they found an excuse to kill Huang Yuanqing as well.

“He's truly a cunning fellow...”

Li Qi sighed. Before, he hadn't thought much of Huang Yuanqing; the other party was just the leader of a second-rate Gang, and Li Qi's strength had already far surpassed his.

But the cicada senses the autumn wind before it blows... this old Jianghu still had some Dao.

Li Qi shook his head and turned to leave Yicui Brothel.

There were far more incidents like Lord Yan's, with similar tragedies constantly unfolding everywhere, and the culprit behind all of this was the Divine Might Army.

At this moment, Li Qi's impression of the Divine Might Army had reached an all-time low!

The actions of the Divine Might Army were no different from the rebel army that passed through Chuan two months ago.

But what happened next once again refreshed Li Qi's perception of the Divine Might Army.

A large number of Divine Might Army soldiers gathered, then stormed into a small Gang called Blood Rainbow Hall, slaughtering all hundred-plus members of Blood Rainbow Hall!

The reason given to the public was... Blood Rainbow Hall secretly harbored rebel spies and resisted arrest, so they were all executed!

This was a huge matter.

A Gang was wiped out just like that, with over a hundred people dying right under everyone's noses.

This was not an ordinary Gang fight.

Jianghu matters were settled in the Jianghu. If Blood Rainbow Hall had been annihilated by another Jianghu force, it wouldn't have been a big deal; Jianghu forces always fell, and new ones were constantly born!

But what happened this time... was completely different in nature!

This was a military encirclement!

Elite soldiers arrayed, clad in armor and wielding sharp weapons, equipped with powerful bows and heavy crossbows, attacking cities and strongholds, sweeping through like a broken bamboo!

Few Jianghu forces could withstand such a formation!

And a small Jianghu Gang actually provoked a military encirclement, which deeply touched the nerves of the other Gangs in Chuan Prefecture City.

If the Divine Might Army's next target was them... what should they do?

For a time, everyone was in a state of panic!

After the Divine Might Army broke into Blood Rainbow Hall, a large number of soldiers cleared out the corpses and were busy moving Blood Rainbow Hall's belongings out, including gold, silver, and jewels. These soldiers were all beaming with joy!

Such a sight made everyone who witnessed it keep silent out of fear.

The Divine Might Army not only captured Blood Rainbow Hall but also completely plundered it, and the crowd dared not express their anger.

Perhaps secretly harboring rebel spies was a false pretext... taking the opportunity to line their own pockets was the real reason.

Soon, an even greater commotion occurred.

Huang Yuanqing gathered all his Gang members and announced something that everyone found difficult to accept.

“A command just came from the Divine Might Army.”

“It orders every Gang in Chuan Prefecture City to send a team of fifty people to the Divine Might Army, to form a vanguard to assist them in attacking the rebels in Fuping.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire assembly erupted in an uproar.

“Why?!”

“Our Jianghu Gangs have to go attack rebels? Tell them to get lost!”

“What is their Divine Might Army good for? They don't go attack rebels themselves but make us go? I curse that Immortal!”

“They're simply a bunch of beasts!”

“They're not human! They're truly not human!”