The battle ended very quickly.
It was almost completely one-sided.
All 120-plus mountain bandits were wiped out.
No one had expected them to win so easily.
Some villagers were even left feeling unsatisfied.
“That’s it? They’re all dead already?”
“Ah, I only killed one. I wasn’t even warmed up yet.”
“What? I haven’t even had a chance to fight, and they’re already all down?”
“Hahaha, so that’s all these mountain bandits are worth! I thought each of them could take on ten men. No wonder my legs used to go weak whenever I heard the words ‘mountain bandits.’”
“Hehehe, you guys are just too weak. I killed three! I’ll definitely get a nice share of the spoils this time, right? That felt amazing. I almost want to do it again!”
“Get lost, get lost! What nonsense are you talking about? If it weren’t for Su Dahai and his daughter coming up with such a great plan and having us set up traps in advance, do you really think these mountain bandits would have been so easy to deal with?”
“Hehe, I was just joking. There’s no way I’d actually dare to do it again.”
Once all the mountain bandits had been dealt with, Shen Shuli and Su Yunhai both breathed a sigh of relief.
Only after confirming that not a single bandit had escaped did they return to the village entrance to organize the villagers.
“Everyone, quiet down for a moment!” Su Yunhai shouted.
The village instantly fell silent, and everyone looked eagerly at Su Yunhai and his daughter.
They were the ones who had led everyone to victory against more than a hundred mountain bandits!
Naturally, they had earned everyone’s respect.
“Everyone cooperated very well this time. We killed all 120-plus mountain bandits, and not a single one of us was lost!”
“But we still can’t let our guard down.”
“There was already a bandit informant in our village. There’s no guarantee there aren’t informants in the other villages as well. We have to deal with these bandits as quickly as possible.”
“To all our friends who came to help, thank you sincerely for lending us a hand. Once we finish counting the spoils, take your share home immediately and persuade your families to leave this place with us!”
“Otherwise, once the bandit chief realizes that these men haven’t returned, he’ll definitely send people down to investigate. By then, we won’t be able to hide what happened.”
“We have to leave as soon as possible.”
“Now, I’ll assign everyone tasks to count the spoils. Let’s get this done quickly!”
Su Yunhai felt an intense sense of urgency. He was absolutely not exaggerating.
Only then did the villagers realize that the crisis had not truly been resolved!
The mountain bandits had come to steal their supplies. If they failed to get the grain and then learned that the villagers had killed so many of their men, the bandit chief would undoubtedly seek revenge with everything he had!
Once they understood this, the villagers who had been boasting moments earlier all turned pale with fear.
No one needed to urge them. Everyone moved as quickly as possible, following orders to dispose of the corpses, clean up the battlefield, and count the spoils.
The largest portion of the spoils the bandits had brought consisted naturally of wheelbarrows, handcarts, and livestock.
Quite a few of the animals had been injured during the battle, and many of the carts had been destroyed in the explosions.
But half of them were still intact.
The livestock were still highly agitated and could attack people at any moment, so they needed some time to calm down.
The bandits had not been carrying much silver, but altogether, it still amounted to more than 800 taels.
There were seventeen healthy oxen, eight donkeys, eleven mules, and seven small horses.
There were more than forty carts of various sizes.
A total of 103 villagers had come to help, and since their contributions differed, their shares of the spoils naturally differed as well.
The livestock and carts were limited. If they were divided equally among everyone, there simply would not be enough to go around.
Besides, all these animals were young and strong. No one was willing to slaughter them for meat.
Those with the greatest battle achievements could receive one head of livestock or one handcart, along with a silver reward.
Most of those with average battle records received a generous amount of meat and silver instead.
Everyone was satisfied with the distribution.
After all, they had not contributed much. Getting a kill was largely a matter of luck rather than their own ability.
As for the Su family—
Su Yunhai and Shen Shuli received the largest shares of the spoils.
Each of them received two of the best oxen, two horses, two mules, and one donkey.
They also received 500 jin of beef, 300 jin of donkey meat, and 100 jin of horse meat.
Five handcarts, five wheelbarrows, and 400 taels of silver each.
None of the villagers had any objections.
After all, everyone had witnessed the father and daughter’s achievements.
If not for their plans and strategies—and the fact that they had killed more enemies than anyone else—the villagers might not have survived until now.
After seeing the villagers who had come to help off, the old village chief continued distributing the spoils from the first group of horse bandits.
“This time, when the horse bandits attacked, fortunately Su Dahai discovered them early and warned everyone in time.”
“I’m sure I don’t need to say much. You all understand the situation yourselves.”
“This time, we obtained a total of twelve horses, 1,302 taels of silver, and approximately 12,000 jin of horse meat.”
“Dahai, I plan to give you and your daughter one horse each, 200 taels of silver each, and 2,000 jin of horse meat each. What do you think?”
Su Yunhai glanced at Shen Shuli. Seeing her nod, he agreed.
“We’ll follow the village chief’s decision. We’re both fine with it.”
The old village chief nodded in satisfaction before continuing, “As for the remaining ten horses, I plan to give one horse, fifty taels of silver, and 500 jin of horse meat to each family that lost someone to the mountain bandits. The rest will then be distributed according to merit.”
During the battle against the first group of horse bandits, eight villagers had been killed and five seriously wounded.
Most importantly, those villagers had died fighting to protect the village.
The village had to provide them with compensation.
They had all been the pillars of their respective families. Without them, those households would have a very difficult time getting by.
With these supplies, at least their lives could be made somewhat easier.
Overall, the old village chief’s distribution was quite reasonable.
Although some villagers were unhappy, they only dared to grumble privately and did not dare openly object.
“Waaah! Village Chief, what about our family? Four people from my family died!”
“That’s right, Village Chief! My husband was also killed by the horse bandits. Shouldn’t our family receive something?”
“My parents-in-law, my husband, and my children are all dead. I’m the only one left. How am I supposed to live from now on? Village Chief, you can’t be biased! You have to give me more!”
These families had been among those whose homes were invaded by the horse bandits during the initial attack, resulting in the deaths of their family members.
Now that they saw the spoils being distributed without anything going to them, they became frantic.
The old village chief looked at them helplessly. He sympathized with their losses, but there was only so much material to go around. How could he possibly satisfy everyone?
To put it bluntly—
They could only blame their bad luck.
They had not been killed while fighting the horse bandits alongside the village. Therefore, they were not entitled to a share of the supplies.
“I know something happened to your families, but that is simply fate.”
“The reason those families are receiving a share is because they fought to protect the village. The others have no right to a share.” The old village chief made himself very clear.
But those people still refused to let it go.
They cried and made a scene, demanding a share. Even if they could not get any live livestock, surely they could at least receive some silver and meat!
Why should they get nothing at all?
The families who had participated in defending the village could not stand it any longer and immediately stepped forward to argue.
“We who actually fought aren’t even getting enough! Why should you people who did nothing but sit back and wait for benefits get a share? Do you think having someone die in your family gives you some special privilege?”
“Exactly! We were originally willing to donate some supplies to help you through this difficult time because something happened to your families. Who would have thought you’d be so shamelessly greedy!”
“Village Chief, we absolutely cannot set this precedent. Otherwise, won’t everyone who didn’t participate in the fighting come running over to demand a share?”
“That’s right! We absolutely cannot give them anything!”