2.
The army stood upon the hill in front of the village, making some final adjustments. "I leave you in charge Li Gan". Hang Feng said. "Zhou Que, you're second in command. Don't delay this time". Zhou Que and Li Gan nodded. They didn't like each other much. Li Gan was always in command when Hang Feng was gone. But that wasn't the problem. Li Gan was a harsh and violent man. He was always asking if there could be victims, while Zhou Que always asked if they could leave innocent people unharmed. Luckily Hang Feng always agreed with Zhou Que, he just wanted money, nothing more.
Zhou Que quietly led his group through the village. The bandits took whatever they could find. Then he noticed something odd, Li Gan had a strange grin on his face. Probably from the thought of all the treasure they are going to get, he thought. Suddenly he heard someone shout. It wasn't a shout out of fear, it was more like a command to attack. Zhou Que quickly turned around. He saw all that he had feared for, and more.
The bandits drew their weapons, torches and bombs, and started to plunder the village, even his own group. Burning every house they came by, slaughtering every villager they passed, they ran through the burning village. And then he figured it out: Hang Feng had given Li Gan permission to kill people this time. Of course he didn't tell Zhou Que, because he would do everything to stop it. He quickly searched for Li Gan, but before he could even notice him, he was captured. His arms were tied, and he couldn't do anything. He was taken out of the village, back to the hill.
Finally there, he was pushed on his knees. And none other than Hang Feng and Li Gan stood before him, grinning. "What's the meaning of this?" Zhou Que uttered. He was furious, confused and astonished. He was betrayed, but why? Because he would protest, and they wanted to get rid of him? "Why are you doing this!"He shouted again. Hang Feng laughed. "You're not yourself Zhou Que. I thought you were a calm person.""Why are you betraying me?"Zhou Que shouted. "That's a funny story."Hang Feng responded. "I'm sick of you, trying to not make any victims. We're bandits for god's sake! Of course we kill! Besides, you always stood in the way of my plans, you're always late, you always beg us to spare lives…"Zhou Que yelled back: "You know that that's not true! You're just impatient. There's some other reason! Tell me!" Hang Feng lifted one eyebrow. "Hush hush, there's no need to yell at me, but you're right. There is another reason. Look at your armor, it's worth a fortune! And that blade.. When I sell that, I never need to work again." Hang Feng snapped with his fingers. "You two! Come with me, and take him with us. We're going to execute him.
They walked a few meters away from the group. Zhou Que was pushed on his knees, and his head was pushed forward. One of the men took a big sword, and stood behind him. He aimed, and striked.
Suddenly Zhou Que didn't know what came over him. He rolled aside, and put his arms forward. The blade cut precisely through the rope that bound his hands. He drew his sword, and quickly killed the two soldiers. Then he turned around. Hang Feng looked terrified, and he slowly walked back. Then he remembered that he also had a sword, and he was the bandit leader, nothing could ever happen to him. He charged at Zhou Que, his sword sticking forward. But Zhou Que was far more skilled with a sword, and parried the stab without any effort. He spinned his sword, as it came down with a devastating strike. Straight through the neck of Hang Feng. Hang Feng stood still. He had no idea what just happened. Slowly he fell backwards. He was already dead before he hit the ground.
Zhou Que stood there for a moment. He was concentrating, what to do next. Where would he go? Suddenly Li Gan appeared on his horse, shocked by the sight of his dead leader. Out of pure rage, he charged his horse at Zhou Que. Totally in control, Zhou Que set a step backwards, he stabbed his long sword forward, straight through Li Gan's belly. Thrusting him off the horse. As Zhou Que drew his sword out of Li Gan's belly, he ran to his horse. As he mounted it, Li Gan screamed out of pain. "Come back here! Help! Kill him! You will not get away with this!" But Zhou Que didn't even listen to him. He told the horse to run, and it ran away instantly. The direction didn't matter, as long as it was away from the bandits, the village, Li Gan, the massacre, everything.