Before Shen Tang could answer, Qi Shan murmured to himself.
"Let them go? That wouldn't be right. These bandits took to the hills because they had no other way to survive. If we release them, they'll only start up again elsewhere. And these old, weak, sick, and disabled people... Even the able-bodied young men had no choice but to become bandits. Their fate is easy to imagine."
The latter half of his words made Shen Tang's heart feel heavy.
She said, "Letting them go is out of the question."
Seeing that she had responded, Qi Shan smiled again. "Exactly. It's out of the question. I may not have killed Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me. If we let these bandits go, how many innocent commoners will die at their hands in the future? Then... why not sell them? Many of them are still young and strong enough to fetch a decent price. The rest, tsk, can only be sold cheap."
Shen Tang glanced at Chu Yao out of the corner of her eye and flatly refused.
"No, no way!"
They were people, not livestock!
Qi Shan was getting more and more outrageous!
Who knew Qi Shan would only pour oil on the fire, saying coldly, "Bury them?"
Shen Tang: "Bury them alive?"
"We could kill them first and then bury them."
Seeing how far Qi Shan was taking this, Shen Tang's face took on a rare look of anger. She stepped closer and, looking up at him, demanded, "...Qi Yuanliang! Do you know what you're saying?"
No one spoke. Those baking in the sun were even less willing to make a sound. A few of the more timid ones had already gone pale, their breathing uneven, as if they might roll their eyes and faint at any