Chief village representative Lin Zuluan emerged from two hours of talks with the first high-ranking Chinese government official to intervene in the three-month long open revolt.
Guangdong provincial deputy-Communist Party Secretary Zhu Mingguo agreed to a series of demands, said Lin, starting with the release of the villagers.
"The three will be released one after another today and tomorrow," Lin announced to residents.
Mr Zhu also agreed to release "in due course" the body of Xue Jinbo, the protest leader allegedly beaten to death in police custody nearly two weeks ago, Lin said.
"I'm very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting," he told the villagers.
Lin did not say when the body of he 42-year old father of three would be released – police claim he died of a "sudden illness" but his family allege he was beaten to death.
Lin said deputy-secretary Zhu had agreed to launch a full reinvestigation into the death, with Mr Xue's family closely involved.
"We went with three demands and they met them all," said Lin.
To the relief of the authorities, he called off indefinitely a planned protest march on the local administrative town of Lufeng to brazenly confront officials and demand Xue's body for burial.
Unrest is spreading in the wealthy southern boom province of Guangdong, with two reported deaths yesterday during riots in the nearby town of Haimen, situated 75 miles from Wukan.
There, residents fearing for their health because of planned coal-fired power plant clashed with security forced after storming government offices.
The villagers of Wukan have been enjoying self-determination since late September after they rose up against their local Communist Party leaders, who they claim had been stealing their land for a decade, including sea fishing grounds.
The last officials and police were chased out earlier this month after police snatched five villagers and detained them for their involvement in September clashes with police.
Mr Xue's death in detention sparked open revolt which sent shock waves through the multiple tiers of government and rocked the central leadership in Beijing.
The villagers have since been running their own affairs, conducting meetings in temples.
"The former village officials, whether they like it or not, are history now. The villagers all hate the former party officials," said Lin.
The political future of Wukan remains uncertain. The community is divided over its belief in a democratically formed administration and the Party, which now appears to offer protection from corrupt officials and in the next breathe, fear.
The central government has been experimenting with grassroots elections, allowing anyone to stand in theory.
But independent candidates are harassed and intimidated by Party goons, and instead only carefully selected and groomed delegates loyal to status quo stand to win.
"I will not take part in any forthcoming elections, but I will be watching.
We temporary representatives will remain until the land grab complaints all get solved." Said Lin.
The government offices and police station remain empty but Lin was vague about the return of police officers, saying they will return "sometime soon".
Cars carrying uniformed paramilitary police are back driving on the main road, heading towards a nearby garrison.
The villagers continue to police themselves but remain on alert for government snatch squads.
Lin says he believes the authorities will keep their word to avoid more unrest.
"Zhu and other officials stressed over and over again they would not come in the village and arrest people," he said.
"If they do not agree to our three requests, with the release of Xue's body pending within about 10 days, we will go on the march as planned," he warned.
Lin remains cautious and is addressing the villagers at another rally this afternoon.
"I cannot say if today [agreements] is a victory," he added.
Villagers who spoke with the Daily Telegraph remain divided, with some welcoming the end of the confrontation and others remaining deeply suspicious.
The land seizures involving corrupt party officials working with business men continues to cause deep anger.
Mr Lin said Mr Zhu promised to order the provincial authorities to head up a special work team to investigate and resolve the land grab complaints and seek proper compensation.
The significance of the Wukan siege and the government's forced hand is still being digested.
Never before in recent history has violent unrest by peasant villagers in China been seen to force a compromise by high-ranking Party officials.
Wukan's violent path to successful self-determination – however brief it might last – is thought to divide opinion in the Central Government.
The leadership in Beijing has been keen to crack down publicly on corrupt officials, the main source of much unrest among ordinary Chinese.
Some modernisers are keen to see how the rebellion plays out and if it can be used as a benchmark for political reform to catch up with the economic boom.
Whilst up to 400 million have been lifted out of property, hundreds of millions more remain relatively poor, and the widening wealth gap coupled with rampant graft among party officials at all levels is causing widespread distrust and anger.
But hardliners in Beijing will have likely been calling for a brutal crackdown on Wukan to send a strong signal to other poor villages thinking about copy cat rebellions.
So far, Wukan's brinkmanship has been seen to be successful, and Lin and his group of land campaigners remain, like the village, free.
