newbobooks Chapter 672 Children Welcome
Chapter 672 Children Welcome
"Why are there defenses here?" Xu Zize and Jing Chunxi both felt strange and asked in unison.
Previously, there were only a few people on the mountain and in the village. They only deployed a small number of people to guard the main entrance to the village, and set traps and trenches at some important locations on the mountain. I had never seen such a strict checkpoint set up so far away from the village.
The leading man in black sighed, the scars on his face looking particularly hideous in the moonlight. "Things aren't as good as they used to be. The general and his men have made new arrangements. Several entrances and exits must be fortified. We need to be on high alert. We're not short of men either." He spoke in a low voice.
"Is everyone here?" Jing Chunxi exclaimed happily, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight. They had only estimated that those who walked quickly would arrive yesterday, but they hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
"We're halfway there, and some have already set up camp in the woods at the foot of the mountain," the leading man in black replied, pointing southeast. Jing Chunxi followed his finger and could faintly see a faint glow in the woods at the foot of the mountain in the distance, the traces of the campfire.
"It's late at night. I'll send someone to go back with you so you don't get stuck in the manor."
The man in black continued, turning and winking at a skinny soldier behind him, "The village is so full of people now that it's hard to even find a place to turn over. Even the dry land and roads within the village have been used for tents. If you enter the village without a soldier familiar with the commands, I'm afraid you two will be mistaken for thieves."
Hearing this teasing remark, several soldiers laughed.
Xu Zize bowed to them and said, "Then I'll trouble you all."
The leader jumped up in fright and quickly dodged to the side.
He seemed to already know Xu Zize's identity, which meant that he was at least a captain of a thousand households.
……
Sure enough, on the way down the mountain, the little soldier exchanged commands with others three times.
Because they were "strangers" entering the village and brought a carriage, they were questioned every time they answered the password.
The third time, a bearded veteran even lifted the curtain to check. His rough fingers tapped on the wooden barrels filled with seafood, and the salty and fishy smell mixed with the cold air of ice filled the carriage.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was heard in the mist at the foot of the mountain, and several short figures swayed in the moonlight.
"Miss, is that you? Miss!"
Perhaps because they had spotted the carriage from afar, as it neared the village entrance, several small dark figures rushed towards it, the sound of their cloth shoes on the gravel road being particularly crisp. The girl in the front had her braids all undone, her hair stained with night dew. Her voice was filled with tears, and she trembled like a leaf drifting in the wind.
"Cuifang! Don't cry, your sister is back."
It was the cry of a little girl. Jing Chunxi quickly lifted the curtain and waved outside, also shouting. His voice was hoarse from days of running around, but it couldn't hide his joy.
Xu Zize saw that half of her body was leaning out of the car, and quickly told her, "Be careful."
"It's Miss! It's really Miss."
They suddenly stopped and A Kuan rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
As the car slowed down, Jing Chunxi staggered when she jumped out - her legs were a little weak from the fatigue of the past few days.
Cuifang and Erniu both rushed towards her, their small bodies, smelling of field soil and straw, crashing into her arms, causing her chest to ache. Daniu and Akuan were too embarrassed to get close, but seeing the excitement in her eyes, they were like a puppy guarding a granary seeing its owner return home.
"Wow! Sister is okay." Cuifang's tears sparkled in the moonlight, falling like beads with broken strings. Her dirty little hands tightly grasped the hem of Jing Chunxi's skirt, fearing that he would disappear again if she let go.
"Miss, we all thought we'd lost you. We shouldn't have come back." Ah Kuan's face was filled with remorse, his voice much deeper than usual. Yesterday afternoon, when they didn't see the young lady and the young master coming down the mountain, they became increasingly anxious. They squatted on a rock at the entrance of the mountain trail, counting ants. Even after the ants had all returned to their nests, they still hadn't seen anyone.
After nightfall, they were even more worried that they had encountered an accident. Erniu said that he heard wolves howling in the mountains, and Cuifang was so scared that she bit her lips.
They didn't dare to sleep at all. A Kuan and Da Niu took his younger brother and sister-in-law and wandered around the foot of the mountain with torches. When the torches burned out, they stood in the dark. They wanted to rush up the mountain to look for it, but were stopped by the general and the soldiers.
The soldiers on guard were afraid that they would be hungry, so they gave them steamed buns and water, which the four of them shared. They did not go home and stayed on guard for most of the night.
"I'll report to the general." Xiao Man hesitated for a moment before stopping when she heard Jing Chunxi's voice. As he turned and ran back to the village, the wooden hairpin in his hair fell to the ground without him even bothering to pick it up.
The general was so worried about the young lady that he must not have slept either. He had to run faster and faster to let the general know that the young lady was fine so that he could feel relieved sooner.
Seeing this, the soldier who led them down the mountain felt that there was nothing left for him to do. He said goodbye and turned back to the mountain, his leather boots creaking under his feet. Xu Zize was left alone, disheveled in the wind: "I am so pitiful, I am a child that no one cares about."
He looked at Jing Chunxi who was surrounded by children, and suddenly wanted to know, if he was the only one who didn't come back tonight, would there be someone waiting at the mountain pass with a torch?
As we made our way into the village, we realized the soldiers guarding the mountain hadn't lied about the situation. The once spacious dirt road was now crammed with marching tents, and the tarpaulins still smelled of damp river mud.
There were tents set up on the road, and they could only walk sideways in some places, so the carriage naturally could not enter.
"Leave the carriage here. I'll send someone in at daybreak." Jing Changjiang had indeed not slept. His hoarse voice sounded like sandpaper rubbing against a rough tree trunk. He had rushed out upon hearing Xiao Man's cry. He walked along, barking orders all the way, not worrying about waking the sleeping soldiers.
"Uncle, we bought a lot of vegetables and seafood." Seeing his uncle's anxious face, Jing Chunxi rushed forward in a few quick steps.
She smelled the familiar smell of rust on her uncle again, mixed with the sour smell of sweat after staying up late, and gave him a firm hug, the temperature penetrating through his clothes, extremely warm.
"You guys are making your uncle so worried." He wanted to ask them where they had been, but the moment he saw his niece, he found that there were dark circles under her eyes and her lips were cracked. He knew that they must be very tired, but he couldn't bear to say it.
Jing Changjiang's Adam's apple rolled a few times, and he swallowed back the words of reproach along with his saliva. He just reached out to smooth Jing Chunxi's upturned hair. When his rough fingertips brushed across her forehead, they left a trace of dust from somewhere unknown.
He still muttered, "If you don't buy vegetables, we will have nothing to eat?" His voice was muffled, as if through a layer of cotton cloth.
Then, still taking advantage of the night, he couldn't help but glare at Xu Zize. His gaze was like a quenched blade, still cold and sharp in the darkness. The meaning in his eyes was clear: Sister Xi is ignorant, don't you understand it? Xu Zize was so glared that he doubted himself. The heel of his boot crushed a dead branch, making a crisp cracking sound in the silent night.