“The disaster situation in Fengshui Town…”
Wei Wuya sighed. “It can be considered resolved, I suppose.”
“If it’s resolved, it’s resolved. If not, it’s not. What do you mean by ‘considered resolved’?”
Jin Feng asked, puzzled.
“After the gentleman told me the transmission routes of malaria, we quickly dealt with stagnant water pools prone to breeding mosquitoes, dry latrines, and such places. Plus the mosquito nets and clothing the gentleman donated, there have been no new patients in the village for half a month now.”
Mr Wei said, “But of those commoners already infected, seventy per cent didn’t make it…”
Hearing this, Jin Feng could not help but sigh.
With the current medical level, treating malaria was simply too difficult.
The reason the outbreak in Fengshui Town could be contained, aside from clearing water pools and mosquito nets, was mainly because the weather was gradually turning cold and mosquitoes were becoming fewer.
“Who are these people?”
Jin Feng pointed at the several elders behind Wei Wuya and asked.
“They are the village heads from the villages in Fengshui Town that were hit hardest by the disaster. When they heard I was coming to Xihe Bay, they insisted on coming along to thank the gentleman.”
Wei Wuya explained, “The bow I gave the gentleman earlier was also for this matter.
Without the gentleman’s guidance and generous aid, who knows how many more people would have died in Fengshui Town this time.”
“Thank you, Mr Jin!”
The elders spoke and were about to bow again, but Jin Feng stopped them.
The old men then took things out from the bundles on their backs: dried fish, rice, even two wild rabbits, insisting that Jin Feng accept them.
While they were refusing back and forth, a figure appeared on the distant road, riding a war horse galloping through the mountains.
Another war horse followed behind.
“Sir, it looks like a female soldier!”
Big Liu gestured for the veteran soldiers to prepare defences while muttering, “Running so fast, has something happened?”
The other party was very quick and arrived in front of them in just a moment.
Jin Feng looked at the newcomer and frowned slightly.
The person was one of Qing Munlan’s personal guards. Several places on her body were bleeding, and both the saddle and the horse’s belly were stained red with blood.
Upon seeing Jin Feng, she rolled straight off the horse.
“Axia, how did you end up like this?”
Big Liu hurried forward and helped the female soldier up.
The female soldier did not answer Big Liu but reached out an arm towards Jin Feng, saying weakly yet urgently, “Sir… sir, hurry and save the young lady!”
Jin Feng’s heart sank. He asked, “What happened to Munlan?”
“The young lady was… surrounded by a large bandit army… cough cough!”
Before the female soldier could finish, she suddenly coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, and her breathing became rapid.
Seeing this, Wei Wuya quickly stepped forward, patted her back a few times, then gently pounded under her armpit with his fist. The female soldier vomited several more mouthfuls of congested blood, and her face became even paler.
But her breathing steadied.
“Where is your young lady? How many bandits are there?”
Jin Feng, afraid something might happen to the female soldier again, did not ask about the details and went straight to the location and the enemy’s numbers.
“At Wulang Mountain in Qingshan County… there are… more than four thousand bandits!” the female soldier replied.
“How could Qingshan County have such a large bandit group? This could be called a rebel army, right?” Big Liu asked in shock.
Generally, the gentry who supported bandits to collect annual tribute only had a few hundred men. Bandit groups exceeding a thousand, like Heishuigou, were very rare.
After all, maintaining bandits cost money, and a few hundred were enough to intimidate the commoners.
Heishuigou could develop to a thousand because its backer was County Lieutenant Zhao, with a large territory near the official road, allowing them to set up checkpoints and collect tolls.
Big Liu had been an escort master before, travelling far and wide to many places and seeing many bandits, but a bandit nest with over four thousand men was unheard of.
This was more than many second-class armies.
“Many second-class armies don’t even have four thousand men. It definitely can’t be one bandit group; it must be several groups banded together.”
Jin Feng said.
“Yes…” The female soldier nodded weakly, then her head drooped.
Wei Wuya reached out to feel the female soldier’s wrist and said, “Mr Jin, she has lost too much blood, travelled a long distance, and was overly anxious. She has fainted.”
“Ajian, quickly take her to the medical team. Dachuan, go find Zhao Laoshan right away and have him check if anyone in Group Two is from Qingshan County or familiar with Wulang Mountain.”
Jin Feng gave quick instructions, then turned to Wei Wuya. “Mr Wei, I have an urgent matter here and can’t accompany you all. Daqiang, take these old gentlemen back and have the village head entertain them first.”
“The gentleman has important business. I’ll go check this girl’s injuries.”
Mr Wei said quickly.
“If the hospitality is lacking, please do not take offence, esteemed elders.”
Jin Feng performed a scholar’s salute to the elders, mounted his horse, and headed straight for the veteran camp in the back mountain with Big Liu.
Soon, a muffled drum sound echoed from the veteran camp.
Whether veteran soldiers or female soldiers, whether they were training or resting, upon hearing the drum, they all dropped what they were doing and rushed to the camp.
Zhang Liang rushed out of his room with a look of shock.
He hadn’t given the order; who dared to sound the assembly drum without permission?
As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Jin Feng.
“Sir, when did you return?”
“Just now. Munlan is in trouble.”
Jin Feng got straight to the point.
“Miss Munlan is in trouble?” Zhang Liang was first startled, then asked, “Where did the gentleman get this news? Is it reliable?”
In his view, Qing Munlan had five thousand regular troops under her. Even if she only led one unit, that was a thousand men, equipped with trebuchets, heavy crossbows, and flash bombs. That was enough to attack a small city. What danger could there be in suppressing bandits?
“It’s from Munlan’s personal guard Axia who came to report. It should be reliable.”
Jin Feng answered, “According to Axia, several bandit groups, fearing suppression, colluded and gathered over four thousand men, trapping Munlan at Wulang Mountain in Qingshan County.”
“Over four thousand bandits in collusion…”
Zhang Liang’s pupils contracted slightly, realising the gravity of the situation.
Since Jin Feng had sounded the assembly drum, it meant he was definitely going to rescue Qing Munlan.
But the resident veteran and female soldiers in Xihe Bay totalled only a few hundred, while the bandits numbered over four thousand. How could they rescue her?
Just as Zhang Liang was about to speak to persuade Jin Feng, Dazhuang ran over.
In the previous bandit suppression battles, Dazhuang had been seriously injured and had been recuperating at home, only returning to camp a few days ago.
Zhang Liang was short-handed and had assigned him to his side.
“Sir, Captain!”
Dazhuang saluted the two, then shouted, “Except for the brothers on guard duty who can’t come, everyone else is assembled: one hundred and three in total!”
“One hundred and three?”
Jin Feng could not help but frown slightly.
Bandits rarely cooperated. Since they had banded together, it meant the pressure from Qing Munlan was too great, forcing them into a corner.
As the saying goes, a cornered army fights desperately. At such a time, the bandits would become fearsome.
With only over a hundred men in Xihe Bay, how could they fight?
