Clang! Clang! Clang!
The men by the river were working feverishly when urgent gong sounds echoed from the village.
“Damn bandits, why now?”
The men instantly grabbed hoes and machetes, rushing frantically towards the village.
Jin Feng, squatting on the kiln roof checking the fire, felt his scalp tingle. His first thought was that the bandits from Cat Mountain had come.
What to do?
Jin Feng instinctively glanced at the back hills.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
If he fled, what about Guan Xiaorou and Tang Dongdong?
What about Runniang and Xiao’e?
No, if he escaped, he had to take them along!
With that thought, Jin Feng turned and ran towards the village.
His home wasn’t at the village entrance, so the bandits would need time to reach it.
He had to get Guan Xiaorou and the others out before the bandits found his house!
With this resolve, he sprinted, teeth clenched.
“How did they come so fast? Didn’t Liang say his brothers were watching Cat Mountain?”
Jin Feng’s heart pounded.
The brick kiln was far from home. When he burst into the courtyard, the workshop was already empty.
Bandits entering a village often killed to establish dominance. The men were at the kiln, the women at the workshop, leaving only children in the village.
So, at the first sound of the gong, the women wailed and ran to find their children.
Zhang Mancang was in the blacksmith’s shop, frantically loading arrows into a quiver.
Tang Dongdong and Runniang were busy burying money pouches in the stove. Guan Xiaorou held Xiao’e, trembling slightly.
Xiao’e’s face was pale with fear, but she kept her mouth shut, not daring to make a sound.
Village children knew crying kids got their heads chopped off by bandits.
“Darling, it’s far from harvest. Why are the bandits here?”
Seeing Jin Feng return, Guan Xiaorou found her anchor and asked anxiously, “Could it be new bandits?”
Desperate rabbits bite, and life was already hard for villagers. Normally, bandits came once a year for grain. Twice would drive villagers to fight back.
Last autumn, the Iron Jar Mountain bandits had collected their annual grain. Unless something unusual happened, they wouldn’t return until this autumn.
Bandits coming in spring likely meant the Iron Jar Mountain gang was replaced by new bandits asserting dominance.
To notify villages of the new grain collectors.
“It’s not new bandits. Grab the crossbows, we’re heading to the back hills now.”
Jin Feng had no time to explain about Baldy. He rushed into the shop, grabbing his crossbow.
With the crossbow in hand, he felt slightly reassured.
If escape failed, he could at least fight back.
Several crossbows on the table, made by Zhang Mancang for Guan Xiaorou and Tang Dongdong, matched Jin Feng’s design.
At Jin Feng’s insistence, the girls’ training never stopped, though it moved to Zhang Mancang’s house.
The results were impressive. Tang Dongdong hit the target at twenty paces with over ninety-five percent accuracy.
Surprisingly, Runniang, despite less training time due to cooking, showed remarkable talent. Her twenty-pace accuracy was just below Tang Dongdong’s, exceeding ninety percent.
Most impressively, her shooting speed was thirty percent faster than Tang Dongdong’s.
Zhang Liang said with proper training, Runniang’s archery would soon surpass his.
Guan Xiaorou and Xiao’e, however, struggled, often missing at ten paces.
“Mancang, let’s go to the back hills.”
Jin Feng strung his crossbow, shouting at Zhang Mancang, who was still busy.
“Brother Feng, my brother went to deliver goods in the county. My mother and sister are home. I can’t leave.”
Zhang Mancang shook his head, grabbing a crossbow. “You go. If you don’t, you won’t escape when the bandits come.”
Without waiting for Jin Feng’s reply, he limped out of the courtyard with his crossbow.
Jin Feng knew Zhang Mancang was drawing the bandits’ attention to buy them time.
“Stubborn fool!”
Jin Feng cursed but felt moved. “Xiaorou, I’ll help Mancang. You all run to the hills.”
He grabbed his crossbow and chased after Zhang Mancang.
Tang Dongdong seemed to realise something, gritted her teeth, and grabbed a crossbow from the blacksmith’s shop. “Sister Xiaorou, you go. I’ll help Brother Feng.”
“Sister Xiaorou, if it’s new bandits, we just pay the grain. Why go to the hills?”
Runniang, confused, asked, “Why is Brother Feng taking the crossbow? Bandits kill if they see weapons.”
For her before, bandit grain demands were crushing, but now, managing the kitchen, she knew Jin Feng’s grain stocks well.
Paying for a few people was easy.
Why was Jin Feng acting like he’d fight the bandits?
“I don’t know either.”
Guan Xiaorou, like Runniang, couldn’t understand what was happening.
“What do we do?” Runniang asked.
“A wife follows her husband. If he’s fighting bandits, I’m with him.”
Guan Xiaorou rushed into the blacksmith’s shop. “Xiao’e, you and Runniang go to the hills. If your brother-in-law and I don’t find you, go back to Guan Family Bay to your parents, got it?”
“Sister Xiaorou, I’m not going to the hills. I’m with you.”
Runniang, usually resolute, shook her head.
“I’m not going to the hills. There are wolves, they’ll eat Xiao’e.”
Xiao’e cried, shaking her head. “I’m not going back to Guan Family Bay. Sister-in-law won’t feed me, I’ll starve.”
“You two…”
Guan Xiaorou stomped her foot. “Fine, if my husband dies, none of us will survive. Better to die by bandits than starve. If you won’t go, we’ll stay together.”
…
Jin Feng and Zhang Mancang reached the village entrance, seeing villagers surrounding a few men on horseback from afar.
No conflict had erupted. The village head even seemed to be smiling.
The young man in a green robe leading the riders was smiling too.
“Are bandits this friendly now?”
Jin Feng sensed something off.
Shouldn’t bandits entering a village bring cries and chaos?
Why so peaceful?
It felt eerie.
Was the host’s memory faulty?
Were bandits here to spread warmth, not rob?
Jin Feng glanced at Zhang Mancang, who looked equally baffled.
No, the host’s memory wasn’t wrong. These bandits were the issue.
Wait!
Since when did bandits have such fine warhorses and neat armour?
“Ahem, Jin Feng, you’re finally here.”
The village head spotted Jin Feng’s puzzled look and called out, “The village kids mistook them for bandits. Put down your bows, don’t hurt the honoured guests.”
