Nineteen

  "Chief, there's a village nearby. It's quite a big one. We were afraid of startling the villagers, so we didn't dare to sneak in and make trouble. The place isn't far from here, just about five miles away. This village really has a good location, if no one leads the way, it would be hard to find. We two have been hiding in the area where the villager was picking herbs, waiting for him. Following him, we wandered around the mountains and forests for half a day before he finished collecting herbs and headed back to the village with his basket on his back. Along the way, there were trees, branches, and tall weeds as high as a person, so we didn't dare follow too closely, fearing that we might make some noise and startle him. If not for being able to track the footprints, we would have lost him."

  Jiang Chen reported the situation to Yan Wei, and then Yan Wei turned his head to look at Wu Hanhuai's meaning.

  "You two lead the way, and the whole team will temporarily station in that village immediately." Wu Hanhuai made a decisive decision.

  "It's not a waste of life to know such people, and it won't be unjust to deal with Wu Hanhuai." Yan Wei thought to himself, then immediately ordered Lan Gang: "Pass on the order, the whole team sets out, led by Jiang Chen and Yu Tian. Immediately move towards the village here. All sick children must be assigned a special person to take care of, one child per person. The rest must be taken care of carefully to prevent falling behind."

  After Lan Gang left, Yan Wei said to Old Li: "Old Li, you and Xiao Shan follow Jiang Chen's group in front and open the way, don't let there be any more traps or mechanisms."

  Old Li laughed and said, "What are you thinking? This is just an ordinary village where common people live their daily lives. Do you think it's a bandit's lair or something? Where did you come up with the idea of traps and mechanisms? However, since you have such concerns, my son and I will go ahead and scout out the road."

  When they arrived at the entrance of the village, as Jiang Chen and others said, looking at this road that leads directly to the mountain stream, with weeds growing all over the place and shrubs overlapping each other, if it weren't for Jiang Chen and others having walked through it before, who would have thought that this road, which looks like a ditch washed out by mountain rain, is actually the village entrance?

  "Pass it down, everyone be careful and protect the kids, don't let one of them slip away and roll back down! Call out to each other in front and behind to prevent falling behind."

  Lan Zheng had just given orders to arrange for the transmission of the edict when Yan Wei couldn't put his mind at ease about Fang Lan, so he headed in her direction.

  This is no longer a road, as the trees and weeds are dense and overgrown, and looking down, you can't see any depth or height, only feeling that it's always heading towards the bottom of the valley. With last night's autumn rain, now treading on this still very slippery ditch path, it's really difficult to take a step!

  Although Fang Lan was born into a wealthy merchant family, she had been eating bitterness for the past few days. At this moment, although she could hardly move an inch, she still tightly held onto her two children with one hand each and refused to let Yan Wei's soldiers take over. Helpless, Yan Wei could only use his right hand to tightly grasp the clothes on her waist and pull her down step by step from behind.

  It wasn't far, but Fang Lan's left hand was holding a girl who didn't step steadily and instantly lost her balance and fell down! Fang Lan, who was also dragged along, immediately lost his center of gravity. His right hand was still holding onto the boy, whose body tilted to one side, and he couldn't stand up either!

  Yan Wei was inwardly criticizing her for being too stubborn, while at the same time he quickly took a step forward, his legs straining to steady himself on the wet and slippery grass. He swiftly stretched out his right arm and tightly wrapped it around Fang Lan's chest, just as she was about to lose her balance and fall down with the other girl. However, Fang Lan was shocked and frightened by the sudden loss of control, and the force of the other girl's fall caused the small arm that Fang Lan had been holding onto to slip out of her grasp, and it was now tumbling towards the edge of the ditch below!

  It's terrible to think about. If this girl really rolls down from here, the consequences would be disastrous! If she's unlucky and rolls into the weeds at the bottom of the ditch, who knows what will happen? And if there's a steep slope ahead, this child will be in big trouble! If she rolls down along this ditch, the team in front will be doomed! You say that with this terrain and situation, you can't even stand firmly yourself, and then suddenly being hit by a strong force from behind, wouldn't everyone just roll down together?

  The current situation is that even if Yuan Wei were to try and rescue him, he would be too far away and unable to do so. Moreover, he would never abandon Fang Lan either.

  This is the most realistic manifestation of human nature. A heroic figure with a strong sense of justice, who can sacrifice his life to fight against enemies and protect his country! He can also forget about his own life and death to bravely fight for the protection of his people! However, when his personal interests conflict with others, his subconscious mind will still rely on instinctive thinking to distinguish between kinship and thickness!

  Just as the little girl was about to roll down, a figure flashed by from behind Yan Wei! All that could be heard was the sound of "hiss" and the friction between the shoe sole and the weeds on the ground. A swift figure like a cheetah had already wrapped its right arm tightly around the weak body, with two legs in a large bow-shaped stance firmly grasping the wet and slippery ground, and had turned the entire body over to face Yan Wei on the steep slope. At the same time, the left hand, which had already sunk five fingers deep into the ground and gripped the soil firmly, was supporting the entire body together with the legs.

  He stood up and handed the little girl, who had already turned bright red with fear in his arms, to a comrade rushing up from behind. He then slapped the wet mud off his hands and again silently moved to the back of Yan Wei's position.

  "This man is so skilled! Your soldiers are really fierce!" Fang Lan, still in a state of shock, continued to carefully move forward while being held by Yan Wei, her right hand tightly grasping the boy's hand, her eyes fixed on the grass beneath her feet as she spoke to Yan Wei.

  "Listen to me, Fang Lan. Hand over the child in your arms to my men. You're lucky if you can get out of this road without falling, or else you'll be dragging down the innocent child!" With that, she raised her left hand and stretched out two fingers, then firmly grasped the boy's right hand, which was tightly held by Fang Lan, and handed him over to one of her soldiers who immediately stepped forward.

  With the burden gone, she was almost being held by Yan Wei's strong right arm as they walked, tightly leaning on Yan Wei's solid arm. Compared to the struggle of taking three steps with great difficulty just a moment ago, it was like two different worlds! Suddenly, she felt incredibly relaxed and had a hint of sweet intoxication!

  Women are still women after all. As a woman, she must have her innate advantages and unique qualities! But that is absolutely not in competing with men in physical ability! A woman who needs a man's protection is lovely and beautiful! In some sense, that is what makes a real woman! A woman who shows off her abilities in front of a man is obviously unwise! A woman who knows how to lie in a man's arms and enjoy being loved and feeling love is a pure woman.

  Of course, when your man's sailing ship encounters thunderstorms and hidden reefs, needs to dock for repairs and temporarily avoid the wind and waves to comfort his wounded heart, if you can use a woman's tenderness to soothe this injured giant, use that gentle spring breeze-like warmth to repair and replenish him, congratulations, you must be a real woman! You don't need stunning beauty, nor extraordinary abilities, nor artificial efforts, you are destined to be a happily married woman for life! Because you possess everything a woman should have! You will be a loved and happy woman!

  "He's called Zhang Liao, and his skills are just barely passable! It wasn't a waste that I've been guiding and promoting him all these years! But with someone like him, even under my tutelage, he can't be considered top-notch talent! He's just barely usable!" Yan Wei was clearly very pleased with Zhang Liao's actions earlier, and seemed to be enjoying the beautiful woman leaning on his arm as he showed off his skills.

  "Is this just a compromise? Then where are the elites under your hands? Who? Are they all here?" Fang Lan obviously still doesn't possess all the qualities of an excellent woman.

  "Those who have come will be able to count on this chapter of Liaozhai, others stronger than him have other tasks and didn't bring them out!" Yan Wei said this with some obvious regret for having blown the cow too full!

  "I don't believe it, I think you're no match for him if you two were to fight!" Fang Lan continued to play the role of a lovable rogue. But a stunningly beautiful woman like her obviously had the qualifications to be foolish!

  "I'm his superior, he wouldn't dare be disrespectful to me even if he killed himself! However, he's someone I personally trained, and sometimes the student surpasses the master, but not in my case! But I've always treated my soldiers like my own children, even when they make mistakes, as their superior, I won't hit them!" Yan Wei decided that from now on, he would never boast in front of this woman again! Because it didn't seem enjoyable at all!

  "Hey, I'm telling you, Comrade Yan, can't you see that the brothers are having a hard time marching on this steep mountain road? Can't you wait a bit before indulging in your romantic nonsense? My ears aren't very good, but even I can tell that's not right! We're already struggling to keep up, and now we have to watch you two being all lovey-dovey? Don't you know what's on top of our heads? We're already having a tough time, and if you blow it again, Comrade Yan, won't that be overthrowing the party and the country? This heavy rain is coming down, are you intentionally trying to sabotage everything?"

  Yan Wei turned around and glared at Wu Hanhuai, who was following behind him, but found that Zhang Liao, who was closely attached to his back and responsible for protecting him, seemed to be even more severely affected! He was desperately trying to hold back his laughter, not wanting Yan Wei to see that he was mocking or looking down on their superior officer. But it wasn't easy, and his face turned bright red from the effort. Zhang Liao had never looked so uncomfortable, even when he single-handedly took down eight Japanese soldiers!

  Yan Wei turned back and continued to hold Fang Lan, shouting loudly: "All brothers, hold on! Protect the children, victory is just ahead! Once we enter the village, let's find a place to take a warm bath, wash our clothes, and relax for a while! Say, with your wise and powerful leadership, is there any difficulty that our guard team cannot overcome?"

  As soon as Yan Wei's voice fell, Wu Hanhuai shouted loudly from behind: "He is the great captain Yan! I was wrong! I, Wu Mou, apologize to you! You have won a big victory, so don't humiliate us anymore!"

  He said with a lowered voice: "Are you going to force us to jump off the cliff?"

  The soldiers at the two ends of the team, who were farther away, did not hear their previous conversation. After hearing Yan Wei's loud shout, they thought it was really their captain cheering them up! So, including Wu Hanhuai's subordinates, they all shouted in unison: "No!"

  At this moment, Fang Lan could no longer hold back! A long string of crisp and clear silver bells instantly spread along the winding mountain ridge surrounded by peaks, echoing in the majestic mountains for a long time without stopping!

  The tens of meters long queue, after hearing Fang Lan's crisp and clear voice, couldn't help but feel refreshed and invigorated! Some people thought that being an official was great, as good things happened everywhere they went. Others felt that Fang Lan was truly a remarkable woman, able to enjoy herself in such an environment. Some worried that the target might be exposed, but everyone who heard her voice felt refreshed, as if they didn't feel tired at all. To some extent, this had a morale-boosting effect on the troops, far surpassing Cao Cao's "gazing at the plum blossom to quench thirst" of the Eastern Han dynasty!

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