Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

The sound of horse hooves approached from far away, breaking the tranquility of the mountain village in the early morning. Wu Tao's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition came to her mind. She walked quickly to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain. At the entrance of the village, she saw several horses raising clouds of dust. The people on the horses were dressed in tight clothes, with long swords on their waists. They looked around the village sharply, revealing a murderous aura.

"Oh no! The soldiers are coming!" Someone shouted, and the originally peaceful village suddenly became abuzz. The villagers hid in their homes, looking out to see what was happening outside.

Hu Bugui's face was solemn. He protected Wu Tao behind him and whispered, "Don't be afraid. I'll go take a look at the situation." After that, he turned and walked out of the house and headed towards the village entrance.

Wu Tao was extremely anxious, but knew he could not help, so he could only pace back and forth in the room anxiously.

"Tao'er, don't worry, I'll go take a look." Hu Bugui came back, holding Wu Tao's hand, and the two of them quietly came behind a big tree at the entrance of the village, observing the uninvited guests through the gaps between the branches and leaves.

After getting off their horses, the men walked straight to the village chief's house. The leader knocked on the door and asked arrogantly, "Old man, we are merchants passing by and have lost our way. We would like to ask you for directions to Ancheng."

The village chief was an honest old man who had never seen such a scene before. He was so frightened that he stuttered: "My dear officials, I don't know..."

"Don't know? I think you are not willing to accept my toast and want to drink the forfeit!" The leading man pushed the village chief away and walked into the yard with the others in a swagger.

"They are not businessmen at all. Look at them, they all have knives on their waists!" Wu Tao lowered his voice and pointed at the waists of those people.

Hu Bugui nodded, and scanned those people with sharp eyes, thinking to himself: It seems that these people are not here with good intentions. He decided to secretly follow these people and find out their true purpose.

"Let's go and follow them." Hu Bugui pulled Wu Tao and followed those people quietly.

Those people seemed to be very familiar with the terrain of the village. They bypassed the main road of the village and walked on some remote paths. Finally, they came to a hillside behind the village.

One of them took out a roll of white cloth from his arms and spread it on the ground, while the other took out pen and ink and began to draw on the white cloth.

"What are they doing?" Wu Tao asked puzzledly.

Hu Bugui narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the pattern on the white cloth. After a while, his face changed and he said in a deep voice: "They are drawing a map of the village!" Wu Tao was shocked, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Drawing a map of the village, could it be that these people are bandits who want to harm the village? No, that's not right. Judging from their clothes and behavior, they don't look like ordinary bandits at all. Then who are they and what is their purpose in coming to the village?

Just when Wu Tao was puzzled, Hu Bugui suddenly pulled her down and hid behind a huge rock. "Don't make any noise, let's leave here first." He whispered, with a hint of solemnity in his tone.

Although Wu Tao was confused, he still obediently followed Hu Bugui off the hillside and returned home.

"Tao'er, do you have any way to catch them?" Hu Bugui asked solemnly. These people acted secretly and their purpose was unclear. He had to find out their background in order to protect the safety of the village.

Wu Tao pondered for a moment, and then a plan came to her mind. "I got it! We can..." She whispered her plan to Hu Bugui.

After hearing this, Hu Bugui's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "Good idea! Let's do as you say!"

As night fell, the village was silent, with only the occasional barking of dogs breaking the tranquility. In a valley behind the village, Wu Tao and Hu Bugui were busy with a few villagers. They set up an ingenious trap in the valley according to Wu Tao's design.

"Taoer, are you sure they will pass by here?" a villager asked worriedly.

Wu Tao smiled confidently, pointed at the messy footprints on the ground and said, "Look, these footprints are new and very messy, which means they have been here today, and there are quite a few of them. They have drawn a map of the village, and they will definitely come back to check the terrain in the evening to prepare for their actions."

After listening to Wu Tao's analysis, the villagers felt relieved and waited patiently for the prey to fall into the trap.

Time passed by minute by minute, and just when everyone was about to lose their patience, rustling footsteps were heard in the distance.

"Here they come!" Wu Tao said in a low voice, signaling everyone to get ready.

After a while, those furtive figures appeared at the entrance of the valley. They seemed unaware of the danger and continued to walk forward, talking and laughing.

"Get started!" With Hu Bugui's order, the pre-set trap was triggered. Those people suddenly became chaotic and were trapped in the trap, unable to move.

Hu Bugui led the villagers to rush forward, tied up those people, and took them back to the village.

"Tell me! Who are you? What is your purpose here?" Hu Bugui asked sternly.

Those people tried to remain stubborn at first, but under Hu Bugui's coercion and inducement, some of them finally couldn't stand the pressure and told the truth.

"We are spies from the imperial court, and we have been ordered to investigate..." Before the man could finish his words, his mouth was covered by the person next to him.

"A secret agent from the imperial court?" Wu Tao and Hu Bugui looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes. How could it be a secret agent from the imperial court? Why would the imperial court send someone to investigate a small village?

"Tell me! Why did the court send you here? What exactly do you want to do?" Hu Bugui grabbed the man's collar and asked sternly.

The man was so frightened that he was shaking all over and stammered, "We...we received a tip-off that...that there were traitors hiding here, so...so..."

"Rebels?" Hu Bugui sneered, "There are only some honest villagers here, where did the rebels come from? I think you are clearly..."

"What we said is true!" the man argued anxiously, "The court has obtained solid evidence that a large number of weapons and food are hidden here, and... and the remnants of the previous dynasty are also hiding here! The court will soon send a large army to encircle and suppress them, you... you should run for your lives!"

When Wu Tao and Hu Bugui heard this, they were struck by lightning and their faces turned extremely ugly.

Wu Tao felt dizzy and almost lost her balance. The imperial army? Encirclement and suppression? These words hit her heart like a heavy hammer, and fear quickly wrapped around her breath like a vine. She subconsciously grabbed Hu Bugui's sleeve, her fingertips were cold and trembling. Hu Bugui held her hand with his backhand, and the warmth of his palm passed to her, as if it had the power to calm people.

"Everyone calm down first!" Hu Bugui's voice rang out in the chaotic yard with unquestionable majesty. The villagers gradually quieted down, but they all looked panicked, whispering and talking to each other.

"Brother Hu, what should we do now? Is the imperial army really coming?" a young villager asked anxiously, his tone full of uneasiness.

"Yes, we are all ordinary people, how can we fight against the imperial army!" another villager echoed, with despair in his tone.

Hu Bugui took a deep breath, and his eyes swept across the terrified faces, and he said in a deep voice: "I know everyone is scared, but we can't just sit there and wait for death! Since the spies said that the imperial army is coming soon, we must prepare in advance!"

"But...what can we do to prepare?" an elderly villager asked with a wry smile, "We are just peasants who are powerless. How can we be a match for the imperial army?"

"Yeah, we have no weapons at all, and no one knows how to fight!" said another villager in despair.

Hu Bugui looked around and his eyes fell on Wu Tao. A glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. "Tao'er, you are resourceful. You must have a way, right?"

Wu Tao took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She knew that now was not the time to panic and she had to find a way to help these kind villagers.

"We can take advantage of the village's terrain and set some traps to block the attack of the imperial army!" Wu Tao pondered for a moment and said slowly.

"A trap?" The villagers looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

"Yes, traps!" Wu Tao nodded. "We can use the trees, stones, vines, etc. on the mountain to make some simple traps, such as animal traps, tripwires, rolling logs, etc. Although these traps are simple, if used properly, they can also have an unexpected effect, causing certain casualties to the imperial army and buying us more time!"

After hearing Wu Tao's words, a glimmer of hope ignited in the eyes of the villagers, and they nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's do it!" Hu Bugui said decisively, "Tao'er, you tell me what we need to do!"

At this moment, an old voice sounded from the crowd, "I may be able to help."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with gray hair and vigorous spirit walking out of the crowd. It was the village's miracle doctor.

"Old sir, do you have any solution?" Hu Bugui asked hurriedly.

The doctor stroked his beard and said slowly: "Although I can't fight, I know a little bit about medicine. I can use herbs to make some poisons to deal with those officers and soldiers."

"Poison?" Wu Tao's eyes lit up. This was a good idea. In ancient times, poison was a powerful weapon in war!

"Old sir, can you really prepare a poison?" Wu Tao asked hurriedly.

“Although I dare not say that I am an expert in using poisons, I can still prepare some simple poisons.” The genius doctor said confidently.

"That's great!" Wu Tao and Hu Bugui looked at each other and saw the glimmer of hope in each other's eyes.

Smoke from cooking fires rose up from the small village, which was usually peaceful and tranquil. Now, a tense atmosphere filled the air. Under the command of Hu Bugui, the men carried stones and wood to reinforce the village's defenses. Under the guidance of Wu Tao, the women crushed the collected herbs and mixed them with soil to prepare poisonous smoke. The genius doctor was concentrating on preparing the poison, shaking his head from time to time, as if he was not satisfied with these simple materials.

At this moment, a sharp-eyed villager suddenly pointed in the direction of the village entrance and exclaimed: "Look, who is that?"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure dressed in black and wearing a conical hat stealthily appearing at the edge of the village. He was hiding behind a big tree, looking around into the village.

"Oh no, it's a spy!" Hu Bugui's face darkened and he whispered, "It seems that the imperial army is not far from us!"

"I'll catch him!" said a young and strong villager, and was about to rush out.

"Wait!" Hu Bugui grabbed him and said, "Don't alert the enemy! Since this man dares to come alone, he must have someone to rely on. We should be careful!"

"What should we do? Are we going to let him find out our true strength like this?" the young villager asked anxiously.

Hu Bugui pondered for a moment, his eyes fell on a high ground not far away, "Let's go, let's quietly follow and take a look!"

As he spoke, Hu Bugui led a few agile villagers, crouched down, and quietly approached the man in black under the cover of trees. Wu Taoze, the doctor and others stayed where they were, paying close attention to the movements at the entrance of the village.

Hu Bugui and others followed him all the way and found that the man in black did not enter the village, but walked up the mountain.

"What does he want to do?" asked a villager in confusion.

"Don't talk for now, just follow him and you'll know!" Hu Bugui made a gesture to keep quiet and continued to follow the man in black carefully.

The man in black climbed all the way up and finally came to a huge rock on the top of the mountain and stopped. He looked around and seemed to be sure that no one was following him. Then he took out a bamboo tube from his arms, opened the stopper, poured out some white powder, and sprinkled it on the rock.

"What is he doing?" The villagers looked at each other, not understanding the black-clad man's intentions.

"Not good!" Hu Bugui's face changed drastically, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "He is sending a signal!"

Just as he finished speaking, a red flare suddenly rose up in the distant sky and exploded in the air, forming a gorgeous red firework.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!" Hu Bugui realized that the situation was not good, and quickly turned around and ran with the villagers.

However, it was too late. Before they could run far, they heard a deafening roar of killing coming from the valley...