It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Noticing the dull pain in her back was decreasing in frequency, Jiang Yan asked in a hoarse voice, parched from tension, "Their arrows are almost exhausted. Are they preparing to counterattack?"

The squad leader of the guard team kept a close eye on the distance between them, and upon hearing this, he hummed in agreement: "Go into the woods ahead."

They only had one ponies and a cart, but their pursuers were several donkeys. The ponies were not as fast as the donkeys, so it was an accident that they were able to create this distance, but it wouldn't last long. Their men would also get tired from running, and if they didn't eliminate their pursuers as soon as possible, the longer it went on, the more difficult it would be for them to defend themselves.

Upon reaching the edge of the woods, Jiang Yan dismounted her ponies, ducked, and charged into the forest. Once she found cover, she quickly pulled out the arrows from her back. Just as Zhuge Liang borrowed arrows with straw boats in ancient times, Jiang Yan tricked others into giving her arrows with pork chops.

The half-eaten pork chop, now bare of arrows, was riddled with holes of varying depths. Jiang Yan briefly considered how the sanitary condition of the arrowheads might affect the pork chop's edibility before one of the guards snatched the arrow away and began shooting at the enemy.

Their team was also equipped with bows and quivers, but they didn't have as many arrows as the enemy. After firing a couple of volleys at the beginning, they realized the enemy was in the dark while they were in the light, and the situation was unfavorable. So they made a decisive decision to charge out first. Even so, their arrows were exhausted in the subsequent resistance.

Jiang Yan stared blankly at her empty palm for a moment, then quickly gathered up stones and mud and threw them at the enemy's face when she had the chance.

About fifteen minutes later, the last enemy fell, and everyone immediately relaxed. One person grimaced and another hissed in pain as they tended to their wounds, and then they cleaned up the scene.

This place is too close to the main road. If it is not cleaned up, the large amount of blood may attract wild beasts, which would be very unsafe for passers-by and the nearby residents.

"Zhang Laoliu, if you hadn't dodged that time, your arm wouldn't be injured."

"I was so focused on killing the enemy that I forgot I had a pig's leg strapped to my back. When I felt a knife coming at me from behind, I had to block it."

"Captain, shall we have meat tonight? I saw a donkey with several knife wounds, and it looks really weak. I doubt it'll survive the night."

"It should be possible. With so many of them here, eating one that's about to die won't make a difference."

……

When they set off again, everyone except Jiang Yan continued to ride on a ponie while the others took turns riding donkeys.

But the pungent smell of meat wafting from her nose, combined with the jolting of her body, made Jiang Yan, who hadn't fully recovered from the intense tension, start to feel unwell after walking less than two miles.

The cart was loaded with gifts carefully selected by Inspector Fu and Steward Fu for Fu An, who was guarding Rongcheng County. Since they were not to be soiled, Jiang Yan specially went to the manor to slaughter and retrieve a large pig and freshly butchered donkey meat to improve their meals on the road. The meat was cut up and carried or carried by everyone.

Even though the recent fight had damaged many of the gifts on the cart, they were not allowed to be piled on top. The guards trembled and considered backing out at the mere thought of their fastidious master, Fu'an, picking up the gifts, touching his greasy hands, and smelling the foul odor.

But now the sun was blazing down overhead, and the smell was getting stronger, so Jiang Yan couldn't take it anymore.

She forcefully suppressed the turbulent air surging in her chest and asked the guards for their opinion: "Can we find a suitable place to smoke all this raw meat before we continue our journey? It feels like the meat will rot if it stays in the sun any longer."