I will lead the whole village to occupy the land and become the king.

"General, are you sure this road can lead to Yongshan County?"

"Well, we'll reach a village in half a day."

The two men were talking as they chopped the thorny bushes blocking the road with their knives.

The leading man was wearing a half-covered leather mask, revealing only the lower half of his face.

However, even from the lower half of his face, one could tell that the man had an extraordinary appearance. Under his high nose bridge were his thin, light pink lips, which were unconsciously pursed at this moment.

Looking up, I couldn't see his specific appearance, but his eyes were unforgettable at first sight.

The man behind him looked very young, not even twenty, and his face was full of fatigue. Upon hearing this, he immediately said happily: "Then we can go to the village to get some food..."

Before he could finish his words, the masked man interrupted him, "No, the drought is rampant now, and the people are having a hard time. You and I will just find some water and food in the mountains. Besides, today is New Year's Eve, so we won't pass through the village to avoid disturbing their celebration."

"But... well," the young man said, feeling somewhat discouraged, but he quickly pulled himself together. "General, you have a point, but I remember you're from Yongshan County too. Now that you're here, don't you want to go back and visit your hometown?"

The masked man paused for a moment after hearing this, then stepped forward again, saying calmly, "We have important matters to attend to, so we can't stay here any longer."

Hometown? He had no memory of it.

As soon as he set foot on this land, he felt a sense of familiarity, just like now, he intuitively felt that there was a valley not far ahead, with clean water in it, but also danger there.

"Oh." Seeing that he didn't agree, the young man immediately became frustrated, and felt as if a thousand pounds weighed down his feet. "Then we have to find more water in the mountains."

He had been chewing jade leaves for two days. If he didn't drink some water, his whole body would start to smoke.

The masked man pointed ahead and said, "There should be a water source over there."

He always felt that every tree and blade of grass here was familiar, but his mind was blank.

"Really?" The young man's eyes widened in surprise. "Then let's go over there quickly!"

As he said that, he ran in front of the masked man.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the Wild Boar Plain.

"Hey, General, why are there fields here? Crops are planted here!" The young man pointed in surprise at the tunnel that had just been cleared and planted with crops.

The masked man looked at everything here with his deep eyes without blinking, giving a feeling of familiarity yet strangeness.

He looked up at the ridge above and walked up. "It should be planted by the villagers nearby. There is a water source up there."

As he spoke, he saw section after section of bamboo tubes extending down from the mountain, and finally understood how the wasteland here was irrigated.

"General, the people here are so smart that they actually thought of coming to the mountains to find water sources and open up wasteland. Look at these bamboo pipes, how do they get water up from the valley?" The young man stood on the ridge in disbelief, looking at everything on both sides of the ridge.

The masked man curled his lips unconsciously, "Very clever indeed. Let's go get some water first, and then we can ask them for advice when we have the chance."

He had seen the water pump installed on the hillside and was sure that this was the thing that moved water from low places to high places.

"Alright!" The young man rushed down the valley like a gust of wind and had fun in the natural lake. "General, look! There's so much water here!"

The masked man looked towards the pond, where there was also a water pump.

He walked straight to the pond, drank the water from his water bag, filled the bag again, and then looked at the bamboo forest not far away.

"Qin Shen, come here!" the masked man shouted to the young man over there, "Cut some bamboo and fill the bamboo tubes with water. We must get to Yongshan County tonight!"

Qin Shen washed his face and drank a few more gulps of water. He was finally not so thirsty anymore. When he heard the shout, he immediately ran over and said, "Wow, General, how did you know there were bamboos here?"

They hadn't seen any bamboo forest along the way, but they didn't expect there was one here.

The masked man didn't reply. He was already chopping bamboo to make bamboo tubes.

Two people in the mountains are still struggling for a drink of water on New Year's Eve, but in Dingshui Village at the foot of the mountain, tonight's New Year's Eve is particularly exciting.

On New Year's Eve this year, instead of each family reuniting on their own, the entire village celebrated the New Year together with a buffet.

The dishes were served starting at 3 p.m., and by 5 p.m., everyone's stomachs were full and many of them could hardly walk.

The ancestral hall and the open space outside it were filled with tables and chairs, and large torches filled with tung oil were lit everywhere, and the entire village was brightly lit.

After drinking a little wine, the men chatted animatedly.

Jiang Qinyu provided the wine, but she used the excuse of her last trip to the capital, saying she bought it there. It wasn't a large quantity, but it was enough for everyone in the village to have a small glass.

At the New Year's Eve dinner tonight, Jiang Qinyu, Chen and several others who had made great contributions to the village sat at the table next to Village Chief Li and his group.

Wang Bo was accepted by the villagers because of his performance in the past few months and his serious training with everyone. Tonight, he sat at the main table and was the most respected young man of the younger generation.

For this reason, Mrs. Wang was not angry even though the total work points of the family today were not as many as those of Old Man Lu and Mrs. Chen. She sat happily with the other maids, as if she was sitting at the main table.

Village Chief Li had drunk more and was now clutching Old Man Lu's hand tightly. "Old Lu! You really married a good daughter-in-law!"

Old man Lu responded with a smile.

Village Chief Li continued, "If it weren't for her, would we have the good life we ​​have today? Look at the people in Xiahe Village. During Chinese New Year, they can barely afford to eat grass roots, but we have wine and meat, and our children can even learn to read! This life, seriously, I wouldn't trade it for anything!"

Although today is New Year's Eve, they also had a very fulfilling time. In the morning, they first distributed supplies to everyone in the ancestral hall according to their work points. Then Grandpa Jiang took people to the fields for a walk to confirm that next year would most likely be a year of good harvest. After that, everyone helped to cook, set up tables and chairs, and waited for the feast to begin.

"Uncle Village Chief," Jiang Qinyu said quickly when she saw he was about to start again, "You're really serious! The good life we ​​have today is clearly due to everyone's efforts! Don't you agree?"

"Yes! But Sister Lu, you have made the greatest contribution!" Chen Shao roared.

The others echoed, "Yes, A Zheng's family, we all contributed, but you contributed the most!"

Jiang Qinyu covered her face. Why did she feel a bit socially frustrated? Never mind. Let them say whatever they wanted. She would just keep her face in her pocket for now.

After Chen finished eating, she put down her chopsticks and asked Meng, "Have you delivered food to the people keeping watch?"

Although tonight is New Year's Eve, Dingshui Village has not relaxed its vigilance, and people are taking turns guarding every intersection leading into the village.

"Yes, yes, I asked my daughters-in-law to go, one to each place..." Before Meng could finish her words, she was interrupted.

"Village chief, it's bad! A large group of people with torches and knives are coming towards our village!" A man ran towards the village entrance. It was Liu Yazi, who was on duty tonight.

The moment Liuyazi ran over, several other night watchmen in the village also ran over, and they all said the same thing.

"Village chief, someone is coming to our village!"

Liu Yazi was at the entrance of the village, with a lookout tower, so he could see clearly that they were carrying knives. When the others saw that more than one person was coming, they hurried back to report the news.

Village Chief Li, Jiang Qinyu, and the others immediately changed their expressions. Village Chief Li asked anxiously, "Liu Yazi, did you really see them carrying knives?"