A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Aunt Lin's delicate profile, illuminated by the flickering light of the oil lamp, revealed a kind of unyielding strength.

He Jinglan was deeply shocked and weakly reminded him, "Isn't there a rule in the army that we are not allowed to leave the village at this time?"

Aunt Lin, however, seemed confident, saying, "Discovering the enemy's fire attack is military intelligence, and relaying urgent military information is not within the bounds of regulations. Besides, assisting in putting out the fire is simply our duty as military dependents."

There is absolutely no reason to retreat tonight.

She was about to climb down the ladder when she said that.

Gu Xixi followed, "I'll go with you. I've surveyed the area before and know where there are water sources nearby."

Once off the roof, He Jinglan exclaimed in a flustered manner, "Xixi, I want to go too!"

Gu Xixi said gently, "Be good, you stay in the village and wait for us."

“If we go out from here, our safety will not be guaranteed. We are going to the area between the two armies. If we encounter any enemy, we will have to run for our lives at any time.”

He Jinglan exclaimed eagerly, "I can!"

"Every extra person helps in putting out the fire, and I promise I won't hold you back!"

Gu Xixi looked at her for a moment, then sighed, "Never mind, there's no time to waste, let's go quickly."

The phrase "no time to waste" refers not only to the fire.

The goal is to quickly gather those willing to go before the sentries react, and everyone should rush out of the village as soon as possible.

Apart from Mrs. Zhou, who was still in her postpartum period, and two other women who were physically weak and unable to move around easily, they had to stay behind to keep her company.

When the remaining people heard Aunt Lin say that the Northerners were going to burn down everyone's orchards and might even use the orchards to set fire to the surrounding fields, causing the fire to spread and creating a crisis for the Northwest Army, they were shocked.

Without saying a word, everyone picked up their own wooden buckets of water and left.

This trip is for two reasons: the greater good and my own personal interests.

They were military dependents of the Northwest Army, and in times of crisis, it was their duty to help.

They are themselves, and no one can easily destroy their own Bimbisara fruit tree!

It was late at night, a time when the whole village should have been fast asleep.

By the time the sentries noticed, the women were only a few steps away from the village entrance.

They chased after them, trying to persuade them to turn back, but could only watch helplessly as the group of women ran even faster.

Gu Xixi and the others arrived at the foot of the Bodhi fruit grove and looked up. Sure enough, flames had already started burning from below.

Because of the distance and the obstruction of the tree canopy, the view from within the village is not very clear.

Fortunately, the wind was not strong and the fire was not large, so it was still possible to control it.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Northern Army, none of them dared to make a sound.

Gu Xixi led everyone up the sheltered side of the road, whispering instructions as she went, "Fire and water are merciless. You must not try to fight them head-on. If the fire gets bigger, we will all evacuate immediately. No one is allowed to linger in the fire. Do you understand?"

The women nodded in agreement.

Gu Xixi reiterated, "Think about how you feel waiting for your husbands to return home. Compared to these trees, each of our lives is the most important."

Everyone nodded with increasingly determined looks in their eyes.

Upon entering the grove of Bodhi fruit trees, everyone spontaneously split into two groups.

Some of the stronger and faster runners followed Gu Xixi to fetch water, splashing it back and forth to put out the fire.

The other group, whose strength was slightly inferior, stayed behind to shovel up the sand piled up at the edge of the woodland and throw it far away onto the flames.

These sand mounds were originally dug up from the riverbank by the Northwest Army, who had planted the trees, at Gu Xixi's request, and were intended to be used as compost for the fruit trees later.

Who knew they would come in handy at this moment to put out a fire?

By using sand to bury the fire and pouring cold water, the two methods of extinguishing the fire worked together, and the results were finally worth the women's hard work.

With a smile on her face, Aunt Lin whispered in Gu Xixi's ear, "All the open flames on our side have been put out."

"Splash it twice more, and I guarantee it won't catch fire again."

"I think it's almost done over there too."

Gu Xixi nodded, "Go over there and help them finish up."

"Let's finish this quickly. We'll leave in no more than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea!"

By this time, the eastern sky was already turning dark blue. If they delayed any longer, they would be discovered at dawn, which would be terrible.

Before leaving, Gu Xixi, Aunt Lin, and He Jinglan counted the number of people to make sure that no one was missing.

The fire was successfully extinguished, and everyone walking down the street wore a proud smile.

The men charged into battle.

In critical moments, these women can do just as well.

Not only did they quietly avert the threat of fire, but they also saved their fruit trees.

On their way back, they were more cautious, deliberately walking along the edges of the road, choosing routes where the grass was tall and the shadows were deep.

However, before they had gone far, Aunt Lin, who had volunteered to walk at the back, suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind her.

The footsteps were running, yet light and swift, making a faint sound as they trod on the grass.

Experienced people can tell at a glance that they are well-trained.

Following these footsteps, there could be faint sounds of horses' hooves and indistinct shouts of cursing.

Aunt Lin's face turned pale instantly. "The Northern Li people! The Northern Li people are chasing after us on horseback!"

Everyone immediately followed the original plan and hid in the grass.

Gu Xixi asked solemnly, "Why are you so sure they are from Beili?"

Aunt Lin said, "I've heard the Beili dialect before, although I can't understand what they're saying."

If we don't escape now, when will we?

Everyone abandoned the small path outside and fled through the bushes, crouching low.

When reclaiming large areas of land, Gu Xixi intentionally left some grassland to protect the local ecological environment.

Huo Jiang reviewed the presented plan and agreed, saying that leaving some grass also had a strategic purpose.

And here it is, it comes in handy again today.

As she ran, panting, Aunt Lin said, "Before the Northern Li people, there are some people even closer to us."

"They look like infantry; we don't know if they're our men or the enemy."

Gu Xixi held He Jinglan tightly with one hand and thought to herself, "We can't gamble now. We should try to escape first. It would be embarrassing if we made a wrong bet and ended up giving Bei Li our lives."

After running for an unknown amount of time, the sound of horses' hooves and the muttered curses of the Northern Li people were already very close beyond the grassland.

Although Gu Xixi couldn't understand what they were saying, she could sense that they were furious and hurling very vulgar insults.

At this point, the women dared not make any loud noises and could only crawl slowly on the ground.

Everyone was on high alert, and no one noticed that several dark figures, in the same prone position, were quickly catching up from behind.

Gu Xixi was listening intently to the movements of the Beili people.

Suddenly sensing something amiss in the atmosphere beside her, she instinctively turned her head.

Through a few blades of grass, the masked man in black on the other side happened to be looking over.

Their eyes met, and He Jinglan next to Gu Xixi was so frightened that her face turned pale, but she managed to hold back from screaming.

In a breathy voice, he said, "Xixi, we're going to...we're going to get arrested. Have we been arrested?"

Gu Xixi met the man in black's gaze, blinked, and said, "No, that won't happen."

He Jinglan was almost in tears. "Why? Should we try to hold him off while we tell everyone to run?"

Gu Xixi's tone was surprisingly calm, even carrying a hint of eerie coldness.

"Because we both know this person."