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

When I first heard a bell ring, the sound wasn't very clear because I was far from the village entrance.

Everyone was a little confused.

Until the second and third chimes, the bells rang more and more frequently and urgently.

An Qing exclaimed in surprise, "You heard right! Someone rang the bronze bell!!"

Gu Xixi instinctively wanted to run to see what was going on, but then suddenly stopped. "No, I'm still on patrol. I can't leave my post without knowing the situation."

Sister-in-law Qin said anxiously, "It must be bandits who have entered the village. Let's quickly grab our weapons and go to the village entrance to help!"

The more times like this, the more calm you need to be.

Gu Xixi pondered for a moment, then looked past the group of people to the golden wheat field, and then moved her gaze upwards to look further into the distance.

“No,” she murmured, “we absolutely cannot leave now.”

"Although Huachidu Village only has one entrance under a big locust tree, it is an ordinary road for ordinary people."

Gu Xixi pointed to the wheat fields stretching into the distance, where the wheat ears harvested by each family in the past two days were still piled up at the edge of the field.

"There's actually another place in our village where you can get in."

To the east were fields, and in the distance stretched a rocky wasteland, completely disconnected from the official road and with no proper road access; it was a desolate, uninhabited place.

At the end of the field, there were ditches that were difficult to cross. The area was far from where the villagers lived, and walking through the ditches was bumpy and you could easily fall into one.

So no one ever enters the village from that side.

However, it is not completely impassable.

He Jinglan suddenly realized, and her expression turned serious. "The bandits broke into the village, naturally aiming for the grain. They might send some of their men into the village from here, first using a feint to find the grain, and then working together from the inside to steal it from the main road."

An Qing scratched his head, trying to understand the deeper meaning, "So their current disturbance at the village entrance is... a feint?"

He Jinglan nodded, "That's possible."

She paused for a moment and then said, "But it's also possible that they're just a bunch of petty thieves who aren't that smart."

Sister-in-law Qin had already reached out and pulled the two children in front of her, protecting them tightly.

Feeling somewhat lost, she could only ask Gu Xixi, "So, we're just going to stay here and do nothing?"

"What if, as Miss He says, nothing happens to us?"

Gu Xixi said, "It would be best if nothing happened here."

"If the village entrance can be held, that's fine. In the worst case, if it can't, the whole village can retreat into the deep mountains, at least we can save our lives."

She didn't say the rest.

If someone were to directly invade the heart of this village, it's hard to say whether everyone could escape unscathed.

Sister-in-law Qin blurted out anxiously, "If we run to the back mountain to hide, won't all the wheat and everything else in the house be gone?"

As soon as she said it, she realized that it seemed a bit excessive to be thinking about such material possessions when her life was at stake.

Sister-in-law Qin said awkwardly, "Xixi, please don't be offended. I was confused for a moment. I finally made some money recently and bought some new household items. I immediately started to act like I don't care about money."

Gu Xixi, however, was very understanding. "The good life we ​​have now is all thanks to the hard work of you two. Who would want to give it up so easily? Besides..."

She smiled reassuringly at everyone, "Sometimes, losing money but still being alive is another kind of tragedy."

They all curled their lips into a smile, but none of them could quite manage a genuine laugh.

A mountain breeze rustled through the unharvested wheat.

They stared nervously at the distant wheat field.

Suddenly, Stone pointed to a field of wheat and exclaimed, "There are people there!!"

That was still Gu Xixi's wheat field. The wheat straw was tall and lush, and the huge ears of wheat all drooped their heads, making it difficult to see what was hidden inside.

The group of people stared intently at the field of wheat.

He Jinglan whispered, "An average adult of normal height, walking over normally, shouldn't be able to see nothing."

An Qinghe stared wide-eyed as he analyzed, "Only thieves would sneak around hiding inside like that."

Everyone was taken aback.

The shaking of the wheat grew closer and stronger, as if someone were about to emerge through it.

Sister-in-law Qin hugged Shitou and Qing'er tightly, her eyes fierce like a mother wolf protecting her cubs.

He Jinglan glanced at them calmly and silently shielded the three of them behind her.

Gu Xixi walked forward, blocking the way, and casually reached into her crossbody bag to open a large paper package.

The poison in her bag was the most potent kind. She had used it on the Northern Li soldiers when she and Mu Nanzhao encountered danger at the border. After returning, with the help of the old doctor, she improved it to be even more refined.

It absorbs faster and has a more powerful effect.

When making preparations, Gu Xixi specially divided the items into large and small bags to deal with different situations.

After all, the raw materials for poison are quite expensive, and good steel should be used where it's needed most.

But right now, she has to deal with an unknown number of bandits, and Gu Xixi also has to protect the people behind her from any mishaps.

We must use large bags; it's safer that way!

An Qinghe, usually all smiles, stood shoulder to shoulder with Gu Xixi, his face cold.

He took a dagger from a cow bone sheath from his deerskin belt.

The dagger was drawn, gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

This dagger once slew wolves in the desert; it's perfect for slaying thieves today.

In the silence, each of them prepared to face the enemy.

The wheat suddenly parted, revealing a man's face.

Gu Xixi pulled out a large bag of poison, and at the same time, she stared intently at it, abruptly stopping her hand from sprinkling the poison.

"Uncle Chen? It's you?!"

Everyone else recognized Chen Dafu, and after they breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts began to pound.

Chen Dafu crouched down and crawled out, then threw the large bundle of things he was dragging on the ground.

The sound of heavy metal objects hitting the ground with a thud kicked up dust.

That's when everyone understood why he walked in that posture.

He Jinglan identified them one by one, "Long sword? Axe? Machete? And what are these?"

Gu Xixi looked at them and said, "Apart from the two long knives which can be considered weapons, the rest are just common household tools and farm implements."

An Qinghe said, "But judging from their equipment, they are far inferior to the bandits who specialize in robbing caravans in the desert."

Every bandit carries a knife, and each one has at least a few lives on their hands.

Without Gu Xixi asking, Chen Dafu wiped his sweat and said, panting, "Just now, Xiao Liu and Xiao Ma said it was too hot and they went to the Qingshui Canal to wash up and cool off."

"As a result, we discovered that these were hidden in the weeds on the side of the irrigation ditch next to our fields."

“When I saw the owner coming this way, I felt that something was wrong with these things, so I thought I would bring them all over and show them to the owner so he could decide what to do with them.”

Gu Xixi and the others silently observed the weapons.

Then they all looked up at Chen Dafu, their eyes filled with a strange intensity. An Qinghe even revealed a cunning and wicked smile.

"Hey Hey……"

The village bell is still ringing.

Chen Dafu felt a chill run down his spine from all the stares. "Boss, Miss He, why are you all looking at me?"