She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

In less than two days, the first batch of silk produced in Xiaoyao Village had already sold out.

This time, they sold over three thousand taels of silver, and everyone was very happy.

When Shen Man finished her work and came out of the silkworm breeding cooperative's office building, she happened to run into Sun Ergou looking around.

Upon seeing Shen Man, he immediately put on an honest and simple demeanor: "Man'er, are you all done with your work?"

Shen Man looked at him coldly and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not doing anything, I'm just looking around, just browsing!"

"Look? What's so interesting here?"

"Hehe, it's nothing, I'm leaving now."

As Shen Man watched Sun Ergou's departing figure, she felt something was off. She decided to secretly observe Sun Ergou to see what his intentions were.

In the following days, she noticed that Sun Ergou often loitered around the silkworm breeding cooperative and would occasionally peek inside.

That day, after dinner, with nothing to do, Shen Man flew up to the roof and sat there to look at the stars.

"The moon of today is not the moon of old, yet the moon of today once shone on the ancients. I, a modern person, have actually seen the moon of ancient times; I don't know whether this is fortunate or unfortunate!"

Shen Man rested her chin on her hands, looked at the round moon in the sky, and sighed inwardly.

However, just then, she saw a person walking out from the west side of the village, sneaking towards her.

By the moonlight, Shen Man quickly recognized the man. It was none other than Sun Ergou, who had recently returned to the village.

He jogged out of the village and headed quickly toward Qiufeng Town.

After he walked a distance, Shen Man immediately used her lightness skill to follow him at a leisurely pace.

Sun Ergou was completely unaware of this. It wasn't until he was about two miles from Xiaoyao Village that he stopped, put his hand to his mouth, and let out a loud whistle.

Soon, two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the woods.

"Sun Ergou, why have you gone back without a word? We brothers have been waiting here for ages! The boss has sent people to urge us several times already. When are we finally going to make our move?" One of the men, who was slightly taller, complained loudly to Sun Ergou with a displeased expression.

"Brothers, don't rush. I need to gain the villagers' trust first. You two hurry back and inform the chief that Xiaoyao Village recently sold a large batch of silk and made several thousand taels of silver. Tomorrow night will be the perfect opportunity for us to make our move. Let's set the time for around 9 PM tomorrow night, and use my whistle as a signal!"

“Alright, we’ll go back and report to the chief right away,” the other person said excitedly.

After saying that, the two turned around and hurriedly disappeared into the night.

Sun Ergou stood there alone for a while before leisurely walking back into the village. He hummed a little tune as he walked, looking extremely content.

Shen Man overheard the entire conversation between the three of them and thought to herself that Sun Ergou was indeed a leopard that couldn't change its spots. Last time, he colluded with the local thugs to rob her house, and this time, he's gone and colluded with the bandits in the mountains.

She initially wanted to kill him immediately to vent her anger, but then she remembered that he had made an agreement with the bandits that his whistle would be the signal. If the bandits didn't hear his whistle, they might not act.

Shen Man planned to wipe out all the bandits in one fell swoop to prevent future troubles, so he also wanted to use his whistle to lure the bandits out.

"Fine, let him live one more day."

Having convinced herself, Shen Man quietly returned to the village. Lying in bed, her mind was filled with thoughts of how to deal with the enemy the next day.

The next morning, she went directly to the village head's house and told him about Sun Ergou's collusion with bandits to rob Xiaoyao Village that night.

Upon hearing this, the village head was so angry that his eyebrows shot up. He cursed fiercely, "That damned Sun Ergou actually colluded with bandits to try to harm our fellow villagers. He deserves to die! We even pitied him back then, but we never expected... Alas, he's truly hopeless!"

Shen Man said with a solemn expression, "Grandpa Village Head, it's too late to regret it now. The most urgent thing is to find a way to deal with the approaching bandits. We must make full preparations to protect the safety of the village and its villagers."

The village head nodded. "You're right. Man'er, do you have any good ideas?"

Shen Man pondered for a moment, "I will lead the village's self-defense force to guard the entrance to the village and try to stop them outside the village. As for that Sun Ergou, someone must keep an eye on him and prevent him from doing anything that would harm the village."

A hint of approval flashed in the village head's eyes. "Good! Let's do it that way. I'll immediately send someone to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't have another chance."

Shen Man acted without hesitation, knowing that time was of the essence and she had to prepare as soon as possible.

She immediately gathered all the members of the village's self-defense force and told them about tonight's operation.

"We've been training for so long, and now we finally have a chance to show off our skills!" one of the self-defense members said excitedly.

"The bandits are ruthless and vicious, it's no joke, everyone must be extra careful. Also, this matter must be kept strictly confidential, and we must not let the news leak out!" Shen Man reminded them.

The Self-Defense Force members responded enthusiastically, expressing their willingness to obey orders and their commitment to doing their utmost.

Next, Shen Man began assigning tasks, with each person responsible for a specific area to ensure no one was overlooked.

As night fell, Shen Man led her self-defense force to ambush the bandits in the woods by the roadside, planning to launch a surprise attack when they got close.

However, they waited for a long time but did not see a single bandit, nor did they know where they were hiding.

Around 9 PM, a sharp whistle rang out from the village, and then there was some noise on the road.

Shen Man and the others held their breath and waited quietly for the bandits to appear.

Fifteen minutes later, a man riding a tall horse appeared in their sight first. Shen Man noticed that he was the only one riding a horse, while everyone else was on foot, and she could tell at a glance that he was a bandit leader.

"Brothers, listen up! We're only coming into the village for money. No harming anyone, got it?"

As they approached the ambush position of Shen Man and her men, the bandit leader suddenly reined in his horse and said to his men.

"Understood!" the bandits answered in unison. Their synchronized voices sounded more like a well-trained army than a rabble.

"It seems these bandits actually have some sense of order," Shen Man thought. "However, even if they're just after money, we can't let them go!"

As the bandits drew closer, Shen Man gave the order, and the members of the self-defense force rushed out.

The bandits were clearly not expected to be ambushed and were startled by the sudden appearance of the people, which threw them into chaos.

"Who are you people, ambushing us here?" The bandit leader, equally startled, asked in a slightly flustered voice.

"Hmph, you want to rob Xiaoyao Village? We are the villagers of Xiaoyao Village. If you want to enter the village, you'll have to get past us first!" Shen Man replied loudly.