After a full day of presiding over the recruitment of grassroots sales staff, Zheng Hongfang still felt uneasy.

He was filled with trepidation as the commander personally led a team to deal with the bandits.

Even Xing Xiuyan, who was placed in the town to handle documents in place of Shenxi, was often in a bad mood. At this moment, she was waiting for Zheng Hongfang in the conference room.

"Mayor Zheng, sir, is there any news?"

"There's news that they went to the last village last night, called Gezhuangzi, but there's no other news coming in."

"I know they went to Gezhuangzi after passing Wangjiazhuang last night. More than half a day has passed since then, why haven't we heard anything yet?"

Xing Xiuyan was extremely anxious and frustrated.

How did she end up being tricked by the leader into staying in town?

The leader said she was his little assistant, and that many documents had not yet been processed and needed her help, so he asked her to be a good helpmate.

Xing Xiuyan was quite conflicted at the time, wondering whether it was better to be a good wife or a good follower of the leader.

Now it seems we should have gone with the leader.

That way, I won't be so worried and uncertain.

Zheng Hongfang frowned deeply, but he still needed to reassure Xing Xiuyan: "Miss Xing, the commander is exceptionally fortunate; nothing will happen to him."

Just then, a messenger came with a message: "Mayor, something terrible has happened!"

Zheng Hongfang jumped up in fright, and Xing Xiuyan turned pale with shock.

"What's the big deal? Speak up!"

Messenger Wang Jia is a messenger from Shenxi. If he can shout out loud, it must be something important for the commander.

"Commander, a huge fire has broken out at Luzhuangzi, where you went. Quickly, send someone to check it out."

He was a messenger left behind in Wangjiazhuang, and Shenxi ordered him to relay the news from Wangjiazhuang back to Qiaozhen.

He had already relayed the message back, and then rushed back to Wangjiazhuang to catch up with the main force.

In Wangjiazhuang, Shenxi also left a few guards to handle the aftermath and sent people to Luzhuangzi to find out the situation.

Because some time has passed, and no news has come.

Although Luzhuangzi and Wangjiazhuang are only a dozen miles apart as the crow flies, the road is extremely difficult to travel. It's not a straight line, and you have to cross a mountain.

If you were to walk, it would take at least two hours to get there.

By the time the guards who went to Luzhuangzi to investigate returned, it was already late afternoon.

There were two of them, and they went on horseback, but they still had to walk into the mountains.

Before they even entered the mountains, they saw a raging fire and thick smoke.

Sensing something was wrong, guard Han Liu said to Zhao Jun, "Go back quickly, I need to go in and take a look."

Zhao Jun didn't mince words; he quickly turned his horse around and headed back to Wangjiazhuang.

The guards immediately stopped what they were doing and hurriedly said to Wang Jia, "Go back to Qiaozhen immediately and report to them. Send more people as soon as possible."

Wang Jia immediately mounted his horse again and returned to Qiaozhen to report.

The messenger's horse was a carefully selected fine steed, incredibly fast.

It was evening when Wang Jia arrived at Qiaozhen and hurriedly came to report to Zheng Hongfang.

Zheng Hongfang was so scared he was about to lose his mind.

Zheng Hongfang knew about that forest; if it were a raging fire, countless people would have a hard time escaping.

Wang Jia urged frantically, "Mayor Zheng, send someone quickly!"

Although Xing Xiuyan was unaware of the situation in Luzhuangzi's mountain forest, she was still frightened by Wang Jia's report.

But she quickly calmed down and asked directly, "Mayor Zheng, how many militiamen are left in Qiaozhen?"

Most of the regular soldiers have already been taken away by Li De.

Zheng Hongfang immediately realized what was happening, forced himself to remain calm, and said, "There are still more than a hundred people in the town, the rest are all further away."

Xing Xiuyan immediately ordered, "Assemble more than a hundred militiamen immediately. We'll go first. Also, send people to each village to gather militiamen and head directly to Luzhuangzi. Remember to bring fire-fighting equipment."

Zheng Hongfang summoned his subordinates and gave them instructions according to Xing Xiuyan's words.

Xing Xiuyan looked at Wang Jia with a resolute expression: "Brother Wang, I still need to trouble you a bit. Go to each village and send messages, especially those villages next to Luzhuangzi. Send the messages first and tell them to go to Luzhuangzi to put out the fire immediately."

Wang Jia knew Xing Xiuyan's intentions. There were no more horses left in Qiaozhen, only his fast horse, which was the fastest way to deliver messages.

"good."

Despite his exhaustion, Wang Jia took the document Zheng Hongfang had given him, mounted his horse, and went to deliver the message.

He didn't need to go to Wangjiazhuang; he believed that the guards had already gathered their men and were heading to Luzhuangzi.

Soon, Zheng Hongfang gathered more than a hundred people and hurried on foot to Luzhuangzi.

This time, instead of taking the road from Wangjiazhuang, we took a shortcut to get there.

Even the shortest route is difficult to reach in a short time.

Although Xing Xiuyan appeared calm, her anxiety was evident in her eyes, which were red and glistening with tears.

Zheng Hongfang led over a donkey and let Xing Xiuyan sit on it: "Miss Xing, walk slowly, you can keep up with us if you ride it."

The militia consisted entirely of able-bodied young men; even the women were selected from among the strongest and most capable, and they moved with remarkable speed.

Xing Xiuyan thanked Zheng Hongfang without hesitation and leaped onto the donkey's back.

She can ride horses; she learned it from Shen Xi.

Riding a donkey is no problem for him either.

It's not that she can't walk, but rather that she was originally from a wealthy family and had only had a short period of actual training, unlike those who had been working in the fields since childhood.

She didn't want to delay because of her physical exhaustion; she wanted to get to Luzhuangzi as soon as possible.

This is the only donkey we could find; in the whole town, there are only three cows and one donkey.

Oxen are too slow and unsuitable, so donkeys will have to do.

If we continue walking like this, we'll probably reach Luzhuangzi in the middle of the night.

No matter how anxious you are, there's nothing you can do.

Night slowly fell.

Dou Yong, who was sleeping, was woken up by a soldier: "Platoon leader, many people have gone into the mountains."

Dou Yong jolted awake, all sleepiness gone, and asked anxiously, "Who is it?"

"We don't know yet, but we've already sent people to find out."

Dou Yong jumped down from the floor; he always slept with his shoes on, and went straight out of the house.

On the way to the mountain, they saw people carrying torches coming in this direction.

"Did you call the company commander?"

"It called."

Just then, Li De arrived at Dou Yong's side, anxiously shouting, "Dou Yong, why didn't you wake me up sooner? Why did you let me sleep for so long?"

"Company Commander, if you don't sleep and get proper rest, how will you have the energy to serve the commander when he comes out?"

Li De scratched his head: "You're right."

"Have you found out who's here?"

"Not yet, the scouts should be back soon."

Kong Ze was also awakened, but he was used to taking off his shoes before sleeping, so he put his shoes back on and came out.

"Company commander, if it's the enemy, shouldn't we gather our troops first?"

Dou Yong shook his head: "It can't be the enemy."