Xie Yan said with a stern face, "Little Gem, take her back inside and make sure she stays there. Don't let her come out!"
Little Gem confidently declared, "I can protect my sister. I'm very strong."
"Yes, Little Gem will protect me, Second Brother, Fifth Brother, you believe me, I won't let myself be in danger!" The little guy clenched his fists.
Zhou Erqian wouldn't listen. "Go back right now and stop spouting nonsense. We don't need you!"
"Sisi, go back. This is a matter for us adults. You just stay in the manor and wait."
The matter was urgent, and Xu Zhenzhen couldn't waste any more time here; he had to get to the city wall immediately.
Sisi didn't move. "The North Gate is unguarded. Even if you don't let me go, I will. We all know what Little Gem is. In times of crisis, he is more useful than others."
Xu Zhen knew that the little gem was the snake king in disguise, but this was a war, and the enemy was the brutal Hun. No one knew what would happen, and he couldn't risk Sisi's life.
Just as he was about to speak, the little guy, as if afraid he would refuse, snatched the command flag and ran off, saying, "I'm going to the North Gate first. Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to hold it!"
"Little ancestor, wait for me." Zhao Yuan caught up.
"That brat!" Zhou Erqian was furious. "I'm going to go and bring her back!"
"It's too late."
Xie Yan took the command flag from the East Gate and said, "Go and guard the city gate first. When Fourth Brother comes back, I'll go and keep an eye on Sisi."
"Alright!"
The group split into four groups to guard the four city gates. After Shen returned, Xie Yan let him stay by Zhou Erqian's side while he went to the north gate.
Guan Yize and several children led a group of people to gather all the people in the city center. They also had the drunk people in the city lord's mansion put on carriages, waiting for Sisi's order to run away immediately.
There were also people from Peach Blossom Village among them. The village chief wandered through the crowd but couldn't find Sisi and the other children. He was sweating profusely with anxiety.
"Where are Sisi and the others? Where have all the Zhou family kids gone? At this critical moment, why are they still running around?"
Guan Yize kept a straight face. "Grandpa, don't talk nonsense. They didn't run away. They went to guard the city. Sisi went too. They're protecting us!"
The village chief was taken aback, then slapped himself in the face. "How can a few children guard the city? Are they even accompanied by any guards?"
“With city guards, even children can defend the city. I believe in Sisi; she’s not the type to lie!”
The village chief naturally believed in Sisi's abilities, but it was laughable that the men were hiding behind while the children rushed ahead.
The village chief kicked Zhou Youfu in the backside. "What are you waiting for? Stand up!"
"Men, young and old, cheer up! Stand tall and straight! Wuzhou City took us in, and now that Wuzhou is in trouble, we can't let the Zhou family's children go to defend the city. If word gets out, we'll lose all our face!"
The village chief's words inspired everyone's fighting spirit.
"Yes, although we are old, we have been doing farm work for many years and we are much stronger than those children."
“We are all elders, how can the younger generation protect the elders? We have to protect the seedlings in our village!”
The village chief was very pleased. "Good, this old man of mine still has some strength. If the Xiongnu invade, I'll fight them to the death. If I kill the Xiongnu, I can die in peace!"
"How can we fight them when we don't even have any supplies?" Zhou Youfu didn't want to go and die, so he clutched his waist and pretended to have back pain.
"Ouch, my back hurts so much! Village chief, I can't fight the Huns!"
The village chief scoffed, "Coward!"
Zhou Youfu pretended not to hear.
"Anything can be our weapon if we want to—machetes, bench legs, even hoes. We can't just sit here and let a bunch of kids take the lead!"
The village chief grabbed a stick from the roadside and said, "Those who agree, come with me. Those who don't, wait here for our message, then run!"
All the strong men in the village followed, except for Zhou Youfu. Many men in the city were also persuaded, and except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, the rest took whatever they could carry and followed the village chief.
Zhou Youfu was the only one who blushed with embarrassment, but under the gazes of many women, he finally followed Quan.
At worst, he can just stay away; he still has a son.
A large group of people went to the West Gate.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Mayor Yu Qing, who was hiding inside the carriage, secretly released a pigeon.
Meanwhile, the Xiongnu outside the city marched triumphantly toward Wuzhou.
Leading the group was General Wumeng of the Northern Di, a burly man with dark, shiny skin and a full beard. He rode at the head of the group, carrying a gleaming large sword.
"General, after we conquer Wuzhou and head south, we might even steal Rousseau's credit!" Guard Agu said with great dissatisfaction.
It's so unfair of the king. General Wumeng is brave and skilled in battle. It would be so easy for him to go to the capital and attack that incompetent emperor. Instead, he has to send the weak Rousseau to fight, and make his generals fight these small, peripheral towns.
Wu Meng laughed, "What's the rush? Wuzhou is tiny; we can take it in a quarter of an hour. After Wuzhou comes Anshi; we'll crush cities all the way to the capital. Our achievements will far surpass those of Rousseau."
Moreover, Rousseau only has 200,000 troops, while Qingyuan's main force is all in the capital. He might not even be able to defeat them and be waiting for our reinforcements!
Agu gave a thumbs up, "General, you have foresight. With 500,000 troops at our disposal, what are we afraid of in a mere Wuzhou? Even destroying the capital wouldn't be a problem."
Wu Meng laughed loudly, when suddenly a panicked shout came from behind, "General, something terrible has happened! Our grain has been burned!"
"How is this possible?" Wu Meng turned his horse around, and the grain transport wagons were already ablaze.
"Who did this? What happened? You bunch of useless idiots, get to the fire!"
"There's no way to save it, General. We're saving our water for drinking. If we try to put out the fire, we'll have no water left. That fire was started by a bird; we can't put it out no matter what we do!"
Agu kicked him to the ground and angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could a bird start a fire? Did one of you light a pipe and burn the grain?"
"No, we wouldn't dare!"
The man knelt on the ground begging for mercy, when a cry rang out from the sky. He looked up and pointed at the bird.
"General, that's the bird! It breathes fire!"
Wu Meng glared at Xiao Bai, gritting his teeth in anger, "A dead crow can breathe fire? You think...?"
Whew~
Little White proudly burned off all his hair.
Wu Mengtang fell off his horse. Agu smeared mud and sand on his face to put out the fire, but his hair and beard were completely burned off.
"Catch that bird for me! Alive!"
A bird that breathes fire, presented to the king, would be a great achievement!
Wu Meng spat, "Whoever catches that bird first, I, the general, will reward him with ten thousand taels of gold!"
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