No one got a good night's rest; many of those who witnessed the snake opening its blood-red mouth had nightmares that night.
Those guarding the back mountain dared not close their eyes all night, keeping their eyes fixed on the mountain, fearing that the giant python might suddenly come back again.
However, after everyone discussed it, they made some arrangements in the village in the first half of the night, setting up a circle of firewood around the moat, thinking that if all else failed, they would use fire to see if they could stop it from entering the village.
As for the wild boars in the ditch, no one moved them to another place. Although Liu Xinwei's method was somewhat unreliable, it was still another way to temporarily delay the python from entering the village.
Sicheng, following their usual travel routine, packed their bags early and headed back as the sun rose.
"Wait," Si Cheng called out after walking for nearly an hour.
Wu Tianxiang looked at Si Cheng with a questioning expression. "What's wrong?"
Si Cheng gestured for him to look at the road ahead, and Wu Tianxiang, who was originally a reconnaissance soldier, immediately noticed that something was different there.
He couldn't help but curse, "These bastards are really waiting for us here. If we weren't experienced, we would have really suffered from them."
Si Cheng looked at the small hill in the distance and said, "They're not just trying to make us suffer a loss; they want to keep us here."
Wu Tianxiang then noticed the important obstacle ahead. "What do we do?"
Si Cheng said, "Since they've already started provoking us, we have to grant their wish."
He gathered everyone together and whispered some instructions. Only after everyone understood did they disperse to carry out their tasks.
Nan Shulin chewed on a blade of grass, savoring its sweetness. "Looks like I'll be waiting here again today. You guys keep watch over things. I'm going to take a nap. I haven't had a proper rest all day."
Without waiting for his companion's reply, he closed his eyes to rest, while continuing to chew on grass roots.
The few companions who were guarding this place together secretly raised their fists at him, but dared not say anything, since he was the squad leader here and usually managed the distribution of everyone's supplies.
They glanced casually in the direction ahead a few times, then sat down again and fiddled with the pebbles they had picked up.
Si Cheng and his men disguised themselves and carefully made their way to the location where the traps were set, their bodies covered in weeds.
Carefully lifting a corner, Wu Tianxiang saw only a cold white light flashing inside. He couldn't help but curse, "These bastards are really ruthless. The bottom of this pit is full of sharp bayonets. It seems they used up all their stockpiles here."
Si Cheng said, "They know we have two horses leading the way. Look at the tripwires ahead, plus the bayonets in this pit. If we get hit, they can immediately kill us."
Si Cheng looked up at the small hill in front of him. Although he didn't see any people walking on it, he could see the weeds that were being touched by their bodies swaying there, thanks to his eyesight.
Yunqi asked, "So what do we do now? Should we deal with them first?"
Si Cheng glanced at the bayonets at the bottom of the pit and saw the various traps ahead. He knew that this matter was definitely not going to end well. "Let's go over there and deal with them first. You guys stay hidden and walk over slowly."
Before they could disguise themselves, Si Cheng had the remaining men retreat a distance, and then quietly infiltrated with only four people.
The four people split into two teams and slowly approached the small hill. As they moved, the grass on their backs was well hidden by the surrounding haystacks.
Yunqi waved his hand and eliminated another crawler that had accidentally wandered in. "These people really went all out. They don't know when we'll actually return, yet they're still guarding this place every day. It's really tough on them."
Seeing that no one appeared on the hillside, Si Cheng waved his hand to signal everyone to follow quickly. "We knew these people were no pushovers when they tried to force us to leave our weapons behind. We never expected them to have no bottom line. If we don't teach them a lesson, people who pass by here in the future will suffer."
Once they reached a certain distance, they stopped talking and gradually slowed down.
At Sicheng's hand gesture prompting them, the four quickly lay down on the ground to hide.
Looking up, we could see people on the hillside with binoculars looking ahead. It seemed we had been lucky; we had perfectly missed their observation time.
Hiding below, Si Cheng and the others could hear the intermittent conversations coming from above. They heard a hoarse male voice saying, "We've been making everyone take turns guarding this place every day for so many days. Don't you think about how hard it is for these people to stay here? Not only do they have to feed the mosquitoes, but they also have to deal with the animals that attack us every few days."
Another young voice said, "What can we do? We're all just trying to make a living, and now we have to harm our own compatriots. It's really upsetting."
The other person next to him shushed him, "Keep your voice down. Some things are better left unsaid.
For the next while, no more voices came from above. Si Cheng raised his hand, signaling everyone to prepare to take action.
The four men removed the camouflage of weeds from their backs and rushed to the hillside as fast as they could, pointing their pistols at each other.
The people there were startled by their sudden appearance, but seeing the dark muzzle of the gun, they dared not make any rash moves and turned to look at Nan Shulin, who was standing there in a daze. Si Cheng also stared at Nan Shulin in the same direction.
Nan Shulin saw so many people staring at him and wanted to curse them out. What did this mean?
Although he was cursing inwardly, he still uttered insincere pleasantries, "Village Chief Si, you're back. Would you like to come and sit with us?"
Si Cheng looked at him with a half-smile, "Would you really leave if we just went to your place for a visit? Besides, weren't you waiting for us here?"
Nan Shulin glanced at his companions around him, but they all kept their heads down and wouldn't look at him. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward. "It's all a misunderstanding. We're just setting traps here to catch some animals. Yes, we're just catching some animals so they won't come and cause trouble for us."
Wu Tianxiang: "Really? It seems you're really unlucky. Judging from the situation, you won't be able to catch your prey."
Nan Shulin nodded quickly, "It's not that we were unlucky, but it doesn't matter if we didn't catch it. We're just carrying out a mission, so it won't affect us much."
Yun Jianying said, "You guys are quite wealthy here. We took a look inside the traps, and there are a lot of gleaming bayonets. You've gone to great lengths. Be careful not to lose everything."
Nan Shulin was almost in tears. "There's nothing we can do about it. Everything has risks, and no one can guarantee a profit or loss."
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