From the moment Wu Tianxiang started asking about the soldiers, Village Chief Shi knew that the people from Pinghe Village were coming from this path, which meant something was about to happen. He didn't dare to delay and, together with the villager who had called him over earlier, found a long plank from the side.
"We'll hold you here, so you can come over without worry." Village Chief Shi and the others pressed the wooden planks firmly into the ground, gesturing for Wu Tianxiang to come over directly.
After the others arrived, Village Chief Shi quickly led him to the area where Captain Liu and the others were.
"Captain Liu, we really need to trouble you with something this time." Wu Tianxiang didn't beat around the bush, but directly explained the whole story and also mentioned their suspicions.
"So, do you want us to take some people to Pinghe Village, or do you want us to investigate for you?" Captain Liu hadn't expected this to happen, and he knew that such things wouldn't come out of nowhere, because even if the army didn't notify the people of Xin San Village, they would have; it was impossible for them to just pass by here.
"I'm wondering if they have someone on lookout at the village entrance, so they can ambush our troops on the way out of the village, or wait for our troops to leave before attacking our village." Wu Tianxiang had considered various possibilities along the way, but now that Xin San Village had not received any notification, it was more likely that they were targeting Pinghe Village.
"If we encounter sentries, should we arrest them directly or pretend we don't see them?" Captain Liu also wanted to know what Pinghe Village was planning.
"Let's pretend we can't see them for now, and then we'll discuss a safer plan to wipe them out in one fell swoop. The fact that they're using this kind of scheme against us means they must have figured out our situation completely."
Wu Tianxiang didn't want to think of people as so bad, but when he thought about how that group of people could make so many refugees disappear without anyone noticing when they were fleeing, it showed that they were cunning.
Moreover, when the villagers caught them before, they not only confiscated their belongings but also tied them up in the wilderness to fend for themselves. This had already offended them, and now that those people had escaped, they would definitely try to get revenge.
“Alright, we just happen to be going to your village to fetch limestone now, so we can build a couple of houses.” Captain Liu told his team to carry baskets and head straight to Pinghe Village.
"Are you coming with us or will you continue along the back path?"
"I'll take the back road. If it's the group we're thinking of, they should all recognize me." Wu Tianxiang knew that if it were other villagers, they might not recognize him. But if it was him, they would definitely notice. They had frequently crossed paths on their escape route, and he had also participated in searching their belongings.
"Alright, see you in Pinghe Village!" Captain Liu didn't waste any time, waving his hand and leading his team from the village entrance.
As he walked, he instructed his teammates, "Keep calm and don't look around. If you spot anything, remember to give a signal."
After thanking and saying goodbye to Village Chief Shi, Wu Tianxiang quickly circled back into the village via the back path.
As the village chief watched the people on both sides move quickly, he also walked to the village entrance and told the people on duty there to be alert and guard their camp.
Captain Liu led his men towards Pinghe Village, pretending to chat and laugh. They didn't find anything along the way at first, but when they reached a slope, they saw figures flash by.
They continued walking forward quietly, still discussing how much limestone to carry to build a few houses.
As they approached Pinghe Village, although they didn't see anyone, they had a vague feeling that someone was watching them.
It seems that the suspicions raised by Pinghe Village earlier were indeed possible. We must not let these people succeed, or the people around here will suffer.
"Captain Liu, are you here with some people to carry limestone?" The person standing on the lookout tower greeted him with a smile when he saw that it was an acquaintance. "Wait a moment, we'll come down and open the door for you right away."
The two of them slid down the bamboo pole quickly and together opened the wooden bolt on the door.
"Kid, next time you'd better look carefully before opening the door for us. What if someone pretends to be us and comes to visit you?" After they came in, the two young men blocked the door again before they spoke to them.
"Don't worry, the ones who can keep watch here must have pretty good eyesight. Those who are nearsighted have been sent to patrol the village." They've been keeping watch here all this time, and they really don't know that something is about to happen in the village.
When Captain Liu heard how relaxed they were, he guessed that they were still unaware of the situation. He didn't talk to them much, but instead told them to stay and keep watch, and not to open the door to outsiders again, before heading into the village.
They had been to Pinghe Village many times and knew the way well, so they found Yunxun and his team who were working there.
"What brings Captain Liu to our village today?" Yun Xun was a little surprised to see them, since they usually didn't come to carry limestone at this time of day.
"Didn't you send us here? Now you're denying it?" Captain Liu joked with him.
"No, who notified you?" Yun Xun suddenly didn't expect Brother Wu.
“I notified them,” Angkor said, running in breathlessly. “I didn’t expect you to act so quickly, arriving even before I did.”
"That's because we took the main road, while the mountain path you took was not easy to walk." Captain Liu had led the team on that mountain path before, so he knew how difficult it was. He didn't expect Wu Tianxiang to arrive so quickly.
"How was it? Did you find anything along the way?" Wu Tianxiang began to inquire about the situation on the road.
"We saw a figure flash by halfway there, but we couldn't see clearly. But when we got to the corner near the village entrance, although we didn't see anyone, we all felt that someone was watching us." Captain Liu told them about his discoveries along the way without hiding anything.
"It seems we were right, our village has been targeted." Yun Xun had never encountered this situation before, and he stood up anxiously and paced around.
"See what your village has planned. If you need our cooperation, just let us know." Ever since the last time Heping Village and Baijia Village went to kill the wolf pack together, Captain Liu had been looking for an opportunity to improve relations between the two sides.
"Yes, we understand. We don't know their specific plans yet, but we can roughly guess from their notification that we need to go to the city to exchange supplies." Wu Tianxiang knew this wasn't the time for pleasantries, and their plans might still require their cooperation.
"Let's go all the way and go to the back mountain to bring back some limestone. We'll let you know when you've finalized your plan." Captain Liu knew that it would take time for Pinghe Village to finalize its plan, so he didn't linger and led his team to the back mountain to carry back limestone.
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