Grandpa Zhao smiled but didn't reply.
Meanwhile, after the children had fallen asleep, the couple chatted in the room about the news Yunhua had brought back that day.
Xu Han spoke first, "I don't know when this war will end. It's already reached our area. I just hope that my family can get through this peacefully."
Lu Chuan massaged Xu Han's shoulders. "Don't worry! We're far from the county town, so those enemy troops won't be able to find us. But it's the people around the county town who will suffer."
Children raised under the red flag have never seen anything like this before, and when it really came to this, they couldn't help but feel a little scared.
Xu Han grabbed Lu Chuan's hand and said seriously, "What should we do if we're really discovered?"
Lu Chuan grasped Xu Han's hand and assured her, "No, I'll go out on patrols more often from now on. If I find anything amiss, I'll immediately take you and the child away from here. We'll head deep into the mountains and go far away."
After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Do you remember the valley we discovered before the drought? We'll hide there then; it's secluded and no one else can find us."
Xu Han then remembered that she had thought of using the valley as a way out during the natural disaster, but she had never used it and had gradually forgotten about it over time.
"These next few days I'll pack up all the valuables in the house and put them all into the space, along with all the food and supplies. I'll fill the space completely, leaving only some daily necessities and a little food outside. That way, if anything happens, we won't be in too much trouble."
Lu Chuan actually wanted to say that it was unnecessary, and he would not let such a thing happen.
But then I thought about it again and realized it was a good thing. Apart from being a little tired, there didn't seem to be any downsides, so I nodded and agreed.
Having set a goal and a task, Xu Han didn't say much and immediately prepared to go to sleep.
If it weren't so dark and late that it would be inconvenient to do things, Xu Han would probably have already gone to pack her things.
Xu Han, lying in bed, wasn't really asleep. She took the time to tidy up the space so she could stuff things into it tomorrow.
Currently, apart from some grains and meat, there isn't much else left in the space. After a winter, most of the vegetables stored last year have been eaten, and this year's vegetables haven't even started to bear fruit yet, so the space is quite large now.
There are also a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes in the cellar. These grains are also very important. I must sort them out properly tomorrow.
She fell asleep while thinking about it. Lu Chuan looked down at his wife and saw that she was breathing evenly, so he knew that she was indeed asleep.
Lu Chuan pulled her closer to his chest, secretly vowing to protect Xu Han.
The next day, as expected, Xu Han started tidying up her things. Apart from tidying up, everyone else seemed to be doing nothing.
Everyone continued doing what they were doing as usual, completely unaffected by this incident.
Overthinking is not good. Since you can't change anything, you might as well live in the present.
Everyone continued working as usual, and Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest didn't do much for the time being.
Two or three days passed, and Lu Chuan estimated that the army should have arrived by now, so he suggested that he go down the mountain to take a look.
Seeing this, the Taoist priest followed along. The two of them still went by boat, which was faster, but neither of them would be foolish enough to row the boat all the way to their destination. At most, they would row the boat halfway.
The two would walk the rest of the way to avoid alerting the enemy.
After Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest descended the mountain, they did not find any trace of the enemy army. They assumed that the enemy had just captured the city and was celebrating, and had not yet had the opportunity to carry out further actions.
Seeing this, the two started walking back, intending to come back and check again in a while.
Two weeks later, the two men descended the mountain again and, as expected, discovered the enemy army. Coincidentally, they were stationed near the official road leading down from the mountain.
This place is neither too far nor too close to the county seat, making it an ideal location for the enemy to set up camp.
The Taoist priest said to Lu Chuan, "You stay here, I'll go and check the situation."
Lu Chuan immediately grabbed the Taoist priest's arm and disagreed, saying, "No, it's too dangerous, Master, you can't go."
"Let go, I'll just go take a look, I'm not going to do anything, it's fine."
Lu Chuan insisted that he should not go, saying, "No, we can't go in broad daylight; it'll be easy to be discovered."
However, Lu Chuan's martial arts skills were inferior to the Taoist priest's, and the Taoist priest could easily defeat Lu Chuan, leaving him powerless to fight back.
Unable to stop him in the end, Lu Chuan could only watch helplessly as his master left, heading towards the army not far away.
Unfortunately, he didn't know any light-body skills, so he could only wait anxiously for an hour (two hours) before the Taoist priest finally returned.
After Lu Chuan recognized the person, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, I'm finally back."
"How are you? Master, are you alright?"
"It's alright, let's go."
Lu Chuan wanted to ask something more, but the Taoist priest waved his hand, indicating that they would talk about it later.
Upon arriving home, Xu Han and Grandpa Zhao immediately surrounded them, asking about their condition.
The Taoist priest drank a cup of water and slowly said, "It's nothing. We saw the enemy's encampment today, right at the exit where we came down the mountain. I even went in to investigate, and there was nothing unusual."
There were no signs of them on the mountain. It seems they didn't intend to search it. Otherwise, given so much time having passed, they would have searched long ago.
Lu Chuan continued, "Judging from the surrounding environment, it can be inferred that the two sides have not yet officially started fighting. The enemy must have just arrived here recently."
Grandpa Zhao said, "The enemy is in hot pursuit, this war should be coming soon."
Xu Han was slowly becoming numb to the matter. Being afraid was useless, so she might as well relax and say, "Oh well, let's just wait. They can't hit us anyway."
The Taoist priest chuckled and flicked Xu Han's forehead. "You little rascal, you've finally figured it out."
Xu touched his forehead, which was sore from being flicked, and pouted, saying, "There's no way to figure it out now. I've been nervous for half a month and nothing has happened. If this continues, I'll drive myself crazy before they even find this place. I might as well just give up."
Grandpa Zhao laughed and said, "Hahaha, that's great! We were worried you might do something rash!"
Finally, the Taoist priest spoke up, "Alright, go about your business as usual. Just remember to keep an eye on yourselves when you go out, and don't wander off when you're alone. Don't worry, it's safe here."
Xu Han didn't object and nodded in agreement.
About ten days later, when Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest went down again, they found the enemy's encampment unusually lively. The Taoist priest took a closer look and realized that the enemy must have just finished a battle and was busy bandaging and saving the lives of their soldiers.
Later, in a letter sent back by Yunhua, I learned that the first clash between the two sides here was actually initiated by our army.
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