In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed and it was dark.
Jiang Sheng estimated that the roast chicken was ready and called out, "It's ready. Come over and eat while it's hot. Is the mushroom soup ready?"
"In reply to your question, the soup is ready."
Everyone sat around the fire. Bei Yueli was given half a chicken. Seeing that they were all tearing it into pieces while eating, she hesitated for a moment, but soon learned how to do the same. The chicken tasted delicious and tender.
Seeing her eating happily, Jiang Sheng smiled and said, "How is it? It's delicious, isn't it? It's hard enough being away from home, so you should eat better if you can."
"Otherwise, my stomach won't be able to handle eating dry food all the time."
"Mmm, it's delicious. You are amazing, sir. How come you can do everything?"
Yang Shi grinned and gave the bone to the wolf cub, saying proudly: "My young master knows everything. Medical skills are no problem, not to mention cooking."
Bei Yueli looked at him with bright eyes and said admiringly, "It is really amazing. You are the most amazing person I have ever seen."
She was of noble status, and many young men had wanted to get close to her since she was a child, but she really disliked those men. They wore rouge and powder, and the scent of them wafted over her before they even got close.
But she was disgusted by those smells. She always felt that men should be clean and refreshing, instead of pinching their throats and making people feel uncomfortable.
Jiang Sheng felt embarrassed by the compliment and shook his head modestly, "It's nothing, it's all about living a better life, eating well, drinking well and sleeping well."
Bei Yueli hummed, and while eating, she asked, "Sir, no matter how busy we are on the road, you always ask people to boil water for us to drink. Why is that?"
"To keep clean and avoid illness, raw water may appear clean, but it contains invisible dirt, such as... insect eggs."
"Insects, insect eggs?"
"Yes, I like to travel. I once passed by a village where people had swollen stomachs. After asking them, I found out that they were full of worms."
After Jiang Sheng finished speaking, everyone shuddered.
Bei Yueli was silent. She couldn't imagine such a thing. It turned out that drinking raw water was so terrible. She didn't take it seriously before, but now when she thought of that terrible scene.
Forget it. No matter how busy I am, I will boil water before drinking it.
"I see. What happened to that village later?"
Jiang Sheng shook his head. "I don't know. I saw their terrible condition once and was scared. I was young at that time and left at dawn."
Yang Er looked at the people beside him and said seriously, "Old Three and Old Four, you are lazy on weekdays. Now you know how to be scared."
"...Not anymore. I will always listen to you, Master. How can I not listen to the doctor's words?"
After eating and drinking, Jiang Sheng tied the bed sheet to the tree to make a simple bed and called out, "Miss Bei, you can sleep on this tonight. It will be more comfortable."
"The insect repellent has been spread. Don't worry about snakes or insects invading at night. It's getting late, so go to bed early."
Bei Yueli looked at the bed sheet, a little surprised. She didn't expect that it could be used as a bed. She looked at the person next to her and spoke.
"Thank you very much, sir. I wonder where you will sleep tonight?"
"We have to take turns to keep watch by the river. It's safer to sleep by the river. Go to sleep and we will continue our journey tomorrow morning."
Jiang Sheng came to the river, found some hay to spread out, arranged for someone to keep watch, covered himself with the quilt, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
The next morning, the group continued on their journey.
They passed by a village before dark. Jiang Sheng thought it would be more comfortable to stay in the village, so he asked Yang Er to go and ask, and then he brought people to wait by the roadside.
Yang Er came back soon, but his brows were furrowed.
"Sir, the village chief said that if we want to live in the village, they can provide food and accommodation, but they want us to do one thing."
Jiang Sheng raised his eyebrows: "Oh, what is it?"
"We're fighting bandits. The village chief said bandits come down from the mountains every month, either snatching girls away or forcing the villagers to hand over food. They're suffering terribly."
"If we can get rid of the bandits, we will be the village's benefactors. They will take care of our food and drink, and we can stay as long as we want."
Seeing that the young master remained silent, Yang Er continued, "It is said that there are forty or fifty bandits in the mountains. The old and strong men in the mountains are only about thirty or so, so naturally they cannot deal with them."
"I reported it to the police, but the police were colluding with the bandits, so no one cared."
Jiang Sheng narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Since we're here, let's go take a look. We can handle forty or fifty people. We can also go to the mountain to take a look."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the soldiers understood. Qinggang Mountain was also on the map. It was said that there was a mine there, so they should go up the mountain to take a look. Helping the villagers was just a matter of convenience.
"Yes, then I'll go tell the village chief."
Soon, all the men, women, and children from the village came over. The leader was a white-haired old man who was leaning on a cane with red eyes. He said respectfully, "Thank you for your willingness to help."
"As long as we can get rid of the bandits, I will take good care of you. Please follow me into the village."
Jiang Sheng dismounted and followed the old man into the village.
Looking around the village, there are only dozens of households, all of which are made of mud and look very poor.
The old village chief led the people to the end of the village, looked at the yard and sighed: "Dear guests, please come in. This is the only empty yard in the village. The previous family has died."
"There's nothing to hide. The previous family was a hunter, considered wealthy in Taohua Village. Their daughter was spotted by a bandit..."
Even without telling him what happened next, Jiang Sheng could guess it.
He sighed and said, "Old man, if there are only forty or fifty people on the mountain, we can help you deal with them, but you must tell me everything you know."
"Where did those bandits come from? Were they criminals or villagers who turned bandit? The more I know, the better."
The old village chief chatted for a long time before taking his granddaughter away. If it weren't for the fact that bandits were about to come down this month, he would have done so in order to protect his granddaughter.
He would not ask these people for help, as their origins were unknown, but he had no other choice, so he had to give it a try.
Meixiang whispered, "Grandpa, will they really help us? But there are only a dozen of them. Can they really defeat those bandits?"
The old man patted his granddaughter's head and smiled, "Grandpa can see that those people are not ordinary. Didn't you see that each of them has a long sword at his waist?"
"You walk without making any sound. You can tell at a glance that you have profound internal strength. Grandpa can only take a gamble. As long as you don't get kidnapped, it's okay to take a little risk."
"I'm sorry, Grandpa. It's all because of me."
Meixiang sobbed softly as she spoke. If she had volunteered to go up the mountain, the village could have been saved for a month, and her grandfather wouldn't have to take such a risk. What if he ended up inviting a wolf into the house?
The old man sighed and said, "It will happen sooner or later. If we continue like this, the village will be destroyed. We might as well take a gamble, regardless of life or death."
"It's better than being tortured all the time. If it goes on like this, who can endure it? It's better to give it a try than to live in fear every day."
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