65-year-old Zhou
"How is Madam?"
Zhou Kang urged again, "Madam, let's go. It's too dangerous here. Besides, you can't help if you stay here. I'll send you out first and then find someone to rescue the general and the others."
“I told him I’d wait for him here. I was afraid he’d come all this way for nothing, and there might even be a chance.” She looked up at the sky.
She couldn't calculate the wind direction, but she could glean some information from the direction the thin clouds overhead were moving.
The wind direction is about to change; she's waiting.
But Xiao Pingchuan and his group on the mountain didn't have time to think about the wind direction. Sparks scattered everywhere with the wind, and immediately caught fire as soon as they landed, crackling and blocking the road.
Moreover, as the fire intensified, thick smoke billowed out, reducing visibility and causing them even more trouble.
“Cough, cough, it’s too choking,” said the lead soldier. They had little experience dealing with fires. “It’s on fire here too, General. We need to find a new direction.”
Xiao Pingchuan was following behind him. Upon hearing this, he straightened up, but was immediately choked by the thick smoke and had to lower his head again.
The surrounding temperature was so high that it made my cheeks ache.
Xiao Pingchuan squinted, assessed the terrain and the fire, and shouted, "Head northeast, and be quick! Try not to get separated."
The group responded and quickly ran northeast, keeping their bodies low to the ground.
Actually, everyone was a little nervous at this moment. There were fires all around, and the fires were spreading faster than they could run.
In the past, they could have sent people to scout ahead and plan a reliable route. But now they were being chased by the fire, running aimlessly through the mountains and forests, completely lost and unsure if they could even escape.
After running for about half a cup of tea's time, the road to the northeast was cut off, and a raging fire was burning ahead.
Now, they were completely surrounded by fire.
Xiao Pingchuan looked up at the sky, half of which was illuminated by the firelight in an orange-red hue, making one's heart pound with unease.
Amid the crackling of the fire, Zhao Chengchun wiped his face and whispered to Xiao Pingchuan, "The way out and the way back are both blocked. Unless you can fly, I'm afraid no one can get out alive."
Xiao Pingchuan's eyebrows were furrowed tightly. "Don't talk such discouraging things. This mountain is so big, I don't believe we can't get out. Run downhill. No matter what, the fire is heading towards the top of the mountain, so running downhill is the right thing to do."
"But there's also a fire down the mountain. What if we can't find our way and end up walking right into the fire?"
Xiao Pingchuan didn't dare to guarantee that running down the mountain would ensure his safety.
"Never mind...who?"
He suddenly sensed someone approaching.
"You, you are the Black Flag Army under General Xiao?" A young girl's voice rang out in the firelight.
"Who are you?" Zhao Chengchun stood in front of Xiao Pingchuan and asked the newcomer.
“My surname is Zhou. My family are hunters in the mountains. I heard you went into the mountains these past few days. There was a big fire, and I was afraid you would get lost in the mountains, so I came to look for you. Don’t worry, General, I’m a good person and I won’t harm you.”
Zhao Chengchun lowered his guard and stepped aside, revealing Xiao Pingchuan's figure.
The newcomer glanced at Xiao Pingchuan a few times by the dim firelight, his cheeks flushing red.
"You can lead us out of here."
The crowd cheered; this was truly their savior.
"Then I'll trouble you to lead the way, young lady." Xiao Pingchuan clasped his hands in a fist salute.
The newcomer nodded: "Everyone, please follow me."
At the foot of the mountain, Zhou Kang and Shen Suqin were still waiting.
The wildfire across the mountain was growing larger and larger, threatening to spread this way. The path down the mountain for Xiao Pingchuan and his group had already been blocked.
Shen Suqin clenched her fists tightly. She could imagine how high the temperature would be between the two fire lines. People might be choked to death by the thick smoke or roasted to death by the high temperature before the flames even got close.
"What should we do! The general and the others haven't come down yet." Although Zhou Kang thought that Xiao Pingchuan was invincible and that a small wildfire couldn't do anything to them, he still couldn't help but worry.
"Madam, the fire is coming this way. Are we really not leaving?" He was a little panicked. If they didn't leave now, they might never be able to leave again.
She took a deep breath. The smell of smoke was already very strong, and the surrounding temperature was rising. This place was really unsafe.
“Don’t leave. Go and prepare some drinking water. They must be thirsty when they come down.”
"lady!"
Shen Suqin turned her head, looked at him calmly, and comforted him, "Don't be afraid, the wildfire will be extinguished soon."
"ah?"
"Really, believe me."
Zhou Kang turned his head and glanced at the reddish mountain peak, a strange sense of confidence welling up in his heart.
“I’ll go get the water,” he said.
Once midnight passed, the wind direction finally changed.
The fire, which was originally heading towards Shen Suqin and his group, seemed to have been paused on the spot, and then burned wildly in the opposite direction.
The old fire line remained on the ridge, probably because the firebreaks that Xiao Pingchuan and his team had set up earlier were now effective.
And so, the two fire lines faced each other at a distance, then closed in with a loud bang, and the raging wildfire instantly receded as if it had been cut off, and then disappeared.
The wildfire extinguished itself.
However, Xiao Pingchuan and the others did not return.
Zhou Kang looked incredulously into the distance, then at Shen Suqin beside him who hadn't changed her posture at all, and asked, "Madam, you expected this all along?"
Shen Suqin shook her head: "I made the bet."
Zhou Kang breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a thumbs up, saying, "You're really brave."
Shen Suqin said nothing.
As the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, rustling sounds finally came from the mountains and forests. Then, people emerged—one, two, three…
Shen Suqin and Zhou Kang hadn't slept a wink all night, and their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, were finally at ease.
Zhou Kang breathed a sigh of relief: "I knew they would come back."
Soon, more and more people appeared, and Zhao Chengchun also emerged, spitting twice and saying, "It suffocates me."
His back looked like it had been burned.
Shen Suqin handed them water that had been prepared beforehand and asked, "Where is your general? Why can't we see him?"
Zhao Chengchun took it. "General," he turned around and looked around, "he's probably behind. He's carrying someone on his back, so he's walking slower."
Shen Suqin nodded: "Everyone, take a rest. Brother Zhou, here's some wound medicine. Take the brothers and apply it."
"Thank you, Madam."
A short while later, Xiao Pingchuan also emerged.
Sure enough, he was carrying someone on his back—an unconscious woman.
Zhao Chengchun went up to them and helped them put the person down, saying, "Thanks to this young lady, her family are hunters in the mountains. She helped us find a valley to descend the mountain, which saved our lives."
Speaking of this, Zhao Chengchun still feels a lingering fear.
They were being chased by the wildfire and their escape routes were blocked in all directions. He was about to give up when this girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said she would lead them the way. She actually led them through the wildfire and they escaped. It was almost like a goddess descending to earth.
"If we had known this wildfire would go out on its own, why did we even bother building firebreaks? We almost lost our lives," Zhao Chengchun complained.
He still finds it amazing that the wildfire extinguished itself.
"Speak less and go do what you're supposed to do," Xiao Pingchuan said in a deep voice. "Nobody expected the wind to change direction."
Zhao Chengchun snorted.
The woman on his back was still unconscious. Xiao Pingchuan put her down and said to Shen Suqin, "She tripped and fell on her way down the mountain. Please take care of her. After all, she has done us a favor."
Shen Suqin nodded: "Where are her family?"
"She said she lived alone, and the wildfire burned down her house too. I'm planning to take her back to Ningyuan. What do you think?"
Shen Suqin: "She was all alone and saved everyone, so she really deserves to be taken good care of. Let's take her back. I'll see if I can find her something to do at the General's Mansion when we get back."
Xiao Pingchuan felt comforted, thinking that she was treating the General's Mansion as her own home.
"You can make the decisions about things in the manor," Xiao Pingchuan said gently. "We'll go back after we've rested up. I hope you were scared tonight."
Shen Suqin replied calmly, "It's alright."
Zhou Kang squeezed through the crowd and said, "Madam keeps saying she'll wait for you to come back. I've told her to take her out of the mountain first, but she won't listen. Since you went into the mountain, she hasn't moved an inch..."
Xiao Pingchuan's eyes revealed a tenderness that he himself did not realize.
Shen Suqin stopped him and said to Xiao Pingchuan, "Bring this girl into my room and I'll check her injuries."
"good."
As dawn broke, the girl remained unconscious.
Shen Suqin found Xiao Pingchuan and said, "I see she has an injury on the back of her head. We need to find a doctor to take a look at her right away."
Xiao Pingchuan pondered for a moment, then said directly, "Then let's not rest, let's go straight back. Yongluo has been abandoned for too long, we need to go back to Ningyuan to find a doctor."
Shen Suqin: "Everyone was frightened, didn't sleep all night, and ran around all day. Can they handle going straight on the road?"
"It's alright. The intensity of fighting in normal times is much greater than this. We can rest and recuperate back in Ningyuan."
And so, everyone was woken from their sleep and immediately packed their things to set off.
The group remained silent throughout the journey. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they bound their prey, secured the wagons, and quietly set off on their way.
The return journey was quick. Because they were in a hurry to rescue people, they didn't rest at the dilapidated post station and sped back day and night.
Fortunately, on the road near Ningyuan, we met a barefoot doctor who gave us a few acupuncture needles and bandaged our wounds with herbal medicine.
"Get a doctor as soon as possible; head injuries can't be delayed," the barefoot doctor said.
Xiao Pingchuan nodded.
Shen Suqin sat in the carriage, the girl lying beside him with her eyes closed. The carriage was quiet, except for the chirping of the two little birds they had picked up.
She sat leaning against the wall, idly stroking their fur, her gaze fixed on the girl's face.
The little girl was pretty, with a round face and a round nose; she was very cute.
Judging by her age, she shouldn't be very old, but she should be around seventeen or eighteen.
She looked away, and heard hushed voices coming from not far outside the carriage.
"Is Miss Zhou still not awake?"
"No, the doctor said it's quite serious."
"This Miss Zhou seems to have feelings for our general. I heard her say the other day that she came back specifically to save us."
"It must be, otherwise, with such a big fire, how could she, a young woman, dare to come in?"
"The lady did nothing. She was the one who suggested we set up the isolation barriers, but when things went wrong, she didn't even try to find a solution; she just waited around."
"Shh, don't talk nonsense. Let's go, we're on our way."
The group continued their journey.
Perhaps the barefoot doctor was quite skilled, because the little girl woke up not far after he had walked away.
Shen Suqin picked her up, fed her some water, and asked, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?"
The little girl covered her head and said, "I feel dizzy."
"We're almost in the city. Once we get there, we'll get you a doctor to take a good look at you," Shen Suqin said gently.
The little girl looked at her and asked, "Who are you? What is your relationship to General Xiao?"
"You know Xiao Pingchuan?"
“Of course,” the girl blushed, “who in Jinzhou doesn’t know the general? Who are you to the general?”
Shen Suqin opened her mouth, but didn't reply immediately.
Hearing voices inside the carriage, Xiao Pingchuan asked through the curtain, "Is Miss Zhou awake?"
Just as Shen Suqin was about to reply, he heard the young lady Zhou beside him say sweetly, "I'm awake. Thank you for your concern, General."
"It's good that you're awake. We'll be heading to the city soon, and I'll have a doctor come and examine the young lady then."
"Thank you, General."
After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence inside and outside the carriage, then Xiao Pingchuan asked again, "Is Madam alright?"
As soon as the words "Miss Shen the Second" were uttered, Shen Suqin noticed that the girl next to her, Zhou, visibly became wary, like a small animal guarding its food.
Shen Suqin sighed inwardly and replied with two words: "It's alright."
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