After a bit of tidying up, the inside of the house was finally a place where they could settle down.
As for the yard outside the door, it was truly too cluttered; that was not something that could be cleaned up in a few days, so it would just have to remain piled up like that for the time being.
The cleaned-up room was far too empty, carrying a faint, penetrating chill.
It just so happened that the stove had been cleared out, so Shi Yin found a few tree branches in the yard and placed straw underneath to kindle a fire.
There was no pot on the stove counter, so the flames surged out from the middle of the counter, and the ash whirled around the ceiling, proving quite choking.
Shi Yin went into the yard, rummaged around for a good while, and finally found four stones of roughly similar size. She placed them around the stove counter, washed the clay jar that had been dug out from the stove ash, poured in the last half-jar of fresh water, and set it on top.
Flames surged out from the gaps, yet the flying ash did not lessen by much.
Shi Yin looked at the water jar left behind by the original owner of the house and the two leather flasks she had brought all the way with her, which were all completely empty at this moment.
“Chengzhou, Mother is going to fetch some water back. You must guard the house well.”
Shi Yin pulled out two crossbows, and after loading bolts into both, set them beside him. She herself took the ring-pommel sabre and embraced the water jar and leather flasks, preparing to go draw water.
“Chengzhou, remember: only open the door when Mother comes back. If anyone else tries to force their way in, shoot them directly with the crossbow. If there are too many people, throw the fire bombs directly, but throw them farther away so you don’t burn yourself.”
Chengzhou nodded heavily and said, “Mother, you must be careful too. You should still take that crossbow with you.”
Shi Yin shook her head: “Mother taking the sabre is enough. I reckon they are still discussing the cessation of the ships at home right now, so they won’t come looking to trouble us for a short while. Rong’er, be good, listen to your brother, and wait for Mother to come back and make food for you to eat.”
Rong’er hummed twice in response and skillfully hid herself inside the sheepskin mat.
Shi Yin went out, leaving the door slightly ajar to accommodate Chengzhou’s line of sight.
That freshwater well was situated right in the central location among these nearby brick houses.
Passing through those five tiled houses, Shi Yin saw a massive water well sitting quietly there. Different from when she had first seen it in her past life, at this moment it clearly carried a vibrant vitality.
In truth, calling it a well was an understatement; it was much larger than the ordinary kind of water well. The entire well lip required ten people holding hands to encircle it, and steps were carved into the well wall; following the steps down ten paces brought one right to the water’s surface.
It was entirely unlike the dry well from her past life, which had been dug deeper multiple times and long since lacked clear water.
Shi Yin walked down, swept aside the debris on the water surface, filled the clay jar and leather flasks, and then started walking back.
On the way back, there were noticeably more people around. Quite a few seeing Shi Yin walking on the road with a sabre slung across her back like it was nothing were greatly astonished.
“Second Brother, isn’t that…”
A young man pointed at Shi Yin’s receding back and asked the person beside him excitedly.
Before that person could speak, the woman from the nearby yard hastily called out: “Jiang Ting, Jiang Lou, Jiang Xie, come in quickly! I have words to tell you.”
Hearing her voice, the three could not care less about asking about that strange woman and hurriedly pushed open the courtyard door to enter the house.
“Sister-in-law, what’s the matter?” The one speaking was a tall man, the second oldest of the Jiang family—Jiang Ting.
The woman dragged all three of them into the house, poked her head out to look at Shi Yin walking further away, and only then asked:
“Didn’t you go with Sun Da, Zhou Zhe, and Gunzi to the dock to exchange salt for grain today? Did those three set their eyes on that woman just now and entertain thoughts of robbing her?”
Jiang Ting nodded and said, “That woman was pushing a handcart packed full with grain, and she didn’t have a man following her. Sun Da and the others were thinking of taking that woman and taking her grain.”
“Tsk, taking that woman indeed! They didn’t get the woman, but instead were killed directly by someone!”
The woman said with disdain.
“What do you mean killed!”
Jiang Ting didn’t register her meaning for a moment, assuming they had killed that woman? But he had clearly seen that woman just now.
The woman tsked twice more:
“Sun Da, Zhou Zhe, and Gunzi are all dead. Slain in retaliation by that woman!”
“What! Sun Da, Zhou Zhe, and Gunzi are all dead!” The three spoke almost in unison.
The third brother of the Jiang family, Jiang Lou, was the most astonished. Upon realizing the truth, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to head out the door.
“I’m going to slaughter that woman!”
“Slaughter who!”
A deep, thick voice reprimanded.
Outside the yard, that burly man from earlier had just come in from outside, his face dark and grim.
The three who had been excited just a moment ago became much more behaved upon seeing him.
“Big Brother! Sun Da and the others…”
Jiang Lou had only uttered a few words before being interrupted:
“I know. Their corpses were cleaned up by me! Furthermore, that woman has now claimed Sun Da’s house.”
“Big Brother!” The fourth brother of the Jiang family, Jiang Xie, could not hold back either upon hearing this.
At this moment, that burly man—the oldest brother of the Jiang family, Jiang Song—set down the iron shovel in his hand, scooped a ladle of water from the water vat, gulped down several mouthfuls frantically, wiped the water stains around his mouth with his sleeve, and only then strode back into the room.
The moment Jiang Song entered the room, the three brothers immediately gathered around him.
“Big Brother, what are you thinking? How could you let that woman slaughter Sun Da and the others!” Jiang Lou was still indignantly protesting.
“That woman’s child shot a crossbow bolt right through Sun Da’s throat, that woman plunged a blade straight through Zhou Zhe’s stomach, and Gunzi was also shot to death by that child—the whole thing took less than three breaths of time,” the woman retold the scene she had witnessed once more.
“By the time your big brother went out, they were all dead.”
“A crossbow!”
Jiang Ting was extremely interested in this crossbow.
Jiang Song cast a glance at him and said, “Don’t go entertaining ideas about that crossbow for now. That woman is no soft target.”
After saying that, he paused: “I got a piece of news from that woman’s mouth, saying that next month should be the last time to exchange for grain. Have you heard about this at the dock?”
The moment Jiang Song’s words fell, Jiang Ting immediately nodded: “Big Brother, I was just about to come back to discuss this matter with you.”
Jiang Ting’s tone grew solemn as he shared the news he had probed from those officials at the dock: “If Goguryeo really occupies Baekje, the ships will inevitably cease sailing. Once the eastern sea is sealed off, this place of ours will truly become an isolated island.”
The faint trace of hope held in Jiang Song’s heart finally shattered.
“It seems what that woman said is true.”
A moment later, Jiang Song looked up at the woman beside him: “Wife, how much dried fish do we still have saved at home?”
The woman immediately said: “We can give a string of five.”
Jiang Song nodded: “Tomorrow, I’ll make a trip over to probe her background. That woman should still have cards up her sleeve.”
“But, Big Brother, are we just going to let Sun Da and the others go like this?” Jiang Lou was somewhat annoyed.
“Yes, we let it go like this,” Jiang Song’s tone grew much heavier:
“Do you really treat Sun Da and the others as brothers? Don’t forget that back then, he was also the scourge who killed old man Fang and his child to steal their house. He was no good person to begin with, yet you’ve actually developed a sense of loyalty!”
“But after all, they followed us for so many years,” Fourth Brother Jiang Xie said with a furrowed brow.
“No matter how many years, they weren’t our real brothers. Only the five of us brothers are blood brothers born of the same parents. That woman has two crossbows in hand and killed three people in a row without even blinking an eye. Do you want to be like Fifth Brother back then for the sake of an outsider, making us lose another brother!”
The more Jiang Song spoke, the more agitated he became, unexpectedly bringing up Fifth Brother without realizing it.
Sure enough, everyone in the room remembered their youngest brother, Jiang Ge, their faces showing expressions of grief.
“Sigh.” A moment later, Jiang Ting consoled:
“Big Brother, don’t be angry. Fourth Brother is also thinking for the sake of our drying cave. Zhou the Skinflint and his gang originally wanted to snatch our drying cave; now that we’ve lost three people on our side, I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold onto that drying cave.”