Madam Jiang’s gentle voice instantly soothed Mei Qian’s panicked and uneasy emotions.
Turning her head away, Mei Qian no longer paid attention to the screams of the refugees behind her or the roars of the Xirong soldiers.
She only followed closely behind her family as they hurried toward the wealthy household.
As the family approached, they saw that the outer perimeter of the wealthy household was filled with retainers and guards armed with knives, bows, and shields.
When they saw the Lao Mei Family approaching, their faces showed no expression.
However, a middle-aged man dressed differently from the others frowned as Mei Qian and her family drew near, his words carrying an unmistakable tone of dismissal.
They had no intention of sheltering anyone outside their own clan.
Just as they had not cared about the ordinary refugees mixed in with the Xirong soldiers when they drew their bows and fired their arrows.
In their eyes, the approaching members of the Lao Mei Family were no different from the Xirong soldiers about to charge toward them.
At that moment, Mei Qian saw her father suddenly take out the bow and arrows he usually used for hunting.
Mei Shitou followed his example, and the uncle and nephew stood in front of Mei Qian and the others. This gesture earned them a slightly more favorable glance from the man who had just refused them.
But it was only a glance—they still had no intention of letting Mei Qian and her family inside.
Just as Mei Erhu was about to speak, hoping to offer their assistance in fighting in exchange for protection for the other women in the family, he noticed the man’s expression suddenly change.
“Get down!”
Mei Qian let out a piercing scream that cut through the air.
In the flickering firelight, from her angle, Mei Qian could see in the middle-aged man’s pupils the reflection of a Xirong soldier charging forward on horseback!
Right behind the Lao Mei Family!
The soldier pulled on the reins, and the horse’s front hooves rose high, even surpassing the height of the shields raised by the retainers in front of them.
In that instant, the Xirong soldier raised his curved blade and swung it toward Mei Qian and her family.
The clang of metal snapped everyone out of their shock.
Just as the curved blade was about to slice through the heads of the Lao Mei Family, Mei Qian raised the iron pot she and her grandmother were holding and blocked the blade directly.
The force of the impact between the pot and the blade was too much for Mei Qian to bear. Her hands trembled, and the pot ended up covering her own head.
Duang
Her head buzzed and rang.
The brief moment Mei Qian bought by blocking the blade with the pot was enough for the Lao Mei Family to do more than just crouch down.
Seeing the opportunity, Mei Shitou rolled forward with his axe, positioning himself behind the cavalryman’s horse, and swung his axe directly at the horse’s hind legs.
The injured horse let out a sharp cry, its body trembling as it began to collapse.
Grandma Mei, seeing this, pulled out the long poles the family had been holding and thrust them into the horse’s chest, forcing it to fall in the opposite direction from where her family stood.
“What are you waiting for? Attack!”
The Xirong soldier, thrown off his horse, was immediately pinned to the ground by Mei Erhu.
At that moment, the retainers who had been stunned by the sudden appearance of the Xirong soldier snapped back to their senses and stepped forward, killing the soldier on the spot.
Splattered with blood on his face, Mei Erhu quickly stood up, seized the curved blade from the soldier’s hand, and returned to his family’s side alongside Mei Shitou.
“Women, step back.”
At this moment, the middle-aged man who had refused them earlier spoke again, “Please join us in resisting, righteous one.”
When the “duang” sound in Mei Qian’s head finally faded completely, she realized that the four women of their family had already moved behind this group of retainers.
“This…”
Mei Qian was momentarily stunned. Glancing at the serious, tense expressions of her other family members and hearing the continuous sounds of fighting and killing around her, she suddenly noticed that Mei Erhu and Mei Shitou were not by their side.
“Where are Father and Eldest Brother?”
A bad premonition flashed through Mei Qian’s heart. She turned to look at Grandma Mei, who was gripping Mei Qian’s arm tightly but said, “They’re up front, but they will definitely return safely.”
When Mei Erhu and Mei Shitou were left behind earlier, Grandma Mei’s heart had trembled.
Although her original idea had been exactly that, facing the sudden outbreak of battle, Grandma Mei felt a twinge of regret.
It was so close, so dangerous. If Mei Qian hadn’t reacted quickly at the very beginning and raised that large pot, their family might have already suffered casualties by now.
“Yes…”
Grandma Mei’s nervous demeanor also made Mei Qian’s heart suddenly clench into a tight knot.
However, because the number of Xirong soldiers on each wild hunting raid was never very large, the formation at the front soon changed again this time.
The defensive formation, upon hearing the command of “leave none alive” issued from the actual convoy of the truly wealthy and powerful families not far away, shifted from defense to offense!
It was at this moment that Mei Shitou and Mei Erhu reappeared in the sight of their family.
“Father!”
“My son!”
“Husband…”
Seeing the blood on their bodies, everyone’s expressions changed repeatedly.
But upon seeing the sudden bright smiles on the faces of this uncle and nephew, everyone could no longer hold back, rushing forward with tears and laughter, showering them with concerned questions.
“It’s all the blood of those Xirong dogs, Shitou and I are both fine~”
Mei Erhu quickly explained, lifting the worry weighing on everyone’s hearts. “Only a few of those wild hunters are left. They say those wealthy families have already ordered men to pursue and kill them. We’re safe now!”
“Safe is good, safe is good.”
Grandma Mei repeated, letting out a sigh of relief.
It must have been her deceased husband watching over them from heaven, protecting the family’s safety.
As Mei Qian sighed in relief and smiled, she swept her gaze around and, unexpectedly, her eyes landed on the fallen, dead horses and the thoroughly deceased Xirong soldiers not far away. She narrowed her eyes slightly, then glanced around at the various people busy with their own tasks.
At this moment, no one was paying attention to or managing their family.
“Brother.”
Mei Qian sidled up to Mei Shitou, who was still being held by Han Shi as she confirmed once more that he was unharmed, and called out softly.
“Hmm?”
Mei Shitou turned his head and met Mei Qian’s excited eyes.
“Let’s go check those Xirong soldier corpses for any good stuff. And those horses over there… everyone says horse meat doesn’t taste good… but still, that’s meat~”
Mei Qian’s voice wasn’t particularly soft. At this moment, everyone else in the Lao Mei Family present heard her words clearly.
By the light of the moon and the flames, hearing Mei Qian’s words and looking at those enemy corpses so close at hand, a faint, eerie green light couldn’t help but flash in the eyes of every family member…
…
“Young Master, this time we have completely annihilated two hundred thirty-two Xirong soldiers. Our side suffered one hundred two casualties.”
The young man sitting in the carriage heard the steward’s report from outside. Lightly tapping his fingers on his knee, he asked again, “What are the Chen Family’s casualties?”
“The retainers and guards suffered a total of fifty-four casualties.”
“Hah—”
The moment the steward finished speaking, the sneer from inside the carriage sent a chill down his spine, making him break out in a cold sweat.
“Among the retainers of the Chen, Yan, Xu, and Wei families, only my Chen family suffered the heaviest losses. Does the Wei family think the Chen family has no one left, that they can’t see through their schemes?”
The voice from the carriage was cold and clear, carried by the night breeze, leaving Chen San, the steward standing outside, shivering.
Suddenly, Chen San remembered something and added, “Tonight, for some reason, the Xirong soldiers charged straight toward our Chen family’s side. At first, they almost succeeded in breaking through!”
“Explain in detail.”