Everyone’s thoughts were consumed by one thing and one thing only—food.
Not a single person imagined that traps might be waiting for them.
As a result, they fell into Lu Yao’s carefully laid ambush with alarming ease.
The dozen or so men charging at the front were instantly caught by hidden vines and hoisted upside down into the air, hanging from tree trunks.
The people behind them were moving too fast.
By the time they realized something was wrong, it was already too late to stop.
They tripped over those in front and crashed to the ground.
The men at the very front landed face-first directly into the itching powder Lu Yao had scattered beforehand.
The powder was extremely fine and easily dispersed.
The moment they hit the ground, it flew everywhere.
As a result, out of fifty men, more than ten ended up hanging from trees, while over twenty others were poisoned by the itching powder.
In an instant, more than half of their combat strength was gone.
The dozen men at the rear saw their companions fall victim to the traps and immediately lost the courage to charge forward.
They stopped where they were and nervously looked around.
The men hanging upside down spun helplessly in the air.
“Get us down!”
“Hurry up and save us!”
they shouted at those below.
Just as the others prepared to act, something suddenly came rolling down the mountainside.
Everyone froze in shock.
Before they could react, enormous boulders were already hurtling toward them.
The slope was steep, giving the rocks tremendous momentum.
The boulders smashed into the men standing below, crushing most of them instantly into bloody pulp.
Only four or five people remained standing.
They were completely dumbfounded.
They hadn’t even seen their enemy’s shadow, yet more than forty of their comrades had already been wiped out.
Cold sweat soaked their backs.
Standing back-to-back, they carefully observed their surroundings, terrified that another flying boulder might appear at any moment and flatten them as well.
The screams of their companions still echoed in their ears.
Even the men hanging upside down stared with mouths agape.
At that moment, they felt strangely fortunate.
At least being suspended in the air had saved them from being crushed.
Meanwhile, those who had inhaled the itching powder were rolling on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
Their faces twitched from excessive laughter.
They scratched themselves so fiercely that bloody marks covered their skin.
Yet they continued scratching.
The more they scratched, the itchier they became.
The itchier they became, the more they scratched.
Before long, not a single patch of exposed skin remained intact.
About fifteen minutes passed.
When no new dangers appeared, the survivors finally began to relax.
Then suddenly—
A group of men charged down the mountain.
Shouting battle cries and murderous threats, they descended like tigers pouncing from the hills.
The barbarians, already terrified by the earlier attacks, immediately panicked again.
The villagers carried all sorts of tools.
Some wielded rakes.
Some carried hoes.
Others brandished kitchen cleavers.
In short, anything capable of hurting someone had been brought along.
Only five enemy soldiers still retained any real fighting ability.
But when they saw themselves surrounded by seventy or eighty men, they immediately threw down their sabers and crouched on the ground with their hands over their heads.
Lu Yao signaled Song Hongsheng to collect all their weapons.
Everyone happily rushed forward to gather the spoils.
This battle had been exhilarating.
Without losing a single man, they had defeated a regular force of fifty soldiers and even gained weapons in the process.
The villagers looked at Lu Yao with admiration and respect.
But what she did next completely shattered their understanding of her.
Casually taking a saber from someone nearby, she walked over to the nearest barbarian and slit his throat with a single stroke.
Blood erupted from the severed artery.
The onlookers instinctively stumbled backward.
Everyone’s faces turned pale from shock.
Because Lu Yao stood closest, the blood sprayed directly across her face.
Combined with her cold expression, she looked less like a young woman and more like a demon from hell.
Her icy gaze swept across the crowd.
In an equally chilling tone, she said:
“If you want to survive, you must learn to kill your enemies.”
“I know none of you have done this before.”
“I haven’t either.”
“But in times like these, it’s either you die or they die.”
“I hope everyone understands the importance of standing together.”
“If there’s a first wave of pursuers, there may be a second.”
“And a third.”
“And more after that.”
Song Hongsheng felt her words made perfect sense.
Raising his saber, he thrust it into a barbarian’s back.
Although both his hands and legs trembled violently, an overwhelming sense of exhilaration filled his heart.
He yanked the blade free.
Hot blood splashed across his face.
Ignoring it completely, he turned to the villagers.
“Lu Yao is right.”
“From now on, we must learn to defend ourselves.”
“We can’t simply wait for the barbarians to hunt us down.”
“We won’t be able to escape forever.”
“We have to learn to fight back.”
Seeing Song Hongsheng take the lead, the others gathered their courage.
One after another, they picked up the weapons they had just acquired and killed the remaining struggling enemies.
Someone burst out laughing.
“I’ve never imagined killing someone could feel this satisfying!”
“It feels like all the frustration I’ve been holding in finally has somewhere to go!”
Many others quickly agreed.
After finishing off the remaining barbarians and cleaning up the battlefield, the group finally returned to camp.
When the village chief saw everyone return safely and in good order, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he noticed that his eldest son was covered in blood.
His heart immediately leapt into his throat.
He hurried over.
“Eldest Son!”
“What happened to you?”
“Are you hurt?”
Song Hongsheng shook his head.
“No, Father.”
“This is all barbarian blood.”
“We killed them ourselves, one by one.”
“It felt incredible.”
Excitement shone in his eyes.
His mother, Madam Chen, hurriedly dampened a cloth with water from their flask and carefully wiped the blood from his face.
Nearby, Song Ziyu’s large dark eyes continuously searched for Lu Yao.
Despite her young age, she remained remarkably well-behaved and never cried.
Song Ziyang and Song Zixuan were also anxiously scanning the crowd.
Neither of them could find her.
Song Zixuan pushed through the crowd.
His hurried steps nearly caused him to fall several times, but he stubbornly regained his balance each time.
Finally, near the very back of the group, he spotted the familiar petite figure that always seemed to make him feel safe.
Because her face had been covered in blood, Lu Yao had intentionally stayed behind.
She cleaned herself up before returning.
She was afraid of frightening the children.
The moment she looked up, she saw Song Zixuan weaving through the crowd.
His small face was filled with worry.
His little body nearly stumbled to the ground several times.
A warm feeling filled Lu Yao’s chest.
She quickly walked over and scooped him into her arms.
Song Zixuan’s face immediately turned scarlet.
He froze completely.
The feeling was both strange and nerve-racking.
Most importantly, it was incredibly embarrassing.
He quickly glanced around.
Only after confirming no one was paying attention did he relax slightly.
Lu Yao held him for only a brief moment before setting him down.
Seeing the normally mature child reveal such a shy expression delighted her immensely.
This journey wasn’t going to be lonely at all.
Whenever she got bored, she could always tease Song Zixuan a little.
The thought made her secretly chuckle.
“Zixuan, how are your brother and sister?”
“Did Ziyu cry?”
She was still worried about the little girl.
By now, Song Zixuan had regained his composure.
His expression returned to its usual mature seriousness.
“No.”
“They’re both fine.”
“You don’t need to worry.”
“Grandpa Village Chief took good care of us.”
“He even gave us some flatbread.”
Lu Yao took his hand and headed toward the village chief’s resting place.
The moment Song Ziyang and Song Ziyu spotted her, they threw themselves at her.
Song Ziyang wrapped both arms around her leg and refused to let go.
Song Ziyu stretched out her tiny arms and desperately leaned toward her.
Song Hongsheng’s wife could barely hold her back.
Lu Yao took Song Ziyu into her arms.
The little girl’s eyes were already filled with tears, ready to spill at any moment.
Lu Yao’s heart ached.
She gently patted the child’s back while softly comforting her.
Song Ziyu buried her face against Lu Yao’s shoulder, wrapping her skinny little arms tightly around her neck.
Looking at the village chief, Lu Yao smiled.
“Village Chief, thank you for helping me look after the children.”
“But I don’t think we should rest any longer.”
“We should continue moving as soon as possible.”
Song Hongsheng had already explained everything that happened to his father.
The village chief never imagined that such a seemingly delicate young woman could possess such courage.
She had even dared to kill.
But he also agreed with her.
They truly couldn’t afford to remain here any longer.
They needed to move immediately.
After thanking the village chief’s family once more, Lu Yao led the three children onward, neither too close nor too far from the rest of the villagers.
This time, however, no one dared trouble her anymore.
Instead, people greeted her warmly and respectfully.
Only Old Madam Song’s family remained unchanged.
Since they hadn’t participated in the patrol and knew nothing about what had happened, they still looked at Lu Yao with the same hostility as before.