When the little one was just born a few days ago, Ji Taoyu asked him to give him a kiss, but before he could, the baby started crying.
He didn't know if this was some custom or not, and he never asked Ji Taoyu about it later.
But looking at the peacefully sleeping little baby, so white and chubby, the more he looked, the more he found him quite adorable.
Unconsciously, Huo Shu raised his hand to touch the stubble on his chin. After confirming the stubble was short and soft enough not to scratch the baby, he hesitantly stood up and cautiously leaned closer to Xiao Taohe's small crib.
The lips were far more sensitive than hands or feet, and the incredible softness and smoothness of the baby's skin surpassed Huo Shu's expectations.
Even though this was his own child, he moved with the furtiveness of a thief—planting one quick, gentle kiss before immediately drawing back.
But just before he could retreat, the door creaked open. Ji Taoyu blinked his eyes as he looked at the tall figure hunched over the crib.
Huo Shu: "..."
The next day, the village was misty, with a tendency to rain. The mountains already had limited visibility, and now with the added veil of rain and fog, visibility was reduced to almost nothing.
The cold air enveloped the village, making people reluctant to go out.
Fortunately, surrounded by mountains, everyone had gathered plenty of firewood this year while building homes, water channels, and waterwheels.
In the mountains, everything might be scarce, but firewood was never lacking.
The weather was cold, so everyone stayed home warming themselves by burning charcoal braziers.
"Brother Huo."
The sound of horse hooves came from outside the large compound, and in no time, Ge Liang strode into the yard.
"The people we sent out have returned!"
As he spoke, puffs of white mist came from his mouth. Ge Liang had ridden through the frost, his ears frozen bright red.
Seeing a fire burning in the yard, he hurried over to warm his hands, rubbing his stiff, cold ears.
"How did it go?"
Huo Shu immediately asked.
They didn't believe a word of what those two said yesterday. Since they couldn't get anything out of them, they let them go and sent people to follow them, to see where they ended up. Then there would be no need to argue what kind of characters they were.
"They're definitely not farmers. The two were quite cautious, first heading toward Wujiang Village, but they didn't dare enter the village easily. They just passed through and left. Our people followed them all the way, watching them twist and turn, and finally enter a stronghold."
"That stronghold is about forty or fifty li from our village. It's called the Wild Tiger Stronghold. Li Shun said it used to be a rival of the Black Wolf Stronghold. The two strongholds have been at odds for a long time, but because their strength was about equal, neither could do much to the other, so they've managed to coexist relatively peacefully."
This time they came to scout, most likely because they hadn't heard any news from the Black Wolf Stronghold for a while, so they sent people to investigate.
Probably didn't expect that this place had already changed hands.
"I asked Li Shun carefully. This Wild Tiger Stronghold is no good either—robbing and plundering is routine for them. Since they were on par with the former Canglang Stronghold, their fighting force should be around thirty men. Brother Huo, what should we do?"
Huo Shu's gaze sharpened: "If we let them go back now, the people of Wild Tiger Stronghold will definitely know there's a new village here. It's just whether they'll be wary of the reason behind the change of ownership. But since they've seen all the farmland and livestock here, they definitely won't be able to let it go."
"They'll surely come snooping around later. If they have any brains, they should test our strength first. If they're brainless, they'll probably come at us with everything they've got."
Which means, no matter what, this conflict is unavoidable.
In that case, rather than waiting for them to attack, it's better for us to strike first and catch them off guard.
Huo Shu's decision aligned perfectly with Ge Liang's thoughts. Hearing this, he couldn't contain his excitement: "Perfect, it's been a while since we've stretched our muscles. We've been training everyone for so long—this is a great chance to practice."
So Huo Shu gathered a team. Caochang Village and Lin Village each contributed twenty capable men.
Forty men were more than enough to handle the Wild Tiger Stronghold. Even if the bandits had greater numbers, the two villages' force was formidable. It consisted of over twenty seasoned fighters from the North, supplemented by more than ten highly skilled archers and hunters, each of whom was already a proven and capable combatant. Their collective strength was no joke.
Taking on three enemies each was no exaggeration.
Forty men, armed with fine weapons and bows, with Huo Shu personally leading the team to wipe out the bandits.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
Ji Yangzong stood on a stone stool in the yard, holding the child as he watched the robustly equipped men ride out of the village. His heart felt uneasy.
"Don't stand so high. Be careful not to fall and drop the child."
Huang Manjing muttered a couple of words, hurrying over to take Xiao Taohe into her own arms.
"With the New Year almost here, going out to fight bandits now makes me very uneasy."
"Those two thieves already snooped around Caochang Village. If we don't deal with them, they'll come eventually. Settling it early means we can have a peaceful New Year."
Jin Kelu had come early this morning. Hearing they were going to fight bandits, he was very excited and wanted to join, but they asked him to stay and protect the village.
After thinking it over, it made sense. With so many people having left, the village still needed guarding. If someone were to steal their home base, the loss would outweigh the gain.
So he could only come to see everyone off and watch them with envy.
Noticing Ji Taoyu hadn't spoken, he shook his arm: "What's wrong?"
Ji Taoyu withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
"Look at you, so full of worry. Don't be afraid. Brother Huo is going, isn't he? He's powerful and fought in wars for ten years. How dangerous were those battlefields? Wiping out a bandit stronghold is nothing for him."
Ji Taoyu smiled: "I'm not worried about him."
He sighed softly and looked at Xiao Anding, held by his mother. He wondered if giving Xiao Taohe this name had placed more mission and burden on Huo Shu.
Along the way, he felt Huo Shu had already done so much. He didn't want him to work so hard.
Thank you for the update!
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