Zhang Qiaoxiu was startled. "Wanwan, you can't hit him, it must hurt so much."
Jiang Wan retracted her ability and snorted, "Serves him right for being in so much pain! He's so reckless. If that knife had landed on his head, even the Great Lord of Heaven couldn't have saved him!"
She didn't object to Erlang saving people; after all, wasn't she also here to save people?
But she disliked Erlang risking his life to save others like that.
Any rescue effort should be based on protecting oneself first!
That knife strike was heavy, so heavy that the old man's cleaver was chipped. If it had been even slightly off, hitting Erlang's neck and severing a major artery, and if she were just an ordinary person, Erlang would have lost his life right there.
Just thinking about it made her furious, so when she was channeling her ability to stop Erlang's bleeding, she deliberately slapped his wound hard.
If he didn't learn his lesson through pain, he wouldn't take it seriously!
Zhang Qiaoxiu, with a pale face and trembling lips, wanted to say something but couldn't.
She knew how dangerous the situation had been. If Erlang hadn't rushed out to pull her away, she would surely have died.
Jiang Wan glanced at her, not blaming her. It was normal for an ordinary young girl to be stunned in such a situation.
"Alright, let's get out of here quickly."
Erlang gritted his teeth and got up from the ground, holding the cleaver in one hand and walking at the front. "You all follow behind me."
Jiang Wan rolled her eyes at him and walked straight to the front. "You go to the back and cover our retreat, I'll lead the way."
Erlang wanted to object, but Jiang Wan gave him no chance. She picked up a stick from the ground and swung it around.
The sound of the wooden stick whistling through the air made Erlang's scalp tingle.
His little sister was too strong. With one swing of that stick, she could probably knock someone's head off.
It was terrifying.
Fine, he'd cover the rear.
Erlang was very sensible and obediently went to the back.
Jiang Wan led the way, using a stick to break the legs of several enemies.
Jiang Pan, along with the men from the small mountain village, routed the bandits, who scattered in all directions. Many, seeing the tide turning against them, turned and fled.
Therefore, the small mountain village achieved victory with little effort.
The stolen grain was mostly recovered, and they even confiscated some of the enemy's grain.
Jiang Pan counted the numbers; everyone who had come out was accounted for. Although a few villagers were injured, none of the injuries were serious.
"Well done, the men of our small mountain village are all good fellows!"
Then, he saw Erlang cowering behind the crowd.
"You little brat, what are you doing here! Why is there blood on your shoulder!"
Erlang shrunk his neck, afraid to speak, fearing a beating.
Jiang Wan quickly stood up and hugged Jiang Pan's leg. "Dad, Er Ge was very brave just now. If it weren't for him, Sister Zheng would have lost her life. My Er Ge is a great hero, a real man!"
As she spoke, she whispered, "Dad, don't scold Er Ge outside, give him some face. It's not too late to deal with him when we get back."
Seeing that Erlang was about to be scolded, Zhang Qiaoxiu also quickly stepped forward. "Uncle Dapang, don't scold Jiang Er Ge. He got injured saving me, I dragged him down. Blame me if you must."
Jiang Pan took two deep breaths, glared at Erlang, and threatened him with his eyes: I'll deal with you when we get back!
Erlang shrunk his neck, not daring to breathe.
After Jiang Pan turned to handle other matters, Erlang said to Jiang Wan, "Wanwan, I didn't dote on you for nothing!"
If she hadn't stopped their father, he would have been publicly beaten.
Jiang Wan snorted and turned her head away.
She really couldn't bear to see Erlang get beaten when he was already injured, but she was still angry!
Seeing that she refused to acknowledge him, Erlang could only touch his nose and shrink back to his spot.
The men of the small mountain village loaded the grain onto their shoulders, preparing to leave.
The opposing side all started crying, "You can't do this! If you take our grain, how will we live?"
Jiang Pan said with a cold face, "How will you live? When you robbed us and beat our people, why didn't you think about how we were supposed to live? If you hadn't acted wickedly first, why would we have retaliated in kind? If you can't live, it's your own doing, so don't blame others!"
After speaking, Jiang Pan signaled his people to leave, leaving the others crying and wailing in the mountain hollow.
Even though they cried heartbrokenly, no one felt any sympathy for them.
The people of the small mountain village were not bad people; they even harbored goodwill towards those people. Although they hadn't lent them water, they hadn't intended to bully them just because they had more people.
But then those people, taking advantage of the small mountain village's lack of vigilance, not only stole their grain and water but also abducted their daughters.
Was this something a human would do?
It was generous of the small mountain village people not to have beaten them to death.
The group descended the mountain and walked back in the direction they had come. As they neared the camp, they heard the excited voices of the people in the camp.
"They're back, they're back! They're back!"
Chen Yuezhi rushed over anxiously. Upon seeing her husband and children safely returned, her legs went weak, and she was about to collapse.
Su Shi and Dalang quickly supported her. "Mother, don't worry, they're all back."
Chen Yuezhi pushed away her son and daughter-in-law's hands and walked towards Erlang with gritted teeth.
Erlang was so scared he kept backing away. "Mom, Mom, Mom, don't come over! Listen to my excuse, ah, no, listen to my explanation!"
His mother looked terrifying, her eyes seemed as if she wanted to tear him apart and eat him.
Jiang Wan quickly stepped forward and hugged Chen Yuezhi's leg. "Mom, don't be angry. Er Ge didn't cause trouble; he even saved people. Yes, he saved Sister Zheng and me. If it weren't for Er Ge at that time, I would have been injured too."
Just saying he saved Zhang Qiaoxiu wouldn't be enough; Zhang Qiaoxiu's importance was too little to protect Erlang.
Indeed, upon hearing Jiang Wan's words, Chen Yuezhi no longer focused on Erlang and quickly lowered her head to look at Jiang Wan.
"Wanwan, are you alright? Are you injured?"
Jiang Wan shook her head. "I'm not injured. Er Ge protected me very well."
As she spoke, she tugged on Chen Yuezhi's hand. "Mom, don't scare Er Ge. He even got injured protecting me."
Chen Yuezhi patted her head. "Mom just wanted to see his injury, not to hit him."
"Really? Mom is so good!"
Jiang Wan turned back and called to Erlang, "Er Ge, hurry over. Mom wants to see your injury, and she won't hit you."
Erlang hesitated. "Really?"
Jiang Wan nodded emphatically. "Really!"
Reassured, Erlang walked over with a grin. "Mom, it's nothing serious, just a superficial wound. It'll heal in a couple of days."
Chen Yuezhi beckoned him over, her face full of concern.
Erlang eagerly ran over.
Chen Yuezhi pulled him back to their cart, untied the cloth strips from his shoulder, carefully examined the wound, applied medicine, and re-bandaged it.
Erlang gasped in pain while pretending to be tough. "Mom, it's just a superficial wound, it's really not important. Even without medicine, it would heal in a couple of days."
Chen Yuezhi finished bandaging his wound, adjusted his clothes, then grabbed his ear and, taking the rattan strip handed by Sanlang, quickly whipped Erlang's backside.
"You little brat, you've gone too far! You dare to do such a life-threatening thing behind my back? If I don't beat your backside until it's blooming today, you won't know how to write the word 'fear'!"