The town chief led his men smoothly to the edge of the cliff deep in the forest.

He stared at the thick black smoke, his whole face darkening.

“What are you doing here? Put out the fire! Hurry!”

Mao Linye was dead, and this was very likely the last batch of shadow medicine, its price having doubled.

“Go now! No matter what, you must save the medicine for me!”

As the town chief’s words fell, the two hundred soldiers quickened their pace.

An army surged out from all sides, blocking them just as they were about to approach the center.

“Who are you people?” The town chief rode his horse out from the crowd.

He glared at the people by the bonfire, blazing fury burning in his eyes.

“How dare you act wild on my territory! Have you grown tired of living?”

A “whoosh” sounded, silver light flashing across the air.

A horse’s whinny rang out, and the town chief was thrown straight from his mount.

His horse had been struck by Qiao Mu’s throwing dart; the warhorse reared, and the town chief tumbled to the ground.

“Town Chief.”

“Town Chief.”

The two hundred soldiers instantly fell into chaos.

The town chief rolled twice but was unhurt.

“Go stop them! You can’t let them burn my medicine, hurry!”

By the time the soldiers turned, they had already been completely surrounded.

The town chief was helped up by a soldier and walked toward the bonfire through the crowd.

“Who exactly are you people? Get out of the way! Move aside now!”

The town chief shook off the soldier supporting him and drew his sword from behind his back.

“I’ll kill you all. How dare you try to burn my medicine—I’ll kill you all!”

A rapid series of clashing blades rang out in an instant.

More than ten swords pinned the town chief’s head in place.

His men hadn’t had time to react before their advance was blocked by long swords, forcing them to retreat.

Soon, only the town chief remained standing alone near the bonfire.

Undaunted by the sword at his neck, the town chief forcefully shook his body.

The brothers had received no order to kill, and to avoid injuring him, they withdrew their swords slightly.

“Let him walk over on his own!” Feng Jiu’er’s cold voice carried over, mixed with a scorching undertone.

The brothers made way, and the town chief, gripping his sword, stepped toward Feng Jiu’er.

Jian Yi stared at the approaching man, his wrist turning as he gripped his sword.

A powerful gust of sword energy swept toward the town chief’s right hand.

With a clang, the sword in the town chief’s hand was forcibly knocked away and embedded in a nearby stone wall.

He too couldn’t withstand it and fell to the ground once more.

“Town Chief.” The controlled soldiers panicked.

The town chief looked up and saw the group not far from him, clutching his chest as he stood.

“We are here under the city lord’s orders to destroy the shadow medicine. Town Chief, do you have an objection?” Feng Jiu’er spoke before he could open his mouth.

“My city’s lord is already dead. Whose orders are you following?” The town chief’s cold eyes swept toward Feng Jiu’er.

“Where did these rebels come from, daring to impersonate the city lord and burn court-issued medicine? Do you know what crime this is?”

“Oh?” Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow, glancing at the bonfire whose flames were gradually weakening.

“You’re saying this is court-issued medicine? Do you have proof?”

“Of course I do.” The town chief snorted coldly.

“I don’t care who you people are. Openly opposing the court makes you rebels and traitors.”

“I will definitely report this to the court, and have your entire nine generations of family executed!”

Feng Jiu’er let out an indifferent “heh” and waved her hand.

“Take the town chief back and seal off his residence. No one is to enter or leave.”

“Yes.” A brother nodded and accepted the order.

In the blink of an eye, the town chief, who had ridden in on his own horse, was tied to the back of it and sent away.

Having handled matters in the mountains, Feng Jiu’er led the group back.

Today, their several-thousand-strong southbound force had all gathered, along with the three thousand brothers Gong Xinyue had redeployed.

At the start of the battle for Plains City, Mao Zhongcai had pulled every soldier he could mobilize from each town.

Nanshan Town now had only three hundred soldiers left.

At this point, all of them had been brought under control.

The town chief hadn’t disappointed Feng Jiu’er either—he produced the receipts for purchasing the shadow medicine.

She hadn’t expected that the seal stamped by the person who received the shadow medicine was genuinely the court’s official seal.

Holding the city lord’s token, Feng Jiu’er stripped the town chief of his position and confiscated nearly all of his property.

Over the following two days, she had the brothers inquire around the town while she herself stayed at Nanshan Villa.

After two days of investigation, Feng Jiu’er temporarily appointed a woman she’d met in the mountains—one who had helped build Nanshan Villa alongside other women—as the interim town chief.

Day and night without rest, Feng Jiu’er handed over all the matters that needed preparing to the brothers who stayed behind to observe.

Having barely slept for two days and two nights, on the third day she slept for over two hours straight in the carriage.

The convoy left Nanshan Town and soon entered the scenic Panlong Stronghold.

Though poor, Panlong Stronghold truly had beautiful surroundings, which was exactly why Feng Jiu’er had chosen this place.

As soon as the convoy entered the stronghold, many people gathered around, mostly women and children.

Xiao Yingtao led a group of their sisters, dismounted, and handed out candy and baked cakes to the children along the way.

Feng Jiu’er woke amid the children’s cheerful laughter.

Jian Yi, who had been reading in the carriage, glanced over, set down his book, stepped over, and helped steady her.

Feng Jiu’er stood, stretched, lifted the carriage curtain, and looked outside.

Green mountains and clear waters—truly a fine place to live.

“Water.” Jian Yi sat beside her and handed her a water pouch.

Feng Jiu’er took the pouch and drank half of it in one breath.

She returned the pouch to Jian Yi, lifted the curtain, and got down from the carriage.

“Jiu’er, are you awake?” Xiao Yingtao turned around, a little girl still cradled in her arms.

Gong Xing’er, Yue Qinchun, Duan Liuyang, Leng Xuepiao, Shen Rong’er, and Xiao Tian were still handing out candy to the children.

“Thank you, older sister.”

“Thank you, older sister.”

“Sister, the candy is so sweet!”

“Sisters, you’re so pretty!”

“Sister Xing’er, is the world outside beautiful? Is it fun?”

Children’s laughter filled the air all around.

Feng Jiu’er nodded to the crowd of women gathered around her, then turned her attention back to Xiao Yingtao.

“Where did Xinyue and Qiao Mu go?”

“Xinyue had someone take her to look at the fish ponds,” Xiao Yingtao replied.

“I heard they built several fish ponds according to your plan and have already stocked them with fry.”

“Really?” Feng Jiu’er looked around happily, then turned her gaze back.

“Let’s go take a look too.”

Two brothers from Panlong Stronghold led Feng Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Leng Xuepiao to a fish pond.

Gong Xinyue sat on a wooden raft, floating on the water, testing the water quality.

Qiao Mu stood on the bank, talking with a man and woman.

Feng Jiu’er stood by the pond and watched for a while before stepping toward Qiao Mu.

“It really does look like it’s coming together nicely!” Xiao Yingtao said with a beaming smile, following along.

Leng Xuepiao said nothing, but followed as well.

—