Nan Quanyou said, “Of course it can’t be defended, I suspect the show of defense is just for appearance’s sake. If they run fast, they might escape and bring back news. If they can’t run fast enough, they’ll be killed by the mountain bandits.”
Nan Feng said, “Exactly, I didn’t want to get involved in this initially, worried that if the mountain bandits come, we won’t be able to stop them, and the villagers would blame me. But now, there are dozens of families in the village. What if they encounter those merciless bandits? Wouldn’t everyone in the village be in danger?”
Nan Quanyou immediately asked, “Fengfeng, do you have a plan to deal with the mountain bandits?”
Nan Feng shook her head, “I don’t have a particularly good solution, but I’ll save as many as I can.”
To her surprise, Nan Quanyou suddenly exclaimed loudly, startling Nan Feng.
“Great! You’re a brave one, Fengfeng. Go ahead. Whether you can save them or not, the villagers will still appreciate you.”
“Well,” Nan Feng smiled at Nan Quanyou, then left the room.
…
Once Nan Feng announced her decision, she received the village chief’s support.
The village chief didn’t really understand, but he did his part and gathered all able-bodied men over fifteen in the village to the drying yard.
At first, the villagers were confused, especially Zhou Laoda who voiced out, “Why do we always have to listen to this girl?”
Zhou Laoer followed up, “If the bandits come, this girl…”
Nan Feng glanced at Zhou Laoer, silencing him before he continued.
This girl could probably handle a few mountain bandits, just like the last time when she tied him to a tree without anyone noticing.
In the drying yard, Nan Feng stood at the front, hands behind her back, eyes gleaming, appearing heroic. Her first utterance was, “If anyone doesn’t want to listen to me, that’s fine. I won’t force anyone. If you don’t want to learn, you can leave now. One less person to teach makes things easier for me.”
At this, Liu Chang called out loud, “I’ll listen to Miss Feng!”
Hearing Liu Chang, Tie Dan immediately chimed in, smacked by Liu Chang, “I’ll listen to Miss Feng too.”
These two voices broke the ice, and others followed, shouting, “Alright, we’ll listen to Miss Feng.”
Nan Feng continued, “Good, since you want to listen to me, let’s not delay. I’ll start.”
“First, let’s talk about those who were guarding the village yesterday. It was Uncle Lan and Brother Erzhuang, right? I want to ask Uncle Lan, how far can you see from the village entrance?”
“Well…” Uncle Lan thought for a moment, “about one mile.”
Nan Feng asked again: “If the bandits were to come, could you notify us with only one mile’s visibility?”
Uncle Lan replied hesitantly: “I’m afraid that before we could notify you, we’d be captured by the bandits.”
“What if you were chatting and didn’t notice the bandits coming? Or if they came on horseback? Can your two legs run faster than four?”
“…” Uncle Lan was embarrassed.
“Uncle Lan, I mean no offense. I’m just speaking about the matter at hand,” Nan Feng said.
Nan Feng raised her voice slightly: “So, this is very important. First, we need to build a sentry post at the entrance of the village. I will show you how to do this later. Second, those on duty at the post must focus and watch the entrance. If they spot anything suspicious, they must sound the alarm immediately.”
“Third, our villagers are all unarmed. Even if we know the bandits are coming, faced with their stealing, arson, and killing, we are helpless. We can only watch them do as they please, so we must have a way to fend off the bandits.”
Liu Chang asked, “What method?”