Chapter 163: Are we going to be caught?

Lin Da Niang's gentle side profile reflected the swaying lamplight, revealing a firm strength.

He Jinglan was greatly shocked, weakly speaking up to remind, "That…… isn't there a rule in the army forbidding us from leaving the village at this time?"

Lin Da Niang, however, seemed assured, "Discovering the enemy's fire attack is military intelligence; conveying urgent military intelligence is not restricted by the rules. Moreover, helping to put out the fire is our duty as military families,"

"There is no retreat tonight."

She said and was about to climb down the ladder.

Gu Xixi stepped forward to follow, "I'll go with you; I've already surveyed that area on the ground and know where the water sources are nearby."

After coming down from the roof, He Jinglan panicked, "Xixi, I want to go too!"

Gu Xixi said softly, "Be good, stay in the village and wait for us."

"Leaving like this offers no safety; we're heading into the no‑man's‑land between the two armies. If we run into isolated enemy soldiers, we may have to flee at a moment's notice."

He Jinglan urged, "I can!"

"One more person means more strength for firefighting; I promise not to hold you back!"

Gu Xixi looked at her for a moment, sighed, "All right, no time to waste—let's go quickly."

The phrase "no time to waste" referred not only to the fire.

It was about gathering everyone willing to go before the sentries noticed, then rushing out of the village as fast as possible.

Aside from the woman of the Zhou family still in confinement after childbirth and two physically weak women who could not move easily, the rest could only stay behind as companions.

When everyone heard Lin Da Niang say that the Northern Li people were going to burn down everyone's orchard and might even use the orchard to ignite the surrounding fields, spreading the fire to create a crisis for the Northwest Army,

they picked up their own wooden water buckets without a word and set off.

This mission served both the greater good and personal interest.

They are the families of the Northwest Army; in a crisis, it is their duty to contribute.

They are also themselves; no one should dare to easily destroy their pomelo trees!

Late at night, when the whole village should have been asleep,

by the time the sentries noticed, the women were only a few steps from the village gate.

They pursued, trying to persuade them to return, but could only watch helplessly as the group of women ran even faster.

Gu Xixi and the others arrived beneath the pomelo orchard, looked up, and indeed saw flames already rising from the base.

Because of the distance and the canopy blocking the view, what could be seen from the village was not clear.

Fortunately, the wind was not strong at the moment and the fire was not large, so there was still time to bring it under control.

To avoid being discovered by the Northern Li army, none of them dared to speak.

Gu Xixi first led the group upwind, whispering, "Fire shows no mercy; everyone must never try to resist it head‑on. If the fire grows, we all retreat together at a moment's notice—no one is to linger in battle. Remember that!"

The women nodded in agreement.

Gu Xixi repeated, "Think of how you feel waiting for your husbands to come home; compared to these trees, each of your lives matters most."

The women's gazes grew firmer as they nodded.

Entering the pomelo orchard, everyone spontaneously split into two groups.

One group, stronger and faster, followed Gu Xixi to fetch water, running back and forth to douse the flames.

The other group, somewhat less strong, stayed behind to shovel the sand piled at the edge of the woods with iron spades and toss it onto the flames from a distance.

Those sand piles had originally been dug up by the Northwest Army from the riverbank at Gu Xixi's request when the trees were first planted, intended for future use as fertilizer for the fruit trees.

Who would have thought they'd now be put to use fighting fire.

Burying the sand and spraying cold water—two firefighting methods working together—finally did justice to the women's hard work.

Lin Da Niang smiled and whispered in Gu Xixi's ear, "Our side has extinguished the open flames."

"Two more rounds of water and we'll guarantee it won't reignite."

"Over there I see it's about the same."

Gu Xixi nodded, "Go check that side and help them finish up."

"Quick and decisive; at most another span of time it takes to finish a cup of tea, then we'll withdraw."

By now the eastern sky had already turned a dark blue; any further delay and daylight would discover us, which would be disastrous.

When leaving, Gu Xixi, Lin Da Niang, and He Jinglan each counted heads, confirming that nobody was missing.

After the firefighting success, everyone walked home with proud smiles on their lips.

The men charged into battle.

At the critical moment, these women were just as capable.

Not only did they silently avert the fire disaster, they also preserved their own orchard.

On the way back, they walked more cautiously, deliberately keeping to the edges, choosing paths where the grass was tall and the shade thick.

However, they had not gone far when Lin Da Niang, who had volunteered to take the rear, suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind her.

Those footsteps were running, yet light and swift, making a faint sound on the grass.

Anyone with experience would recognize at once that they were well‑trained.

Following those footsteps came the faint sound of hooves and indistinct shouts and curses.

Lin Da Niang's face turned pale at once: "The Northern Li people! The Northern Li are chasing us on horseback!"

Everyone immediately followed the original plan and dove into the grass for cover.

Gu Xixi said sternly, "How can you be sure they're the Northern Li?"

Lin Da Niang replied, "I've heard the Northern Li language before, although I can't understand what they're saying."

At this point, what are we waiting for if we don't flee?

They gave up the side trail, everyone crouching low and fleeing through the thickets.

During the large‑scale land reclamation, Gu Xixi had deliberately left some grassland to protect the local ecosystem.

Huo Jiang looked at the submitted plan and also agreed, saying leaving some grass also had strategic use.

Hey, it came in handy today.

Madam Lin ran, panting, and said, "Ahead of the Northern Li people, there are still some people closer to us,"

"They look like infantry, but I don't know if they're ours or the enemy's."

Gu Xixi tightly grabbed He Jinglan with one hand, thinking, "At this moment we can't gamble; better to save ourselves first. If we guess wrong, we'd end up handing over heads to the Northern Li, which would be embarrassing."

After who knows how long of running, outside the grassland, the sound of horse hooves and the Northern Li people's noisy curses were already close at hand.

Although Gu Xixi couldn't understand, she could feel that they were cursing filthily in their anger.

At this point the women dared not make any big movement; they could only crawl slowly on the ground.

Everyone was highly tense, no one noticed, and several black-clad figures, in the same prone posture, quickly caught up from behind.

Gu Xixi had been focusing on listening to the movements of the Northern Li people.

Suddenly she sensed a strange presence beside her, and she instinctively turned her head.

Through a few stalks of grass, the black-clad masked person opposite also happened to look over.

Their eyes met, and He Jinglan beside Gu Xixi was frightened pale, but she at least managed to hold back from screaming.

She said in a breathless voice, "Xixi, we're going to, we're going to be caught. Have we been caught?"

Gu Xixi locked eyes with the black-clad person, blinked, and said, "It won't happen."

He Jinglan was on the verge of tears, "Why? Should we hold him back and shout for everyone to run?"

Gu Xixi's tone was unusually calm, even exuding a hint of eerie chill.

"Because this person is someone we both know."