The winged beasts were still circling above the city, diving down time and again, trying to break through the irritating barrier. With each impact, the houses shuddered violently. Carrying poles, hoes, and buckets rolled from the base of the walls, clattering and banging across the street. Chai Xiaomi stumbled over a fallen carrying pole.
She staggered and steadied herself against the edge of a well nearby.
It was an ancient well that had collapsed on one side. Just as she caught her breath, she suddenly saw a hand reaching out from inside the well. That hand waved weakly, then hung limply over the well's rim—creepy no matter how you looked at it. Chai Xiaomi gasped in fright and hastily stepped back a few paces.
"Why is this well opening so narrow? Give me another push!"
A muffled shout came from the bottom of the well.
Followed by a synchronized chant: "Come on, sisters! One, two, three!"
The next second, the owner of that hand shot out of the well like a cork that had been wedged too tightly, finally popping free. With a thud, he tumbled to the ground in front of Chai Xiaomi.
Their eyes met, and both froze in disbelief.
Uttering in astonishment:
"... Xiaomi?"
"... Zhu Yu?"
"Xiao! Mi!"
"Zhu! Yu!"
Chai Xiaomi's eyes instantly reddened. She threw her arms around her, tears streaming down in a downpour.
"Boo hoo—how did you end up here?"
She had thought this was a friend she would never see again. The book was almost finished, the story nearly told. The people she’d come to know were about to be left forever between the pages.
All the melancholy she had buried deep in her heart, afraid to dwell on, finally burst forth in this moment.
But the tearful surprises weren’t over yet.
"Xiaomi?"
Several more startled, trembling voices called out from the well opening.
Chai Xiaomi looked up blankly, her tear-blurred eyes glimpsing the figures one by one emerging from the well. Dressed in coarse linen, heads wrapped in cloth, faces deliberately smudded with dirt—at first glance, they looked like village women fleeing a disaster.
But when she looked closer, she realized they were all familiar faces.
Ziyan, Cai Xia, Jiao Jiao, Meng'er...
"Waaah—"
Someone started crying first. The girls rushed over, surrounding Chai Xiaomi tightly, hugging each other in a sobbing heap, weeping as if the sky were falling.
As they cried uncontrollably, a violent crash sounded from above. Startled, they looked up to see the giant beasts still circling the sky, diving down again.
The girls' faces turned pale with terror.
"Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!" Chai Xiaomi quickly wiped her tears and shielded them behind her. "The barrier is still up; they can’t get in for now!"
She steadied herself and looked at the faces before her—both familiar and strange—her mind full of questions:
"How did all of you end up in Lucheng? And how do you know each other? What’s going on with this well?"
As she spoke, her eyes darted between Zhu Yu and the girls.
Zhu Yu wiped her tears and smiled, putting her arm around Ziyan’s shoulder. "These are my crew."
Ziyan nodded firmly, her eyes red as she looked at Chai Xiaomi. "Xiaomi, after we used the silver you gave us to buy ourselves out of the Huanyin Pavilion, we realized how hard life is out there. All those years, all we knew was singing and dancing; we had no real skills to lean on. We hit walls everywhere..."
She paused, her voice choked with emotion.
"We looked for work in so many places, but nobody wanted us. Eventually, we wandered all the way to Xunzhou, and luckily, Boss Zhu took us in. She gave us a way to make a living and personally taught us how to do business, manage accounts, and deal with people. She never once looked down on us for being slow, and she never made us smile and flatter anyone again. She only said—"
Ziyan sniffled, forcing a smile, and mimicked Zhu Yu’s carefree tone:
"Girls, we earn our keep with real skills. Stand tall and live with dignity!"
Chai Xiaomi looked at Zhu Yu, tears welling up again.
"What are you staring at me for?" Zhu Yu felt embarrassed, turned her face away, wiped the corner of her eye, then turned back. "Anyway, let’s talk business."
"I was originally transporting a shipment to Liangya Prefecture when I ran into several wealthy families fleeing with their families on the road. That’s how I learned that Liangya was under attack by the barbarians."
She jerked her chin toward the girls behind her. "These young ladies are all from Liangya Prefecture. The moment they heard their hometown was in trouble, they were as frantic as ants on a hot pan, insisting on following me here."
"I hear the fighting has been fierce, and the troops are trapped in Lucheng. So, I figured supplies won’t last more than a few days." Zhu Yu patted the dust off her clothes. "I’m not from Liangya, but I’ve traveled far and wide for business, and I’ve received favors in Lucheng back in the day. A client once mentioned that there was a secret passage hidden in the city, so here we are."
"The grain is at the bottom of the well—several carts’ worth. These girls have been worn out by this whole journey!"
"Wait."
Chai Xiaomi suddenly spoke, frowning slightly as she caught a discrepancy in the story.
"You said you heard," Chai Xiaomi stared at her. "Where did you hear that the troops were trapped in Lucheng?"
The news that the Nie family’s army had wrested Lucheng from the barbarians hadn’t been released. Outsiders didn’t even know who held the city, so how could they know about the siege?
Zhu Yu paused, scratching her head. "I ran into a soldier on the road, and he told me. He seemed to be in a hurry, like he was heading back to the capital to report and request reinforcements?"
Chai Xiaomi narrowed her eyes. "He wouldn’t happen to have a pair of shifty eyes, have a sleazy look to him, would he?"
"Yeah, sort of."
Of course, it was that guy.
That beating with a stick that day was still too lenient. The coward had deserted!
She glanced at the well opening. No need to guess—he had probably slipped out from here too.
And he talked about requesting reinforcements? From a monarch who spent his days only seeking immortality and couldn’t care less about the people? It would be a miracle if he didn’t just open the city gates and surrender. Chai Xiaomi ground her teeth in anger.
Fortunately, Zhu Yu, with her sharp business mind, had guessed exactly what the city needed most. She brought coarse wheat cakes—solid food that could fill hungry bellies.
Chai Xiaomi called over the two guards watching the children to help unload the grain from the well in batches. Then she settled the girls into the courtyard where the children were staying.
Seeing their efforts were futile and the barrier impenetrable, the beasts flapped their wings and retreated, gradually disappearing into the gray horizon.
Outside the towering city walls, the beasts that had been baring their fangs also grew restless under the irritating scents spread around, roaring low as they pulled back.
Such attacks resumed the next day, repeating over and over.
This continued until the third day.
Chai Xiaomi looked up at the temporarily quiet sky, silently clenching her fists.
Just two more days, and Sister Yao’s plan would work.
Then those beasts would turn their fangs against the barbarians, tearing each other apart.
Just then, a commotion broke out outside.
"The commander is here!"
Chai Xiaomi looked in the direction of the voice and saw Song Yueyao, fully armed, striding over. Her armor glinted coldly in the sunlight, and the sword at her waist swayed gently with each step. Upon learning that someone had brought in supplies, she had come specially to thank those righteous souls who had braved danger to enter the city.
However, when the legendary female general appeared before the crowd, everyone was dumbfounded.
Chai Xiaomi pressed her lips together, observing their stunned reactions.
Song Yueyao's beauty was already striking, with a natural hint of valor in her brows and eyes. Now, clad in armor, she looked even more heroic and captivating, impossible to look away from.
A few of the younger girls quietly blushed.
After a long pause, someone stuttered:
"I—I never expected... that Miss Song would be... the commander of this battle..."
While everyone was still frozen in shock, Chai Xiaomi craned her neck, peering backward.
Behind Song Yueyao followed several soldiers, all travel-worn and dusty, but even after scanning them twice, Xiaomi could not spot the familiar tall figure she was looking for.
Several waves of monsters had already been repelled, yet he still hadn't returned to the city.
"Sister Yao, where is he?"
Song Yueyao glanced at the coarse wheat flatbread in Xiaomi's hand and understood at once—she was worried Wu Li might go hungry.
"Wu Li is still on the city wall, using talismans to reinforce the barrier. Don't worry, someone is delivering food to the front lines." She smiled apologetically, her eyes carrying a hint of regret. "There are also many bows needing repairs for the archers, and I've asked him to handle that too. Sorry, Xiaomi, I've commandeered your husband these past few days and didn't even let him sleep. You must miss him terribly, haven't you?"
Xiaomi's gaze fell on Song Yueyao's face, where the dark circles under her eyes were impossible to hide.
Even though she herself hadn't had a single peaceful night's sleep, she still worried about others.
She was like a tree that would never fall.
Enduring, striving, being tough—swallowing all her exhaustion deep inside.
"Sister Yao, we're friends. Since when do friends say sorry?" Chai Xiaomi's nose stung. She stepped forward and pressed the flatbread into Song Yueyao's hand. "I truly regret not having practiced archery hard with you back then. At least now I could fill a slot. Don't keep thinking about everyone else—occasionally, give yourself a break."
Song Yueyao was stunned.
She looked down at the coarse wheat flatbread in her hand, a tightness rising in her throat.
After a long moment, she nodded firmly and forced a smile. "Mm! You staying here to help look after these children is already a huge help to me!"
Chai Xiaomi nodded, then suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Zhu Yu.
"Oh, right, Zhu Yu. It's not safe to stay long in the city. Can you take these children out through that secret passage?"
This idea aligned perfectly with Song Yueyao's own thoughts.
The secret passage ran underground, all the way to the neighboring city, making it not too difficult to lead the children out.
Without a second thought, Zhu Yu agreed.
Not to mention taking these children out—with her current assets, raising them all would be more than manageable.
