When Jiang Jin and the others returned with the herd of horses, the battle here had already ended. The hundred or so refugees had all been wiped out, with not a single one escaping.
Dong Si was just about to embark on the grand task of searching their bodies when Jiang Jin hurriedly stopped him. "What valuables could these refugees possibly have? Don't waste your time."
She turned to the group. "Is anyone hurt? How bad are the injuries?"
Liu Mi's hair was disheveled, and she had bruises on her face and arms, but she knew her own body well enough to tell that none of the injuries were vital.
She had dragged her injured body to check on Liqiu and Shuangjiang, and now replied, "Liqiu and Shuangjiang were hit by clubs, but it's nothing major. I've already applied medicine for them, and they'll be fine after a couple of days of rest."
Jiang Jin looked at her, her tone filled with concern. "What about your own injuries? Are they serious?"
Liu Mi felt a warmth in her heart. "I'm fine, they're all just flesh wounds."
Only then did Jiang Jin relax. She nodded. "We need to leave here as soon as possible. Anyone who's injured, get in the carriages. Quick, move faster."
Liu Mi hesitated for a moment before getting into Yao Ji's carriage to check his wounds, fearing that they might have torn open again during the fight. Fortunately, he had known his limits, and there were no issues.
Yao Ji thanked her gratefully. "Thank you, Lady Liu."
Liu Mi waved her hand. "There's no need to thank me, it was all ordered by the young lady."
Jiang Jin and Zhou Sui rode at the front of the group. She asked, "Is there a suitable place to set up camp ahead?"
Whether it was the horses or almost everyone in the group, they were covered in bloodstains. They needed to find a place to wash up and change their clothes as soon as possible.
More importantly, for Sun Acao, Shuangjiang, and the others who had never killed anyone, or even seen anyone killed, and who were participating in a battle for the first time, today's events had been a bit too stimulating. Their minds were still somewhat in a daze, and this state was not suitable for long hours of travel.
Zhou Sui pondered for a moment before saying, "There are no places with water nearby, but there is a village ahead with a river outside it. We can either enter the village or follow the river to find a place to camp."
Jiang Jin frowned. To be honest, she didn't really want to camp in a place with too many people. As the saying goes, where there are people, there is trouble.
Zhou Sui seemed to see her hesitation and said after a few breaths of hesitation, "Young lady, that village... there might not be anyone left."
Jiang Jin froze for a moment before understanding. In the current Yan Kingdom, nine out of ten houses were empty. The closer they got to the north, the more desolate it became.
The two fell silent.
After a long while, Zhou Sui spoke up. "Young lady, I'll go ahead and see what the situation is in that village."
Jiang Jin agreed. "Alright, be careful."
About half an hour later, Zhou Sui returned. The village ahead was indeed deserted.
Jiang Jin led the group into the village, deciding to spend the night there.
White bones could be seen everywhere in the village, suggesting that it had been attacked quite some time ago.
The group found a relatively clean and suitable place to spend the night and stopped.
After dinner, Jiang Jin called everyone together for a meeting. First, she praised them, and then she pointed out the shortcomings in their response to the battle today.
Finally, she looked around and asked, "The refugees tried to steal our food, our carriages, and our horses. They even wanted to kill us. Tell me, did they deserve to die?"
"They deserved to die!" everyone replied in unison, their voices loud and clear.
Jiang Jin looked at Shuangjiang and Sun Acao. "Why couldn't you bring yourselves to act at first? Do you know what would have happened to us if we had fallen into their hands?"
Shuangjiang and Sun Acao both lowered their heads in shame. They had indeed held everyone back today.
Jiang Jin continued, "It was your first time facing such a situation, so I can understand. I'm not bringing this up to blame you, but to make you see reality."
"When facing enemies, it's either them or us. Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. I hope you remember my words today."
"If others don't cross me, I won't cross them. But if they do, I will strike them down, no matter how far away they are!"
"Understood!" everyone present replied.
Early the next morning, just as Jiang Jin finished washing up, she saw Shuangjiang waiting for her not far away.
"Are you looking for me?" Jiang Jin waved her over.
Shuangjiang was a bit nervous, her hands unconsciously clenching. "Young lady, I... I want to learn martial arts from you. Is that okay?"
She had hardly slept all night. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the image of clubs raining down on Liu Mi, and those twisted smiles revealing blackened teeth.
She could have killed the refugees right from the start, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, which resulted in Liu Mi getting beaten and herself almost getting killed.
The young lady was right. Kindness to the enemy was cruelty to oneself, and cruelty to one's own people.
Jiang Jin raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to learn martial arts?"
Shuangjiang looked down at her hands. She had always known she had a big appetite and was stronger than average, but she had never realized just how strong she was.
Because she had never been full. When she was at home, eating until she was twenty percent full was considered good. Most of the time, she survived by drinking water.
These past few days, she had finally been able to eat her fill. The food was solid, and there was even meat. She felt her body brimming with strength, as if she had an endless supply of energy.
She gathered her courage and looked up. "Young lady, I want to protect you. I want to protect our group."
Ever since she was old enough to understand, she had never received any care from her family. She thought that because she was a girl, this was just how things were supposed to be.
But during her few days with the group, she realized that women weren't actually much different from men. Women could be just as formidable, just like the young lady.
She really liked her life now. She wanted to work hard so that the next time they encountered such a situation, she could fight alongside the young lady.
Jiang Jin was very pleased. "Alright, you can learn from Zhou Sui. I'll speak to him later."
It wasn't that Jiang Jin didn't want to teach her, but their current training directions were different.
The original owner of this body had been a delicate princess with very poor physical fitness. Therefore, the focus of her current training regimen was on basics: stamina, endurance, and strength.
As for Shuangjiang, who was used to doing farm work, her stamina and endurance were not lacking.
Of course, these still needed to be strengthened, but the main focus for her should be on fist and blade techniques, combat, and reaction speed.
Not being able to learn directly from Jiang Jin made Shuangjiang a bit disappointed, but she quickly cheered up. Once she became skilled, she could follow the young lady.
Shortly after, Jiang Jin found Zhou Sui and told him about the matter. She also asked him to train Li Su and his son along with her. After all, teaching one was the same as teaching two.
Li Su looked a bit old, but he was actually only thirty-four, just a year older than Zhou Sui. He was still in the prime of his life.
Zhou Sui agreed. He had also noticed the group's problem. Their horses and carriages were like a juicy piece of meat in the eyes of others, but the group's combat strength was too weak.
Today, they were lucky that the refugees didn't have proper weapons, otherwise, it would have been difficult to retreat unscathed.
Jiang Jin shared her thoughts. "Just use military training methods on them. Especially Shuangjiang—she's incredibly strong. Test her limits, and if possible, arrange weight training for her as soon as you can."
