The Female General Dominates All After Transmigration-Chapter 41: Night Journey, Sudden Incident

Zhang Yuyan wanted to ask, "How did you come back," but as the words reached her lips, she recalled Ling Chengyan’s dashing presence in the martial arts arena... and she swallowed the words back.

Back at the Nanli Team, Ling Chengyan and the others first went to the team office to talk about the competition and show the certificate to the old branch secretary, Wang Futang.

The news spread quickly, and everyone rushed to the team office.

Zhang Wanxiang’s sister and mother came, as well as Wu Qingyun’s mother and two sisters-in-law, each scrutinizing their children up and down, left and right, as if suddenly realizing they had become accomplished.

Xiao Xing followed Hongjun, Hong Zhi, and the others, and the two sisters-in-law also came.

The eldest sister-in-law, Zhao Erni, held Ling Chengyan’s hand, her smile so wide it almost didn’t fit her face, "Oh my, let me see the county official or whatever, it’s incredible..."

Hongling, following her mother and aunt, whispered with a smile, "Champion, it means the first place."

"Oh, oh, champion, three champions no less, oh my mother, how amazing, outshined all those big men in the whole county... hahahaha..."

The second sister-in-law laughed as well, "Exactly, next time when someone asks where I’m from, I’ll just say I’m the sister-in-law of those three champions, hehe, imagine how proud that is!"

Xiao Xing shyly squeezed in, softly calling, "Mom."

Ling Chengyan bent down to touch the little girl’s head, reached out to pick her up, and walked out with the two sisters-in-law.

Zhang Yuyan waited at the door of the team office, and Ling Chengyan briefly introduced the two sisters-in-law and then said to the older sister-in-law, "Yuyan’s home is in Zhangbaozi, I’ll take her there, Shi Tou is already there, I’ll come back to fetch him."

The eldest sister-in-law, Zhao Erni, considerately took Xiao Xing and held her, saying, "Should your brother hitch a ride and go with you?"

Ling Chengyan politely declined the kindness of the eldest sister-in-law and went to the animal husbandry office to borrow a horse. Compared to a bicycle, she was much more familiar and comfortable riding a horse.

Borrowing the horse was an unexpected gain of a saddle and stirrups from Uncle Gada, the caretaker, who said it was old stuff used by their eastern household back in the day, a bit worn but still usable.

Ling Chengyan rode off with Zhang Yuyan, as the two sisters-in-law watched the pair gradually disappear into the distance. The two brothers came running to inquire, and upon learning that Ling Chengyan had already left, the second brother, Wang Lianfa, stomped his foot in frustration, "What now, should we chase on bicycles?!"

The eldest brother, Wang Lianqi, shook his head, "Haven’t you seen how fast the horses can run from the fourth family? You can’t catch up on a bike."

"So we just leave it be?..." Wang Lianfa asked.

Wang Lianqi cast a glance at his brother, saying, "You go borrow a car from the old principal, I’ll assemble the new bike from the fourth family, and we’ll both go together. Even if we can’t catch up, we can still respond and assist a bit."

The two sisters-in-law looked puzzled. Once the two brothers had settled their discussion, with Wang Lianfa running off, the elder sister-in-law Zhao Erni pulled Wang Lianqi aside to inquire.

Wang Lianqi sighed, "Aren’t there a lot of visitors these days?"

Zhao Erni and Zheng Xiaotian both nodded.

Every year in early spring, during the lean months, there are always beggars coming to the door. In previous years it was just one or two, but this year it’s said that the south is suffering from a severe drought, and many people have come out to beg. There have been especially many visitors these days, seven or eight groups a day, but they are mostly the elderly, women, and children. If there is any surplus food at home, it’s given away as much as possible, and no one really pays it any mind.

"Just some elderly and children, what could possibly happen?" Zhao Erni wondered aloud.

Wang Lianqi glanced at his wife, saying, "Can just the elderly and children travel hundreds or thousands of miles to our place? It’s just that with only the elderly and children, they seem pitiable and can beg for more food, while the young ones are waiting outside the village."

After saying this, Wang Lianqi no longer delayed, waving a hand and rushing back to the team office.

The bicycle Ling Chengyan acquired was still in the team office. All the tools for repairing and maintaining equipment were there, so Wang Lianqi assembled Ling Chengyan’s bicycle right in the team office.

Ling Chengyan didn’t know about the situation at home. She rode the horse with Zhang Yuyan out of the village and then urged the horse to run, covering more than half the journey before dusk with the help of the daylight. On the way, she saw several beggars in tattered clothes carrying baskets and dragging sticks, but she paid them little attention.

During her stay at home, she had seen a similar sight, an old woman with a five or six-year-old child had come begging at their door, and she had given them a cake and half a bowl of porridge.

Ten miles later, she still couldn’t reach Zhangbaozi Team before dark. Ling Chengyan loosened the reins, letting the horse trot, and took out the cake she had brought, offering one to Zhang Yuyan.

Zhang Yuyan, not used to riding horses, had been on edge the entire time and felt queasy from the jostling. She waved her hand to indicate she couldn’t eat.

Ling Chengyan didn’t press further, ate a cake herself, drank a couple of sips of water, and then urged the horse to continue, finally reaching Zhangbaozi Team.

The village was dark, with only the occasional glimmer of faint light visible from the houses.

"Your team seems to sleep quite early," Ling Chengyan observed.

Zhang Yuyan, a bit embarrassed, mumbled, "Kerosene is hard to come by, few people use lamps."

Ling Chengyan nodded and led the horse to a low and worn-out farmhouse courtyard.

Zhang Yuyan said, "This is my home, Sister Yan, come inside for a rest and some food."

Speaking, she raised her voice to call her parents, the door responded by opening, revealing a slightly stooped old man and a woman with her hair in a bun.

"Dad, Mom, this is Ling Chengyan from the Nanli Team, she brought me home."

"Oh, it’s Xiao Yan, Yuyan told us a lot about you, said you’re great with firearms... Thanks for bringing her home, come in and sit for a while..." Zhang Yuyan’s mother hurried over to greet warmly.

Ling Chengyan felt a bit uncomfortable with the excessive enthusiasm, exchanging a few polite words with a smile, she declined and left, mounted her horse, and rode away.

By the time the Zhang family came out to see her off, she had already driven the horse out of the alley, and the sound of the horse’s hooves faded into the distance. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Ling Chengyan hadn’t brought any gear with her when she came. Leaving Zhangbaozi Team alone, she only then became alert and found a wooden stick more than a meter long and placed it horizontally across the horse’s back.

Although the state of the world was relatively peaceful at the time, who knew if there might be little bandits on the road?

It would be a great loss if General Lin were to be careless and fell into the hands of highway robbers.

Traveling quickly on the way there, she hadn’t rested at all.

Leaving Zhangbaozi Team, Ling Chengyan thought of the horse, first seeking out a river, leading the horse to drink some water, and she broke the cake she carried in two to feed one to the horse.

After both she and the horse had taken a brief rest, she mounted again and continued the journey.

Sometime in the distant past, the Yellow River flowed into the sea at this location. After the river changed course, the old path left behind thick layers of yellow sand soil, and whenever the wind blew, the dust swept all around.

To prevent erosion, villages situated in the old course of the Yellow River planted many trees and some low shrubs to stabilize the sand and reduce dust.

Nanli Team was one of the villages situated in the old course of the Yellow River, and seeing the dense groves and shrubs meant she was getting close to home, which cheered up Ling Chengyan.

She slowed the horse’s pace, allowing it to proceed at a gentle walk.

Before entering the woods, one must cross a river, a main canal about ten meters wide and four or five meters deep, with a brick bridge leading to the village.

During spring, because irrigation required a lot of water, the upstream had just released water, making the water in the canal very deep, at least three meters in the deepest part.

Just as Ling Chengyan rode onto the small bridge, she suddenly heard shouts coming from the thicket ahead.

"Don’t run!"

"Catch her!"