Mountains and rivers are waiting for you to return

Chapter 89: First Visit to Huayun Village

They walked a long mountain road and it was already night when they arrived at the valley in the northeast corner of Huayun Village.

There is a very hidden path among the woods, which is a shortcut to Huayun Village.

Everyone dismounted, climbed up halfway up the slope, and walked along the mountainside.

Pei Nai chatted with everyone along the way, listened to the stories that happened in Huayun Village over the past ten years, and learned about everyone's situation.

Everyone seemed to find her return a little unreal.

Pei Nai mentioned: "Gu Jinheng was poisoned and unconscious. The garrisons of the two states closest to here cannot come to support without his order. I originally wanted you to sign the letter of affiliation on behalf of Huayun Village, so that His Majesty and Ju Yan could order troops on his behalf. As a result, he woke up in time and reinforcements are on the way, so there is no need to sign the affiliation document for the time being."

Someone tutted, "Rely on Gu Jinheng's support? It's better to rely on ourselves."

"By the way, General Han's life event will require you to worry about it when you come back." Someone suddenly said, and then winked meaningfully.

Pei Nai turned around after hearing this and looked at Han Ruize and asked in confusion: "Oh, right, why haven't you started a family yet?"

Han Ruize slowly looked away and lowered his head to look at the road under his feet, but with a slight smile, and then a bitter smile, "I'm still waiting for my stupid girl."

Pei Nai frowned and scratched his head, "No way, I have been waiting for so many years, the girl should have been married long ago."

Han Ruize sneered again and raised his hand to touch her head.

"Does Gu Jinheng know that you're back?" he asked.

Pei Nai nodded, "I accidentally exposed myself."

"What do you think?" Han Ruize asked calmly.

Pei Nai looked at him, "What can I think? No matter how stupid I am, I can't keep jumping into the same pit, right?"

As they were talking, they turned a corner and saw faint sparks of fire at the end of the road.

"Are we there yet?" Pei Nai asked casually.

Han Ruize nodded, "Yeah."

Li Lan blew a whistle, and the people inside opened the bolt, and their eyes suddenly became bright.

Han Ruize walked in first and held out his hand to Pei Nai, "Come."

Pei Nai handed him his hand, stepped over the threshold, and found that they were on a wooden staircase on the side of the mountain wall.

One side of the wooden ladder is connected to the wooden building on the cliff, and the other side leads directly to the bottom of the valley. Because there is no fence, walking on the high ground brings an inexplicable sense of danger.

On the top of the mountain wall, the night scenery of the village appeared before them without any obstruction.

There are countless houses scattered among the distant mountains, and the lights of every household flicker brightly in the night.

It was so blurry that one couldn't tell whether it was a bright light or starlight.

Pei Nai could hardly look away and sighed, "This is not the same as what I thought Huayun Village would be like."

Zhang Ming spoke from behind them: "It wasn't like this before. After we came here, we helped rebuild it. The population has grown a lot in recent years. It's a pity that the children are still young, and most of the remaining ones are the older generation of us in the Pei Family Army. We are old, and our fighting power is not as good as before!"

Someone responded, "Yes, it happened to be a difficult time for us. In the past, we would have killed all the Wu tribe barbarians without leaving a single one alive!"

Han Ruize went down a few steps, turned around and said to Pei Nai, "Go this way, slowly."

Pei Nai reacted and followed closely.

At the bottom of the stairs, you will reach the flat land between the mountains.

The forests are dense and the paths are crisscrossed.

Lanterns are hung in front of every house, lighting up the roads in the village, creating an indescribable sense of peace and beauty.

It’s a pity that this tranquility will soon be broken, Pei Nai thought regretfully.

There were two girls carrying bamboo baskets not far away. They came over when they saw them.

"General Han, my father told me that the Tianyao Palace sent someone and you left the village early this morning. Ah Shuang and I thought you must have been tired after a long day's journey, so we picked some fresh fruits to quench your thirst."

Someone stepped forward and took the bamboo baskets from their hands. "It's so heavy? Miss Zhitao and Miss A Shuang have worked so hard!"

"We are all family, why be polite?" Ah Shuang replied.

Just then, another group of people appeared behind the two girls.

Pei Nai was very familiar with the leader. His name was Zhong Lin, and he was Han Ruize’s former adjutant.

He walked closer and said, "Why are there only Du Ling and a girl? Where is General Zhou Weiguo?" "General Zhou Weiguo?" Pei Nai was confused. Why did the rumors become more and more outrageous?

"Yes, when Du Ling came to report the news two days ago, didn't he say that the Wu tribe's army was heading towards Huayun Village, that the Tianyao Association would send troops to help, and that an envoy appointed by His Majesty would arrive soon, so we should go and greet him in advance?"

He continued to explain: "I asked him who the envoy was, and he said, 'It was the former general of your Pei Family Army.' Is there anyone else in Chaoyang City who meets this condition besides General Zhou Weiguo?"

Pei Nai looked at Du Ling.

Du Ling's leg was seriously injured, but he was still supported by others. He explained to Pei Nai, "I just left after saying that. I didn't know they would think so much."

Pei Nai found it funny in his heart, "General Zhou Weiguo will arrive with Tianyao's reinforcements in three days. After we win this battle, we can have a good reunion."

Zhong Lin and the others were all confused. "Who is this girl?"

Han Ruize's expression was extremely serious, with an irresistible majesty, "Zhong Lin, meet your commander, the heroic General Pei Nai."

It was like thunder thundering in everyone's ears. Everyone froze where they were, speechless for a moment.

This reaction was the same as that of Li Lan, Zhang Ming and others just now. The facts before their eyes that overturned common sense caught them off guard.

"General Han, this..." Some people still couldn't believe it.

Zhong Lin lowered his head first, clenched his right fist to serve as a weapon, and hit the left side of his chest hard.

"I am Zhong Lin, your honor to meet you, Commander!"

Although the others didn't understand why, they still followed Zhong Lin in paying their respects.

"How did you believe it so quickly?" Pei Nai was very curious. "Li Lan and the others were not like that just now. They caught me and asked me a lot of old things. I answered them one by one, and they even wanted me to show off my skills."

Zhong Lin has put down his hand. "I guess the female hero who recreated the Wanyue Blood Whip at the Dengyun Conference must be you. Apart from you, I can't think of any other woman with such grace. Besides, since General Han said so, he must have confirmed your identity."

Pei Nai suddenly realized, "I was so happy to meet you that I almost forgot."

She walked to her horse, took out a cloth bag from her bag, and opened the outer cloth. The murderous aura inside immediately leaked out.

Pei Nai slowed down her movements, and when she looked up, she saw that everyone's eyes were focused on her.

She held the long black and red whip in her palm and took a few steps towards Han Ruize.

Some people have already had tears in their eyes, perhaps for the thousands of loyal souls of their deceased comrades on the battlefield, or perhaps for this spirit of righteousness.

There are layers of deep meaning and sadness in people's eyes.

Pei Nai took a few steps towards Han Ruize, holding the whip in his right hand in the air, but did not speak.

The air almost stagnated.

Han Ruize looked at her, and finally raised his hand and took the Hunxi whip from her hand.

Everyone knows what this means.

The moment he took over the Hunxi Whip, the responsibility of continuing the Han family for a hundred years truly fell on him.

He will once again become the leader of the Five Mountains and the only heir of the Han family. From this moment on, he belongs to the country and the world, but not to himself.

Give glory to the heaven, protect the common people with red heart and blood, and guard the mountains and rivers
This is his fate, and also Pei Nai's fate.

The atmosphere was too heavy for a moment.

Pei Nai waved his hand, stepped forward and patted Zhong Lin on the shoulder, jokingly saying: "After all, I am also an envoy sent by His Majesty. Have you prepared a welcome banquet for me? We have traveled for such a long time and must be starving."

"Yes! Of course!" A person behind Zhong Lin responded, and then laughed out loud, "But they are all General Zhou Weiguo's favorites."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not picky about food. Lead the way!" Pei Nai signaled them to hurry up.

The two girls who had been watching them looked at each other for a long time.

The girl named A Shuang quickly pushed Miss Zhi Tao, who seemed extremely nervous.

Seeing that Zhitao didn't say anything, Ah Shuang spoke for her, "General Han! We Zhitao prepared dinner for you personally, all of which are your favorites!"

Pei Nai followed everyone else and had an expression of watching the fun.

When Han Ruize turned around and went to take the bamboo basket, Pei Nai waved to the others and made a gesture to evacuate.

Everyone suppressed their laughter and left in low voices, leaving him alone there.

When Han Ruize looked back again, everyone had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)