Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 156 - 155: The Treasured Blade Sharpened by Third Aunt

Chapter 156: Chapter 155: The Treasured Blade Sharpened by Third Aunt
"Ah!!!"
The Desert Barbarians shouted in rage at Liu Ji and swung the knife at him once more.
Liu Ji quickly dodged, "Hey, you can’t hit me~"
Just as he was being arrogant, unexpectedly, a sneak attack came from behind him. Wang Wu and the others saw it, but were too far away to help.
They could only shout loudly, "Watch your back!"
Liu Ji felt a gust of wind sweep towards his back, and with a long knife in front, he couldn’t move forward or back. He thought to himself, this is the end!
At this life-and-death moment, a strong feeling of unwillingness suddenly arose in his heart.
Was someone as charming and handsome as him going to kick the bucket here?
This little life of his, without any achievements, hated by all, dying like this, probably everyone would feel fulfilled.
But why should he let them feel that way?
With two steel knives coming at him from front and back, Liu Ji couldn’t avoid it, so he crouched on the spot and rolled under the horse’s belly.
A clang of metal clashing sounded painfully close to his ears as he barely dodged, making his gums itch uncontrollably, and he gulped down spitefully.
A strong figured suddenly stretched out a hand and pulled Liu Ji out from under the hooves of the two Desert North People.
Liu Ji looked up to find it was actually the village chief’s grandson, Liu Qi.
At the brink of death, when a villager meets another villager, their eyes truly fill with tears.
Liu Ji’s eyes welled up with tears.
Liu Qi couldn’t spare time to comfort him, quickly shoving his third uncle behind the grain cart and, fueled by sheer courage, was ready to charge.
"Qi!" Liu Ji quickly grabbed him, instructing firmly, "Capture the leader first to capture the enemy. Kill their leader!"
Liu Qi was about to ask which one was the leader when a heavy, cold dagger was slipped into his palm,
"This is the dagger your third aunt sharpened. Now your third uncle entrusts it to you. Go kill the one riding the red horse with the bit of white on its forehead, quickly!"
The dagger sharpened by the third aunt?
The hot-blooded young man’s eyes sparkled, and he nodded heavily, "Okay!"
Taking the ’weapon sharpened by the third aunt’, Liu Qi rushed into the chaotic night without another word.
Liu Ji’s heart was racing with excitement, trembling along.
Then... the young man suddenly ran back, standing next to him by the grain cart, "Uncle, I can’t catch up with the horse."
As soon as he finished the sentence, the familiar steel knife came again, Liu Qi sprang forth, dragged the person off the horse, stabbed downwards, and finished them off.
The young man was electrified, "Uncle, this dagger is indeed useful!"
"...Good, then stand with uncle and protect him a bit." The man hesitated for a moment before coaxing him like so.
Liu Qi decisively agreed, "Alright!"
The enemy seemed to be fewer, suddenly news of victory spread from the front, Shangguan Lie had already killed the leader of the Desert Northern Cavalry.
The battle ended abruptly.
Liu Ji silently wiped the wetness from his forehead, unsure if it was blood or sweat, his strength spent, he collapsed onto the grain pile.
Liu Qi seemed to still have infinite energy, holding the dagger with eyes alight searching for enemy troops.
Unfortunately, they were all cleared out by the little soldiers led by Shangguan Lie.
They chased far, it was a quarter of an hour before they rode back, each holding several heads, inspiring all who saw it.
Returning to the team, the first thing Shangguan Lie did was to light torches and check the personnel and grain.
Liu Qi had to return the dagger to Liu Ji and go back to his own group.
It was then Liu Ji learned they had both been in Shangguan Lie’s team.
Only one at the front, the other at the tail. And because Shangguan Lie managed strictly, each guarded their own grain cart, never leaving their group, they hadn’t seen each other.
Just then Liu Qi had accidentally heard Liu Ji’s shout, that’s how he discovered his presence.
The village chief had personally gone to the county government to arrange for this grandson.
Being placed in Shangguan Lie’s team, what did it signify?
Liu Ji couldn’t believe it, widened his eyes, realizing he had wrongly blamed that government officer who escorted him, the person took his money and really did their job.
They hadn’t despised him for only having five cents; instead, they seriously chose a reliable leader for him.
Liu Ji recalled how along the way, under Shangguan Lie’s leadership, his team had avoided various potential dangers multiple times.
Looking at the tattered grain transport team behind them, their leader already killed by Desert Barbarians’ blade, he quickly prayed three times to the horizon.
Thank you, Lord. In the future, when Liu Ji becomes successful, he must visit and extend profound gratitude.
After the count, not a single grain cart was missing, the horses too, unharmed under everyone’s protection.
But nineteen civilians died, seven were severely injured and dying, and more than forty lightly wounded.
Among Liu Ji’s six person group, five were lightly wounded to varying degrees.
Only he, with messy hair and ragged clothes, was remarkably without a scratch, a miracle.
After a simple tally, bringing along the deceased civilians, everyone proceeded to the planned camp site to rest, burying the dead on site.
Since Liu Ji was not injured, he was assigned to the burial team, digging pits for half the night, he only had time to rest at dawn, collapsing into a deep sleep in his wet cotton coat.
The next day, his companions forcibly woke him.
Daylight had broken, and the main force was moving on.
If not for seeing Shangguan Lie and others with heads hung from their horse backs, Liu Ji would have thought last night’s battle was a dream.
After last night, everyone’s cumulative negative emotions exploded collectively, plunging their spirits to the bottom, the atmosphere oppressive.
Many were injured, and the other grain transport team teetered on the brink of collapse, slowing the pace greatly, covering only eighty li in a day.
At night, in the camp, everyone’s homesickness peaked, one by one they started crying, afraid they might never return home.
"What day is it today?" Wang Wu suddenly asked.
Everyone thought hard for a while, Liu Ji first answered, "It’s October 15th."
Wang Wu seemed dazed, "Only a month?"
Why did it feel like they’d traveled for a year?
That Wangyue City seemed so far, no matter how they walked, it was unreachable.
Another person nudged Liu Ji’s shoulder, "How do you remember so clearly?"
Liu Ji reluctantly curled his lips, squeezing out a smile uglier than crying, and didn’t answer, just sighed in his heart: because he missed home every moment.
The days of studying at the academy now seemed so wonderful, even the smelly feet of his dorm mates were automatically filtered out.
Remembering the past made him want to cry.
"Hoo~" Liu Ji exhaled a deep breath, looking up at the moon in the sky.
The moon in the Northern Desert was big and round.
The nights in the Northern Desert were cold and hungry!
The sugar and salt were gone, because a grain bag leaked midway, their food merged into the military grain, and now even the food was gone.
They had two more days to Wangyue City, not knowing how many would remain by then.
That night, Liu Ji dreamt again of the small courtyard in Liu Family Village, sobbing continuously, "Woo woo woo, wife, I was wrong."
The next day, Wang Wu and the others all looked at him with eyes full of disdain, a dignified seven-foot man dreaming of apologizing to a woman, too unpromising!
Liu Ji: "..."