Chapter 96: The Young Scouts

She focused her gaze.

The mountain forest at night was pitch black.

But scattered throughout, there seemed to be some bright spots.

Her spirits lifted.

“Er Tie Brother, San Tie Brother, look over there—is that torchlight?”

Upon hearing this, Er Tie swiftly climbed up a tree.

San Tie stretched his neck, trying to see as well.

San Tie asked, “Looks like it. Er Tie, do you see it clearly?”

Er Tie remained silent.

Yan Yu and San Tie exchanged a glance and simultaneously looked up at Er Tie.

“Er Tie Brother?” Yan Yu called softly.

Er Tie quickly climbed down, frowning. “They’re torches, and there are quite a lot of people.”

Yan Yu thought: Of course, Mao mao already detected twenty-one people.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry back and report!” San Tie said excitedly.

There was both urgency and thrill in his voice. Their sneaking out at night wasn’t for nothing—now they had made a contribution!

Er Tie hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

He picked up Yan Yu, and the two boys sprinted through the forest.

Yan Yu… remained quite calm.

With her short legs, to avoid slowing them down, Er Tie and San Tie took turns carrying her.

But when they found her father, what Er Tie said shocked Yan Yu.

“Uncle Yan, there are a lot of people. The torches stretch a long way—there must be at least dozens of them.”

Yan Yu blinked in surprise and hid in a corner, clutching Mao mao.

She whispered, “Didn’t you say there were only twenty-one people? Why did Er Tie say there are so many?”

Mao mao tilted its head and looked at its paws.

It licked its left paw once, then its right paw twice, then the left paw again.

Yan Yu: …

She kind of got it.

Her perspective had been too small.

Why had she only set a two-digit limit?

“You mean there are a hundred and twenty-one people?”

Mao mao nodded and let out a soft “meow.”

It was as if it was saying: Yes!

Now was not the time to hesitate over three-digit numbers. Yan Yu quickly ran to pull her father down and whispered in his ear, “Dad, it’s a hundred and twenty-one people!”

Uncle Yan was startled by the number.

“You three, hurry up! Wake everyone up, no one should be sleeping!”

With that, he rushed off to find more people.

Yan Yu was about to run off when Li Xuemei grabbed her.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m waking people up! Mom, let go! This is urgent!”

Li Xuemei twisted her ear in frustration. “Just send Mao mao out! Why are you running around? It’s dangerous to walk mountain paths at night—can’t you let me worry a little less?”

“If I don’t go with them, how will I explain where this information came from?” Yan Yu puffed up her cheeks. “Mom, think bigger! Your daughter isn’t a little kid anymore—I know what I should and shouldn’t do, and I know how to protect myself. We’re deep in a bandit-infested area, facing over a hundred enemies. This isn’t the time to divide people by age or gender—we all need to grab weapons and fight.

“Also, you should show off your incredible accuracy, Mom! My dad is broad-minded and generous, he won’t be upset!”

Li Xuemei’s archery skills were uncanny. Even though she wasn’t suited to using a full bow, she had been practicing with a bamboo crossbow.

And she never missed.

Who would believe it?

This was the kind of archery her father could only dream of mastering!

It was downright unbelievable.

Yan Yu could hit her target because she used a small crossbow with a short range. As long as she aligned her sights, hitting the mark wasn’t difficult. And in this weather, the wind was negligible—external conditions didn’t affect her much.

But her mother? She just casually fired, going purely by instinct.

Although she didn’t always hit the exact same spot, every arrow landed on target.

And that was when she wasn’t even focusing. If she took more time to aim, wouldn’t she be even deadlier?

Wuwuwu!

Yan Yu really wanted this kind of talent.

Li Xuemei said, “If you’re old enough and doing serious work, I won’t stop you. But you have to promise me—take care of yourself. Keep Mao mao with you at all times, only use it for scouting, and don’t go near the fight.”

Yan Yu nodded repeatedly.

“And bring me your dad’s bamboo crossbow.”

Li Xuemei still wanted to spare her husband’s pride.

He had been diligently practicing calligraphy and crossbow shooting, but the results… weren’t great.

If not for the fact that he was the only one using Tie crossbows and arrows, no one would believe he had ever hit a bandit.

Yan Yu cheerfully agreed and dashed off.

While the adults were assembling, the children were also busy.

First, they helped their families pack up supplies. Then, armed with their own weapons, they started gathering in groups.

The older kids were picked by the adults to join the main force.

Taking advantage of Er Tie and San Tie’s support, as well as her Yan family background, Yan Xiaoyi shamelessly fought for command of the children.

Of course, not everyone agreed.

“Why should we listen to you?”

“Because I was the one who discovered the enemy with Er Tie and San Tie. And because I know my dad’s battle plan.”

She lifted her chin proudly and looked at the group of kids. “If you were in charge, do you know how to stay out of the adults’ way?”

“There are adults ahead of us, and their positions and targets are already arranged. We can’t get past them. If we do, we’ll just distract them.”

“Then if we can’t fight, why are we gathering?”

“We can’t fight now, but in the future, when we’re bigger and stronger, won’t we be able to? Why do you think Er Tie, San Tie, and the two Hu brothers were chosen to fight with the adults? It’s because they’re strong. If we train just like them, won’t we be picked too?

“We don’t just need to practice our archery and accuracy. We also need to train our teamwork. And our courage—what if someone is chosen to fight but gets so scared at the sight of bandits that they freeze up? That would be embarrassing!”

The kids thought about it and agreed.

Reluctantly, they said, “We’ll listen to you for now. But if your plan doesn’t make sense, we won’t follow you.”

Yan Yu grinned. “If you do as I say, we’ll be stronger than the adults in no time!”

Yan Yu knew her father had divided the adults into teams in a seemingly well-structured way.

But there were still many flaws.

And grown-ups were set in their ways—it was hard to change their habits.

So she set her sights on this group of little sprouts.

“Alright, what do we do now?”

“Groups of three. Whoever finds their teammates first, come to me.”

She actually wanted to line them up by height first.

But she knew that would be a huge headache.

Just arguing over who was taller could take forever.

The older kids quickly found partners of the same age.

The younger ones did the same, mostly sticking with familiar friends.

The little girls grouped up with other little girls…

When everyone had found their groups, some started giving advice.

“The adults are in teams of six. Shouldn’t we do the same?”

“Three kids are as good as six adults. Who do you think is stronger?” Yan Yu grinned.

That shut them up.

Yan Yu narrowed her eyes and said brightly, “This is our first gathering. It’s also the first mission of our Young Scouts. Do you have the confidence to complete it?”

Whoa!

All the children’s eyes lit up.

Yan Xiaoyi’s words sounded so cool—Young Scouts? They were the Young Scouts!

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

The kids cheered excitedly.