落尘小说网

第 47 章（第1页）

Thegesdidnothappenallatonce。XieZhengbeganbystrengtheningthevillagesclosesttotheborder。Smallwatchplatformswerebuiltonhigherground，whereapersoncouldseetheroadsapproagfromseveraldires。Theyweresimplestructures—woodenplatformswithacoveredroofandabell—buttheygavethevillagerssomethingtheyhadneverhadbefore:warning。

Suyuanvisitedeachvillagewiththesoldiers。Shenoticedthatsomevillagerswerestillnervousaroundthenewarras。Onewomanquietlyasked，“Willthesoldiersleaveusifataes?”Suyuanlookedather。“No。”Thewomanseemedsurprisedbyhowquicklysheanswered。“Thesoldiershaveroadstopatrolandborderstoprotect，”Suyuantinued。“Butyoushouldntdependonthemforeverything。Ifyouseedangerfirst，yougivethemtimetoreachyou。”

Thatbecamethemainlesson，thevillagerslearnedhowtosoundthewarningbell。Theylearnedwheretogatherchildrenandelderlypeople。Theylearnedwhichhousescouldtemporarilyshelterfamiliesifsomeoneoleavetheirhome。Eventhelocalshopkeepersjoinedin。Amertofferedhisstoreroomasanemergencyshelterandafarmervolunteeredhiscartfortranspinjuredvillagers。Whiletheblacksmithagreedtokeepsparetoolsreadyforrepairsandnoneofthemweresoldiers。

Buttheywerenolongersimplywaitingforsoldierstosavethem。

Oernoon，SuyuanstoodbesidethenewlyrepairedwatchplatformwhileXieZhengiedthesurroundingfields。“Youvegedtheentirevillage，”hesaid。Suyuanlookedtowardthefields。“Peoplebeefrightenedwhentheydontknowwhattodo。”XieZhengnodded。Sheglathewatchtower。“Fearisntalwaystheproblembutfeelinguselessandhopelessis。”XieZhenglookedatherforamomentbeforeturningbacktowardtheroad。

Ariderroaginthedistahewatnoticedhimfirst。Hestruckthesmallwoodenbellohevillagerslookedupandthesoldiersimmediatelymovedtowardtheroad。Buttherewasnoattack，theriderwassimplyamessengerreturningfromanothervillage。ThetensionfadedalmostimmediatelyandSuyuansmiledfaintly。“That，”shesaid，“isexactlywhatwewanted。”XieZhenglookedather。

“Theysawsomethingunfamiliar。”

Shewatchedthevillagersreturntotheirwork。

“Andinsteadofpanig，theychecked。”

Fornow，thatwasenough。