Mo Jiuye asked: "Have all the bodies been taken care of?"
Eighth Brother answered, seemingly a little disappointed: "This guy, I just chopped off one of his arms and he got scared to death. There wasn't even enough time to dispose of the bodies before taking revenge..."
Mo Jiuye couldn't help but chuckle: "That kind of person is clearly afraid to die. If he's dead, then he's dead."
Fifth Elder Brother knew what Mo Jiuye wanted to ask: "We threw those two bodies in the back mountain."
Speaking of the back mountain, Mo Jiuye had never been there before.
From what those villagers said, it was the place the Barbarians came from when they lacked food and clothing, going over the front mountain and entering Xi Ling Village.
Since his elder brothers had already been there, Mo Jiuye felt it necessary to inquire about it.
"Fifth Elder Brother, when you went to the back mountain, did you discover any suspicious traces or special markings?"
Based on many years of combat experience, when Mo Jiuye had led troops and wanted to sneak into the enemy's interior first, he would send scouts ahead to scout the route and leave markings.
According to the villagers of Xi Ling Village, the Barbarians would come to harass them once every year or two. It would be impossible without leaving markings in those deep mountains.
The elder brothers had all heard about the Barbarian harassment.
Therefore, when the meticulous Fifth Elder Brother went to the back mountain, he made a point to observe carefully.
This was also something he was eager to tell Ninth Younger Brother about.
"Ninth Younger Brother, I discovered traces of burning wood there, and in addition, animal furs and bones. I guess someone must have recently been there, hunting game to survive. As for other markings and such, I really didn't find any. Besides, we were afraid of worrying our family by coming home late, so we didn't linger there for long."
Sixth Elder Brother also stepped forward and said: "We guessed that it was quite likely Barbarians wanting to come raid Da Shun, but they discovered plenty of game there and gave up on the idea."
Mo Jiuye nodded: "That's not an impossibility. After all, those who come to raid are Barbarian commoners, what they want is just something to eat. If they can find something to fill their stomachs, they probably wouldn't want to take the risk and come here."
He paused, then continued: "In any case, we must be vigilant. This year there is little rain, and there may be a drought. If it weren't for the river in our village, and everyone working hard to carry water to irrigate the fields, I'm afraid even the crops would be doomed."
"Here we are only separated from the Barbarians by one mountain. If they have nothing to eat, it's very likely they will come in groups to harass us."
Now the new house had just begun to take shape, and various industries were also being prepared.
Especially since he had planted so many crops, and there were over a thousand rabbits.
Before long, poultry and livestock like chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep would also begin to take shape on a large scale for raising. It would be a pity if they couldn't take care of them and they were stolen.
"Don't worry Ninth Younger Brother, starting tomorrow, we brothers will take turns going over there to keep watch. If anything happens, we'll be able to discover it in time."
If it was up to letting the elder brothers take turns keeping watch, Mo Jiuye didn't have that intention at all.
In his view, why use an ox knife to kill a chicken?
The dogs trained in his wife's space were completely capable of doing it.
Of course, in the next few days Fan Tong would first need to issue orders for them to get used to it, then they would naturally take the initiative to patrol on their own.
He Zhiran's thoughts were the same as Mo Jiuye's. Amidst the brother's discussion, her consciousness had already entered the space.
Just now when they had Fan Tong tame Xiao Bai, she hadn't paid attention. Not a single one of those dogs had appeared, they must have been manipulated by the little guy to go establish rules somewhere.
Her consciousness searched around in the space, and sure enough, all those dogs were sitting neatly in a row at the foot of the mountain, not daring to move an inch.
If it weren't for several elder brothers present, He Zhiran would have laughed out loud.
Fan Tong was really not bored in the space.
As for those dogs, they had grown a lot bigger. She estimated after another two or three days, they would be able to officially start work after leaving the space.
...
The original plan was for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran to use the morning to buy lumber as a cover, prepare it, then arrange for transport back home.
Unexpectedly, they had run into two Southerners in Yun City, and as a result, delayed their plans.
It was Old Lady Mo who first remembered this at dinnertime.
"Jiuye, how did things go with buying lumber in the city?"
The old lady had long since refused to worry about matters in the household. Now she only wanted to contribute some effort like her daughters-in-law.
It was just that she felt something was off with the sullenness today. Mo Chuhan, who usually loved to tell everyone about handling cases at the yamen when he got home, was unusually quiet today.
Old Lady Mo guessed that something must have happened today, which was why she brought up the matter of buying lumber.
The elder brothers hadn't intended to tell their family about capturing the two Southerners. After all, it wasn't a pleasant matter.
But they understood their mother's disposition very well. If she hadn't noticed anything amiss, she wouldn't have asked questions at the dinner table.
Mo Jiuye had originally planned to prepare everything and tell them when setting off for the capital.
Since his mother had asked, he simply told her some of it.
"Mother, the lumber has been prepared. I was planning to arrange for transport back home this afternoon, but unexpectedly, we ran into two Southerners in Yun City asking about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Village..."
Mo Jiuye informed his mother about today's events. This way, he wouldn't need to explain his trip to the capital again.
Of course, he didn't give details on how those two men died, only saying that the elder brothers had already taken care of it cleanly.
After hearing his story, not only his sisters-in-law, but even the usually composed Old Lady Mo was no longer calm.
"That Si Meng is truly relentless. As long as he's around, my Mo family will never have a peaceful day."
Seeing his mother's state, Mo Jiuye knew that she was also thinking of a way to go to the capital and look for this person.
He took the opportunity to say: "Mother, I'm planning to go to the capital in a few days. I don't want to give up even the slightest clue."
When Ninth Younger Brother said he was going to the capital to find Si Meng, the elder brothers stood up, ready to fight.
"If we're going, we brothers are going together," said Eighth Brother.
Even Seventh Elder Brother, whose health hadn't fully recovered, was anxious.
"That's right, going to the capital is no trivial matter. Ninth Younger Brother can't go alone. If we're going, we brothers should go together."
"No, with our sensitive identities, it would draw too much attention with more people. I plan to go investigate alone first." Mo Jiuye strongly disagreed.
Old Lady Mo did not approve of this. Before the other sons could object, the old lady spoke up.
"Jiuye, that Si Meng is extremely skilled at covering his tracks, clearly a sly man. Not only that, he also wields many crooked skills. Without someone watching your back, I'm afraid it won't do."
Fifth Elder Brother also agreed: "Mother is right. The others can stay home, Fifth Elder Brother will accompany you there."
