In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 285 Pride

Chen Zhong was his only child. It would be a lie to say that he didn't care about Chen Zhong's safety. However, his son had grown up and had his own ideas, and he didn't want to stop his son from joining the guard team.

Can……

Fighting the bandits in the forest is still too dangerous!

Two hours ago, a group of guards had returned ahead of time, and all of them were injured, which made Chen Fu even more worried about Chen Zhong's safety.

"Why haven't my sons come back yet? Could something have happened to them?"

"They'll definitely be fine! Cheng-ge is looking after them."

"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens!"

"..."

The other villagers gathered at the village entrance also looked worried, concerned about the safety of their children.

Chen Dao stood expressionless at the back of the crowd, feeling somewhat worried as well. This was the first time the Chenjia Village Guard had gone into battle, and he didn't know how things would turn out.

"Back! They're back!"

At that moment, a cheer rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Chen Cheng and the others at the end of their line of sight.

"Finally home!"

Many people breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked towards Chen Cheng and the others.

Why is there so much blood on you?

"Son, are you alright?"

"Wow! This looks terrifying!"

"..."

As they got closer, the villagers were startled when they saw Chen Cheng and the others clearly. Chen Cheng looked particularly frightening, his clothes seemingly stained with blood.

While the others weren't as badly affected as Chen Cheng, they all had some bloodstains on them.

"Don't worry, it's all the blood of thieves."

Chen Cheng smiled and reassured everyone, then quickly walked towards Chen Dao to report.

Jiang Yan looked her son Chen Zhong up and down and asked with concern, "Zhong'er, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!"

Chen Zhong said with no small amount of pride, "Mother, I killed two thieves with my own hands today!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Chen Zhong.

"Is Zhong-ge'er that powerful?"

"Killed two thieves? Zhong-ge, when did you become so amazing?"

"Is that thief so easy to kill?"

"..."

Facing the astonished gazes of the crowd, Chen Zhong became even more energized, puffing out his chest and saying, "Those thieves are nothing special. I can kill one of them with a single slash. If it weren't for Brother Cheng killing them so quickly, I could have killed at least three by myself!"

"Me too! I killed three thieves today!"

"Those thieves think they can escape? How could I let them get away? I chased after them and killed one of them with a single stroke!"

"It's just that Brother Cheng and Uncle killed them too quickly, otherwise I could have killed a few more!"

"..."

The guards boasted proudly to the villagers about their achievements, though to be honest, they were extremely nervous before fighting the bandits.

But when they actually faced them, they discovered that those thieves were not as powerful as they had imagined, and were even... no match for them at all.

"Brother Dao, today we found a bandit stronghold called Black Wind Stronghold and killed a total of 35 bandits..."

Chen Cheng reported to Chen Dao earnestly.

As Chen Dao listened, he glanced at Chen Zhong and the others who were boasting, and nodded inwardly.

These able-bodied young men in the guard team looked like honest, simple farmers before they left the village, but now...

Having gone through the battle, he has gained a bit more courage and bravery, and can now be considered a qualified member of the guard team!

Of course, one battle is far from enough to make these team members battle-hardened soldiers; they need more experience!

"Cheng-ge'er".

After listening to the report, Chen Dao instructed, "For the next few days, I will trouble you to continue leading them to wipe out the forest bandits."

Black Wind Stronghold is just the beginning of the campaign to wipe out the forest bandits, not the end. Chen Dao and Xu Zhiwen's plan is to wipe out all the forest bandits along the road from Chenjia Village to the county town!

"Don't worry, Brother Dao, I will definitely wipe out those forest bandits."

Chen Cheng solemnly made a guarantee.

…………

…………

In the following days, Chenjia Village and the county government continued their operations!

Led by Chen Cheng and Zhang He respectively, they ventured deep into the dense forests on both sides of the official road, searching for bandit hideouts and wiping out the bandits hiding in the forest!

"Brother Chen Cheng!"

In the dense forest, Zhang He, who happened to meet Chen Cheng's group, laughed and said, "These forest bandits are getting harder and harder to find!"

In the past five days, Zhang He has eliminated no fewer than 10 bandit hideouts, and Chen Cheng has eliminated at least 8. As the number of bandits dwindles, the remaining bandit hideouts are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Zhang He spent half a day searching the dense forest today, but couldn't find a single bandit hideout.

"Yes!"

Chen Cheng scratched his head and said, "I reckon there aren't many bandits left in this forest."

Chen Cheng has searched almost the entire forest since morning, but he hasn't found a single bandit hideout. This means that there are probably not many bandits left in this forest.

"Let's look again. If we really can't find it, then our mission is complete!"

Soon, Zhang He separated from Chen Cheng and the others and continued searching in the forest.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the two groups emerged from the woods and reunited on the main road.

Zhang He said with a smile, "The bandits in this forest have been cleared out. We can go back and report now!"

Upon hearing this, both Zhang He's men and the members of Chenjia Village's guard breathed a sigh of relief. Although they had suffered few casualties in the battles against the bandits for several days, they were still under considerable psychological pressure.

Good thing...

The bandits were finally wiped out, and they were now engaged in a life-or-death struggle with them once again.

"to make!"

Chen Cheng nodded and said, "Then, Brother Zhang He, I'll head back to the village to report to Brother Dao first!"

"it is good!"

Soon, the two groups separated.

Zhang He led his team to the county town, while Chen Cheng and the guards returned to Chenjia Village.

"Are you all back?"

Standing at the village entrance, Chen Dao looked at the returning crowd and asked, "How did things go?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Cheng hurriedly replied, "Brother Dao, Zhang He and I have confirmed that the bandits in the forest have been cleared out. From now on, our Chen Family Village caravans can safely pass through the official road!"

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Chen Dao laughed and said, "I've prepared a celebration banquet for you all, come into the village!"

After saying that, Chen Dao took the lead and walked into the village. The people behind him exchanged glances and followed.

Before long, Chen Dao led everyone to the open space where they usually trained. There, they saw several large pots set up with firewood burning underneath. A fragrant aroma was wafting from the pots, making Chen Zhong and the others swallow hard.