The little boy gulped and no longer spoke another word with her. Xiong Guang sitting next to Xiong Jingfei, she was helping her dry half of the leaves picked. She held back a burst of m.u.f.fled laughter, waiting to come out. 

Without warning, Xiong Jingfei stabbed the knife into the wooden cutting block. In an icicle tone, "Be careful, you might accidentally die from eating 'way' too much." 

The boy gulped and no longer spoke another word with her. He thought she was going to be delicate. He did not imagine out of the three of them, she will be the harshest and aggressive one towards him. She appeared to look more delicate. The nice one was the eldest sister! 

Xiong Guang, who was helping Xiong Jingfei dried half of the picked herbs, held back a burst of m.u.f.fled laughter. Who did the boy think he was? If not for this, this boy will never have the chance to speak to someone like Xiong Jingfei.  

"Second sister, I was curious, why did you decide to rest here all the sudden." Xiong Guang couldn't hold herself back from asking the question recurring in her head since their stop. "Why didn't we rest at that village we pa.s.sed by if you were going to stop either way?

"If you do not know why, then be quiet!" Xiong Jingfei's sterned tone jolted Xiong Guang to reality. She was in no position to keep questioning Xiong Jingfei's reasons and orders. 

Xiong Jingfei stood up and went back inside the carriage. She didn't finish cutting up the rest of the herbs, nor did she seem to care much about them. Xu Song immediately followed her inside the carriage. 

Meanwhile, Xiong Guang's eyes were turning red and filled with moist. Biting her bottom lip, she gathered the unfinished herbs that were left behind. 

It was now the boy turn to hold back his laughter. Even he knew the reason without their second sister had to explain. This third sister of theirs would get herself easily kill if she was by herself. 

"She didn't have to be that harsh with a child," The soldier who threaten the boy earlier commented. 

"Right! It wasn't like what Xiong... Third sister was saying was wrong." Another soldier whispered back to him. 

"Tsk, this what we get for accompanying someone who never left the den." Another one snickered, elbowing the first soldier who made the first comment in the arms. "Can't bear the harsh travel." 

Xiong Guang's moist eyes dried right up, hearing the soldiers were on her side. What she asked wasn't wrong! 

"Shut it!" Captain Hu roared, eyeing the soldiers making the comments about the Eldest Miss. 

He sighed. These soldiers of his needs more training and punishment. In the situation they were in, it was not the best to discipline them just yet. He guesses they are only trained soldiers in name, but their mindset was less knowledge compared to a fourteen-year-old. Can they not see what Xiong Jingfei was doing was for them? 

She didn't need to rest in the middle of the day because she felt exhausted. She may be in a carriage, but for the first time leaving home for this long. How can she not be tired? In the end, she did not complain once about the heat or uneven roads. She was better off riding a horse than staying in a carriage that was half jumping with the road. 

For the past days, they were traveling nonstop, and at least two people had to take a turn doing night watches. It was visible the soldiers were tired and will soon be out of fighting energy. He could tell, so why couldn't the perceptive Xiong Jingfei be unable to see? 

Instead of criticizing the Eldest Miss for being unable to endure such a journey. They should take another look at themselves and feel ashamed. They were full fledge trained soldiers, yet they couldn't bear this much. 

They even had something called sleep! He could only imagine if these soldiers were the ones who left with the general. How dreadful it will be for them traveling day and night without any sleep. 

Captain Hu shook his head, disappointed in Xiong Guang's happy smile when she heard the soldiers' comments. The only downfall on this journey was that the Eldest Miss may have chosen the wrong person to bring along into this battle. It wasn't going to be a short fight either. 

Xiong Jingfei's decision to not reside inside the village was the right choice. It was worse than sleeping out in the open for beasts to come to devour them. Did this little girl, Xiong Guang, not see how those people in the pa.s.sing village looked at them? She was the person who even opened the curtain to look outside too. 

Those people were the real beasts. 

Only, they didn't have fangs and claws to come at them. The look in those people's eyes, they would have shredded them into pieces once night fell. It was a safe idea to be sleeping a reasonable distance away from them. 

Unfortunately, these reasons were not registering in Xiong Guang's head or the soldiers he is in charge of. Xiong Guang may be inexperienced, but why did she have to ask so many questions. 

Xiong Guang seemingly is unaware of her situation and surrounding. The wonderful thing was that the Eldest Miss was smart enough to not answer her once the unknown boy showed up. If a boy was able to show up in the middle of nowhere. Who knows if someone or something is lurking or hiding within these thick woods surround them. They could be listening in and hear how easy it was to take advantage of them. The soldiers were exhausted, and they had supplies with them. 

"Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Let me-"

"No," Xiong Jingfei held onto Xu Song's arm. What did soldiers think they were saying? What, did they think they were whispering? Barely. Did they not believe that she can't punish them for running their mouth? "Songsong, let them say what they want. It's not the truth anyway." 

"But-"

"No, not right now." Xiong Jingfei shook her head, she can't even deny that those rude comments did not stir somewhere deep inside her. However, right now was a critical moment, and the goal is to get to her father. The sooner, the better. Punis.h.i.+ng them later was never too late.