"Have you grown taller again?"

When Du Chengfeng returned to the residence, the carpenter Li, who hadn’t left yet, asked the same question.

If Liu Bolun’s words could be dismissed as the ramblings of a drunkard, then the words of Carpenter Li were highly credible. This carpenter, who was quite sensitive to measurements, not only noticed Du Chengfeng’s height increase at a glance but also accurately judged how much taller he had become.

"You’re an inch and two-fifths taller than a few days ago, which means you’ve grown two inches and two-fifths since we first met... isn’t that a bit too fast?"

It was indeed quite fast, even a bit too fast. An increase of an inch, or about three centimeters, isn’t too noticeable, but two inches and two-fifths, approximately seven centimeters, makes the growth quite apparent.

Growing seven centimeters, rounding it up, means going from 1.8 meters to 1.9 meters tall, which is noticeable to the naked eye.

"And your arms... can I feel them? They seem to have gotten thicker by a whole circle?"

"...Really?"

Du Chengfeng himself hadn’t noticed. His schedule had been quite packed recently — actually, he hadn’t spent that many days in Yanzhou City; most of his time was spent riding around. Just when he was about to settle down for a rest, Yanzhou broke into war.

In such a rush, he hadn’t even had time to find a knife to sharpen, so how could he have the leisure to pay attention to whether he was growing taller?

"It’s probably due to exercise."

Du Chengfeng wasn’t too sure about his height, but as for his arms, he had indeed been fighting a lot recently. When the arms fill with blood, the circumference can indeed become larger, which is normal.

"Anyway, let’s not worry about these minor issues; there’s business to discuss."

Saying this, Du Chengfeng gathered everyone still in the residence, including Carpenter Li, Cui Yuan, a few academy students with nowhere to go, the academy cooks, and the two children guarding the mountain gate. When everyone was assembled, Du Chengfeng briefly explained the situation.

"In short, hurry and pack up; the one called Xiang Rong is about to lead a troop here soon."

After the explanation, Du Chengfeng looked up.

"Does anyone have anything else?"

"We can’t leave yet."

The first to stand up were the two gate-keeping children.

"The headmaster’s body still needs to be attended to; we can’t leave yet... Two days, give us two days, and we’ll return."

"...Understood."

Hearing these words, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but sigh.

Old Ruan’s death was something unacceptable to everyone. Since these gatekeeping children had this thought, he had no reason to refuse.

"Handle it quickly, and I’ll help buy you some time."

"Actually, we can’t leave either."

Carpenter Li also stood up.

"When we left Jizhou, the villagers had a bit of grain with them, which was enough to eat on the road. But now, we have to purchase grain again... With the city in chaos, who knows if we can acquire supplies."

"I’ll think of a way for that."

Hearing what Carpenter Li said, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but feel a headache, as technically it was his responsibility.

If he hadn’t planned for the children to go study with old Ruan, the villagers wouldn’t have settled down. Now that a fight broke out, they missed the chance to stockpile grain.

Luckily, this Yanzhou governor seemed reasonable, and with his heroic status, acquiring some grain should still be doable.

"Then why are you standing up?"

Du Chengfeng turned to look at Cui Yuan.

"You still have a wanted notice on you. You’re brave to stay here; aren’t you afraid of being caught and beheaded as soon as you step out?"

"...I’ve been standing the whole time."

Cui Yuan replied expressionlessly.

"I never sat down from the start, how could I have stood up then?"

"Then there’s nothing more to say."

Seeing everyone with their own tasks, Du Chengfeng got up, took his horse, and headed out. He needed to talk to the Yanzhou governor about the evacuation.

Just like in Jizhou, this time Yanzhou also needed to clear people in advance, otherwise, if this city with over a hundred thousand people turned into a hunting ground, who knows what kind of terrifying monsters could emerge. Back in Jizhou, He Xiqing killed only tens of thousands, and already possessed terrifying combat power.

If it wasn’t for Du Chengfeng also having killed a similar number, matching the combat strength, he might have been eaten on the spot by the transformed monstrous bird that He Xiqing became.

Fortunately, compared to the battle in Jizhou, this time, he had a little more time.

"Leaving now, we can still make it."

In the governor’s mansion, Du Chengfeng cupped his hands towards Qi Jinshan.

"If we evacuate now..."

"No rush, hero. Come take a look here first."

Upon hearing Du Chengfeng’s words, Qi Jinshan didn’t respond directly but led him to a side by a sand table.

"This is the terrain of Yanzhou. Although the land between Yanzhou and Jizhou is flat and without defenses, as long as we stand firm by this large river and attack when they’re halfway across..."

"Huh?"

Du Chengfeng was completely left dumbfounded.

What halfway attack? Did Qi Jinshan still not understand the situation? With Yanzhou’s level of armament, they couldn’t even counter the enemy’s giant face-eagle, what use is talking about attacking midway?

"Of course, I also know that Yanzhou’s military is lax, likely incapable against the steppe experts."

While saying this, Qi Jinshan cupped his hands toward Du Chengfeng.

"Fortunately, we have you, the hero here. As long as you act, these steppe experts should be trivial."

"...Wait a moment."

Listening to Qi Jinshan, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt something was off.

Never mind whether he could defeat the steppe experts or not, but judging from Qi Jinshan’s words... it was as if he hadn’t thought about retreating at all?

"Retreat? Why retreat?"

Qi Jinshan clenched his fists, speaking righteously.

"The steppe people have caused chaos in our Yanzhou City, and we haven’t even avenged that! The fact that these barbarians dare invade south now, this is precisely the time for us good men to establish merits!"

"You..."

Du Chengfeng opened his mouth wide, but couldn’t say anything.

At this moment, he suddenly realized why the steppe State Preceptor Xiang Rong wasn’t in a hurry to advance.

Originally, he thought at the borders of a place like Yanzhou, even if they didn’t have someone as formidable as Liu Yanran, there should at least be a watchdog capable of guarding the house.

But who would have thought, that the military governor of Yanzhou, Qi Jinshan, was actually a pig.