Chapter 115 Enemy
Yan Hongxiu bit her lower lip and bowed her head. She was hesitating. Her father was the third high-ranking official of the Dahan Country, while her mother was from a literary family of merchants. She had been worry-free about food and clothing since childhood and constantly indoctrinated with traditional ideas by her sisters and mother.
However, her character was the same as her father’s. Like her third brother, she wanted to practice martial arts. She longed for the chivalrous and free Jianghu that her brother mentioned!
If she couldn’t pull the bow open…
Would she really be willing to marry someone at a suitable age and assist her husband and educate the children? Would she like to be trapped in a narrow world for the rest of her life?
No!
She was absolutely unwilling!
Yan Hongxiu raised her head and looked firm. Then she said, “Immortal master, please give me pith instructions!”
Su Li closed her lips slightly and said in a colder voice, “Do you really think about it? You are young. What you see and yearn for is not all what you want. Even so, do you want to continue?”
Yan Hongxiu nodded and said, “I don’t know if it’s right, but if I give up now, I will regret it later. In that case, I can’t back down!”
Then Yan Hongxiu stared at Su Li closely, but found that the latter’s cold tone suddenly turned gentle. Su Li said, “It’s rare to see that someone at your age could think in this way as you do. In this case, I’ll impart pith instructions to you now.”
“Yes, immortal master!”
Yan Hongxiu nodded happily and smiled as usual.
Seeing the beautiful girl holding the longbow in front of her, Su Li smiled meaningfully.
The blood refining method was commonly used to refine weapons in the marital arts circle. But not everyone could master it. If someone refined a psychic weapon far beyond the cultivation, he/she may be attacked by the weapon and was killed or disabled.
However, she believed that Yan Hongxiu could overcome the danger safely. After all, in her previous life, the girl had refined the psychic bow with her heart blood under the torture of Jin Cheng’ao. She had mastered the bow in only three days and almost killed Jin Cheng’ao.
Unfortunately, with loss of too much heart blood, Yan Hongxiu failed to fill the last arrow and died.
At that time, Su Li had speculated that the bow must be handed down from ancestors of the Yan Family. Yan Hongxiu’s blood might fit the bow very well; otherwise in spite of heart blood, it was impossible to master the bow beyond her own cultivation in just three days.
In this life, she let Yan Hongxiu choose a safer “blood refining method”. Although the speed was slower, Yan Hongxiu would be able to regain the strength of her previous life after a period of time.
“You died early in the previous life, and you couldn’t show extraordinary talents in the martial arts circle. Let me help you in this life. This is also a reward for your Jin Family to wipe out the Jin Family for me…”
In the warm night wind, the white clothes fluttered and all kinds of fates were silently changing.
…
On the second morning, Su Li appeared in the courtyard of Wen Ruomin.
“Are you going out to relax?”
Wen Ruomin could not help frowning when she heard Su Li’s words. She couldn’t help feeling worried and said, “The Qinghe Town is not peaceful in recent days, so your lesson has been delayed and you have more leisure. I have no objection to your going out, but how can you ensure your safety?
“Thanks for your concern.”
Su Li seemed to have a well-thought-out plan and said, “I know my own situation. Yesterday, I invited bodyguards from the Tianya House to accompany me. Besides, I also have Xiaowu and Datian. I will be all right.”
“The bodyguards of the Tianya House are really powerful.”
Wen Ruomin immediately felt relieved when hearing Su Li’s words. Then she said, “In the past six months, you have stayed in the library all day except that you went home. Indeed, you should go out for a walk. It happens that Dean Gong has just recovered from her illness and wants to give a class. You can relax without worrying about the itinerary.”
“Dean…”
Su Li said with an expression of gratitude, “I’m so lucky to meet Dean Wen. You can rest assured. I’m just going to the Qinghe River to relax, and I’ll be back in a month.”
“That’s good. The scenery of the Qinghe River is good and is worth having a look.”
Wen Ruomin laughed. Then she took out an amulet from her arms and gave it to Su Li. She said, “I got the amulet from a temple. Take it. Be careful on the way.”
Su Li quickly retreated and said with surprise and pleasure, “I can’t accept it. You should keep it for you.”
“Take it.” Wen Ruomin pretended to be unhappy and said, “Nothing will go wrong if I stay at the school. If you care about it very much, you can give it back to me when you come back. Just take it.”
Su Li hesitated but finally took it. She placed the amulet next to the skin. After the dean told her to pay attention to some trifles again and again, she was allowed to leave the courtyard.
In front of the school, Mammy Li was taking a small bag and waiting at the carriage. Both Xiaowu and Datian were excited. They checked if there was enough food for the horses.
A little while, Su Li came out of the school and saw Mammy Li and others who were waiting. She could not help breathing a sigh of relief. She finally knew how nagging Wen Ruomin was. If she hadn’t said that the carriage was waiting in front of the school, she would not have known when she was allowed to leave.
However, she was not fed up with such verbosity. She actually felt a little warm in her heart. In her previous life, she would not hesitate at all.
“It seems that she is no longer the girl in her initial rebirth. She looks more and more like a normal person. Is it good or bad…”
Su Li sighed softly and got on the carriage. Xiaowu drove away from the school immediately.
The carriage left the Qinghe Town. When Xiaowu was about to ask Su Li where the so-called “guard” was, he heard a loud noise of clop behind him. In a twinkling of an eye, there were four horses. Three men and one woman on horseback all wore masks. Their faces cannot be seen.
They looked like killers rather than guards!
Xiaowu felt alarmed and was about to turn around for escape. But he heard Su Li’s voice coming from behind, “Don’t panic. They are my guards. Keep going.”
Xiaowu couldn’t help but petrify when hearing Su Li’s words. He couldn’t help looking at the horse at the front. The voice of the young man on horseback came out from behind the mask, “You go first. I’ll follow you around all the way to protect you.”
Xiaowu knew that he wasn’t a killer when hearing his voice. Then he felt an unprecedented sense of security. The four people looked powerful. Protected by them, they would be very safe to go back hometown!
After a whole day’s drive, finally there was no official road for the carriage to drive. The mountain road between the slopes was rugged. After dark, the road could not be seen and the horses could not stand it. They could only clear out a fairly flat space for rest.
Xiaowu saw Fang Yuan and others move stones easily and quickly empty all the shrubs around them. He couldn’t help whispering to himself. They deserved to be called the bodyguards of the Tianya House and their speed of cleaning up the camp totally showed their professionalism.
Su Li sat on a stone and looked at it quietly. A slight fluorescence flashed through her eyes. Fang Yuan, Qu Qingning, Fang Mu and Yin Xuetong all had killed enemies on the battlefield. Setting up a camp was the basic skill of the army and they were naturally familiar with it.
It was not completely dark. Fang Yuan and Qu Qingning had built camp tents, while Yin Xuetong and Fang Mu had also picked up a bundle of firewood. After the fire was lighted, the sight around immediately became bright. The fire shone warmly on their faces.
Xiaowu took a pot from the carriage and put it on the fire. He poured some water in it. After the pot boiled, he put dried meat into it. It was not long before the meat fragrance came out of the pot. He first served a bowl to Su Li, and then obediently went to Fang Yuan with a bowl.
“Eldest brother, you have a hard journey. Here you are!”
Seeing Xiaowu’s such respectfulness with a hint of fear, Fang Yuan smiled slightly and took the soup bowl. Then he raised half of the mask and drank the soup. Su Li forbade him to show his true features. It was okay to only show the mouth, wasn’t it?
Qu Qingning, Fang Mu and Yin Xuetong raised their masks and drank the soup like Fang Yuan.
Xiaowu stared at the scene in bewilderment. Why didn’t these people take their masks when they were eating? He wanted to see what they looked like.
It was very peaceful in the dark and there was only the crackling sound of dry wood burning. Xiaowu, Datian and Mammy Li were ordinary people after all. When they had enough to eat and drink after a hard day, they immediately got sleepy. Instantly they went into the camp tents and slept without taking off their clothes.
After they were asleep, Fang Yuan and others took down their masks to breathe. Su Li picked up the burning firewood with a branch and said, “How was it arranged before leaving?”
Qu Qingning glanced at the camp tents behind him and signaled Yin Xuetong to say. Then Yin Xuetong organized her words and whispered, “It’s all done. The girl was very nervous, but Luo Yichen is coming back soon and there will be no big mistake.”
Su Li hummed and slightly squinted. Then she said, “You all come from aristocratic families and have outstanding origins. So you think… If the Linli Building makes war with such forces as the royal family of the Nanjiang Country, what is its chance of victory?”
When hearing Su Li’s words, the four people looked shocked with different expressions. Only Fang Yuan kept a straight face because he had seen all the magical abilities of Su Li before. It was not the first time he had seen her magical ability to get intelligence.
“Miss Su Li, you are not from the Nanjiang Country. How do you know that our enemy is the royal family?”
Fang Mu was a little impulsive. In face of Su Li’s sudden question, he could not help blurting out, “Did the eldest brother tell you? No, the eldest brother clearly gave an order…”
Then Fang Mu realized something and immediately stopped.
But Su Li was very interested and asked, “What did your eldest brother say? Fang Mu, a good boy shouldn’t have unfinished words. What do you think?”
“Well…”
Fang Mu subconsciously looked at Fang Yuan and the latter curled up his lips slightly. Was the kid… deliberately embarrassing him?
“Even though you don’t tell me, I can guess what he said.” Su Li said with a smile, “It’s nothing more than hiding something about the royal family from me. After all, even if I have strong skills, I will never offend a country for no reason. If I know, I might drive you away. Right?”
Fang Mu instantly turned pale. Yin Xuetong looked extremely worried too and nervously looked at Su Li.
They did not expect that within just one day after they went out, their relationship with Su Li was on the verge of collapse.
Qu Qingning chuckled and coldness flashed through his eyes. He shrugged and said, “Su Li, we all have known. In such case, what is your thought about the Nanjiang Country?”
“No idea.” Su Li turned her head and supported her arms on the stone to hold her cheek. It might be seen from her languid tone that she didn’t take account of the grim atmosphere at all.
“You have your enemies to deal with, and I certainly have mine. Moreover, the enemy’s forces are too powerful to face them alone and I can only establish forces to fight against them. Therefore I never care about your origins. That is not because I know it, but because it is a transaction in nature.”
Then Su Li drew on the ground with a branch and pointed to Fang Yuan and said, “You help me kill people, and then in return I help you destroy the royal family of the Nanjiang Country. It’s a fair transaction, isn’t it?”
Yin Xuetong and Fang Mu invariably felt chill when hearing the calm words, as if they had smelled endless blood of brewing under the words.
“No, it’s not fair.”
Fang Yuan looked at the girl who seemed to take no account of the world with his shinning eyes and said, “But you have never mentioned your hatred! What is fairness? Who is your enemy?”