The woman in white listened to Xi Qingyue’s words and fell into a long silence. She recalled how, when they were children, she had cherished her younger brother like the apple of her eye, only for him to grow up, disregard their sibling bond, and ally with outsiders to harm her. Could it be that she hadn’t let him endure hardship when he was young?
Xi Qingyue didn’t know her inner thoughts, but she was aware that the woman had been betrayed by her family.
She glanced at the woman, as if muttering to herself or speaking to her. “Today it might be bandits; tomorrow it could be mutinous soldiers. I can give her protection, but I can’t shield her forever. Nor can I let her believe this journey will always be smooth sailing—that wouldn’t be good for anyone.”
If that were the case, she wouldn’t need to teach Xi Weilan how to shoot; she could just keep her in the safe haven of the space until they reached safety. But if she did that, Xi Weilan would easily become naive and sweet, and over time, she might even come to see her Big Sister as ruthless. Through the ages, people like that were never in short supply.
“I am taught,” the woman in white said, offering her a faint smile before introducing herself. “My name is Lu Qianning.”
Xi Qingyue smiled back. “I am Yueqing, and my sister is Yuelan.”
Trust no one—that was the conclusion Xi Qingyue had drawn from the apocalypse.
Of course, Xi Weilan didn’t count. She was her younger sister, still young and without ill intentions. If Xi Qingyue kept the space and all the weapons hidden away, her sister would have to endure unnecessary hardship along the way.
As the two spoke, the members of the merchant caravan had already piled up all the bodies and looted the gold, silver, and jewelry from them.
The caravan’s manager, an astute middle-aged man, approached with a cloth bundle, a full smile on his face.
“Young friend, you deserve the most credit for eliminating the bandits just now. This is the money we collected from them. You take fifty percent, this young lady’s people take twenty percent, and the remaining thirty percent will be split evenly among us and the others who contributed. What do you two think?”
Xi Qingyue nodded. “Agreed.”
Lu Qianning naturally had no objections.
Seeing them both agree, the manager breathed a sigh of relief. He pointed to the horses and asked for their opinions.
“What about these horses? Same split. If you don’t want them, I can buy them with silver.”
Xi Qingyue glanced at the horses and shook her head. “I’ll take just one horse to give to that big brother over there. Sell the rest and give me the silver.”
She pointed to a burly man with a honest face. He was the one who had picked up an axe to help Xi Weilan. He only had a cart loaded with bedding and other belongings. His elderly mother and wife sat at the front of the cart, looking gentle, while his two children clung to them in fear.
The manager looked at Xi Qingyue with a hint of admiration. “Alright, I’ll do as you say. I’ll have someone bring you the silver shortly.”
As a businessman, he was good at reading people. He knew these two women were not to be trifled with—one killed as easily as slaughtering chickens, and the other was skilled in martial arts, her subordinates all tougher than his hired guards. He had offered them twenty percent on his own initiative; otherwise, he would have had to give at least thirty percent. He simply couldn’t afford to offend them.
Lu Qianning naturally needed horses. Besides the ones they had received as their share, she bought a few more with silver. Now every one of her dozen or so subordinates had a mount.
The manager returned to his group, and soon someone delivered the silver and a single horse.
When the burly man saw the horse before him, he was so moved he didn’t know what to say. After the manager’s man explained, he approached Xi Qingyue and tried to kneel to thank her, but she stopped him.
“No need to thank me. This is what you deserve.”
Xi Qingyue always repaid wrongs, but she also repaid kindness. Even though this man hadn’t succeeded in helping her, his act of trying was worthy of gratitude. After all, he had risked his life to save someone, which was rare and commendable.
“No, I must thank you,” he said. “Sun Jiang thanks you, benefactor, for giving me this horse! Allow me to pay my respects.” With that, he knelt with a thud and kowtowed once.
Xi Qingyue felt helpless. Seeing a grown man kowtow to a child was too strange.
Soon, all the bandits’ horses were divided up.
Just then, a burly man with a strong build asked loudly, “Why do you get to split all the bandits’ spoils? Everyone here should have a share!”
As soon as he spoke, others chimed in. “Yeah, if you’re splitting it, we should all get an equal cut. It’s unfair. We almost got killed too—we deserve some compensation.”
Xi Qingyue gave him a cold glare. “You didn’t contribute just now, so why should you get anything? When the bandits came, you ran faster than anyone else, and now you’re jumping out when it’s time to split the loot. Where was that courage earlier? If anyone else yaps, come and spar with my blade.”
As she spoke, she drew her long blade and pointed it at those who had spoken.
They immediately shut up, stepping back hastily, afraid she would charge at them with the knife.
Luo Ling sneered from the side. “Mistress, this little miss has quite a temper—one wrong word and she starts waving her sword around.”
Lu Qianning chuckled softly. “You saw that and still dared to badmouth her? Didn’t you notice she was looking at you?”
Luo Ling quickly ducked behind her, poking her head out just as Xi Qingyue’s gaze met hers.
She pulled her head back in a flash. She had martial arts skills, but facing the kind of hidden weapons Xi Weilan had used to kill, she wouldn’t have an easy time dodging—even if she flew, she’d get shot down.
Xi Qingyue returned to the space inside the carriage. Xi Weilan was eating grapes from the vine in the field, with her small electric scooter parked nearby.
Xi Qingyue sighed inwardly. What a carefree kid. She was bold and had guts and strength, but if only she knew some martial arts.
If it weren’t for the fact that Lu Qianning’s surname, Lu, was the imperial family name, she would have asked her to teach Xi Weilan some martial arts. Pity.
She freshened up, changed her clothes, and then took Xi Weilan out of the space.
As for the bloodstains on the carriage and on Treading Wind—her horse—she planned to use her water elemental powers to wash them away when dusk came.
They were about to enter a city, and she wanted to avoid as much trouble as possible.
Just then, the middle-aged man who had earlier offered ten taels of silver for a seat in her carriage was panting his way over, followed by the group of women and children and his guards.
However, one of the guards’ eyes widened with disbelief when he saw the horses beside Lu Qianning and her group.
Lu Qianning frowned, sensing something off. That guard was definitely suspicious.
The next moment, a little boy standing next to the middle-aged man pointed at a horse and yelled, “Dad, that’s our horse we lost yesterday! They stole our horses!”
The middle-aged man followed his gaze and indeed saw the horse they had lost. He scanned around but didn’t see their carriage either.
The boy pointed to a horse that belonged to the merchant caravan’s division. But the guard’s eyes were fixed on the horses by Lu Qianning’s side. This detail caught Xi Qingyue’s attention as she watched from a distance. Could the bandits have accomplices among them?
Just then, the middle-aged man angrily pointed at the merchant caravan. “Oh, I see! You’re the ones who stole my horses! How dare you!”
The steward, refusing to be wrongly accused, shot back without hesitation, “Who stole your things? We got these with our lives from the bandits. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone here. Those bandit corpses are still warm over there. If you’d come a moment later, they’d have been burned.”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man had not yet moved, but his guards rushed over to the pile of corpses.
Xi Qingyue watched the scene with interest. Suddenly, she raised her chin and asked the middle-aged man, “Since you have so many guards by your side, how did you lose the horses? And besides the horses, what else is missing?”
The middle-aged man grew even angrier at her question. “It’s those ingrates who betrayed me. They drugged our food last night. When I woke up this morning, three carriages and all the grain on them had vanished without a trace.”
“Oh? You mean some of your guards slipped away with the carriages last night? So they were the bandits’ inside men, weren’t they? Why don’t you go over there and see if they’re among the bandits?”
As she spoke, Xi Qingyue pointed in the direction of the bandit corpses, thinking she was being most considerate.
The middle-aged man did not argue with Xi Qingyue’s words. Instead, he stomped furiously toward the pile of corpses.
