Four people left Meng's Clothing Workshop together, but by the time they passed the stone tablet at the town entrance carved with the words "Yellow Bamboo," only the brother and sister remained.
Meng Peijiu needed to prepare the manpower and carts for transporting goods, and she would meet them directly at their home later.
As for the burly man surnamed Zhou, his bodyguard duty only extended until Ruan Su returned. He pressed a hand to the saber at his waist, gave a brief farewell, and left to report back.
Once outside the town, mountain winds swept dead leaves in spiraling circles. The deep autumn daylight carried a pleasant, comfortable coolness as Ruan Su carried Qin Yi on her back, step by step, heading out of town.
The road beyond the town was extremely wide, and for a long stretch outward it was paved with specially treated hardened mud material. Carts and horses crossed paths along it in considerable numbers, though not quite to the point of congestion.
Escort carriages flying guild banners, fierce-faced roaming bandits, and martial parties heading into the mountains to hunt monster attacks—most faces carried a weary, vicious edge.
Smuggling goods through Nianci Mountain wasn't just a risk from monster attacks; the threat from one's own kind was the bigger concern. But once they reached Yellow Bamboo Town, with Immortal Guest Lodge's guarantee, people could finally let down some of their guard against fellow humans.
As the siblings walked along the roadside, many eyes turned toward the two children. After all, kids daring to leave Yellow Bamboo Town on their own were a rare sight.
Especially the slavers—when they caught sight of Qin Yi's little face, it was no different from spotting a gold ingot.
Fortunately, Ruan Su's fearsome reputation preceded her. Because both siblings were good-looking, they'd frequently been targeted by slavers when they first arrived in Yellow Bamboo Town. Over the years, the slavers Ruan Su had killed around the town could probably stack up into a small mound of skulls.So upon seeing the signature long axe hanging at Ruan Su's waist, these slavers prudently averted their gaze. The more timid ones, spotting her from afar, would even turn their carts around entirely to avoid her path.
Half an hour later, after confirming no one was following, Ruan Su finally left the main road and turned onto a small trail leading deep into the mountains.
Mountain winds rustled through the branches, and the sound of clothing brushing against bushes and weeds filled their ears. Ruan Su suddenly glanced sideways at Qin Yi.
Without needing his big sister to speak, Qin Yi said softly:
"My head doesn't hurt anymore."
Ruan Su nodded, then looked at him again.
Still without needing his big sister to speak, Qin Yi explained:
"The old master called me over about yesterday's incident. I exposed myself voluntarily because yesterday's attack was orchestrated by the old master..."
The wind seemed to stall in that instant. The rustling in the forest ceased abruptly. Ruan Su stood frozen in place, her grip on the crook of Qin Yi's leg tightening slightly.
"That hurts, sis."
Qin Yi spoke calmly, immediately patting the girl's shoulder gently.
Had he spoken even a moment later, he had no doubt his leg would have been crushed on the spot.
Ruan Su hurriedly released the pressure, flustered. Realizing she'd almost hurt Xiao Yi, her dry voice was filled with self-reproach:
"So...rry."
Qin Yi didn't mind the pain at all. In fact, it surprised him pleasantly—Ruan Su losing control like this hadn't happened in a long time. It seemed his big sister's strength had indeed surged again.
"No need to apologize. Talking hurts your throat."
Qin Yi's voice carried reassurance, then he added with a half-joking reminder: "But sis, it seems your strength has grown again. You need to get used to it properly. Remember not to knock me on the head lately."
Hearing this, Ruan Su hung her head, feeling even more guilty.
Qin Yi stopped at that point and picked up where he'd left off, continuing:
"Anyway, let's set last night aside for now. But don't let your guard down. If something happens to me one day, don't worry about anything else—just run..."
"No."
Ruan Su interrupted, clearly pronouncing those two words. When she turned her head, her long hair swept across Qin Yi's cheek, and she nearly pressed her lips to the boy's profile.
Qin Yi tilted his head slightly. The siblings' upturned noses brushed against each other for a brief moment. Looking into the girl's pitch-black eyes so close to his, he ignored the stubbornness within them and smiled peacefully:
"Sister, if you do that, no one will be able to avenge me. Survive first. Once you have power, come back and send his whole family down to keep me company."
After a moment of silence, Ruan Su turned her head back and gave a slight nod.
Qin Yi gently wrapped his arms around the girl's warm neck, applying slight pressure, and whispered in a childish voice by her ear:
"Sis, don't worry too much either. Haven't we made it through all those life-and-death situations on the road south?"
Her ear tickled a little. Ruan Su didn't dodge, just nodded silently.
His goal achieved, Qin Yi tilted his head away slightly and continued:
"Anyway, today in the carriage, the old master and I reached a preliminary agreement for cooperation. In the short term, he shouldn't make a move against us anymore."
Ruan Su showed no surprise at this.
Xiao Yi was the smartest.
No matter how strong the enemy, no matter how dangerous the situation, as long as he was awake, he could always find a way out for the two of them.
The childish voice continued by her ear, carrying that reassuring calmness:
"Once we get home and deal with this batch of goods, tomorrow you can try asking the old master for an internal cultivation technique."
To this day, Ruan Su's combat ability relied almost entirely on her natural physical constitution. When they were young, Qin Yi had taught her some things, but really not much.
The first time he saw someone cleave out over a dozen sword afterimages with a single blade, Qin Yi knew those strange fighting techniques in his head were a joke in this world.
So he'd been very sensible and only taught Ruan Su basic knowledge—like where to hit with the least force to kill someone, where to hit to make someone lose consciousness instantly, or lose the ability to move.
It wasn't that he'd never considered having Ruan Su cultivate this world's internal true qi.
During the refugee tide, there was no opportunity. After entering Yellow Bamboo Town, Qin Yi had made plans, but due to the old master's tight defenses, the siblings had only managed to obtain a few worthless incomplete manuals.
Every time he gave one to Ruan Su to practice, she'd end up coughing blood. After a while, Qin Yi stopped having her continue, leaving combat power to her automatically inflating stats rather than risking more attempts.
If Ruan Su ever actually trained herself to death, he'd have to go live in the mountains as a wild man that very day. But now the situation had changed, so it was worth putting this plan back on the agenda.
Thinking of this, Qin Yi pondered briefly and, just in case, added one more line:
"I'll write a 'letter' when we get back. If the old master still makes excuses to dodge, use it to trade. He should give you a complete technique manual then."
...
The sun hung high in the sky, noon had arrived.
When the siblings stepped on fallen leaves and approached their small courtyard, a carriage was already parked beside the mountain path leading to the hidden entrance. Following the sound of rustling grass, they arrived at the courtyard gate, where three people were already waiting for them.
Ruan Su set Qin Yi down at the entrance.
Meng Peijiu, dressed in a light green ru skirt, sat on a swing beneath the old locust tree, legs crossed, elbow propped on her knee, idly holding her chin in her hand as she stared off into space.
Beside her stood a short, dark-skinned woman—presumably that Meng Qi.
Seeing the siblings enter, Meng Peijiu lazily rose to her feet, stretched her graceful figure, and rolled her eyes:
"Ah, finally back. You two have no idea how stubborn this uncle is. I told him I was here to collect goods, but he insisted on waiting for the owner to return. I should've just brought you two along earlier."
As she spoke,
her gaze shifted, and she glared toward the other side of the courtyard, asking with annoyance:
"Hey, uncle, can you let me do the appraisal now?!"
Peng Jun, who had been guarding the courtyard since morning, still stood by the well. The two already-dismembered Shaking Apes and the weapons Ruan Su had confiscated last night were neatly arranged behind him.
He didn't mind her tone at all. His voice was gruff, even carrying a smile:
"Miss Meng, I'm just following proper procedure."
While the two were talking, Qin Yi habitually swept his gaze around the area and noticed the bloodstains in the courtyard seemed to have been cleaned up, and several of the traps had been triggered.
Peng Jun noticed Qin Yi's gaze and smiled honestly:
"After I finished harvesting the materials from the Shaking Apes, I had nothing better to do, so I did a quick cleanup for you two little ones."
"The traps..."
"Miss Meng triggered them." Peng Jun's expression was rather speechless. "She insisted on playing on that swing."
"......."
Qin Yi looked back with slight surprise. The autumn breeze ruffled Meng Peijiu's light green ru skirt. She was perfectly clean, without even a hint of dishevelment—no different from when she'd left Meng's Clothing Workshop.
"Little brother, why do you have so many dangerous things at home? Big sister almost died, you know."
Meng Peijiu's crisp voice carried over with a complaining tone. She raised a hand to her side, and the dark-skinned woman immediately placed three arrows in her palm. She brought them up to her face, studied the iron arrowheads with their faint blue gleam for a moment, then walked over, tousled Qin Yi's hair, and handed the arrows back to him:
"Tsk tsk, they're even coated with poison~ Here, take them back, little brother."