"I feel very uncomfortable."
"I feel quite comfortable."
"It's hot. Don't you dislike sweating?"
Why did I even bother arguing with him? But I can't beat him anyway...
"Be good, stop making a fuss."
He brought me a bowl of chilled plum juice and patted my back gently like he was comforting a child. His touch was so light that I wanted to cry.
Those strange looks grew increasingly arrogant; the woman's piercing gaze seemed to want to stab me into a skeleton.
Chapter 31
In the end, Yan Suqing still held onto the throne of the martial arts alliance leader. According to Nangong Ling, Luo Qiu was still too inexperienced. Yan Suqing preferred quick battles, and his iron fist, though simple and unadorned, could inflict serious injuries. Luo Qiu, on the other hand, focused too much on the flashy moves when playing his jade flute. When faced with someone who threw solid punches from the start, his rhythm was disrupted, and once his rhythm was disrupted, he was more likely to expose weaknesses. Furthermore, Yan Suqing had far more experience than him. No matter how good Luo Qiu's performance was, he was ultimately defeated by his lack of experience.
"You let your palace protectors take the stage but don't want them to win. What are you thinking? Is it really okay if I don't go to serve your little cousin? Speaking of which, where did that old nanny Wei go?" I'm someone who can't suppress my curiosity.
The man lay comfortably in the spacious carriage, which was covered with a soft, cool mat. The carriage, surrounded by the smooth, cool silk, kept out the scorching sun outside. It was not only cool but also incredibly comfortable, much better than Yue Linghe's carriage.
"I haven't even asked you why you suddenly started acting up and disobeying again. You brought it up before I even questioned you."
After asking a bunch of questions, he went straight to the point that was most advantageous to him and most disadvantageous to me, ignoring everything else.
"Uh..." I rolled my eyes, deciding I should just tell the truth, though I didn't know if he'd hit me. "I don't really like her."
He looked over, surprisingly neither angry nor annoyed, "Ling'er is so well-behaved and adorable, what is it about her that doesn't please you, Miss Rong?"
"If you don't like it, you just don't like it. Why ask so many questions?"
His phoenix eyes dimmed slightly, and he turned his head away from me.
"Your tastes are truly precious. What others like may not catch your eye, and you disdain what others dislike. So, Miss Rong, what do you like, and what could you possibly like?"
His tone was full of mockery, but somehow it sounded a bit sour to me. Was I hallucinating?
I scratched my head, feeling that this question was so profound that even I had no clue about it.
"...Um, is it appropriate for me to sit in this car?"
"I have no objection if you want to get out of the car and bask in the sun, but if you get dizzy after walking around like last time, wouldn't that be a disgrace to Wuyue Palace?"
Touching my trembling lips, I could only offer him a forced smile as I served him tea.
The journey was so peaceful it was almost boring. I didn't see a single bandit, robbery, fighting match, or fancy spear fighting. It was making me really anxious.
I'd rather stay in Yanwubao a little longer; there are so many people there, I'm not afraid there won't be any excitement to see.
The result of being so bored was that I started to have insomnia. At midnight, I would lie in bed staring at the moon in the sky, even though it didn't pay any attention to me, I still tried my best to stare.
I originally thought Feng Moru was already a very dull person, but after spending a lot of time with Nangong Ling recently, I realized that there's always someone better. Nangong Ling is either indifferent or completely uninterested in things he's not interested in, and he's also very lazy and dislikes trouble, so he doesn't like to join in the fun. He's definitely not someone I can get along with.
My eyes started to ache from staring for so long, so I blinked. In that instant, a dark shadow darted past the window. Excited, I jumped out of bed and, without even putting on my shoes, leaped out the window. But the moon was high in the sky, and there wasn't a soul in sight. The windowpane I'd pulled open creaked in the breeze, sounding especially eerie in the eerily quiet courtyard.
However, the reason I can get along so well with Shuangzi'an is because of our fearless and playful nature. A few years ago, Songshan was rumored to be haunted, and for a long time, no one dared to go up the mountain. It was only because Shuangzi'an and I wanted to see what the ghost looked like that we went up the mountain in the middle of the night. Who knew that a group of people lived on that haunted mountain, it turned out to be a bandit's den. Shuangzi'an and I immediately felt cheated, and without saying a word, we set the mountain on fire. The fire burned for two days and two nights. The bandits were gone, the mountain was bald, and the tea trees on the mountain, on which the villagers at the foot of the mountain depended for their livelihood, were also completely destroyed. Later, I learned that a busybody had spent a lot of money to replant tea trees on the mountain, which saved the entire village from the crisis.
I walked around the yard again, but couldn't see anything suspicious, so I reluctantly went back to my room.
Strange, is it a person or a ghost? I stared at the moon all night and pondered this question all night as well.
Chapter 32
The next morning, I was the first one to sit in the lobby of the inn, waiting for breakfast.
About half an hour later, after I ate a plate of fried pastries to stave off hunger, people started coming downstairs one after another. The first one to appear was Lin Qiantu, Nangong Ling's third senior brother.
"Good morning," I greeted him.
His distinctive, upturned eyebrows twitched as he sat down at the table next to me.
"You actually managed to get up so early?" He glanced at the empty plate and the diluted tea on my table.
I winked at him. "Are you jealous?"
This time it was his turn to twitch, “…That’s impossible.”
Not bad, not bad, much more interesting than his senior brother. If it were Jing Tianxiang, he would definitely give me a warning look and say, "Miss Rong, please have some self-respect." Humph, I've always had a lot of self-respect, okay? Really.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here? Protecting Yue Linghe?"
“Well…” he thought for a moment, “My junior brother told me that we came out to enjoy the scenery and also to witness the martial arts tournament.”
"Going sightseeing?" I raised my voice. "What mountains did you go to? What waters did you visit?"
He shook his head and thought for a while, "It seems not."
Your junior brother is lying to you. The only place worth visiting that's scenic is West Lake behind Yanwu Fort. I paid close attention, and Nangong Ling chose one of those desolate, off-the-beaten-path trails that most people avoid and are prone to attracting thieves and strange behavior. He's also rushing through his journey. He took the normal route on the way here, but now he's choosing this kind of path on the way back. Has he gotten himself into some trouble?
“Look at that kind of person, he hoards all the benefits, but when things go wrong, you're all the ones who suffer… Just look at his carriage, the difference is just too great!” I grabbed a piece of golden cake roll that had been served out of nowhere and stuffed it into my mouth. “Why should you follow him down this narrow, desolate road when he gets to enjoy himself so much?”
Lin Qiantu's mouth twitched involuntarily. "That's because my junior brother is good at business and manages it well. It's normal for him to spend his own money. Besides, my junior brother has his own reasons and plans for doing things."
"That's strange, isn't it? Why would someone who wields swords and spears get involved in the business world? They say all businessmen are cunning, so the more money he makes, the more cunning he is..."
The more I talked, the more excited I got. That's just how I am; when I get into something, I don't care about what's around me, which makes me particularly prone to getting into trouble.
The person at the opposite table listened in a daze, and the expression on their face became more and more unnatural. I assumed that it was because my logical and reasonable explanation had a profound impact on them, and then grabbed a meat bun that had been placed on the table at some point and started eating it.
I choked after eating half of it. I patted my chest with my free hand while frantically searching for water. Suddenly, a slender, white hand offered me a cup of tea. I felt like I'd been granted a pardon and hurriedly grabbed it to drink.
"Don't talk while you eat, didn't anyone teach you that?" That lazy tone, that ethereal voice, was a pleasure to listen to.
But to my ears, that demonic sound was piercing my brain, more shocking than a ghost appearing in broad daylight. I forced down a large gulp of water. Should I try to fool him, or honestly admit my mistake? But the former wouldn't get past Nangong Ling, and the latter wouldn't get past myself…
"Your Highness, you're up early! You have such discerning eyes; I never expected such a small inn to be so clean and have such delicious food..."
He looked at me as I rambled on, and with a flick of his eye, he exuded an air of supreme superiority, as if everything in his eyes was as insignificant as ants.
"Rong Lian." He lowered his eyes and called out softly, which was enough to shut anyone up.
This person wasn't like this when they were a child. When did they become so dangerous? I instinctively felt disgusted; no matter what, I just don't like being subservient to others.
I glanced at Nangong Ling, who was wiping my oily hands with a silk handkerchief. It was always the same. No matter how much I made a fuss, he never actually tried to kill me.
"I didn't expect you to be so petty. You get upset over just a few words, and you even..."
His hand suddenly pulled away, and almost simultaneously the silk handkerchief in his hand shattered into powder.
She stared blankly at his fair and beautiful hands, his slender and long fingers as exquisite as jade carvings, yet they possessed such terrifying destructive power.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked up into his eyes, and the fleeting murderous intent that flashed across my face was quickly masked by the deep color of his gaze.
He wanted to kill me, even if it was only for a moment, but the important thing is that he had that thought.
"Are you determined to force me to do something I'll regret before you're satisfied?"
I'm forcing you? Don't put the cart before the horse, okay? If you're unhappy, I'm unhappy too!
"Good morning, brother!" A cheerful voice came from upstairs.
Nangong Ling's eyelashes fluttered, her taut lips softened, and when she looked up again, that hazy smile returned.
After a morning of work, Yue Linghe and I finally switched places, and I was naturally relegated to the last car to watch the luggage.
"You're so unpredictable, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, aren't you tired?" I muttered to myself as I sat in the stuffy car.
After driving for a while, I got really bored and couldn't sleep because it was stuffy in the car. So I lifted the curtain on the window to look at the scenery. But all I saw in the desolate wilderness was grass and trees. After looking at it for a while, I got dizzy and even more bored.
But fate was on my side. Just when I was in despair, a sneaky figure appeared.
The advantage of this last carriage was that it was unattended except for me; it was entirely connected to the carriage ahead of Shaoyou and the others by ropes. Nangong Ling was too confident that no one would dare to mess with his Wuyue Palace, so he only assigned Shaoyou, Shaoyan, and Shaoming to take turns guarding it. Now, I got off easy. I simply waved my hand, lifted the curtain, and swaggered out of the carriage, completely disregarding the serious consequences of this impulsive act.
Chapter 33
Lately, I've been practicing my internal skills in my spare time, which has at least given me more confidence. Besides, I've always been quite bold and I'm not the type to overthink things. I tend to act on impulse. The reason I'm so fearless is because there's always someone to clean up my messes.
The figure didn't try to hide when it saw me get out of the car; instead, it walked out with an open and honest demeanor.
"What kind of monster are you? State your name!" I shouted, hands on my hips, a line I thought sounded very imposing.
"Who are you calling a monster? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
I blinked twice to make sure I wasn't dreaming or seeing things; she was practically a fairy goddess!
"You still say you're not a monster? What kind of person could look like you?"
She pursed her lips slightly with disdain in her eyes, "You're crazy, why don't you look at yourself in the mirror?"
"I haven't looked in a mirror since I was nine, so what?" I walked closer to her; she really was more and more beautiful. "By the way, what's your purpose in sneaking around behind me like that?"
"Sneaky? Don't you know how to choose your words? I'm walking this road openly and honestly. How come you think you've opened this road?!"