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“Become stronger fast, huh.”

I scratched my head and replied:

“There’s no such way.”

Actually, there are. But each such method has its own price. For example, the mountain that other people have spent several years, maybe even decades scaling, you scale it in one go by sitting on a cable car. The price in this case is the money that you forked out to ride the cable car. But after you’ve reached the top of the mountain, you’ll find that those who walked up step by step using their own feet have stronger bodies and greater mental capacities. This is another price you have to pay for using a shortcut.

On the Sword Path, walking heretical paths isn’t something that’s forbidden, per se. It’s just that the greater majority of these methods are accompanied by a brutal price.

I’m unwilling to let Aleya pay such a huge price, so I comforted her:

“So what exactly happened yesterday, can you tell me about it?”

Aleya told me about everything that happened yesterday in an organized and systematic manner. But standing from her viewpoint, the assassin’s every movement was clearly even stranger. My perspective was one of the spectators while her perspective was one of “going all out yet still unable to touch the opponent’s clothes” and despair.

After Aleya finished speaking, a trace of discouragement appeared on her face for the first time.

She had already sat up and was leaning on the bedhead. Her eyebrows drooping, lips tightly pursed up, and both hands involuntarily clenching the bed sheets tight, she lowered her head without daring to look at me and said:

“Young master. It’s Aleya’s fault for being so useless. Aleya has obviously been trained patiently by young master for so many years yet has only been able to reach her present level……”

I hugged her as if she were treasure, patted her on the back, and consoled:

“It’s fine. As for being sorry, I’m also sorry for you. Other children grew up eating high-calcium foods while only you had to follow me and bear hardships since childhood. Every night, I reprimand myself severely for not being human; such a good little girl was starved by me to the point that her chest became flat.”

Aleya’s body trembled and the expression on her face instantaneously changed from one of despair to an expressionless one.

It’s here! Aleya’s signature expressionless face.

The face used to cover up anger, resentment, exasperation, sorrow, and all other emotions, the omnipotent expressionless face!

I smiled as I shifted the topic on hand. Sitting in front of Aleya, I pulled on her hand and commented:

“But listening to your description, the assassin should have been internally injured by your and Heji’s joint attack and had to withdraw.”

Aleya lifted up her head in amazement and asked:

“Really?”

I nodded, using a certain and affirmative tone to reply:

“Of course it’s true. Think about it, she had already knocked you three unconscious, so she definitely had enough time to burn the grain and fodder before leaving. Then why did she leave wordlessly without doing anything? It must be because she was also an already spent force and knew that if she continued staying here, she wouldn’t be able to retreat if she ran into anybody. Thus, she hastily retreated without thought for anything else. This shows that the joint forces of you and Heji definitely inflicted a serious injury upon her, but she used all her willpower to not show it.”

The creases on Aleya’s forehead smoothened out and a hint of joy appeared on her face as she whispered:

“Then in other words, if I’m stronger by the next time the assassin comes, then maybe I’ll have an opportunity to defeat her?”

I encouraged:

“Naturally you’ll have an opportunity.”

Aleya let out a light sigh of relief, lifted up the quilt, and said:

“Then, I need to hurry up and train.”

I hastily pushed her back down and forcefully bound her in the quilt:

“You have more time than just this moment, just rest more. I’ll go make some breakfast first.”

I left the room after getting dressed and just so happened to see Bai Huang and Heji eating in the dining hall. Bai Huang was in the middle of yawning, but upon seeing me, she aggrievedly said:

“Haah! Damn boy, this grand aunt was willing to risk life and limb last night while you’re perfectly fine; you really left when you said you were going to! Aren’t you a little too disloyal!”

I smiled with keeping her company:

“Yes yes yes, this time all depended on sister Huang’s help. I already heard about it from Aleya; if it weren’t for your proper management, then the army provisions would have really been burned to nothingness. You are my great benefactor, the hero of West-Resisting City’s people! Today, I will go to the gate of the granary and hang up a banner singing praises about you.”

Bai Huang wasn’t able to sit quietly through the praise. By the second sentence, her nose was already high up in the air and she pretentiously said:

“Hmph hmph! As long as you understand. But it’s not so exaggerated; actually, what are you planning to do now?”

I pointed at the kitchen:

“Make breakfast.”

Bai Huang beckoned to me and said:

“No need to be so hurried. Grand aunt was a little careless last night and let the assassin run. It would be in our best interest to discuss some countermeasures for the future.”

I sat down next to Bai Huang and used the same line of reasoning that I used to dupe Aleya and fooled both Bai Huang and Heji. Bai Huang was quite easily convinced, or rather, she was very satisfied with these “results”. Depending on the command and management of the wise sir Bai Huang, West-Resisting City’s two strongest swordsmen, Heji and Aleya, joined forces and inflicted heavy losses on a foreign assassin. This sort of scenario is something everyone loves to hear and see. But Heji wasn’t so easily fooled. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth:

“For the last sword move I made, that assassin did indeed run into my sword aura. But I wasn’t able to make out any characteristics of her being seriously injured……”

But unfortunately, before his words even finished, Bai Huang crossed her arms and said with confidence:

“Not being able to make out doesn’t mean it isn’t there. That assassin is one good at hiding herself, so of course she wouldn’t let us make out that she’s already sustained injuries. Apart from this, there’s no other explanation, right?”

Heji pondered for a moment, then nodded and tacitly approved of this outcome.

I let out a sigh of relief and got up to make some congee.

When I left the kitchen, I was carrying two bowls of lean meat congee; one bowl for Aleya, one bowl for me. But just as I left the kitchen, I met bandit Bai Huang. She asked which bowl belonged to me and after she obtained the answer, she said “let me have a taste” and drank up half of the bowl in one go. Afterwards, she patted me on the shoulder and remarked:

“Not bad! Wouldn’t have known that you were able to cook.”

I glanced at her blankly, then continued my way to the bedroom with the meal in my hands. But it just so happened that I caught sight of Felita, who was rubbing her eyes, walking out of the library room. She looked me in the eye, sniffed the fragrance in the air, and her stomach began suddenly growling.

Thus, when I returned to Aleya’s bedroom, there was only one bowl of congee left on the tray.

Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to feed Aleya and secretly drank two mouthfuls myself.

After cooling spoon after spoon of congee and feeding the entire bowl to Aleya, I went to wash the bowl and utensils. When I passed by the dining hall, I found Felita lying on the ground and licking the congee in the bowl. Her expression was filled with intoxication, her breathing rough and heavy, her hands by her lower body doing who-knows-what.

……I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that.

Once the dishes were clean and I dried my hands, I returned back to Aleya’s bedroom.

She had already finished dressing. Even though there was still a bandage wound around her right hand, she still appeared as valiant and formidable as she usually did.

I looked at the sword by her waist and asked:

“Going to practice your swordsmanship?”

Aleya nodded.

I smiled:

“You can put that down for today, didn’t you want to become stronger? While I really don’t have any methods that will help you achieve a higher realm in a short amount of time, I can teach you several unique skills.”

Aleya curiously questioned:

“New sword skill?”

I shook my head and answered in a way that deliberately showed off:

“No. It’s something else.”