Chapter 248: Second Master Li
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“No matter what the situation in Sky Alpha City is, City Lord Su is the benefactor of our Taloh Tribe. You will follow City Lord Su tomorrow and show her the way. You must also protect her when necessary, understand?”
“Don’t worry, Father. I know what to do.”
Zhang Nuo’s return had more or less lessened the family’s grief. Although Su Ying had saved many people, she was still a step too late. The Tribal Chief Zhang’s daughter had already died under the blades of those Nan State people.
That night, Mrs. Zhang slaughtered the only hen left in the house to make a farewell dinner for Su Ying.
Su Ying really wanted to finish the whole chicken herself, but when she saw that the Zhang family members were totally unwilling to reach for the chicken with their chopsticks, she uncharacteristically ate only two bowls of rice before returning to her room.
Su Ying sat on the bed, and inexplicably, the image of Xiao Jin appeared in her mind.
At this hour, he should be having dinner with the two children.
After traveling one round with Zhang Nuo, the snow would probably have melted by the time she returned.
As she pondered, Su Ying lay down on the bed and fell asleep from drowsiness.
In the Nan State, at the Li Residence in Palace City near the border.
The Li Residence was located on the most prosperous street in Palace City. The whole residential compound occupied half of the street, which showed just how big the residential estate was.
A few disheveled people in very sorry states looked at the plaque of the Li Residence and walked to the vermilion big gates.
The guards of the Li Residence came forward to stop them and only let them in after questioning them.
The Li Residence had a total of 300 rooms, 18 gardens, and a huge waterside pavilion in the rear courtyard of the Li Residence.
Now that the weather was freezing, the waterside pavilion should be freezing cold and windy, yet it was as warm as summer inside the pavilion.
An attendant walked up to the outside of the waterside pavilion and bowed. “Second Master, the people sent there have returned.”
The man who was leaning against the waterside pavilion and smoking a water pipe opened his eyes lazily. “Summon them here.”
“Yes, Sir.”
When the disheveled men were brought to the waterside pavilion, they had already changed into clean clothes. Everyone in the Li Residence knew that the Second Master of the Li Residence was the most particular and could not stand seeing any dirt.
After they entered the pavilion, they knelt down in front of Second Master Li. “Second Master, please pardon us. We messed up the job. But… but Second Master, please don’t be angry. We lost more than a hundred brothers. It was all because of that damn bitch who suddenly appeared! Argh!”
As soon as that person finished speaking, Second Master Li smashed his pipe into the corner of that person’s eye. That fellow fell to the ground in pain, and blood instantly gushed freely from the corner of his eye.
Second Master Li slowly sat up straight from the soft cushion. His pair of slender eyes that slanted upwards at the corners of his eyes looked at the men with an ambiguous expression. “Are you telling me that a woman killed more than a hundred of your men?”
“Second Master, please calm down. We don’t dare to lie to Second Master. This is all true. 1 don’t know what powerful weapon that woman has in her hand. She pointed it at our heads and then, bang! The fellow was gone. We couldn’t even dodge it. We can’t do this job anymore, Second Master. We don’t want the money either.”
If they continued, they would be the ones to die!
Second Master Li’s lips twisted upwards, revealing an unfathomable smile. “Go. Bring them down. They’re all hungry. It’s time to let them eat their fill.”
The guards outside the door understood what he meant, but those few men were confused. They thought that Second Master Li had let them off and kowtowed gratefully to him. “Thank you, Second Master! Thank you, Second Master!”
Not long after those men were brought out, a series of tragic cries and the sound of splashing in the water could be heard from outside.
Before long, the screams stopped abruptly.
Second Master Li picked up the water pipe and took a big puff. He blew out a plume of white smoke, which made his eyes look even more vicious. “Go. Send someone to check what’s going on. I can’t stand those uncivilized savages anymore. They have stolen so much business from our Li family. As long as they are not destroyed, 1 won’t feel good.”
“Second Master, don’t worry. 1’11 send someone to investigate the situation.”
“Go then.”
Second Master Li walked out of the pavilion. The freezing wind that greeted him carried the thick scent of blood in it.
Beneath the waterside pavilion were crocodiles that were tearing at the broken corpses with their huge, bloody jaws.
In the Taloh Tribe’s village, Mrs. Zhang took out the dry food that she had prepared overnight and asked Zhang Nuo to bring them along so that they could eat on the way.
“Nuo’er, you must take good care of City Lord Su.”
Zhang Nuo nodded solemnly. “Mother, don’t worry. City Lord Su and I will definitely return safely.”
Mrs. Zhang tried to hold it in, but her eyes still turned red-rimmed.
Zhang Nuo held his mother’s hand and comforted her silently.
Su Ying was already on the carriage, but she didn’t rush him.
After Mrs. Zhang had calmed down, she patted Zhang Nuo’s hand. “You must be careful. Mother will wait for you to come back.”
“Mm-hmm.”
After saying goodbye to his family, Zhang Nuo jumped onto the horse carriage.
“City Lord Su, please take care.”
Su Ying looked at them and waved. “Goodbye.”
In order not to waste any more time, Zhang Nuo drove the carriage down the small path behind the tribe and left the village. Though it was supposed to be a small path, it was already covered in thick snow.
The snow in this area was a little like ice and not like dry, powdery snow. It was easy for the carriage wheels to slip. Thus, before anyone woke up, Su Ying installed a few anti-slip plates on the wheels. After covering them with snow, no one noticed anything unusual.
The one pulling the carriage was the Zhang family’s only livestock, which was an old horse.
The carriage slowly moved forward. It was surprisingly stable, which made Zhang Nuo very surprised.
When Su Ying passed by other tribes’ villages, she saw a brightly colored flag hanging outside each village’s gate. She asked in curiosity, “Does that colorful flag have any special meaning?”
Zhang Nuo raised his head to look when he heard her query. “Oh, that’s a safety signal. It hasn’t been used for a long time.”
In order to know whether the other tribes were safe during winter, these tribes would hang a colorful flag very high up in front of their own village’s entrance. If the colorful flag was there, it meant that everything was normal in the tribe’s village. If the colorful flag suddenly disappeared, it meant that something had happened in the tribe’s village.
The colorful flags were made of cloth, and they inevitably deteriorated after suffering weathering from the wind and rain. It was quite troublesome to replace them. As time passed, some tribes stopped replacing them.
However, the attack on their tribes this time had made them wary again. Thus, they hung up the colorful flags they had put away for a long time.
Su Ying nodded. In a place where communication wasn’t developed, this was indeed a simple solution that was easy to understand.
“City Lord Su, you were able to save so many people in the tribe on your own. Your martial arts skills must be very powerful.”
Su Ying raised her eyebrows and rested her head on her two hands. “I’m not that powerful, but it’s enough to take care of a few pieces of trash.”
Zhang Nuo laughed, thinking that Su Ying was being too modest.
Su Ying looked at Zhang Nuo’s smiling face and a chill suddenly flashed through her body. When he smiled, he looked extremely similar to Xiao Jin from a certain angle.
The horse carriage suddenly jolted violently, causing Su Ying to snap back to her senses. She shook her head. It was really strange.. Why had she been thinking about that rascal for the past two days?