“I just wanted to take a look, that’s all.”
A ‘kind’ smile appeared on Chen Qing’s face as she reached out and lifted Su Mu’s chin.
Although the weather was hot, her fingers remained somewhat cool, like cold jade chiseled from a glacier, feeling very comfortable to the touch.
But even though the sensation was pleasant, Su Mu’s heart nearly froze over.
The moment she saw that smile of hers, Su Mu knew she was done for again.
Shen Ling watched the interaction between Chen Qing and Su Mu, and she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly that their relationship was truly good.
However, Grandmaster Chen had clearly overheard her conversation with Miss Su, and this reaction was obviously jealousy.
It seemed that next time she spent time with Miss Su, she needed to be even more mindful of her boundaries.
Chen Qing grabbed Su Mu’s wrist and pulled her forward.
Su Mu, not daring to resist, could only quietly wave goodbye to Shen Ling.
Seeing Shen Ling smile back at her, Su Mu finally let Chen Qing lead her away.
Although she was about to be punished by the inexplicably angry villain, the matter of Shen Ling teaching her martial arts was now practically guaranteed.
Chen Qing, walking ahead, naturally noticed Su Mu’s little gesture as well.
A flash of gloom passed through her dark red eyes, and the hand gripping Su Mu’s wrist tightened slightly.
“Hiss~ It hurts!”
The sharp pain in her wrist made crystal tears well up in Su Mu’s eyes.
But Chen Qing clearly had no intention of showing her any mercy, dragging her forward regardless.
She only stopped when they reached the flat riverbank she had mentioned earlier.
By now, Su Mu’s eyes were slightly reddened, and she looked at Chen Qing with a wronged expression.
This villain was too heartless; Su Mu felt like the bones in her wrist were about to be crushed smaller by her.
Seeing Su Mu’s pitiful, aggrieved look, Chen Qing realized she hadn’t controlled her strength.
With tears about to fall from Su Mu’s eyes, she finally released her wrist.
Free from Chen Qing’s firm grip, Su Mu quickly pulled her hand back.
Even after escaping Chen Qing’s grasp, her wrist still throbbed faintly, and the spot where she’d been grabbed had already turned red.
It stood out starkly against her pale skin.
Su Mu blew on her reddened wrist to soothe it, comforting herself inwardly.
Then she looked at Chen Qing, wondering why she had dragged her to this deserted place. Was she finally going to kill her to silence her?
At that thought, Su Mu scared herself and quietly took a step back.
She knew that even if Chen Qing gave her a ten-step head start, she couldn’t outrun her, but at least it would buy her one more step.
Seeing Su Mu so afraid of her, Chen Qing unconsciously gripped her sword tighter, the gloom in her eyes deepening.
“I warn you, I’m sparing your life because you’re still somewhat useful to me. If you dare pull any more stunts…”
Chen Qing’s eyes were full of warning.
Although Chen Qing looked terrifying right now, it actually put Su Mu’s mind at ease.
As long as she was still of some use to this villain, she wouldn’t kill her easily.
At least she didn’t have to worry about this villain suddenly feeling moody one day, swinging her sword, and sending her straight to the afterlife.
“I definitely won’t pull any stunts!”
Su Mu raised three fingers, swearing solemnly.
As for whether the oath mattered, Su Mu was an atheist, and besides, learning martial arts was just for self-preservation and strengthening herself—it hardly counted as a stunt.
“Go catch some fish. I’m hungry.”
Hearing Chen Qing order her around so naturally, Su Mu gritted her teeth.
She had eaten so much dry rations that morning, and now she was hungry again? What a bottomless pit.
Silently watching Su Mu take off her outer robe and prepare to grope for fish in the river, Chen Qing sighed.
This traitorous Shizun wanting to learn martial arts from that first-rate martial artist posed no real threat to her.
But the fact that she even had such thoughts meant it would be safest to just kill her with one sword.
Yet the sword in her hand found it hard to fall on her.
However, though she had set aside her killing intent toward Su Mu, she wouldn’t let her off so easily.
Not only had she pulled a stunt, but she had also happily called someone else ‘Sister Shen.’
Just thinking of the scene earlier where Su Mu called out to Shen Ling as ‘Sister Shen’ made Chen Qing’s heart inexplicably irritable.
She acted all timid and scared around her, yet she was outgoing and proactive in front of others.
This traitorous Shizun had two faces, which meant she herself hadn’t been working hard enough—Su Mu still had the energy left to put on a show.
Su Mu, who was fully focused on catching fish, suddenly felt a chill on her back.
“Could it be that the river water is too cold and I’ve caught a cold?”
Su Mu wiped her nose with her dripping wet fingers, puzzled.
She thought this body’s constitution was pretty good; it shouldn’t catch a cold so easily.
It must have been that heartless villain last night who had overworked her—staying up late and being exhausted both took a toll on the body.
With that in mind, Su Mu glared back at Chen Qing resentfully.
Unexpectedly, Chen Qing was staring at her intently, like a foreman watching a worker.
Seeing Chen Qing looking at her, Su Mu quickly forced what she thought was a kind smile.
But to Chen Qing, that smile looked extremely stiff.
Before long, the caravan followed Shen Ling to the riverbank where Chen Qing and the others were.
The cool river breeze made the sweat-drenched caravan members show comfortable expressions.
“Miss, let’s rest here for a bit. Everyone’s tired.”
Seeing how exhausted everyone was, Mu Qiuzi didn’t insist on continuing and allowed them to rest here.
After instructing the caravan, Shen Ling turned her gaze to Su Mu, who was fishing in the river.
She had thought the jealous Grandmaster Chen would do something more excessive to Miss Su, but surprisingly, she had only brought her here to catch fish.
The fact that she hadn’t gotten too close to Miss Su actually relieved Shen Ling.
“Xiao Ling, what’s wrong? You’ve seemed listless since earlier.”
Mu Qiuzi looked at Shen Ling with concern. They had grown up together since childhood; though not blood sisters, she already treated her like a real little sister.
“N-Nothing, Miss. I’ll go patrol the area nearby to check for dangers.”
Caught peeking by someone close to her, Shen Ling felt a sudden pang of guilt and quickly made an excuse to slip away.
Watching Shen Ling head off with her spear in her right hand—her usually steady steps now a bit flustered—Mu Qiuzi shook her head.
Xiao Ling had reached the age where she had her own little secrets, but that habit of guiltily making excuses to run away hadn’t changed since childhood.
On the other side, Su Mu smashed a big fat fish unconscious with a stone.
Its white belly floated on the surface, and she hooked her finger into its gills to lift it up.
She threaded it together with the smaller fish she had caught earlier onto a wooden stick.
Looking at her full haul, Su Mu felt a bit proud.
She hadn’t expected her fish-catching skills to be so impressive.
It seemed her days as an adventure streamer before had somewhat undervalued her talents.
This time, she caught extra, so even if Chen Qing took some, there would still be leftovers for her.
Her soft feet stepped on the riverbed stones as she walked ashore.
She approached Chen Qing and held up the string of fish.
“These…”
Before Su Mu could finish speaking, Chen Qing grabbed her hand and pulled her into her embrace.
At the same time, an arrow embedded itself right where Su Mu had been standing.
