Chen Qing’s simple three words sounded profoundly complex in Su Mu’s ears.
Did she mean Su Mu should say she was comfortable or uncomfortable?
If she said comfortable, Chen Qing might suddenly flip and demand who allowed her to be so comfortable before kicking her off the carriage to run alongside it.
But if she said uncomfortable, Chen Qing might retort that since the carriage was uncomfortable, she should get off and run anyway.
Two fierce little versions of Chen Qing brawled in Su Mu’s mind, but no matter which she chose, she’d end up off the carriage.
Seeing the conflict in Su Mu’s eyes and her constantly shifting expressions, black lines appeared on Chen Qing’s forehead.
Noticing Chen Qing’s darkening expression, Su Mu panicked even more.
“Um, it’s a bit uncomfortable, but still pretty comfortable—kind of in the middle. Staying on the carriage is fine.”
After saying that, Su Mu felt a spark of pride inside. Compromise was indeed the best solution.
Seeing Su Mu’s smug, self-satisfied look, Chen Qing knew those earlier words were just setup for that final line.
So the little traitor was worried about being kicked off the carriage. Chen Qing had been in a good mood from her morning exercise and hadn’t planned to mess with Su Mu.
But catching that faintly proud glint in her eyes made Chen Qing suddenly want to tease her.
“You know, I almost forgot—you haven’t properly exercised your body today.”
With that, Chen Qing slapped the sword in her hand against the carriage.
Staring at the sharp Silver Sword, Su Mu’s expression froze instantly.
This damn, ruthless Villain really did want her off the carriage running. Su Mu was already exhausted from being tormented by her, yet she still wouldn’t let up. How inhumane.
But under someone else’s roof, she had no choice but to bow her head. Depressed, Su Mu prepared to dismount on her own.
Seeing Su Mu’s indignant little expression, Chen Qing felt a momentary daze.
Though the face before her perfectly overlapped with that traitor’s, she could clearly sense the differences between them.
“Never mind. I’m in a good mood today, so you can skip exercising.”
Chen Qing withdrew the sword she’d slapped onto the carriage and turned away, no longer looking at Su Mu.
Hearing Chen Qing’s words, all of Su Mu’s dejection vanished in an instant.
She took back her earlier words—this Villain still had a tiny shred of humanity.
Gazing at Chen Qing’s back, Su Mu could sense she seemed to have something on her mind.
But comforting her? Impossible. If not for fear of getting slashed, Su Mu might even toss out a few sarcastic remarks right now.
After all, she wouldn’t forget how detestable the Villain had been before just because of this one small act of mercy now that she was in a good mood.
And that good mood was the result of Su Mu’s hard efforts through the night and morning.
Lost in her thoughts, Chen Qing let Su Mu relax without needing to watch her face. The bumpy carriage still made her butt uncomfortable, though.
The Caravan pressed on for a while longer before a checkpoint blocked their path.
As the Caravan’s leader, Mu Qiuzi stepped forward to negotiate, but from her expression, things weren’t going smoothly.
“Grandmaster Chen, we may need to take a detour. There’s a bandit suppression operation ahead; we can’t pass for now.”
“Detour.”
Chen Qing snapped out of her reverie, her willow brows furrowing slightly.
The official road would take just two days to reach Cloud City.
A sudden detour would definitely take longer.
But if even the Departing Cloud Merchant Association’s face didn’t work, forcing the official road was impossible. They had to detour.
With no other choice, the Caravan changed course.
Seeing Mu Qiuzi head toward the expected side path, the officer captain who set up the checkpoint flashed a smug grin.
“Captain, these are the silver banknotes from those old fogeys at the Departing Cloud Merchant Association.”
“Hmph, these merchant groups are loaded. They send this much for a trivial matter.”
The officer captain sniffed the silver banknotes and revealed a satisfied expression.
“Captain, this is us going off-duty privately. If we’re caught…”
“What are you afraid of? We’ll say we got a distress call and came to suppress bandits. Divide the rest among the brothers and keep your mouths shut.”
The captain pocketed most of the stack of silver banknotes. The little soldier cursed inwardly but could only force a smile on the surface.
As a Grandmaster, Chen Qing’s five senses far surpassed ordinary people. The two men’s conversation rang clearly in her ears.
She hadn’t expected the Departing Cloud Merchant Association’s internal strife to be this severe. Extending hands into the military was an absolute red line for the court.
Bribing officers just to force Mu Qiuzi onto this path—if exposed, it would cause major upheaval for the Departing Cloud Merchant Association.
That was why Mu Qiuzi believed the officer captain so readily.
“Miss Mu, those officers forcing the detour have issues.”
“What?!”
These words came from Shen Ling, who was at Mu Qiuzi’s side.
As someone from the Association, she knew full well the consequences of meddling in the military.
Those old fogeys were going this far against Miss just to deal with her.
If other merchant groups found out, the Departing Cloud Merchant Association would lose a layer of skin.
The old fogeys didn’t care about the Association’s interests at all—they only wanted to take her down.
Mu Qiuzi appeared calmer than Shen Ling, but her expression was equally grim.
She knew her feud with those old fogeys was irreconcilable. When she returned, she definitely wouldn’t spare them.
But for them to cross the red line by bribing officers just to force this route showed how dangerous it was.
Letting the Caravan charge ahead openly would be suicide.
The best plan now was for Chen Qing to take Mu Qiuzi on a bypass to Cloud City while the Caravan continued forward to draw attention.
Yet everyone in this Caravan was her trusted confidant—the foundation for establishing herself in Cloud City. Abandoning them here would be like cutting off her own arms.
The heavy atmosphere made Su Mu, whose mind had been blank, tense up.
Was danger coming? The Villain already had negative favor toward her; in a crisis, she definitely wouldn’t save her.
If real danger hit, she’d have to rely on herself.
For the first time, Su Mu felt a true sense of urgency about learning martial arts.
In the end, Mu Qiuzi couldn’t bear to abandon the Caravan and led them along the narrow paths as much as possible.
After all, if she ditched her team here, those old fogeys’ goal of preventing her from controlling the Cloud City branch would be achieved.
The Caravan tensely navigated the forest trails, abandoning all the large, conspicuous carriages by the roadside.
The rugged mountain paths made Su Mu feel like her legs were about to give out.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Su Mu’s pretty eyes scanned the Caravan continuously.
The Villain Chen Qing definitely wouldn’t teach her martial arts, so she could only pin her hopes on others.
In this group, aside from Chen Qing, Shen Ling had the best martial arts skills.
If Shen Ling could teach her even a move or two, her chances of escaping in real danger would skyrocket.
After walking half the day, she finally spotted Shen Ling scouting ahead.
