Chapter 1008

Su Qin denied it: "No, don't read too much into it."

Zhao Chi said: "The prerequisite for good, long-term cooperation is to set the rules in advance. Even blood brothers need to keep clear accounts. There's already a distribution rule everyone has agreed on for loot, so we'll stick with that rule."

Su Qin was a little unhappy.

"Zhao Chi, why are you like this? Have you forgotten who I am?"

"Huh? Aren't you Su Qin?"

Su Qin rolled her eyes: "Stop playing dumb on purpose! In your family's genealogy, where am I written?"

"Under… my name."

"Right, so am I your brother? Keep clear accounts, my foot! I'm your woman, the two of us are one family, there's only one account, no need to settle it! Why do I feel like you always treat me like an outsider?"

"No…"

"No? Then with the kind of relationship we have, why do you still want to follow a distribution rule? All the loot goes to you, I don't want any of it. You've given me so many good things, every single one is worth far more than this, didn't I accept them all?"

Zhao Chi said: "Understood, then we won't follow the old distribution rule—let's go by my rule!"

Su Qin frowned: "Your rule?"

"That's right, then I'll do the dividing, I have the final say. Your territory needs to develop too, I can't take everything. You need to listen to me, got it?"

Zhao Chi hardened his tone, and Su Qin was actually a bit dumbfounded.

She nodded lightly: "Oh… alright, I'll listen to you."

"The rat-men corpses are yours. Rat-man meat is too lean, I don't need it—taking it would just mean selling it to Zhao Cang, and I'd have to pay tax, not worth selling. You're short on food, so you can feed it to those beastmen. I have no use for the rat-man hides either, you stockpile them."

Zhao Chi's tone brooked no argument.

"…Oh." Su Qin obediently nodded.

Rat-men aren't big.

They're about one meter tall, weighing only around 20 kilograms.

Those 261 corpses were only 5.2 tons, yielding just 3.6 tons of rat meat—less than yesterday's meat from the six ogres.

Besides, rat-man hides are very thin and have no special effects.

Zhao Chi really had no use for them.

Letting Su Qin make leather armor out of them is fine—her elves all wear leather armor, so it'll be put to use.

Zhao Chi continued: "These rat-men are, after all, half-human half-rat. The male rats I don't want, so they're yours. I'll take all the female rats. Let's split it this way."

Su Qin nodded: "If it's like that… then I'll stay."

Zhao Chi smiled: "Then from now on we'll divide things by my rule, you have no objections, right?"

Su Qin said softly: "Of course I have no objections, I'll do whatever you say. I just felt you were being too distant with me earlier, that's why I said that."

Zhao Chi said: "Mainly because things between us have progressed too fast, I haven't fully adjusted yet. Give me some time."

Su Qin whispered: "Alright, I'll give you time. Find time to come to my place tonight, let you get used to me a bit more, try to get into the habit sooner."

After saying that, she glanced at Gu Qing and the others.

But she found that Gu Qing and her group were all looking this way, with varied expressions—though fortunately no hostility.

Su Qin immediately blushed, her heart pounding, and didn't dare look at them again, turning her head to stare at Zhao Chi's chest.

Zhao Chi asked: "Today? Your wound hasn't healed yet, has it?"

Su Qin said softly: "Just now Gu Qing's silk thread stuck to me and healed me, so you… need to help me poke it open again."

Zhao Chi was speechless: "There's such a thing… then wait for me tonight."

"Okay~" Su Qin smiled.

While they were talking, the female soldiers and elves had already finished clearing the battlefield.

The female elves worked in pairs, carrying the rat-man corpses.

Zhao Chi said: "These rat-men can help reclaim land, they're great at plowing, and they don't eat much either. You can keep them."

Su Qin nodded: "Mm, I understand. I was just planning to reclaim more farmland, this comes in handy."

Rat-men don't have high combat power, but they're absolute masters at digging holes.

Using them for reclaiming land and plowing is even easier.

There are 60 female rats, slightly smaller in size, but definitely enough for Zhao Chi's needs.

Su Qin asked: "Are you still having lunch here with me?"

Zhao Chi thought for a moment, then refused: "No, I'll come find you tonight."

"Alright, then I'll have these rat-men start reclaiming land today."

Zhao Chi nodded: "Train them properly in advance, don't let them burrow under your bamboo forest, or all your bamboo will suffer and it'll hurt your economy. I'm heading off first."

Su Qin giggled softly: "Okay, then I'll wait for you to come 'train' me tonight, help me 'dig a hole.'"

Zhao Chi didn't catch the innuendo: "Do you need me to help you train the rat-men?"

Su Qin laughed coyly: "Training rat-men doesn't need you—you come train me, dig my hole."

Zhao Chi: "…I'll definitely come, just you wait."

After saying that, he clicked to return to Penglai.

Everyone dispersed.

Zhuang Ya was already stunned.

Her hearing was very sharp. Though Zhao Chi and Su Qin's conversation just now was quiet, she had heard every word clearly.

She leaned close to Gu Qing: "Gu Qing, did you hear that just now? How come I feel that woman Su Qin is even more… uh… even better with words than you?"

Gu Qing also had 7 points in Intelligence, her hearing was excellent—of course she had heard.

But what did Zhuang Ya mean by that?

Gu Qing glared at her.

Zhuang Ya quickly put on an apologetic smile.

Gu Qing didn't argue with her, and instead smiled faintly, her red lips parting lightly: "I taught her that."

"You taught her?" Zhuang Ya was extremely astonished: "You two were whispering on the road just now, so it turns out you were talking about this?

"Hehe, yes."

"How is that possible? How could you predict what topic they'd be chatting about?"

Gu Qing smiled and said: "I taught her the method, not the specific words."

Zhuang Ya was dumbfounded: "You can do that too? Sister, you should teach me too."

Gu Qing covered her mouth and said: "You want to learn too? Once we're done with everything, I'll teach you. Let's first train those ratfolk out."

Zhuang Ya nodded: "Alright!"

But suddenly another question came to her.

"Gu Qing, did you see my lord Zhao Chi's expression just now? After hearing what Su Qin said, he was clearly a little… Aren't you afraid my lord Zhao Chi will be enchanted by Su Qin?"

Gu Qing smiled and said: "What I fear is that he won't be enchanted."

"Huh? Sister, please explain more clearly, I can't quite figure out what you mean?"

"From Su Qin's eyes I could tell she's truly fallen for him, but our lord hasn't reached that level with her yet. The main thing is Su Qin isn't like us — she's independent. And our lord also can't enslave her, so there's a barrier in his heart toward her."

Zhuang Ya nodded repeatedly: "Right, right, right, I feel the same way."

Gu Qing smiled and said: "So right now is when Su Qin's feelings are at their peak. If the response is too cold, or not intense enough, I'm afraid she'll feel let down. That wouldn't be good for our lord, so teaching her to say a few more words should have some effect."

"I see…"

"And afterward we'll get along with Su Qin more harmoniously too."

Zhuang Ya sincerely praised: "You really live up to being the elder sister, you think things through so thoroughly. Being a year older than me isn't for nothing."

Gu Qing smiled and said: "I'd still rather be a bit younger."

Zhuang Ya burst out laughing: "We can live a thousand years, and you're fussing over one year? Haha."

Gu Qing nodded: "Yes, we can live a thousand years, but our lord can't."

Hearing those words, Zhuang Ya's smile froze.

Gu Qing smiled and said: "It's fine, you don't have to be like that. We still have time, we'll definitely find a way. But the prerequisite is that we have to keep raising our strength, only then will we have the ability to do it."

Flames unconsciously spurted from Zhuang Ya's hands.

"Understood… let's go, first we'll tame those ratfolk and get them to start clearing the fields as soon as possible."

Gu Qing smiled and said: "Zhuang Ya, calm down, why is fire coming out of your palms? Don't burn those ratfolk to death."

Zhuang Ya laughed out loud: "How could that be? I just felt my blood surging, I have no intention of abusing them."

"That's good, let's go."

Female ratfolk are even more timid.