Chapter 55: Raising a Team

"You walk on three legs; be careful not to trip..."

Da Yun'er chuckled, her face as red as a lantern.

Li You, not willing to yield, retorted: "I can hold it!"

Da Yun'er's eyes glistened, wet and bright.

At the inner courtyard entrance, the night watch had long been sent away by Da Yun'er; the two stumbled into the inner room, which smelled strongly of sandalwood; this place was originally where the head monk of the temple's monitoring office resided.

Upon entering, Li You noticed five or six books still placed on the long cabinet in the outer room, though they were covered in thick dust.

This was his first time seeing books from this era; for a moment, his heart itched with desire.

On the east side of the room was a newly built heated kang bed; in the middle stood a pear-wood octagonal table; on the floor beside the table sat a large basin of charcoal, radiating warmth.

Li You helped Wu Zhuge onto the head of the kang bed; Da Yun'er glared at Li You, then reached out and forcefully flipped Wu Zhuge over, shoving him completely into the corner against the wall!

"Hah! Today, I shall kill you in the name of the Great Leader!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room shifted; Da Yun'er proved to be highly skilled in martial arts, yet she remained cautious toward Li You; first, she lay flat along the edge of the kang bed, executing the "Level Sand, Falling Goose, Flowing Water" technique, attempting to lure out a move.

Li You's eyes bulged with rage; since he began practicing martial arts, when had he ever witnessed such tactics? He stood motionless as a mountain, yet fear gripped his heart; instinctively, he raised his staff to block.

Da Yun'er, fighting bare-handed with both fists, realized she would suffer a disadvantage and hurried forward to snatch the staff.

"Lady, you must not!"

Li You naturally did not wish to kill her; that would violate his own conscience!

"Must not? That day outside, broad daylight, so many people present, you launched a sneak attack—how was that acceptable? Huh?"

Da Yun'er sneered repeatedly: "Such humiliation; how could I not avenge this grievance?"

Li You snatched the staff back, walked all the way to the outer hall, and then spoke in a low voice: "Lady, do not play with fire***; you should consider..."

"I intend to drill wood to make fire! What can you do about it? Today, we fight to the death!"

Da Yun'er surged forward relentlessly, once again assuming the "Mount Taishan Eighteen Turns" stance.

"Hmph, the staff is merciless; I do not wish to injure the Lady..."

"Say no more; come fight quickly!"

Li You had no choice; he quickly ran out the main gate and shouted from afar: "I must now recruit a portion of the mine workers and salt slaves to train new soldiers for the Leader; otherwise, the Leader's life will be in danger at any moment; at that time, I fear the Lady will also be doomed..."

"Doomed? What doom? Tonight, the staff will shake the Dragon Palace until the earth trembles... He won't wake up; that gives you and me enough time to decide the winner; we shall fight until the stones crack and the seas dry up!"

"Oh my..."

Li You repeated his earlier words once more.

"Ah... what did you say?"

Only then did Da Yun'er understand, her face filled with shock: "Who dares harm me and the Leader?"

"Lady, do you remember Tian Si, who attacked me fiercely that day at Nanshan? That was secretly ordered by the Second Leader..."

"Cao Er? How do you know? Why would he want to kill you?"

"Over at Nanshan, there is a young girl named Song Man; Cao Er has athlete's foot and must soak his feet every night; Song Man overheard Cao Er and Shi Jiu'en discussing plans to kill me, then see if the Great Leader could resolve the problem at Mao'er Ba..."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I haven't finished yet; because Mao'er Ba constantly harasses the Sun family at Cijiaoping, and Sun Shucai also holds Cao family interests; if the Great Leader delays taking action against Mao'er Ba, they will later send Zhu Laoda from Qiganshan to take over Longmen Zhai!"

"Ah... oh my... these truly are wicked gentry with such cruel hearts; all of them are plague-stricken, blind-eyed wretches... So, did you tell the Leader?"

"No, I feared the Leader would not believe me!"

"Then I will tell him!"

"Do not tell him; there is no evidence to prove any of this; if you speak directly, it will only make the Leader suspect me of sowing discord; furthermore, the Leader does not wish to offend the Cao family at all; therefore, the best solution is for me to raise a team,"

"a team capable at least of holding its own against Cao Er's men, stationed there to constantly monitor Cao Er; if anything suspicious occurs, I will notify you in advance; even for your sake, I am willing to fight Cao Er to the death."

Da Yun'er's emotions fluctuated wildly; swayed by Li You's sweet words, how could a woman think about matters of teams or formations?

She was merely shaken to her very core by Li You's deceptive lies; reaching out instinctively to grab the staff, she said dreamily: "How can I help you?"

Li You dodged, thrust the staff forward, and walked out of Beizhai; there was not a trace of drunkenness on his face; he was truly a virtuous man who remained unmoved even when embracing a beauty!

"If he can kill his own uncle for this woman... surely the pillow wind will work!"

Li You was truly speechless; after traveling through time, he still had to rely on his looks, and in the end, he employed such low tactics; it made him feel ashamed; yet, thinking that as long as his first plan could be implemented and food secured first, all of this would be worth it.

Besides, his bottom line remained intact; if he still could not defeat Wu Datou, then truly conquering his woman and putting a green hat on him would also count as a roundabout way of saving the nation.

Of course, these were all jokes; he, who had never had a girlfriend since birth, had long grown accustomed to a life of chastity; he would never, even in death, touch someone like Da Yun'er.

At this moment, he clutched three books tightly in his arms, holding them as if they were treasures; these were the ones he had swiped during his repeated struggles with Da Yun'er just now.

The straight-line distance from Beizhai to Nanshan was less than one li; however, there was a small earthen mound along the road; Li You was thoroughly inspected by the patrol sentries of the stronghold.

After being granted passage, he gazed at the pitch-black night sky all the way, and hope began to rise in his heart: Spring will always come, the sun will always rise; as long as he had his own team and power, everything would change!