Chapter 30: Zaituan's First Lesson in Martial Arts

After leaving the police station, it was already afternoon.

An Luo had no mind to keep shopping, so she simply went straight home.

When she tapped into the Live Stream Room again, she saw the little fellow practicing horse stance.

The afternoon sun was still strong, and beads of fine sweat clung to Yu'an's forehead and the tip of his nose, trickling down drop by drop.

His little face was flushed red from the sun, his legs trembling more and more, his small body quivering, but the little fellow still gritted his teeth and persevered.

An Luo watched, her heart aching.

"Why is Yu'an doing this?"

Hearing her voice, the little fellow's eyes instantly lit up, looking even more spirited. He took a deep breath and steadied himself.

【Fairy Sister, I want to get stronger!】

【But Elder Aunt said I'm still young, so I only need to hold horse stance for half a cup of tea's time every day.】

At that moment, Cheng Qiuyun walked over carrying a small wooden sword.

"Time's up."

The little fellow pushed himself up from his knees.

"Next, swing the sword fifty more times."

Saying so, Cheng Qiuyun handed him the wooden sword she had just whittled.

The wooden sword had been polished very smooth, and the hilt was wrapped in cloth strips to prevent scratching the little fellow's tender little hands.

Yu'an followed behind her, his little face set, solemnly swinging the wooden sword again and again in a most serious manner, calling out in a milky voice as he did so.

"Heh! Hah!"

But perhaps because his legs were sore from the horse stance just now, the little fellow's body was a little unsteady. With every swing, his small body would stagger slightly to the side.

The baby fat on his cheeks wobbled along with him, but he kept a straight face, deliberately putting on a solemn and serious look. This gap-moe made An Luo laugh rather unkindly.

Oh my, Zaituan is just too cute!

Cheng Qiuyun, who was demonstrating up ahead while keeping close watch on him from the corner of her eye, pressed her lips tightly together, afraid she couldn't help laughing out loud and dampening the little fellow's enthusiasm.

But she truly couldn't hold it in any longer, and before her laughter escaped, she coughed heavily twice.

"Cough, cough! Your lower stance needs to be steady. Starting tomorrow, hold horse stance for a full cup of tea's time!"

The little fellow put away the wooden sword, looked at her and nodded heavily, the ahoge on his forehead wobbling along.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Cheng Qiuyun watched, unable to suppress a smile.

Suddenly, Cheng Qiuyun's expression turned sharp, her piercing gaze fixing on a certain spot.

"There's the sound of fighting over there!"

"Oh no, Ruoruo just went that way too!"

Looking in that direction, Wang Shi's brow jumped and she called out anxiously.

Hearing her words, Cheng Qiuyun dared not delay a moment longer. She scooped Yu'an up in one swift motion, and before the little fellow could even register what was happening, looking utterly bewildered, she tucked him into Cheng Old Madam's arms.

"Grandmother, I'll take Cheng Feng and the others to go have a look!"

The other end of the woods.

A group of masked assassins in black Night Clothes were surrounding and attacking three people.

Among them, a young man in a narrow-sleeved cyan robe was being firmly shielded in the middle by two attendants beside him. From his clothing and accessories, he looked rather like a wealthy young lord out sightseeing.

The two attendants were highly skilled in martial arts, and the young lord's own abilities were equally impressive, but the enemy ultimately had sheer numbers. Soon, all three had sustained injuries to varying degrees.

"Master, run!"

The man in cyan turned to look at them.

"We leave together or not at all!"

In the middle of speaking, from the blind spot behind him, an assassin raised his blade and hacked toward the man in cyan.

"Master, look out!"

Just then, an arrow flew over from the side and struck the assassin's shoulder, causing his motion to falter.

The man in cyan seized the moment, swept his Long Sword out, and slit the assassin's throat.

He glanced in the direction the arrow had come from and saw, a hundred meters away, a girl who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, nocking an arrow and drawing her bow.

He called out his thanks.

"Many thanks!"

Cheng Qiuruo frowned, a hint of impatience in her eyes.

She had finally managed to build a simple compound bow according to the blueprints, and had wanted to find a secluded spot to test its power. She never expected to stumble upon a scene like this.

When she had seen that man being ambushed just now, the arrow in her hand had flown out on pure instinct.

Thinking about it now, she truly regretted it deeply.

The place where they had stopped to rest was not far from here. If these assassins were led back to Grandmother's side, what would they do?

Although much was running through her mind, her hands did not slow, and she loosed three more arrows.

She could only hope those three would hold their own and finish off the assassins quickly—absolutely must not bring trouble down on them.

However, the assassins assumed Cheng Qiuruo was also one of their group, and split off two people to deal with her.

Watching the assassins draw closer and closer, Cheng Qiuruo had already run out of arrows.

This is bad!

Seeing this, the young man quickly called out.

"Look out!"

What is going on?

The assassin is right in front of her — why hasn't that young lady made a move yet?!

Seeing the blade so close, Cheng Qiuruo quickly stepped back, and watching the great sword about to fall, she gripped her bow tightly and held it up in front of her.

The next second, two soft *puchi* sounds were heard — one assassin had a dagger driven into his chest, the other had an arrow pierce through his throat; the two men crashed heavily to the ground, dead with unclosed eyes.

"Ruoruo, are you all right?"

Cheng Qiuyun ran over in three quick strides, took her hand, and looked her up and down.

"Are you hurt?"

Seeing a family member, Cheng Qiuruo finally let out a breath of relief; her tightly clenched fists loosened slightly, her palms drenched in cold sweat.

"Elder Sister, I'm fine."

On the other side, the man in blue had his arm slashed by a blade; ignoring the wound, he shouted toward them for help.

"Please lend a hand and save me — I will surely repay your lifesaving grace in the future!"

Cheng Qiuyun had originally intended to take her sister back, and to take the chance to clean up any threats to the family; she had meant to help anyway. She was about to lead her people over, but was stopped by her own sister.

"Elder Sister, wait a moment."

"What is it?"

Cheng Qiuruo gave her elder sister a mysterious smile, then turned to look at the man in blue.

"A painless, itchless verbal promise like that — it's hard for us to believe you."

The man in blue clenched his teeth.

"Then what do you want? Surely you don't expect me to write up a written pledge on the spot!"

Watching the moves of those three and the assassins, Cheng Qiuruo narrowed her eyes slightly and rubbed her chin.

"We've been traveling a long way, and we've run out of travel money on us."

The man in blue stabbed and wounded an assassin with his sword, then yanked the pouch from his waist and tossed it to her.

"That should do it, right!"

Cheng Qiuruo felt the fabric pattern of the pouch, gave it a little weigh in her hand, and shook her head, not very satisfied.

"With this little bit, which of your subordinates are you expecting us to save?"

Hearing this, the man in blue's temple twitched uncontrollably.

He took out a Jade Pendant of extremely fine quality from his chest and tossed it to her.

"Consider it that I owe you a favor — take this as a token; anything within my power, ask and you shall receive!"

Watching them go back and forth like this, haggling.

The assassins: "..."

Damn it!

Do you even have us in your eyes at all, ahhhh!

Resentment burning in their hearts, the assassins' strikes grew increasingly fierce.

Cheng Qiuruo examined the Jade Pendant repeatedly, saw the pattern carved upon it, and curved her lips into a smile.

Her guess had been right, after all!

Then she turned to look at her elder sister.

"Elder Sister, we can get to work!"