At Lucy's house,
Little Jerei Turner was playing in the mud in the yard with the children from Lucy's house.
"Jerei! Is what you said true? Will Big Brother Li Xing cook for us?"
"Yes. Big Brother Li Xing told me himself yesterday that as long as we're good, he'll make us lots and lots of delicious food."
"Then tell us again about the foods Big Brother Li Xing mentioned! We all want to hear it again."
"Yeah! Jerei, tell us again."
As his playmates kept asking, Little Jerry grinned and repeated Li Xing's descriptions of the delicious food from yesterday.
"...Big Brother Li Xing also said there's a sweet-and-sour snack called stir-fried yogurt. It's made from milk and some kind of fungus, which is a mushroom. Then they're fermented together or something... Anyway, at the end, ice magic is cast directly on the food. Big Brother Li Xing said that after you eat it, even the air you breathe out has ice magic in it!"
"Wooow~~~~~"
Just as the children were enthralled by Little Jerry's embellished descriptions of the food, a voice reached the yard where they were playing.
"Someone's knocking! It's not Sister Lucy."
Once they noticed, the children hurried behind the front door, each holding whatever they had in their hands and standing guard with tense expressions, as though they had practiced it.
Little Jerry, the oldest of the group, stepped forward and asked, "Who are you? Speak!"
A bitter chuckle came from behind the door.
"It's me, Little Jerry! I'm your Big Brother Li Xing!"
Little Jerry was delighted, but then the other children beside him whispered a few words in his ear.
Jerei Turner then asked,
"Since you're Big Brother Li Xing, let me ask you a question: how icy is candied hawthorn?"
Li Xing: ...
"Ha! You can't answer, can you? I knew you were an impostor."
As Little Jerry jeered, Li Xing said helplessly,
"Little Jerry, if you keep misbehaving, I won't cook your meal today! Now hurry up and open the door for me."
At the thought of such a terrifying consequence, the children rushed forward, all scrambling to open the door.
Inside the house,
With the other children gathered around to watch, Little Jerry stood nervously before the dining table, waiting for Big Brother Li Xing to scold him.
After having some water, Li Xing sat at the dining table and looked at the children gathered around him.
"Why are you all so nervous? It's not like I'm going to eat you!"
Those words from Big Brother Li Xing, sitting before them, gave some of the children a glimmer of hope.
So they hurriedly asked,
"Big Brother Li Xing, will you still make us delicious food today?"
Hearing the question, Li Xing smiled and said, "Of course. As long as you listen to Sister Lucy and behave, your Big Brother Li Xing will definitely make you something delicious."
When the children heard Li Xing's answer, they suddenly cheered together.
But Little Jerry was not among those cheering.
When the cheering died down, Li Xing got up and calmed the children. As the room gradually quieted, he said,
"You've probably just eaten. How about I make you something delicious after I come back with your sister?"
Amid the chorus of "Okay~~" filling the room, Li Xing finished making arrangements and left with Little Jerry.
"Big Brother Li Xing, why did you leave without waiting for me this morning?"
"Oh! I was going to ask you, Little Jerry, why didn't you wake me up this morning?"
Little Jerry found it a little hard to answer Li Xing's question. After all, it was difficult to tell anyone that he had been so excited about the food that he couldn't sleep at night.
Just like that, the two arrived at the lumberyard.
Li Xing looked at the rows of carriages beside the lumberyard.
He lowered his head and asked Little Jerry, "Jerei, can you ride a horse?"
Little Jerry shook his head and said to him, "My dad hasn't taught me yet. He says I'm too young to ride. Big Brother Li Xing, can you?"
Faced with that question, Li Xing thought it over again and again before answering, "No, I can't either!"
Li Xing and Little Jerry: ...
And so,
The adult and child, neither of whom could ride, led the horses away on foot under the coachman's gaze.
By the time Li Xing brought the horses to Aniekra's door, the two women had already sat down in front of the house and started drinking tea.
"You left so quickly. We thought you'd be back soon. What took you so long?"
Faced with the two women's questioning gazes, Li Xing could only answer honestly.
"Sorry! I forgot I couldn't ride a horse..."
Lucy: ...
Aniekra: ...
After that, Li Xing sat awkwardly to one side and watched the two women personally harness the horses to the carriage.
Lucy then sat in the driver's seat and drove everyone out of town.
As the carriage traveled along, Li Xing sat beside Lucy, who was driving.
"What a surprise, isn't it? I don't think anyone in town would have imagined that our traveler, Mr. Li Xing, couldn't ride a horse! Isn't that strange, you suspicious traveler?"
Li Xing covered his forehead and relented. "Please, don't be like this, Lucy. There's a very good reason for it, but it's hard to explain."
"Hard to explain? Hehe, an outsider like you, who's obviously had some education and calls himself a traveler, can't even ride a horse. What am I supposed to think?"
Seeing Li Xing looking as though he were questioning his life, Lucy rolled her eyes and continued driving.
"For the sake of our friendship, I won't press you about the details of your identity right now.
But you have to promise me.
After this, you'll give Aniekra and me a reasonable explanation. That's not too hard, is it?"
"Don't worry. I'll explain everything clearly to both of you."
With both hands clasped over his head, Li Xing responded to Lucy's demand in a low voice.
Just as they passed the checkpoint on the west side of town,
The town's hunters checked that they met the requirements for the number of people and that their weapons were reliable. After confirming that they had brought signal fireworks, they let Lucy drive the carriage out of town.
All along the way, Li Xing kept watch over their surroundings.
Seeing how tense Li Xing looked, Lucy hurried to reassure him.
"We're going to wash up, not traveling far. Besides, we're so close to town that even bandits wouldn't dare come too near. Having you keep watch is just a precaution and a factor in going out.
Relax a little! Otherwise, we'll start feeling a little nervous too."
Hearing Lucy's words, Li Xing stopped frowning and relaxed, leaning back against his seat.
But Lucy noticed.
Despite appearing relaxed, Li Xing hadn't loosened his grip on the sword he was holding.
"Looks like he's still quite guarded!"
After crossing the stone bridge, the carriage stopped a short distance away.
"Whoa~~~ We're here!"
After telling them, Lucy got off the carriage on her own. She found a thick tree nearby and tied the horses' reins to it.
Then she said to Li Xing,
"Follow the two of us."