"Does madam want to use the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed again? Actually, the air is fresh outdoors, and you can admire the beautiful night sky. If you're willing, madam, I have no objections." Li Hao spread his hands and shook his head.
"No, I don't! Don't get the wrong idea. Don't say such things." Lin Shiyin was startled by what Li Hao said.
During the day, at the bottom of the pit, she'd had no choice. She'd only done it to save Long Xiaoyun.
Besides, that place was well hidden, and no one could possibly have seen them, so she'd reluctantly agreed.
Now they were right beside the main road. Although it was nighttime, a large group of travelers could pass by at any moment.
There were also dozens of Li family knights all around. If she had to go on another outing, Lin Shiyin thought she'd be so mortified she'd kill herself.
"Madam, would you rather have a heart-to-heart in the carriage or watch fireflies in the wilderness? You can choose!" Li Hao laid it all on the table.
Lin Shiyin was torn. She was a helpless woman, no match for Li Hao in any way. He was a man who could go toe-to-toe with a Grandmaster!
It was like trying to bend an arm against a thigh. That was the helpless reality of the situation.
"Little sister Shiyin, why don't we go play games in the carriage? Li Hao's come up with all sorts of little games. There's racing, Fight the Landlord, Truth or Dare, and even the Pen Fairy game. They're all fun." Ning Zhongze hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
That Li Hao really didn't know how to talk. Lin Shiyin was a proper married woman, and one raised under the constraints of traditional feudal thinking at that. How was it not lecherous to keep suggesting she get into the carriage with him to rest?
No matter how eager he was, he should take things step by step. Didn't he know the story of boiling a frog slowly?
With Ning Zhongze, the warm and caring big sister, ushering her along, Lin Shiyin eventually climbed into the carriage, stopping to think with every step.
She insisted that she was getting in to play these unusual games. What kind of games they'd play, though, was something no one knew.
"Everyone, take up positions two hundred paces out. Don't let so much as a mosquito fly in and get near the carriage. Understood?" Yan Shun watched Li Hao and the others climb aboard, then gave the order to the knights who had taken and absorbed the Bodhi Snake Gall, greatly increasing their power.
"Yes, sir!" The knights immediately scattered to keep watch. Before taking the snake gall, they could only spread out ten meters at most. Beyond that, if trouble arose, they wouldn't be able to react in time.
But that was no longer a problem. In that short time, each of them had gained nearly twenty years of internal energy. Even the weakest had reached the early stage of the Xiantian realm. Their strength had increased geometrically.
Yan Shun had benefited the most. He had better talent and a more complete cultivation method, and had now reached the late stage of the Xiantian realm.
"Ah, youth is wonderful. I just wonder when the young master will give the Li family a little heir." Watching the carriage sway and creak nonstop, Yan Shun felt full of hope for the future.
He now thought he even had a chance of reaching the Great Grandmaster realm. After all, he had a young master who could do anything.
"Little sister Shiyin, I never knew you had such a lovely figure! No wonder Li Hao is so infatuated with you." In the darkness, Ning Zhongze and Lin Shiyin chatted.
Li Hao, Yi Lin, and Miao Feifei had already fallen asleep, like little piglets.
"Sister Ning, don't tease me. My relationship with Li Lang has already defied all propriety and violated the natural order. When I go back, I don't even know how I'll explain it to Xiaoyun's father."
Lin Shiyin tried to push Li Hao's paw away from her chest, but even in his sleep he kept clutching her tightly. She couldn't pry his hand off.
"Do you really need to explain? Just get a divorce," Ning Zhongze said. As a woman of the martial world, she was more open-minded than Lin Shiyin.
"Divorce..." Lin Shiyin murmured.
"Xingyun Manor is so far from here. What brought you all this way?" Ning Zhongze asked curiously. Baoding was a long way from here.
"There's a temple here that's said to be very efficacious. Every year, on the Bodhisattva's birthday, I come to offer incense and pray for my family. Nothing had ever gone wrong in all these years. Who could have known something would happen this year?" Lin Shiyin said sadly.
This trip to offer incense had not only cost Xingyun Manor over a hundred retainers and servants, but had also cost her her chastity.
"Don't dwell on it. There's always a way forward. As Li Hao says, in the martial world, the strongest have the most say. Get some sleep. Look how reluctant he is to let you go." Ning Zhongze smiled at Li Hao's hand, her eyes filled with affection.
As if I wanted this. I was forced into it. Lin Shiyin grumbled silently. She didn't reply to Ning Zhongze and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.
"Ah! Life in ancient times is so nice. You wake up feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep." In the morning, Li Hao climbed out from among the women and shared his thoughts.
"What do you mean, 'ancient times'? You're always saying such nonsense. And where are we headed, anyway? We can't just wander around aimlessly forever!" Ning Zhongze carefully smoothed the wrinkles from Li Hao's clothes.
She had now completely settled into her role as one of Li Hao's women. No matter how tired she was, she got up every morning to help him get dressed and wash up.
"I don't know where we're headed either. We're young, so how about we travel all across the land?" Li Hao put an arm around Ning Zhongze's waist and spoke tenderly.
Damn it, I wanted a destination too—a home, a wife and kids, and a quiet life. But that damn system wouldn't allow it!
If he stayed in one place, the members of the Gallery of Beauties wouldn't come knocking on their own.
Besides, Li Hao felt that the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon worked wonders when it came to increasing the strength of his women. Even Ning Zhongze, a Grandmaster, had made a little progress each time.
But it wasn't nearly as kind to him. It could boost his fighting ability, letting him take on several opponents without blinking, but his internal energy cultivation didn't budge at all.
So if he wanted to improve, he had no choice but to wander around and complete the system's main quests.
"Move out!" At Li Hao's command, the Li family convoy set off once more.
"Yan Shun, where are we now?" After the carriage had traveled for half a day, Li Hao started to get bored.
Ning Zhongze, Yi Lin, and Lin Shiyin were playing Fight the Landlord in the carriage, having a great time.
Don't get the wrong idea. They really were playing Fight the Landlord this time.
Li Hao, who had been watching their cards, had been kicked out. His card manners were too poor; he liked to call out advice while watching, so they'd thrown him out.
"Young master, in a few dozen miles we'll reach Gusu City. Oh, there's a monk ahead." Yan Shun suddenly spoke.
"A monk? That's clearly a lama. Yan Shun, your eyesight isn't very good, is it?" Li Hao teased.
"The young master is so well-informed. This is the first time I've seen a lama, so I didn't recognize him," Yan Shun said awkwardly.
"Venerable master, may I ask your esteemed religious name, and where are you headed?" Li Hao climbed out of the carriage and addressed the lama with a grin.
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