"No, no! Anbi still wants to go adventuring with Brother! Are you trying to ditch Anbi so you can fool around with other women? Take Anbi with you! I can keep it from Sister—no, no, Anbi can't betray Sister, so I still have to tell her.
"But I can try my best to put in a good word for Brother! I'll say—I'll say you're not a shameless womanizer, you're a shameless lotus root!"
"Why a lotus root?"
"Because a lotus root looks like a radish with chunks hollowed out of it—Anbi can tell Sister that Brother just split himself into several pieces!"
"Then you might as well tell her I'm a shameless womanizer. Either way, I'm not taking you south."
Tang Qi fiercely pinched the little girl's ear. No matter how she begged, he shook his head and refused. "If the road ahead could be called an adventure, that would be one thing. I'd do my best to keep you safe. But who knows what threat the Southern Great Wall, crushed beneath the Beastfolk's hooves, faces now? I can't gamble with your life."
"I—" Anbi still wanted to argue.
She felt that she could already take care of herself.
Though she had done little but eat, drink, and play along the way, she had still learned a few things!
At the very least, if Jackal tried to kick Brother out of a tavern again like he had a year ago, she could kick Jackal out of the tavern instead—
She could be a mercenary too!
But even as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, Tang Qi merely waved his hand, signaling Wendy and Hubble Hall to bundle the girl up and take her back to the carriage.
"Uwaaah!" The little girl still tried to struggle, but Tang Qi began