Hunting and Guarding

At dawn, the girl held a bowl in one hand and looked at him with bright, clear eyes that sparkled.

Jiang Yan's expression stiffened.

Damn it, if I'd known, I wouldn't have eaten so fast.

He felt a little annoyed. He'd thought he'd finish eating early and leave early, but he hadn't expected that eating quickly could make him the center of attention.

"I..." Jiang Yan forced a faint smile. "I'm already full. Thank you, Miss Ren."

With that, he prepared to leave.

He'd thought the girl simply assumed he had a big appetite and, in a fit of kindness, had offered him her own food. But he was wrong.

Ren Shurong had come looking for him.

Giving him food was just a clumsy excuse to strike up a conversation.

"You're full?"

The girl brought the big bowl to her lips, gently blew on the steam, and gave Jiang Yan a faint smile.

Then she lowered her head and drank her porridge.

"Guluglug." She gulped it down like a cow drinking water.

At the sound, Jiang Yan's expression twitched.

Three breaths later,

the girl finished drinking.

Together with Jiang Yan, she washed the bowls and chopsticks.

By then, the patrol squads were setting out one after another. Shan Renhu waved to Jiang Yan, then went back to rest.

In the square, Jiang Yan continued practicing. Although he had the Martial Arts Modifier, he still loved the feeling of sensing his own surging, immense strength.

The feeling of being able to wield that strength whenever he wanted was intoxicating.

Ren Shurong watched Jiang Yan practice in the square, looking dazed.

Jiang Yan wasn't practicing anything in particular; he was just casually going through the basic sword techniques.

But his Fast Sword skill had already reached the entry level. As he wielded the sword, his movements were sharp and cold, each one flowing seamlessly into the next.

Strike, thrust, tap, crash, parry, crash, flick, chop, slash...

He performed each of the basic sword forms in turn. Even though Ren Shurong didn't know much about swordsmanship, Jiang Yan's swordplay seemed to flow like water, with a grace all its own.

"But..." Ren Shurong stamped her foot. "I still haven't told him what I came to say."

Once, twice, three times.

Jiang Yan finally stopped. His blood was surging from the constant exercise, his skin flushed, and a faint mist seemed to rise from his body.

Ren Shurong walked closer and wrinkled her little nose. A man drenched in sweat after practicing wasn't exactly pleasant to smell. "Jiang Yan, I... could you do me a favor?"

She planned to get straight to the point and tell him what she wanted.

By now, she understood that the young man in front of her didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about her.

He was a little different from other men.

So she decided to be direct.

She still hasn't left... Jiang Yan sighed inwardly. He'd realized that morning that Ren Shurong wanted something from him, so he'd used practicing as an excuse to put her off for a while. He hadn't expected her to stick around.

"What is it?"

Since she hadn't left, Jiang Yan decided not to play dumb. He wanted to know what Chief Ren's younger sister could possibly need from him.

After all, he'd only met the girl yesterday.

They barely knew each other.

It shouldn't be anything too difficult, right?

But if it were something trivial, wouldn't Chief Ren have granted her request himself?

Ren Shurong saw Jiang Yan make the first move and smiled, a small dimple appearing in her left cheek. "I heard my big brother say that the meat in Yuyang Village will run out in a few days."

"So we'll need to go hunting in the wilderness."

"I want to go too... just to have a look."

After she finished speaking, hope shone on her face, anticipation filled her eyes, and then both gave way to disappointment.

The emotions swept across the pretty young girl's face in an instant, stirring a pang of sympathy.

"But my big brother won't let me. I begged him for a long time, and he said he'd agree if one of you three martial artists was willing to personally protect me."

The wilderness. Hunting.

Jiang Yan gathered his thoughts.

The patrol members used up a lot of energy each day and also had to practice, so meat was essential.

Supplies in this era didn't circulate easily, especially around the mining district, where the nearby villages had only sprung up in recent years.

They could grow enough grain to feed themselves, but meat was always in short supply.

The chickens, ducks, and fish raised around the village weren't even enough to feed the villagers themselves.

So the patrol team generally had to find its own way to get meat.

Hunting in the wilderness was dangerous too.

Besides the possibility of encountering the strange, some Fierce Beasts were just as terrifying.

Fierce Beasts that survived in the wilderness were as frightening as the strange.

"Chief Ren said you could go into the wilderness if one of the three of us agreed to protect you?"

Jiang Yan fell silent.

Did Ren Yuan actually agree to let Ren Shurong go into the wilderness? No, he didn't.

The wilderness was dangerous. No one could guarantee there wouldn't be an accident. When danger struck, who could confidently promise to keep another person safe?

The answer was no one.

So Ren Yuan might as well have said nothing.

"Yeah."

Ren Shurong clapped her hands and smiled, showing a row of little white teeth. "Would you agree to take me?"

"I promise I absolutely won't cause you any trouble."

She patted her chest and made her promise earnestly.

Jiang Yan stared blankly at her gesture, then lowered his eyes to the flat ground of the square.

It didn't seem any different.

Regaining his composure, Jiang Yan smiled at Ren Shurong. "Miss Ren."

He pointed in one direction. "That way. Go straight to the first house in the fourth row. That's Chief Tang Long's place."

Then he pointed in another direction. "That way. Go straight to the second house in the third row. That's Chief Fei Shan's place."

"Huh?"

Ren Shurong was stunned. What... was going on?

She stood still, looking at Jiang Yan, her big eyes blinking.

Jiang Yan sighed and said earnestly, "Miss Ren, I just broke through. I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to protect you. Chiefs Tang Long and Fei Shan may already be martial artists at the minor or major stage of the Martial Apprentice realm."

"They're more highly cultivated and have more experience in the wilderness. You should ask them."

Sorry, but there's no way I'm agreeing. Setting aside the fact that this could offend Ren Yuan, even in the wilderness, I can't promise that I'll be able to keep someone safe.

"B-but where are Chiefs Tang Long and Fei Shan? I looked for them this morning, but neither of them was there."

Neither of them was there?

Jiang Yan thought it over.

The junior chiefs didn't have fixed patrol duties. They generally handled various emergencies in the square and supported the other squads.

But sometimes the junior chiefs also went on patrol to check whether the squads were slacking off.

He hadn't been on night duty last night, so one of Tang Long or Fei Shan must have been.

But if neither of them was there...

"I remember Old Shan mentioning that Tang Long seemed to have someone special..."

That was probably it. Tang Long had been on night duty, then gone to sleep.

Fei Shan had gone to patrol the edge of the village.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in just a few breaths.

"Maybe... maybe both chiefs have something to do. Anyway, you might run into them."

"Oh, oh."

Ren Shurong nodded. "Then when will I be able to see them?"

"They'll come to the square eventually. You can wait here if you have nothing else to do."

They fell silent for a while, seeming to have run out of things to say. After all, they'd only just met.

After a little while, Jiang Yan decided this wouldn't do. It was too awkward.

He spoke up. "Miss Ren, why did you come eat with us? The food at the chief's place should be much better."

"You could go back and rest for a while, then come back this afternoon after lunch."

Ren Shurong looked disgusted. "I didn't want to come either. I came here to eat partly because I was curious, but mostly because my big brother's cooking is... hard to describe."

Now that Jiang Yan had spoken, Ren Shurong felt less awkward too. She thought for a moment, then said, "Jiang Yan, you don't seem to want to talk to me."

Damn it, why is this woman so blunt? And why is she so right?

Jiang Yan smiled. "Miss Ren, you're so beautiful that I get a little awkward when I talk to you."

"That's not true!"

Ren Shurong stepped back two paces, her sparkling eyes fixed on him. "You're not awkward at all."

"But you were right about the first part!"

Ren Shurong smiled at him, her little chin tilted up and her eyes narrowed with amusement.

Then she turned and actually left...

"Phew." Jiang Yan exhaled softly as he watched her turn past a row of houses and disappear from view.

"She's got a bit of a tsundere streak too..."

P.S. The straight-laced male lead is here asking for recommendation tickets. This time it isn't the author asking—it's the protagonist...