Drunken Wen Shihan

A moment later, Jiao Yu, besieged by Wei Xuanfeng and Wen Shihan, found an opening.

As the wooden blade whirled, her round, toned legs lashed out with two kicks.

The next second, two more people were sprawled beside Fox Murong.

"Old Wei, you're already done for?" Fox Murong grinned. "Can you still get it up? Boss Jiao hasn't even broken a sweat!"

"If you're so good, you go!" Wei Xuanfeng shot back through the pain.

In just a few exchanges, he had taken who knew how many hits from the wooden blade.

Though he wasn't bleeding, he was certain his body was covered in bruises.

Wen Shihan struggled to her feet, intending to fight again.

Wei Xuanfeng glanced at her. This girl's determination to grow stronger was no weaker than his own.

Seeing that neither of them had lost their fighting spirit, a trace of approval flashed through Jiao Yu's eyes.

"Enough. Don't get up—just sit there on the ground." Jiao Yu walked over to the three of them and plopped down. "Well? Do you admit defeat?"

"I do, I admit defeat. Boss, you'll always be my boss." Fox Murong was the first to surrender.

Jiao Yu smiled, then looked at Wei Xuanfeng and Wen Shihan.

"What about you two?"

"Boss Jiao, you didn't use inner force just now, did you?" Wei Xuanfeng asked.

Whether a martial artist possessed inner force was a dividing line.

The boost inner force gave to one's techniques was no trifling matter.

Yet during their exchange, Jiao Yu's strength and speed had not been exaggerated—at most, she had seemed like someone at the peak of the Martial Artist Realm.

"That's right." Jiao Yu admitted it openly.

"I admit defeat. Me too." Wei Xuanfeng gave a bitter smile. "Boss Jiao, how many years have you practiced this blade technique?"

"Neither more nor less than twenty years."

In Wei Xuanfeng's view, if judged by the system's martial arts rankings, Jiao Yu's blade technique had surely reached the Mastery level.

With the aid of Myriad Arts Insight, he would not need that long—three years at most.

Then, when he sparred with Jiao Yu again...

Who ended up getting knocked flat was anyone's guess.

"Boss Jiao, please teach me that blade technique."

Wen Shihan did not say whether she admitted defeat. She simply made her request.

"No..."

Just as disappointment flashed through Wen Shihan's eyes, Jiao Yu spoke again.

"Your lightness skill is quite good. Across the entire Northern Pacification Bureau, without using inner force, no more than five people can reliably surpass you in that regard." Jiao Yu spoke slowly. "My blade technique is broad and forceful, and it clashes with your lightness skill. The loss outweighs the gain."

Her words made Wei Xuanfeng's eyes light up.

As expected of an old hand—she had spotted the problem at a glance.

Unlike him, who had struggled through an entire night of practice before reaching that conclusion.

"Then what am I suited to learn?" Wen Shihan asked unwillingly.

"There's a Meteor Hammer Technique in the Scripture Pavilion that suits you quite well, but..."

"But what?!"

"It's extremely difficult," Jiao Yu said solemnly.

"I'll learn it!" Wen Shihan did not hesitate for even a moment.

"Good. Come with me to get it later. I'll also give you a set of meteor hammers while we're at it!"

Of the three, Jiao Yu admired Wen Shihan the most.

Especially that tenacity she had, that drive to become stronger—it was exactly like Jiao Yu in her youth!

"Th-Thank you, Boss..." Wen Shihan said awkwardly.

But hearing Wen Shihan's acknowledgment of her still made Jiao Yu very happy.

"Boss, what about me? Me?" Fox Murong immediately leaned in, grinning foolishly despite her battered, swollen face.

"Your nature is too slippery. Once you're on the battlefield and made to fight demon beasts hand-to-hand, your mind will surely be full of nothing but how to save your own skin..." Jiao Yu sighed. "Rather than that, you'd be better off practicing archery and crossbow techniques."

"That's good, that's good!" Fox Murong said with a cheeky grin. "If I can't beat them, I can run at the first opportunity, hehe."

"As an archer, the most important thing on the battlefield is staying alive," Jiao Yu said. "It's a pity that dead girl Embroidery, a couple of days ago... Ah, otherwise, her lightness skill would have suited you very well."

As she said this, a flicker of sorrow passed through Jiao Yu's eyes.

Seeing it, Wei Xuanfeng's approval of her grew by another measure.

That woman named Embroidery was presumably also a demon slayer, and she had been very close to Boss Jiao.

Yet in the face of a comrade's sacrifice, Jiao Yu had not broken down hysterically. She had not even let anyone see her grief.

That was the cruelty of war. Life had to go on. The living had to keep living on behalf of the dead.

And they had to live well!

Only those who understood this truth would not be destroyed by war.

And Jiao Yu was undoubtedly a mature and qualified warrior!

"But it's fine. There are still a few suitable lightness techniques in the Scripture Repository. I'll bring them all tomorrow." The sorrow in Jiao Yu's eyes vanished in an instant, and she smiled again. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Fox Murong pressed.

"Just that, for now, the most suitable one for you is still Shihan's lightness technique."

At those words, Fox Murong immediately turned to Wen Shihan.

"Sister Shihan, can you..."

"No. Get lost!"

"Sure thing!"

Even Wei Xuanfeng could not help laughing out loud.

That woman Fox Murong truly had shamelessness down to an art.

She had sold the girl out just a few days ago, yet she still had the nerve to come begging to learn her lightness technique...

"As for you..." Jiao Yu looked at Wei Xuanfeng. "How about this? If I have time, come find me and I'll spar with you. If I don't have time... Shihan, Murong, you two train him in my place."

Wei Xuanfeng: ...

Fox Murong: ???

Wen Shihan: !!!

After that, Jiao Yu took the three of them to the clinic. In her words—

Getting injured was not frightening. Leaving behind hidden injuries was what was frightening.

Of the three, Wen Shihan's injuries were the most severe.

Even the physician could not help marveling at the young girl's endurance. Had it been anyone else, they likely would not even have been able to get out of bed.

By the time they returned to their residence, it was already late at night.

"For the next few days, your task is to recover properly and nurse your bodies back to health." Jiao Yu sat before the stone table as she spoke, then pulled a gourd from her robes. "The grand gift I mentioned before—you didn't pass, but... as your boss, making an exception once in a while is no big deal."

As she spoke, she uncorked the gourd, and a rich fragrance of wine instantly spread through the entire courtyard.

"Wow, Boss, what is that? It smells so good!" Fox Murong's foxlike eyes immediately sparkled.

The moment Wei Xuanfeng caught the scent, the wine bug in his belly was stirred awake.

Even Wen Shihan stared fixedly at the gourd.

"This is good stuff! Boss Wu rewarded it to me yesterday! Too bad that dead girl Embroidery won't get to drink any..." Jiao Yu smiled, then looked at the gourd. "This wine is called Immortal's Drunkenness, and it is exceptionally nourishing for martial artists. I don't know what medicinal ingredients went into it, but one sip can equal three months of grueling cultivation."

"That amazing?!" Fox Murong cried. "Boss, how much does a whole gourd of this cost? Once I have money, I'll drink it every day, every meal, and save myself the damn trouble of training!"

"Money? You couldn't buy something this good even if you had money!" Jiao Yu said with a smile. "I heard Boss Wu helped Lord Yang obtain some treasure, and Lord Yang was so delighted that he hosted a banquet for the entire Northern Pacification Bureau. Of course, your captains didn't get a share..."

"The commander of the Demon Suppression Directorate in Liang Province, a Martial Saint realm expert—Yang Xuyan?" Wei Xuanfeng asked.

"That's right, that Lord Yang."

"What kind of incredible treasure could make that old man so happy..." Fox Murong stared at the gourd and swallowed, then looked at Jiao Yu. "Boss, you're giving this good stuff to us?"

"I was reluctant to, but..." Jiao Yu smiled. "Who told you to call me Boss?"

Wei Xuanfeng glanced at her, faintly shocked.

At that moment, he could not tell whether this was sincerity or merely a means of controlling her subordinates...

"Boss..." Fox Murong's eyes reddened, and she looked on the verge of tears...

"Stop acting in front of me." Jiao Yu waved a hand. "Find a bowl and split it among the three of you. Hurry up and drink."

Just as Wen Shihan was about to rise, Fox Murong snatched the gourd away.

"Why bother splitting it? One mouthful each is enough." With that, she took a huge gulp.

Then...

"Cough, cough, cough... So spicy..."

She spat all the wine back into the gourd...

"Fuck, you damn..." Wei Xuanfeng was left utterly dumbfounded.

Could someone really be shameless to this extent!?

"Hehe, I can't hold my liquor. Sorry for the laugh..." Fox Murong gave a bewitching smile and placed the gourd in the middle of the table. "If you don't mind, then..."

Judging by her expression, she intended to use this trick to make both Wei Xuanfeng and Wen Shihan unable to drink any more.

But she had clearly underestimated Wen Shihan's willingness to stop at nothing.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wen Shihan picked up the gourd and poured it into her mouth.

After taking two huge gulps, she directly held the gourd out in front of Wei Xuanfeng.

"Badass..."

Wei Xuanfeng took the gourd. After a moment's hesitation, he took two huge gulps as well!

It was just imported liquor. No big deal!

"Hey, hey, hey! Enough, enough! Leave some for me!"

Seeing it was about to be emptied, Fox Murong lunged to snatch the gourd...

Wei Xuanfeng held her back against the chest with one hand and drained the remaining Immortal's Drunkenness in a single gulp.

In a contest of shamelessness, how could he lose?

"Young people really are wonderful..." Jiao Yu rose with a smile. "Go on, make a fuss. I'm heading back first. Oh, right—the area within a hundred zhang of the alchemy room has been sealed off. I heard Lord Yang is refining some kind of pill. Anyway, don't go over there and provoke trouble. If something happens, it won't be easy for me to bail you out."

With that, she turned and left.

After she was gone, Wen Shihan glanced at Wei Xuanfeng and Fox Murong, who had become a tangled mess, then swayed toward the well with a flushed face.

"So hot... so good..."

Then...

Wen Shihan plunged headfirst into the well.

Splash!

"Old Wei, this girl's tolerance is really this bad?"

Even Fox Murong, who was straddling Wei Xuanfeng and raining punches down on him, froze at the sight.

"Fuck, at a time like this, you're still talking nonsense?!" Wei Xuanfeng arched his back and sent the girl flying. "What are you standing around for? Help me save her!"

"C-Coming..."