"Stop the bleeding."
"How?"
"Press gauze against the wound first."
"Don't move, don't move! The wound medicine's here."
"Headmaster, his pulse is so weak!"
The ten little ones worked together in a frantic scramble.
The young woman who had escorted the swordsman inside was now dumbfounded.
Zhang Qingyuan watched the chaotic rescue unfolding before him. It seemed the academy needed to start its self-rescue interest class promptly.
"Goudan, fetch some liquor."
"Murong Xue, soak some gauze in liquor and wipe his wounds. Remember to be gentle."
"Xiaohu, sprinkle the wound medicine on."
"Xiaohua, bandage him."
With someone directing them, order instantly replaced the chaos.
Goudan brought over a liquor gourd. Murong Xue poured liquor onto the gauze and gently dabbed it against the wounds.
Every touch brought a shudder. It hurt just to watch.
As soon as she cleaned a wound, Sun Xiaohu poured wound medicine onto it, and Zhang Xiaohua followed with bandages.
Everything became orderly, but the children's faces were still covered in sweat.
Only after the final wound had been bandaged did Zhang Qingyuan turn to the girl standing to one side, already scared witless.
She was sixteen or seventeen, with bright eyes and pearly teeth, but her eyes held a trace of the foolishness of someone who knew nothing of the world.
The girl kept swallowing. Seeing Zhang Qingyuan looking at her, she thanked him repeatedly. "Thank you for saving his life, great hero. I shall remember your kindness until my dying day."
Was she going to offer herself in marriage next?
Entertaining that pleasant thought, Zhang Qingyuan said, "I am Zhang Qingyuan, headmaster of Tianyang Martial Dao Academy and sect master of the Tianyang Sect. May I ask your name, miss, your relationship with this hero, and what happened?"
The children also turned to look, watching the girl curiously.
After hearing Zhang Qingyuan introduce himself, the girl visibly brightened. "You're Zhang Qingyuan? The founder of Tianyang Martial Dao Academy?" she asked excitedly.
"Indeed I am." With that, Zhang Qingyuan pointed to the ten little ones beside him, not forgetting to introduce them. "They are all students of the academy."
The ten little ones cupped their fists in salute, looking very much like people of the martial world.
The girl cupped her fists. "I am Han Yumo, daughter of Han Zhennan, commander of the Brocade Guard in the Central Realm's capital!"
"Hm?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Xiaohu immediately straightened his chest.
Zhang Qingyuan could not help drawing a sharp breath either. A big shot!
A hound of the imperial court, commander of the Brocade Guard's Northern Pacification Office-who had not heard Han Zhennan's name?
He was a famous imperial hound, the boss above Zhang Tianlu, the Brocade Guard's thousand-household commander in Yu Province.
Even in the martial world, he was someone whose very name made people quake!
"Miss Yumo, what happened to you two?" He looked at Han Yumo, then at the blue-robed swordsman.
Han Yumo looked slightly embarrassed. "Alas, it was simply bad luck!"
Then she looked pitifully at the swordsman on the floor and continued explaining. "I sneaked out of home. I wanted to roam the martial world."
Zhang Qingyuan nodded, thinking this was another silly, innocent girl who had abandoned a comfortable life to suffer outside.
"But I never imagined the martial world would be so treacherous."
"You ran into danger?" Zhang Qingyuan asked.
Han Yumo shook her head. "Not exactly. Mostly, my father is even more treacherous. No matter how I run, he can always send people to find me."
"That stands to reason."
Zhang Qingyuan was speechless. Trying to outwit her father? He was the greatest intelligence chief under heaven. Who could escape his eyes and ears?
Han Yumo sighed. "But I don't want them following me in secret. I don't want to be protected. I just want to experience the real martial world, the true world of martial artists, the life a real heroine should experience."
"I understand." Zhang Qingyuan nodded, then asked, "And then?"
"But my father was terrified I'd go missing, so he kept arranging for people to stay around me. I didn't know at first. I traveled over a thousand li from home without seeing a single shady inn.
"When I was thirsty, I could find a mountain spring. When I was hungry, I would spot a roadside inn.
"When I wanted to watch a duel, the very next day I would see famous heroes hunting notorious bandits.
"When I wanted to kill mountain bandits, within a few days I would see a band of Eighth or Ninth Rank bandits robbing travelers on the road..."
"Uh..." Zhang Qingyuan drew a deep breath. The commander had truly gone to painstaking lengths, preparing such an elaborate martial-world reality show for his daughter.
"At first, I thought that was just what the martial world was like, until he appeared."
Han Yumo pointed at the blue-robed swordsman. "He was the only wandering swordsman I encountered. I wanted to follow him. At first, he was always impatient with me. I thought he was just a cold, aloof hero, and I was quite interested.
"The more he refused, the more I followed him. I didn't want to listen.
"But afterward, he really ran out of patience and told me that my father had been sending a squad of Brocade Guards to follow me all along, and they had expressly forbidden him from having any contact with me.
"He also said I was a wealthy young lady and should stop bringing disaster upon a nobody like him.
"He said some very nasty things, which only made me angrier."
"I understand."
As though she had found the perfect person to pour her heart out to, Han Yumo spilled all the resentment that had built up inside her over the past few days.
The key was that Zhang Qingyuan really did respond to every word!
Han Yumo gritted her teeth. "I was angry at my father for meddling, and angry at him for insulting me.
"He spoke so nastily. Of course I didn't want to listen!
"So I followed him. Who would have thought..."
The ten little ones listened intently to her story as though listening to a storyteller.
"Who would have thought that this afternoon, the Brocade Guard's thousand-household commander in Yu Province would actually bring men over and surround him?
"Then he said a few harsh words, and they started fighting."
"Alas!"
Zhang Qingyuan sighed. Though he did not know exactly what had happened, he could well imagine that Miss Han must have played a crucial role in fanning the flames of that battle.
Seeing the wounds covering this hero, Zhang Qingyuan felt sorry for him.
Just how unlucky did a swordsman have to be to encounter such a walking disaster?
Never mind villains racking their brains-the real fear was a fool's flash of inspiration.
Clearly, however, Young Miss Han had little awareness of this.
Zhang Qingyuan glanced back at the swordsman and asked, "How is he now?"
Xiao Yan said, "Headmaster, this man cultivates Frost True Qi. His wounds have already been sealed by his True Qi. Combined with our medicine, it has stopped the bleeding."
Zhang Qingyuan gave Xiao Yan a somewhat surprised look. This child knew quite a lot.
"All right, we'll leave it at that."
He went over to the swordsman and looked at his pale, weakened face. "Brother, can you hear me?"
The swordsman's eyelids stirred. Seeing this, Zhang Qingyuan said, "Good. Since you can hear me, you heard what they said too. You're not in any danger now. I'll leave you a healing pill. Take it and rest for a night. With your cultivation, you'll be able to move about tomorrow. I'll leave you some dry rations for breakfast, all right?"
"Th-thank you..." the swordsman answered weakly.
"You're welcome. Get some rest."
Listening from the side, Han Yumo felt she did not understand. She stepped forward to stop Zhang Qingyuan. "What do you mean by that?"
"Huh?" Zhang Qingyuan played dumb.
"You're leaving?"
Zhang Qingyuan explained, "Young Miss Lin, as you've seen, this hero's injuries are under control. I came down the mountain to take my students on a study trip.
"Saving someone is part of the study trip too, and we've experienced that now.
"We won't disturb you any longer. Since he's in no danger, I'll take the children to continue their training. Until we meet again!"
The students stood up, all puzzled by their headmaster's behavior.
Hadn't he said they would rest for the night?
Why were they leaving again?
Zhang Qingyuan gave them a hand signal, telling them to follow his lead and not make trouble.
Seeing it, the ten little ones quieted down.
They did not understand, but at least they obediently did as they were told.
Han Yumo froze. "Then what about him?"
Zhang Qingyuan said, "Aren't you still here?"
"But the Brocade Guard will catch up soon."
"Then go home with them. You're their young miss. They won't give you any trouble."
"But I don't want to go back." Han Yumo twisted her body petulantly.
"Then run away on your own and leave him here. With his cultivation, he won't die.
"When the Brocade Guard finds him, even if they come here, they won't make trouble for him once they know you've run off."
Han Yumo turned her head and declared loyally, "No! I don't want to abandon him!"
Zhang Qingyuan felt helpless. Don't you know he's in the greatest danger when he's with you?
But he did not know either, and could not fathom the workings of Young Miss Han's mind.
He did not know whether she was truly stupid or truly wicked.
Then he said, "All right, do as you please. We have to get going."
Cupping his fists, Zhang Qingyuan gave Han Yumo no time to react before waving his hand. "Students, follow me!"
The ten little ones followed behind Zhang Qingyuan. Each looked at Han Yumo, then at the hero on the floor, scratching their heads as they followed Zhang Qingyuan out of the ruined temple.
Watching Zhang Qingyuan and the others leave, Han Yumo stamped her feet in anger.
In the shadows, a young gentleman of eighteen or nineteen secretly watched everything.
Especially upon seeing Zhang Qingyuan treat Han Yumo that way, he said viciously, "Damn him!"