At night, bonfires burned throughout the village. Covered in blood, Su Qin sat on the ground, slowly eating a rye flatbread. Around him, groups of women and children stared at the fires! Some gnawed on the dry flatbreads left behind, while others held belongings left by their husbands, relatives, and children.
Su Qin glanced at the girl in a mother's arms. She was the girl he had rescued. Her face streaked with tears, she stared sideways at the fire without moving!
Su Qin stood, took a rye flatbread from inside his clothes, and slowly walked over to her, placing it on her lap.
He turned away, then suddenly felt something strike the gull cloak on his back.
He knew what it was. Slowly turning back, he saw a black-haired girl standing on the ground. "I hate you! I hate all of you! My father died! My big sister died! Grandmother Li died too! I hate all of you..."
"No one really cares about us! No one!"
Su Qin listened in silence. It was the truth!
Su Qin turned around, silently picked up the rye flatbread from the ground, wiped it off, and tucked it back inside his clothes.
Looking up, he saw a mother in coarse cloth gazing at him pleadingly. The women beside her all watched him. "My lord, she's only a child. Please spare this child."
They thought Su Qin, a noble, would punish the child in anger!
Su Qin nodded, walked over, crouched down, and took the little girl into his arms. Suddenly, pain shot through his ear. The child had bitten him!
The child immediately let go! Su Qin touched his ear, and his hand came away covered in blood.
He exchanged a look with the girl, then slapped her across the face!
Of course, he held back, striking very lightly. Even so, the slap knocked the girl to the ground!
Su Qin calmly watched those hateful eyes looking sideways up at him from the ground!
"Child, the first thing I'll teach you today is never to blame others for your own cowardice!"
"If you have courage, then train hard in martial arts! Remember, always know who your true enemies are!"
Withdrawing his hand, he beckoned. "The child's mother, come with me for a moment..."
The women around her reached out to hold the mother back. She looked at Su Qin's figure, shook her head, slowly rose, and followed him to the old tree.
Su Qin touched his ear. Fortunately, it had not been bitten off. The child had known to stop!
He took a sip of wine. The child's mother, who had followed him over, dropped to her knees. "Thank you for sparing Alice's life, my lord!"
Su Qin took another sip of wine and said, "Get up. It's all right." Afterward, he spoke with her for a while.
He mainly asked her about the Mountain Clans' raids and learned about the village's everyday living standards. He returned after a few minutes, lest he damage the mother's reputation for chastity!
Early the next morning, Su Qin parted ways with the group. He told the mother to take everyone to Gull Manor and find Yira, the head maid, saying she would arrange shelter and a livelihood for them!
Watching Su Qin slowly ride away alone, the mother, carrying 1,000 copper coins inside her clothes, slowly turned to look southwest. The women, holding long axes left behind by the barbarians, all watched her. Her lips moved. "Let's go. We're going to Gulltown!"
Alice kept looking back at Su Qin's receding figure.
She seemed to have understood something and wanted to say something to Su Qin, but the distance between them kept growing.
The mother remembered Su Qin's last words: "Once you get to Gulltown, feed that child well and build up her health. And teach her more about how to conduct herself. Don't be reluctant to discipline her physically! That would only harm her!"
On the road across the plains outside Runestone, Su Qin gazed at the endless plain and the distant city walls in amazement.
Freight wagons passed to and fro along the road. Petty merchants who traveled among the small villages were driving their wagons toward the city. Su Qin immediately rode over...
But he was soon stopped by the guards at the city gate. A guard briefly looked him over. "Who are you, and why have you come to Runestone?"
They looked at the blood covering Su Qin, somewhat suspicious. Su Qin slowly spoke. "I'm the newly appointed Baron of Gulltown, Su Qin Herculys! This is my silver knight's plume! I ran into a band of Mountain Clans on the road and took them down!"
The guard took the plume and examined the Runestone family crest on it, which marked its bearer as a vassal of House Royce! He immediately returned the plume to Su Qin. "My apologies, my lord. Runestone has been under tight restrictions lately!"
Su Qin nodded, took the plume, and entered Runestone!
Leading his horse through the city streets, Su Qin found that they were all paved with stone bricks, somewhat better than Gulltown's. Three-story stone houses lined both sides, looking distinctly different from the buildings in Gulltown.
Su Qin led his horse all the way to the gate of the lord's manor.
After his identity was verified, a knight escorted Su Qin into the manor, where he met Earl Yalun in the castle.
In the castle lord's study, Yaron looked at Su Qin's appearance with inward admiration. "Su Qin, it looks like you've won another victory. I hear you've given yourself a surname, Hercules. You certainly live up to it!"
Su Qin smiled. He actually had quite a favorable impression of this angel investor. "My lord, it's an honor to see you here. My honor is your honor!"
Yaron laughed heartily. "There's a welcoming feast for you tonight. You'll stay on the castle's second floor for now. Go clean yourself up first. That white gull has turned into a blood gull!"
Su Qin placed a hand over his chest and performed a proper knight's salute. "Yes, my lord!"
Afterward, Yohn continued working, while Su Qin followed a servant to the bedroom his liege had prepared for him. It was actually on the second floor of the main keep, only one floor away from the lord's family!
Inside the room, Su Qin removed his bloodstained leather armor, then took off his inner robe and ordered the servant to fetch a bucket of hot water. The servant immediately went down to get it.
After washing, Su Qin put on his inner robe, took a book from the shelf, and began reading with relish...
Soon, someone came to interrupt him.
As a knocking sound rang out, Su Qin responded, "Come in. The door isn't locked." The visitor entered. Su Qin looked up, somewhat surprised. It was the Earl's daughter!
"Lady Delia, what brings you here?"
Delia smiled at the sight of Su Qin reading and held out the knight's attire in her hands. "Sir Su Qin, I've prepared a new set of attire for the Baron of Gulltown. Would you like to try it on?"
Su Qin looked into Delia Runestone's eyes. Delia gazed into his eyes as well, smiling faintly.
Su Qin thought, Oh no, she's fallen for me!
Then he looked at the needle pricks still visible on the young woman's hands. After some thought, he sighed. "Lady Delia, I don't have feelings for you yet!"
They had never even spent time together. Where would those feelings come from? He couldn't just say he liked her because she was pretty! Who did that!
Hearing this, Delia immediately felt a pang of hurt. She promptly set down the gull knight's attire and walked out, her eyes red.
Shaking his head, Su Qin looked at the gull attire on the bed and slowly unfolded it. Rose patterns were embroidered in gold thread on black silk, with roses adorning the cuffs, collar, and neck as well.
Turning it over, he saw a lifelike gull embroidered in gold thread on the back, soaring with its head held high. Its eyes were two silver roses. Su Qin sat blankly on the bed and sighed.
That evening, Su Qin's welcoming feast was about to begin, but he was nowhere to be seen. That did not stop the Earl of Runestone's vassals and servants from cheering and enjoying the food!
Suddenly, the maid at the entrance called out, "The Baron of Gulltown has arrived!"
The doors opened, and the nobles at the long table all turned their gazes toward the entrance. Every one of them admired this exceptionally valiant knight!
Behind a screen, a beautiful young woman immediately stood up and stared intently at the entrance through the openwork patterns in the stone wall.
Dressed in the gull attire embroidered with golden roses, Su Qin slowly walked to Yaron's side and gave a knight's salute. Yaron surveyed his gallant appearance and nodded. "Those clothes suit you very well, my knight."
"My lord, I think they suit me very well too!" Su Qin's expression looked a little aggrieved.
To be honest, it was not easy to reject the Earl's daughter. After all, she belonged to his superior's family. He had no foundation of his own and could easily become a target, so he needed some outside support.
Feelings could only develop slowly. The Earl's daughter was thoughtful and beautiful, and he was not averse to her, especially those violet eyes. They were very attractive!
Behind the stone screen, the young woman smiled happily as she watched Su Qin wearing the clothes she had sewn with her own hands.
Her mother behind her immediately noticed her smile and said with a smile, "Delia, come eat with your younger brothers. What are you watching them for?"
"Coming, Mother!"