Eleven's face was tense, and he tried to intimidate Meng Qingluan with his eyes.
"You have guts." Meng Qingluan gave him a thumbs up.
It would be best if he could continue to have such backbone.
"..."
You're only finding out now?
Eleven raised his chin slightly, looking rather smug.
After Meng Qingluan finished speaking, she turned around and walked directly towards the center of the training ground, in the direction of the camp.
Eleven's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stepped forward to block her path, preventing her from passing.
What are you doing?
"If you, this great Buddha, won't teach me, then naturally I'll ask your leader to find me a different secret guard instructor." Meng Qingluan said matter-of-factly, "What if your leader gets angry and forces you into the secret guard department, delaying your master's business..."
Eleven's face darkened, and after struggling for a long time, he finally managed to utter, "I'll teach you!"
He spoke through gritted teeth, his two short sentences seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Ignoring his dark expression, Meng Qingluan withdrew her foot and asked, "What kind of hidden weapons should we start with?"
The speed at which their attitude changed made Shiyi curse inwardly.
I may have cursed her in my heart, but I still had to teach her.
"Yes! Grip tightly, concentrate, and breathe softly!"
Standing under the shade of a tree, Eleven frowned as he directed Meng Qingluan, who was holding a throwing knife not far away.
"Like this?" Meng Qingluan asked tentatively.
"Yes!" Eleven nodded. "Fly towards the target, push hard, and you'll succeed if you hit the target."
Meng Qingluan held her breath and exerted force with her hand.
"Smack!"
The throwing knife landed on the ground before it even flew out, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Again!" Eleven continued, "Put more force into your hands!"
Meng Qingluan took a deep breath, silently reciting the key points he had mentioned, and then swung her wrist out.
It still landed on the ground, but it was much better than before; at least it flew out.
"Again!"
"Again!"
"Again—"
She repeated this countless times, but it seemed she had hit a bottleneck, always falling just a hair's breadth away from the target.
The winter sun was intense, causing fine beads of sweat to appear on her forehead. Meanwhile, Mei Yuan and Ying Bang, who were accompanying her nearby, watched with growing concern.
Shiyi stepped out of the shade of the tree and walked to Meng Qingluan's side. "Madam Meng, your abilities are limited and you can't force yourself. With your physical condition, you should start with the most basic training."
Meng Qingluan raised her sleeve and casually wiped away her sweat, her eyes fixed on the target in the distance.
Do you think I'm not good enough?
Eleven looked at the throwing knives scattered on the ground, shrugged, and said nothing.
Meng Qingluan picked up a throwing knife, held it in her hand again, and twirled the handle with her fingertips, creating a beautiful knife flourish.
"How about you let me try one last time? If I fail, I'll admit you're right and personally go to your leader to let you go back. If I succeed..."
"It's not too late to talk about it after we succeed." A hint of mockery flashed in Eleven's eyes.
He used to think she was stupid and mentally ill, but he never expected her to be so arrogant.
It wasn't that he looked down on Meng Qingluan.
It was a hidden weapon, and for a novice like her with no martial arts background, learning it in a day was simply a pipe dream.
So he agreed to teach her how to use hidden weapons.
Meng Qingluan showed no embarrassment or anger; instead, a faint smile curved her lips, so subtle that it was almost imperceptible.
"Sure. But this time, I'm not shooting at a target, I'm shooting at you, okay?"
After saying that, she added, "The purpose of learning hidden weapons is for self-defense and attacking others. If the target is standing there motionless, I naturally won't have any feel for it. What? You don't agree? Is it because you don't trust yourself or because you trust me too much?"
Eleven turned around and said, "Okay."
"Go ahead."
"open……!"
As Shiyi walked to the target and turned around, just as he was about to announce the start, the words he was about to say were immediately cut off by a throwing knife that was aimed directly at him, and even his voice changed.
Meng Qingluan flicked her wrist and threw a flying knife straight at him. When she turned her head, it was already inches away.
Eleven had no time to dodge and could only catch the knife with his bare hands.
The sharp blade was forced to stop, and the two powerful forces, neither giving way to the other, collided, easily slicing through his palm.
He let go, and drops of blood from the broken thread slid down the wound, instantly turning his entire hand into a pool of blood.
Eleven glanced at her and then looked up at Meng Qingluan, who was standing still.
Meng Qingluan was startled and ran to his side. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I thought we wouldn't be able to fly over, but I didn't expect..."
"It's nothing," Eleven interrupted her. "You succeeded. What were the conditions?"
Meng Qingluan took out a handkerchief and handed it to him, saying, "My condition is that I have no conditions. You can go back now."
Eleven didn't move, not understanding the meaning behind her actions.
Meng Qingluan stuffed the handkerchief into his other hand. "Don't you want to go back?"
“I want to,” he finally moved, taking the handkerchief and casually wrapping it around the wound, “why did you want me to go back?”
Meng Qingluan withdrew her hand. "You don't need to worry about these things. Just go back. As for the rest, I will talk to your leader about it myself."
"..."
After Meng Qingluan finished speaking, she saw that his wound had been bandaged and the bleeding had stopped, and then she turned and left.
Eleven stared at her departing figure, his brows furrowing and relaxing before tightening again.
What exactly was her purpose?
…
afternoon.
The carriage came to a steady stop at a mansion on East Street, discreet and inconspicuous.
Meng Qingluan stepped down from the carriage.
She glanced at the mansion once before walking straight to the entrance, carrying a small box in her hands.
"Who are you?" the gatekeeper asked, stopping her.
Meng Qingluan gently lifted her eyelids, and Yingbang stepped forward to introduce her family.
"This is Madam Shen Yan, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. She has come today to deliver medicine to your master. Why don't you go in and announce her arrival?"
Upon hearing this, the servants exchanged glances, their faces grim.
After a long pause, the servant who had previously stopped them bowed and stepped forward, saying, "I was blind. But our master is still at the training ground and hasn't returned yet. The old lady is ill and it's probably not appropriate for her to see the madam..."
“It’s alright, I’ll go inside and wait for him to come back,” Meng Qingluan interrupted him.
"this……"
"What is this?" Dollar's eyebrows shot up. "Our lady specifically inquired about your master's family living here, and you're still making excuses? Is there something shady going on inside?"
The more composed servant explained, "Madam, please don't misunderstand. We were just afraid that you would be waiting too long and wasting your time."
Meng Qingluan reached out and grabbed the dollar's hand, gently patting it to signal her to step back, and said softly.
“I found out that your master and the old lady live here. Originally, I didn’t want to disturb them. But he was injured while teaching me martial arts, and I feel really bad about it. I won’t leave today unless I personally deliver the medicine to him.”
Meng Qingluan spoke gently, but her tone was firm, making her stance clear.
The three men played both the good cop and the bad cop, and the two men struggled to keep up, yet they still refused to give way.
Meng Qingluan chuckled inwardly; she naturally knew why the two men dared not let her in.
She's not in a hurry.
She gave him time to think and a chance to hide; her favorite game was hide-and-seek.
Just as the standoff was reaching a stalemate, the gate was pushed open, and the servants of the two families made way for the newcomers.
The man bowed respectfully to Meng Qingluan and said, "Please forgive us for keeping you waiting, Madam. Our matriarch invites you to come inside and wait."
Meng Qingluan nodded in response and gracefully walked into the mansion.
Meng Qingluan was led into the main hall and sat down. Soon, a maid served her tea.
She took the tea and placed it aside without drinking it. Her gaze swept across the hall, eventually landing on the small hut in the corner.
She raised an eyebrow and got up to walk towards her little nest.
As she approached, she suddenly heard a hurried running sound, not loud, but making a clattering sound.
Before long, a little creature jumped onto the soft cushion in its little nest.
After seeing the little thing clearly, Meng Qingluan's expression froze, and she remained silent for a moment.
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