Erhe County.
At the gate of the Sihai Escort Agency, Su Caiying leaned against the door, gazing into the distance.
"Seventh Miss, I know you're anxious, but don't worry. Our informants have sent word that they've only just entered the county. Just sit back and wait patiently."
"Of course I know."
Su Caiying pouted. Although she obediently sat down, her anxiety was clearly not diminished at all.
Rose didn't know that she had a "lost escort rebate system," so she naturally didn't know why she was so anxious.
Although she thought the mission was unlikely to succeed, Su Caiying was still uneasy until the caravan officially returned and the "rebate system" officially rewarded her.
"Speaking of which, isn't our Su family just an ordinary wealthy merchant family? Why would we have spies or informants?"
Out of sheer boredom, she posed this profound question once again.
Rose, however, simply looked away and ignored it.
"They're here."
Finally, with Rose's reminder, the figures of the caravan appeared ahead.
"One, two, three... nine."
Su Caiying squinted slightly, carefully counted the number of people in the sunlight, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Rose, who had witnessed the entire scene, shook her head.
"Seventh Miss, as the owner, you should not get too involved in the affairs of the escort agency in the future."
There was one more thing she didn't say.
That is, there are many people in the world who run escort agencies, but I have never heard of anyone who can do this business well without paying a blood price.
Miss Seven is a bit naive.
There were nine people when they went out, and there were nine people when they came back.
Su Caiying was very satisfied.
He was even more satisfied when he saw Lin Ce's gloomy face.
"Chief镖师 Lin, don't be discouraged. This was just a small escort mission. Even if we lose it, it's okay. At least we gained experience, so it's not a loss."
It's not just not a loss, it's a huge profit!
Su Caiying was filled with excitement. She had already prepared the sack, just waiting for Lin Ce to confirm "loss of goods" before she could start receiving the system's tenfold return.
Although ten times the amount is only five thousand taels of silver, it's still a good start.
"Lost the goods? Master, who told you we lost the goods?"
Lin Ce blinked, somewhat puzzled.
He was in a heavy mood, his only concern being the black wind that had rescued the female fox demon, not the delivery itself.
"This...you really managed to successfully deliver the goods?"
Su Caiying then looked at the other members of the escort team and asked incredulously.
All the boys nodded in unison.
Su Caiying looked at Li Qingshan again and asked again, "Really?"
Li Qingshan gave a proud, cold laugh.
"Heh, since I, Li Qingshan, am here on this trip, isn't this just the way things should be? Why are you surprised?"
Okay, it seems the escort mission was indeed successful.
Su Caiying roughly understood that although Li Qingshan had many flaws and his eyes were always inappropriately on the top of his head, he was ultimately someone who disdained to lie.
After confirming the situation, Su Caiying felt very upset.
I thought I could make a fortune of several thousand taels of silver, but now it's all gone.
"Congratulations, Miss Seven. It seems that Rose's judgment is inferior."
Beside her, Rose's seemingly heartfelt flattery only pierced her heart more deeply.
"It's alright, it's alright. This shipment is too small. Even with a tenfold return, it's only a few thousand taels, which is nothing."
"This is actually a good thing. The first successful escort mission is a good start. In the future, we will be able to take on more escort missions. Wouldn't it be even more profitable with a tenfold return?"
It took her a long time to calm down and convince herself.
"Congratulations, Chief Escort Lin! This is a great start for the escort agency. I'll book a restaurant to welcome everyone back."
Once she convinced herself, Su Caiying quickly became cheerful again.
With a wave of her hand, she mimicked the characters in those martial arts novels and uttered these words.
But the proposal was rejected.
Lin Ce shook his head and said:
"No need. I want to get into training as soon as possible. Instead of using the money to book the restaurant, let's use it to hire another bodyguard for the escort agency. I feel we don't have enough manpower this time."
The training bonus of "United We Stand (Normal Version)" lasts for one month. This return trip has already wasted more than a day, and Lin Ce is unwilling to continue wasting this precious time on unimportant matters.
Rose, standing to the side, glanced at Lin Ce in surprise.
Her words were quite unexpected.
"good."
After a moment of hesitation, Su Caiying tried to convince herself that a stronger team was for escorting stronger shipments, and that the rebates would be higher if the shipments were lost.
"If there's nothing else, please leave."
Lin Ce issued an order to leave.
The strength of that Rose was unknown, and having her standing next to him always made him feel a strange pressure.
"Wait!"
A sharp shout nearly startled Lin Ce.
It's Li Qingshan.
"Lin Ce, have you forgotten something?"
Lin Ce certainly hadn't forgotten.
Li Qingshan kept challenging him, wanting to take his position as chief镖头 (chief镖师).
I kept making excuses to postpone it, but now it seems I can't keep doing it anymore.
"I just got back and haven't eaten yet. Do you want to eat something first?"
"What are you talking about? It's just a competition, why would it delay our meal? Have someone prepare the food first, so that everyone can still have a hot meal after the competition is over."
Li Qingshan was clearly not stupid. Fearing that Lin Ce would continue to find excuses to postpone the matter, he directly blocked Lin Ce's escape route with his words.
"Very well, since that's the case, let's finish this quickly and let everyone have a good look."
The group quickly arrived at the training ground.
Besides the caravan members, there were also Su Caiying and her maid, Qiangwei.
"Rose, who do you think will win, and who will lose?"
"It's hard to say. Compared to before, these two seem to have improved a lot. It seems they have been tempered during this escort mission."
"Relatively speaking, who has a better chance of winning?"
"I don't know, but Li Qingshan is a disciple of the Mountain Sword Sect, so he should have a more complete set of martial arts skills. It all depends on how well he can improve."
"..."
Su Caiying remained silent, then called a halt to the fight.
"Wait, I see that Chief Escort Lin's knife is already dull. This kind of fight probably won't be very interesting. I'll have someone send over a new knife."
She looked at Li Qingshan.
"Young Master Li, what do you think?"
"It doesn't matter, I'll win anyway."
To be honest, when his gaze fell on the single-edged sword in Lin Ce's hand, he really couldn't see where the blade was dull.
"No need, let's keep fighting."
Lin Ce flicked his steel knife, pointing it directly at Li Qingshan, "Hurry up and make your move, I'm hungry."
"Open your eyes and look, the person I am today is not the person I was yesterday."
With a light touch of his toes, Li Qingshan flew like sand and stones, arriving in front of Lin Ce in an instant. His long sword swept like sandstorm, aiming straight for Lin Ce's chest.
Su Caiying gasped and covered her face with her hands, but couldn't help peeking through her fingers.
Then she saw Lin Ce step forward and slash straight ahead with his single sword without any fancy moves.
He treated the incoming sword as if it were nothing.
"Trying to out-defense me?"
Li Qingshan was filled with rage. He gritted his teeth and, ignoring all about dodging techniques, activated his "Azure Rock Robe" to withstand the attacks.
His "Azure Rock Robe," a second-level perfected realm, gave him such confidence.
Unless the other side has the same methods, what can they use to compete with us?
He had observed the escort team's training and knew that Lin Ce was quite skilled in "Breaking Mountain Fist".
Although that fist technique can strengthen the body, it still cannot guarantee that one will be unharmed when attacked by a longsword.
A thought suddenly flashed through Li Qingshan's mind.
There's no need to actually pierce the opponent's body; simply making a few shallow wounds quickly is enough to make them admit defeat.
He planned to reduce his strength once the longsword reached the opponent's body.
"Well……"
The longsword pierced through, but the sensation felt somewhat off.
Even if I put more force into it, it seems like I still can't pierce it.
What's going on?
Before he could figure it out, a sharp pain shot through him, and he felt half of his chest go numb.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Ce reverse the blade and lightly tap his body with the flat blade.
Then came an irresistible force. Li Qingshan was like a fish that had just jumped ashore. Before he could even hop around, he was slammed heavily to the ground.
The blow numbed half of his body, but he still had the other half.
With a flick of his wrist, he thrust the longsword at Lin Ce, who was now within arm's reach.
Because it was an instinctive counterattack launched in a desperate situation, this sword strike was even more powerful than before.
The longsword swiftly pierced towards Lin Ce's abdomen, a highly dangerous move.
"ah!"
Su Caiying and the other teenagers watching the battle all exclaimed in surprise.
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