Chapter 76 – Being Looked Down Upon

Everyone froze and turned toward the man holding the dagger.

Su Mo snapped angrily, “Ye Song, what are you doing?”

“Shut up, woman! This has nothing to do with you. Get lost!”

Ye Song kicked her hard, sending her flying.

“Lady Mo, are you all right?”

Jian Piao hurriedly helped Su Mo up.

Su Mo winced in pain, almost unable to stand. “Bastard, how dare you kick me!”

Kan Chaoyan, Captain Liu, and the others swiftly drew their swords, pointing them at Ye Song.

“Let go of the little girl right now!” Kan Chaoyan commanded coldly.

Ye Song sneered. “So, you do care about her after all.”

Kan Chaoyan’s voice sank. “What are you trying to do by catching the girl? Do you want money? Name your price. I’ll give it to you.”

“Pah! Who wants your filthy silver?” Ye Song pressed the dagger closer. “All of you, get back, or I’ll kill her!”

【Oh yeah, I’m being taken hostage.】

【This is the first time in my life I’ve ever been held hostage.】

【The only thing I’m not satisfied with is…】

【Brother, your dagger isn’t sharp enough. It can’t even cut my skin, so how am I supposed to feel threatened?】

【Should I act scared to make this look more convincing?】

Mu Nanjin said expressionlessly, “Save me.”

The Jinyiwei: “…”

Apologies, but we can’t tell at all that you’re in danger.

“Pfft!”

Captain Liu almost burst out laughing. Luckily, he stopped himself in time, covering it up with a cough. “Ahem.”

Kan Chaoyan shot him a glare.

Su Mo: “…”

Was it just her imagination, or was that man coughing desperately to hide his laughter?

Ye Song grew impatient when no one moved. “Didn’t I tell you to move away?” he shouted furiously.

【He’s telling you to move, so why aren’t you?】

【Aren’t you afraid I’ll get hurt?】

【Hmph, none of you care about me at all.】

Kan Chaoyan broke out in a cold sweat and quickly barked, “Everyone, back out of the inn!”

“Yes, sir!”

All the Jinyiwei retreated outside.

Once they were out, Ye Song demanded, “Bring me a horse!”

Kan Chaoyan had been waiting for that. He turned to Captain Liu. “Go fetch Heitan.”

“Yes, sir.”

Captain Liu hurried to the inn’s backyard and said to the glossy black horse that gleamed even without light, “Your master’s been taken hostage. The man holding her says he needs a horse to escape. I’m sorry, but it looks like we’ll have to borrow you.”

“Snort.”

Heitan snorted angrily and galloped toward the front gate.

“The horse is here,” Kan Chaoyan announced.

Heitan trotted up to Ye Song and gave him a long, disdainful look from head to toe.

Ye Song: “…”

This horse couldn’t even speak, yet somehow he felt utterly looked down upon.

Both Ye Song and Su Mo were dumbfounded.

What a magnificent black horse.

Ridiculous as it was, both humans actually felt inferior before a horse.

Suddenly, Heitan lifted his right forehoof and smacked Ye Song square across the left side of his face.

“Ahhh!”

Ye Song screamed as he was sent flying, several of his teeth scattering through the air.

Su Mo and Jian Piao were stunned.

Was this horse a demon or something? It actually slapped people like a human!

【Sigh.】

【Sigh, sigh.】

【Sigh, sigh, sigh.】

【You can’t even beat a horse. How dare you think of kidnapping me?】

The Jinyiwei: “…”

Honestly, none of us could probably beat your horse either.

Kan Chaoyan hurried over to Mu Nanjin. “Little girl, are you hurt?”

Mu Nanjin touched her uninjured neck. “I’m fine.”

【I’d love to say I’m hurt, but that dagger was too dull. It didn’t even manage to nick a single hair.】

【Sigh, when will I meet a real expert who can actually kidnap me? Then the Commander can come save me like a hero rescuing a damsel. Heehee.】

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

If the Commander knew your true strength, he probably wouldn’t bother saving you.

The Jinyiwei captured Ye Song and surrounded Su Mo and Jian Piao.

“Let them go,” Mu Nanjin said.

Captain Liu frowned. “That man tried to kidnap you, and you’re letting him go?”

【If I hadn’t gone along with it, could he really have kidnapped me?】

Captain Liu: “…”

Mu Nanjin glanced at Ye Song. “His brother was killed by the Commander, so he wanted to use me to threaten him. Miss Su and the others didn’t know anything about this. Why make things hard for them? Besides, you don’t want them tagging along, do you?”

“…” Captain Liu gave the order to release them.

Mu Nanjin turned to Su Mo. “Sorry to trouble you again, Miss Su. Could you help me redo my hair?”

“Ah? Oh, sure.”

Su Mo quickly tied Mu Nanjin’s hair into a simple bun.

At that moment, more Jinyiwei arrived from nearby inns to gather at the courtyard.

“So many people?” Jian Piao muttered.

A glance told him there were at least five thousand men.

The Jinyiwei must be preparing for a major operation.

Mu Nanjin stepped in front of Ye Song and said seriously, “Next time, bring your Sect Master to kidnap me.”

【Getting kidnapped by the Demon Sect Master sounds kind of fun. I wonder if he’s handsome. If he’s not, forget it. I might end up killing him on sight out of disgust, and that’d be such a pity.】

The Jinyiwei: “…”

Ye Song snarled, “Fine! I’ll bring our Sect Master to find you next time!”

“Sect Master?” Su Mo asked in shock. “He’s from the Demon Sect?”

Mu Nanjin nodded.

“I’ve always hated the Demon Sect!” Su Mo kicked Ye Song several times. “That’s for kicking me earlier!”

“Ahhh!”

Ye Song howled, feeling like his bones were about to shatter.

“Set out,” Kan Chaoyan ordered. Everyone mounted their horses.

Mu Nanjin lay lazily on Heitan’s back, closing her eyes. “Heitan, I’m going to nap. Just follow Captain Liu.”

“Neigh.”

Without waiting for Kan Chaoyan’s signal, Heitan reared up and bolted away, vanishing from sight in seconds.

Kan Chaoyan exhaled deeply. “Why are none of them ever easy to manage…”

“After her!” he commanded.

The Jinyiwei galloped off in pursuit.

But their horses were ordinary beasts, so how could they ever catch up to that monster of a horse?

Fortunately, Heitan left deep hoofprints behind. When they finally caught up, Mu Nanjin had already caught several wild pheasants and was waiting for them to help her roast them.

To keep her from stirring up more trouble, Kan Chaoyan tried reasoning with her. “Little girl, we have too many people. We’ll attract attention easily, so we must reach the Jiangnan Region before anyone notices us. I hope that during the journey, you won’t repeat last night’s incidents, like chatting with strangers or revealing our identities. Once the mission is done, we’ll take you sightseeing and let you enjoy all the delicacies of Jiangnan.”

Mu Nanjin agreed readily. “All right.”

Her quick agreement made Kan Chaoyan uneasy. “Let me make this clear. If we fail the mission, there will be no sightseeing. We’ll have to return to the capital and accept punishment. So, take this mission seriously.”

“Got it.”

Still, Kan Chaoyan didn’t feel at ease. “Aside from touring Jiangnan and tasting food, do you have any other requests?”

He figured he’d better ask now; he couldn’t handle another surprise.

“I want to watch the Martial Arts Tournament.”

Mu Nanjin had read in the Eight-Seal Gazette that in half a month, the Martial Arts Tournament would be held at the Alliance Leader’s residence. She wanted to join in the fun.

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

If he refused, the girl would cause all kinds of chaos on the road. But if he agreed, she’d probably stir up trouble anyway.

Either way, the result was the same; he might as well appease her first.

“Fine. After we watch the tournament, we’ll return to the capital.”

Mu Nanjin smiled, patting Heitan’s neck. “Let’s go, Heitan.”

With a flick of his hoof, Heitan vanished once again.

Kan Chaoyan rubbed his aching forehead.

Captain Liu finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Lord Kan, suppressing bandits is an important mission. Why did you bring Mu Nanjin along? Sure, she’s strong, but she’s also… uncontrollable.”

Kan Chaoyan lowered his hand. “You know about the Seventh Prince’s estate being cleaned out by Heitan, right?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Kan Chaoyan sighed. “The Emperor tasked me with resolving it, and giving that girl a small punishment. But with her love of money, do you think she’d ever return the Seventh Prince’s fortune?”

Knowing Mu Nanjin well, Captain Liu shook his head. “She’d never give it back. She probably wouldn’t even admit she took it.”

“Exactly. So I had to think of another way to punish her while compensating the prince’s loss. This bandit-suppression mission is perfect. We’ll have her deal with those troublesome mountain bandits and then use the gold and treasures they’ve hoarded to make up the prince’s losses. Two birds with one stone, don’t you think?”

“More like one arrow taking down a whole flock!” Captain Liu gave him a thumbs-up. “Brilliant.”

“Enough talk. Let’s catch up to Mu Nanjin. I can’t relax when she’s out of sight.”

Kan Chaoyan cracked his whip and spurred his horse forward.

The others followed close behind.

For the next seven days, Mu Nanjin behaved surprisingly well, except when it came to food. Other than her picky eating, she obeyed every order, to everyone’s immense relief.

On the eighth day after leaving the capital, they finally arrived near Canglong Mountain. The Jinyiwei spread out in small groups to hide.

Inside a nearby village, Kan Chaoyan unfolded a map before Mu Nanjin. “This is the map of Canglong Mountain. Our men spent two years creating it.”

Mu Nanjin studied the crude drawings of mountains, trees, houses, and winding trails, frowning deeply.

【Are you sure this wasn’t drawn by a child?】

【I swear, anyone who follows this map will get lost within minutes.】

【No wonder you haven’t managed to take down the bandits yet.】

【Two years of reconnaissance for this? I feel bad admitting I can’t make sense of it. It’d be an insult to your men’s hard work.】

Kan Chaoyan and Captain Liu: “…”

Yes, the map was crude, but reconnaissance in the mountains was dangerous. The fact that they even had an outline was already impressive.

Kan Chaoyan cleared his throat and pointed to a spot on the map. “We’ll…”

【There’s a trap here. If you attack from this route, you’ll fall into it, and the bandits will immediately know we’re coming.】

Everyone fell silent.

Kan Chaoyan swallowed the words he’d been about to say and changed course. “We’ll send ten men to feign an attack here, then…”

He pointed to another area.

【That’s one of the bandits’ sub-camps. If you strike there, it’ll be a bloody fight. You’ll lose at least a hundred men.】

【Sigh, this map is too crude. Even if I tell them where the traps are, they won’t know which spot I’m talking about.】

Kan Chaoyan exchanged a look with Captain Liu.

Captain Liu caught on and asked, “Mu Nanjin, you keep frowning. Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m not…” Mu Nanjin paused, then changed her words. “Actually, I’m not feeling great. I need to… relieve myself.”

Captain Liu sighed. “Mu Nanjin, you’re a lady. You could be a little more tactful when saying that.”

【‘Relieve myself’ isn’t tactful enough? What more do you want?】

Mu Nanjin nodded solemnly. “I’ll go do… that.”

【‘That’ should be tactful enough, right? Though ‘that’ could mean so many things. Do you even know what I mean?】

【Next time we eat, I’ll just say I want ‘that’. Let’s see if you understand me then.】

Captain Liu waved helplessly. “Fine, fine. Go.”

Mu Nanjin left.

The others couldn’t hold back their laughter anymore.

Kan Chaoyan shook his head with a wry smile. “That little girl…”

Captain Liu sighed. “She’s going to drive us to an early grave someday.”

“If we couldn’t hear what’s in here,” Kan Chaoyan said, tapping his chest, “she’d actually make a very obedient subordinate.”

Captain Liu: “…”

True enough.

She rarely contradicted anyone out loud; her thoughts were another matter.

“What now? Her information doesn’t match our reports, so our original plan won’t work.”

Kan Chaoyan smiled. “Once that little girl comes back, she’ll probably bring us a surprise.”

Captain Liu’s mouth twitched. “You don’t think she went to fight the bandits by herself, do you?”

Kan Chaoyan’s face froze. “She wouldn’t… right?”

“With her, you never know. If we couldn’t hear what’s in her head,” Captain Liu said, pointing at his chest again, “we’d never know what she’s up to.”

Kan Chaoyan had no rebuttal.

Still, she’d promised him she wouldn’t do anything reckless. She usually kept her word on that.

About an hour later, Mu Nanjin returned.

Captain Liu frowned. “What took you so long?”

Mu Nanjin handed him a folded piece of paper.

“What’s this?”

He unfolded it and froze. It was a new map of Canglong Mountain, drawn with astonishing detail. Every path, fork, and landmark was precisely recorded, even the bandit hideouts marked clearly.

“Where did you get this map?”

【Of course, I drew it myself.】

Captain Liu: “…”

How could she possibly draw something this detailed in just one hour?

Then again, nothing was impossible for Mu Nanjin.

“I got it from the bandits,” she said smoothly.

Kan Chaoyan played along. “The bandits gave it to you? Why would they do that?”

“I beat them until they did.”

“And the bandit you beat?”

“I tied him up and hid him.”

“…”

Kan Chaoyan turned to Captain Liu. “What do you think? Is it genuine?”

Captain Liu studied it for a while. “Looks real. We could send someone to scout a path to verify.”

“Good idea.” Kan Chaoyan folded the map. “I’ll scout it tonight.”

Whether he really would or not, only he knew.