It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"It's okay, Master. It's just a minor injury. It will heal soon."

I carefully examined her injuries and found that they were not too serious, so I said:

"You're already injured, but you still want to sleep with me. Aren't you afraid that I might turn over at night and press on your wound?"

Alayya smiled softly and said:

"I don't know where the assassin has gone... As for me, I can only feel safe when I am with the young master."

I know that when she said "peace of mind", it was not because I could protect her, nor because she could protect me. It was simply because if the assassin really attacked me, she would be able to do her best to protect me, be loyal to me, die before me, and use her life to create a chance for me to escape.

I ruffled her hair, got up, put on my clothes and said:

"If you're injured, take a good rest. I'll go make you breakfast. I made lean meat porridge this morning, and I haven't had it in a while."

Alaiya turned her head, looked at me, and suddenly asked softly:

"Master, is there any way to become stronger quickly? No matter what the cost... it doesn't matter."

25. One bowl of porridge and one meal

"Get stronger quickly."

I scratched my head and said:

"There is no such solution."

Actually, there is. But everything has a price. Others have spent years or even decades climbing up the mountain, but you can take the cable car directly to the top of the mountain. The price is that you have to pay for the cable car. And after reaching the top of the mountain, you will find that those who climbed up step by step with their own feet have become stronger mentally and physically. This is the price of taking shortcuts.

In the way of kendo, it is not forbidden to take unorthodox paths, but most of them are accompanied by terrible prices.

I didn't want Alayya to pay such a high price, so I comforted her and said:

"How about you tell me what happened yesterday?"

Alaiya told me everything that happened last night. However, from her perspective, the assassin's every move was obviously more bizarre. My perspective was that of a bystander, while hers was the kind of despair of "trying her best but still not being able to touch the corner of the opponent's clothes".

After Alayya finished speaking, a hint of disappointment appeared on her face for the first time.

She had sat up and leaned against the head of the bed. Her eyebrows were drooping, her lips were tightly pressed together, her hands unconsciously clenched the sheets, she lowered her head and dared not look at me, she just said:

"Master. It's Alayya who is useless. You have been teaching me so patiently over the years, but I am still only at the current level..."

I hugged her lovingly, patted her on the back, and said:

"It's okay. If I have to say sorry, it's me who's sorry to you. Other children grew up eating high calcium tablets, but you've been suffering with me since you were young. Every night I curse myself for being such a bad person. I made a good little girl's breasts starve to death."

Alayya shuddered, and the expression on her face instantly changed from frustrated to expressionless.

Here it comes! Alayya’s signature expressionless face.

An expressionless face used to conceal all emotions such as anger, dissatisfaction, helplessness, sadness, etc., an omnipotent expressionless face!

I smiled and changed the subject. I sat in front of Alayya, took her hand, and said:

"But from what you described, the assassin must have been injured by you and Heji's combined attack and had to retreat."

Alayya looked up in surprise and asked:

"really?"

I nodded and said in a certain and affirmative tone:

"Of course it's true. Think about it, she knocked out the three of you and had plenty of time to burn the food before leaving, so why did she just leave without saying a word? This means that she was already at the end of her strength and knew that if she stayed here any longer, she would not be able to leave if someone came, so she had to retreat in a hurry. This means that the two of you teamed up and definitely injured her severely, but she was just holding on and not showing it."

Alaiya's brows relaxed, a look of joy appeared on her face, and she said softly:

"That means, the next time that assassin comes, if I can become stronger, maybe I can have a chance to defeat her?"

I encouraged:

"Of course there is a chance."

Alaiya breathed a sigh of relief, lifted the quilt, and said:

"Then I have to hurry up and train."

I quickly pushed her back, wrapped her in the quilt, and said:

"It doesn't matter if you take a break. I'll go make breakfast first."

I got dressed and walked out of the room, just in time to see Bai Huang and He Ji eating in the restaurant. Bai Huang yawned, and when he saw me, he said indignantly:

"Oh! Good boy, my aunt went through life and death at night, and you just ran away like that! This is too disloyal!"

I said with a smile:

"Yes, yes, this time I'm relying on Sister Huang for help. I've heard from Alayya that if it weren't for your good management, the food and grass would have really been burned. You are my second parent, the people's hero of Yuxi City. Today I will go to the door of the granary and hang a banner for you to sing your praises."

Bai Huang was easily flattered. His nose immediately turned up to the sky as soon as he was praised. He said proudly:

"Hehe! I'm glad to know. But it's not that exaggerated. But you, what are you going to do now?"

I pointed to the kitchen:

"Make breakfast."

Bai Huang waved to me and said:

"Don't worry. Last night, I was careless and let the assassin escape. We'd better discuss our future countermeasures."

I sat down next to Bai Huang and used the same reasoning to fool Alaiya to fool Bai Huang and Heji again. Bai Huang believed it easily, or rather, she was very satisfied with the result. With the command and dispatch of the wise Lord Bai Huang, the two great swordsmen of Yuxi City, Heji and Alaiya, joined forces to severely damage the foreign assassins. Everyone liked this scenario. But Heji was not so easy to fool. He hesitated for a moment and said:

"The last time I struck out with my sword, the assassin did run into my sword energy. But I didn't see any signs of serious injury on her..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish his words, Bai Huang folded his arms and said confidently:

"Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. The assassin is good at hiding herself, so she naturally wouldn't let us see that she was injured. There is no other explanation besides this, right?"

Hegi thought for a while and nodded, agreeing to the result.

I breathed a sigh of relief and got up to cook porridge.

When I came out, I was carrying two bowls of lean meat porridge, one for Alayya and one for me. As soon as I came out, I met the robber Bai Huang. She asked which bowl was mine, and after getting the answer, she said, "Let me try it," and then drank half of the bowl in one breath, patted my shoulder, and said:

"Not bad! I didn't know you could cook."

I rolled my eyes at her and continued walking towards the bedroom with the meal in hand. I happened to see Fileta rubbing her eyes as she came out of the library. She looked at me, sniffed the fragrance in the air, and her stomach suddenly started to growl.

So when I returned to Alayya's bedroom, there was only a bowl of porridge left on the tray.

Fortunately, I could take the opportunity to feed Alayya porridge and secretly drink a few sips myself.

After blowing a spoonful of porridge to cool it down and feeding it to Alaya, I prepared to wash the dishes. When I passed by the restaurant, I found Fileta lying on the ground, licking the porridge in the bowl. She looked intoxicated, breathing heavily, and her hands were pressed under her body. I didn't know what she was busy with.

...Just pretend you didn’t see it.

After washing the dishes, I dried my hands and returned to Alayya's bedroom.

She was already dressed, and although her right hand was still bandaged, she still looked as heroic as usual.

I saw her hanging the sword at her waist, so I asked:

"Go out and practice swordplay?"

Alayya nodded.

I smiled and said:

"You can put it aside for today. Don't you want to become stronger? Although I don't really have a way to improve your realm in a short period of time, I can teach you a few more unique skills."

Alayya asked curiously:

"Is it a new sword technique?"

I shook my head, deliberately keeping it a secret, and answered:

"No. It's something else."

26. No need for useless kindness

I brought Alayya outside the city.

The damp and cold air entered my lungs, and my drowsy mind suddenly became much clearer.

Sitting on a rock by a creek outside the city, I spoke to Alaiya:

"No matter what kind of martial arts, it is very common for those with higher realms to beat those with lower realms. Realm is a unified standard of measurement. In the sword art, everyone learns different sword techniques, practices different sword skills, and has different understandings of sword art. The great swordsman in the capital practices Zen sword, Heji practices gentleman sword, and you practice the sword of killing. So which sword art is the best? Before the fight, no one has a definite conclusion. But the realm of cultivation is real. No matter what sword art you practice, a higher realm means higher strength. You who are at the fifth level of sword art cannot beat Heji who is at the sixth level of sword art. It can be said that realm is a general rating of all your abilities."

I paused and continued:

"However, who is stronger and who is weaker in the same realm depends on their own abilities. Back then, Heji suppressed his strength to the fifth level of swordsmanship, but he was almost killed by your sword. This shows that when you are at the same realm, your strength is stronger than his. Have you ever thought about why you are stronger? Because your swordsmanship is sharp, because your positioning is erratic, because you have a solid foundation, because you know more, and because I, who taught you swordsmanship, am stronger than the one who taught him swordsmanship. It's that simple."

Alayya nodded in agreement.

Although if Bai Huang or He Yue were here they would definitely complain that I was "really good at flattering myself", but Alayya would not say that.

She has always believed in me unconditionally.

I continued:

"Then, I think we can calm down. That assassin is very strong, stronger than we thought. So it's hard for you to defeat her alone. So what you have to do is to make as much contribution as possible when you join forces with Heji next time. Delay her for a longer time and give Heji more opportunities. Don't think this is useless. If you want to become stronger, you must first face up to your own shortcomings."

Alaia said seriously:

"I know, Master. It's just..."

She hesitated and said:

"If the young master and Miss Bai Huang were in danger at the same time, He Ji would probably save Miss Bai Huang first."

Although she said it politely, I understood her.

After all, Bai Huang is from Yunhai, not from Yuxicheng.

After all, Heji is Bai Huang's guard, not mine.

I touched Alayya's head and said with a smile:

"It doesn't matter. There is only one assassin. As long as Bai Huang and I don't stay too far apart, when the assassin attacks, you just need to work together to repel her. There is no question of protecting me or Bai Huang. If you can drive the assassin away, Bai Huang and I will be safe."

Alayya lowered her eyes, did not refute, and listened carefully.

I said:

"I remember when you described it to me, you said that the assassin used hidden weapons to extinguish most of the torches, and then sneaked in the dark and defeated you one by one. Is that true?"

Alaiya's face turned pale. Recalling the scene of last night, she seemed to still be in the shadow. She clenched her hands together, exhaled a breath of hot air, and said:

"Yes, Master. In that instant, all the light around us disappeared. The assassin's figure disappeared, and his aura could no longer be felt. Miss Bai Huang fell first. He Ji struggled for a while, but was still defeated by the assassin. I stood alone in the darkness, as if... I was about to be swallowed by the darkness."

I asked:

"Have you ever thought about how Fang Shisan has been able to survive these years?"

Alayya was stunned for a moment.

I pointed to my ears:

"Sound. Fang Shisan can even tell who is coming from the footsteps. Because she can't see, she is more sensitive to sound. You and He Ji are both trapped in a vicious circle. Practicing swords and pursuing kendo are not bad things. But just like this time, if the opponent doesn't confront you head-on, you can't use your kendo skills. Why did I teach you the sword method of killing people? Because it is the most practical sword method, without any fancy things. Similarly, today I teach you the assassin's way of identifying positions by sound, and I also hope that you can learn from it. It's not to let you give up kendo and learn assassination, but to make use of these things for your own benefit."

Alaia said seriously:

"I understand, Master."

I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and covered Alaya's eyes. After making sure she couldn't see, I picked up a stone from the ground and said to Alaya:

"Cut the stone in half before it hits the ground."

Alayya nodded.

I threw the stone away casually, and Alayya's sword was as fast as the wind, but it hit nothing. The direction of her sword swing was basically accurate, but it was obvious that she could only detect it when the stone was close to her, and it was too late to swing the sword. I threw the stone from time to time, just like when the difference in strength between two people playing table tennis is too big, the stronger one deliberately hits the ball alternately to the left and right half of the table, watching the other person running back and forth.

Alayya kept running without being seen, and several times she was tripped by rocks on the ground and fell to the ground in a mess. The wounds that had not healed completely began to break and bleed. Alayya stood up, enduring the pain, and was hit on the head by a stone again, leaving a cut on the corner of her forehead. Another time, I threw her somewhere close to the river, and Alayya missed a step and fell into the river. The blood from the wound on her right arm spread in the river. She was choked and coughed continuously, her tears mixed with the river water, and her golden hair stuck to her face. She was as embarrassed as she could be.

I watched her climb back to shore. Alayya was soaking wet and shivering in the cold wind. She took a deep breath of fresh air and wrung the water out of her clothes with her hands.

Seeing that she had almost dealt with the problem, I picked up a stone and threw it out, and the stone fell at her feet.

Alayya trembled and tightened her grip on the sword.

Training continues.

As a fifth-level swordsman, her physical fitness was still acceptable, so she wouldn't be out of breath after such a small amount of exercise. But as the number of times the stone fell into the air increased, Alayya gritted her teeth, obviously looking unwilling to give up.