Inside his room, Lin Xuan Qi was unaware of what was going on.
He focused on practicing the Cloud-Stride Step.
The steps were positioned in such a way that allowed him to switch his position and dodge attacks on him easily.
Thud.
Over and over again, he went through the steps.
His understanding of the Cloud-Stride Step also became clearer at the same time.
An effect from the system's reward of accelerated learning.
Finally, he felt exhausted and stopped.
His muscles ached from the training, so he stretched out his hands and gave out a groan.
Xue Cong's heart pounded when she heard him.
Her face blushed even more.
She quickly turned around and ran back to the servant quarters.
As she ran, many thoughts went through her mind.
Was that what her mother warned her about young masters?
She sighed and shook her head.
Should she tell Lin Xuan Qi that it would harm his health and was best not to overdo it? Or maybe he needed to find a wife?
"No. Master Lin isn't like one of those young masters." She slapped her hands onto both sides of her cheeks and said firmly to herself.
Lin Xuan Qi had been treating her fairly and it must have been a misunderstanding.
She stormed into her room, picked up the tea pot, and drank a few mouthfuls of the tea to calm herself down.
After that she lay on her bed with many thoughts going through her mind.
She was curious about matters between men and women.
How does it feel to hold hands with a man?
What about a kiss?
And how it feels to have...
So many questions but she had no answers.
Xue Cong flipped on her bed from side to side.
It took her a long time before she went to sleep.
...
Next morning.
Xue Cong woke up feeling terrible as she didn't have much rest the night before.
Her eyelids shuttered, struggling to stay open as she prepared breakfast.
Yawn.
She couldn't help it anymore and she put down her cleaver and gave out a loud yawn.
Yue Jie and Yue Xin who were helping her in the kitchen weren't sure what happened to her.
Xue Cong had always been energetic.
It was the first time they saw her exhausted like this.
"Sister Xue Cong, maybe it's better that you go have some rest?
"Me and my sister can handle it." Yue Jie said with a concerned look.
"I'm fine. It's just that... Never mind." Xue Cong quickly stopped herself.
Finally, they finished preparing breakfast and took the dishes to the dining hall.
Lin Xuan Qi was already up for the day.
He had wanted to make sure the delivery of the rice went smoothly.
Lee He Song was also already awake with him.
"Master Lee, have some more. It might be a long day for you." Lin Xuan Qi said and offered the plate of meat in front of him to Lee He Song.
"Don't worry, Master Lin.
"Old man here has seen them all.
"From men slaughtering each other in the battlefield, to skirmishes among different gangs, you name it, I've lived through it."
Lee He Song said with confidence.
"That's good to hear. But I do hope you put yourself before the rice." Lin Xuan Qi said.
The rice came from the system, if it was gone, he just needed to wait for another day for more.
But if Lee He Song was hurt, his martial arts training might be stopped.
Lee He Song nodded and glanced over at Yue Jie and Yue Xin.
He was feeling lucky for them that it was Lin Xuan Qi that bought them as servant girls.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Xue Cong who was looking different.
She had dark eye rings around her eyes.
Lee He Song saw that she was looking weirdly at Lin Xuan Qi as she ate.
Unknown to him, Xue Cong was mumbling to herself about how Lin Xuan Qi made her sleepless and yet Lin Xuan Qi seemed to be unaffected.
Not even a little bit.
"Do I have something on my face?" Lin Xuan Qi asked Xue Cong when he noticed her gaze.
He went on and said, "You look tired. Let Yue Jie and Yue Xin help you if you need to take a break."
"I'm fine, Master Lin." Xue Cong replied.
She felt better now that he showed his concern for her.
"Master Lin."
A voice boomed from behind the wooden gates.
It was the men from Hun Xiong Kun.
Lin Xuan Qi quickly took a last bite of his food and stood up.
Lee He Song followed behind him.
"The rice is in the same place as yesterday."
When Lee He Song heard this, he pondered where the rice had come from.
No one else had come to the mansion.
For someone like him, who had witnessed many strange happenings in this land, he knew it was best to keep quiet about it.
It was no surprise to Lee He Song that Lin Xuan Qi, who could own such a large mansion, might have backing from a powerful sect far away, possibly with some kind of teleportation artifact.
After opening the wooden gates, Lin Xuan Qi instructed Hun Xiong Kun's men to carry the rice from the warehouse.
The men did so in a short time, loading the bags of rice onto a pushcart.
Before they left, Lin Xuan Qi stopped them.
"Master Lee here will escort you to the rice shop."
"Thank you so much, Master Lin."
The men from Hun Xiong Kun nodded and bowed at Lee He Song.
They left pushing the pushcart with Lee He Song following beside them.
Lin Xuan Qi stayed in the mansion just in case the rice merchants tried to do something funny with the mansion.
He was undefeatable inside the mansion and so, he wasn't worried if they came for him in the mansion.
...
Lee He Song crossed his arms scanning the surroundings as they walked in the direction of the Chang Fu Rice Shop.
They were close to the junction leading to the busier section of the streets when he saw a few figures dart out from the side of the street.
These men wore black cloths and had a cloth wrapped over their face, revealing only their eyes.
"Who are you? How dare you do this in the city? Is there no Da Qian Law in your eyes?"
The few masked men didn't say a thing.
They glanced at each other, nodded their heads and drew out a dagger.