Li Qiuchen returned to his small spot on the floor, located to the right of Ruby.
Everyone else was already fast asleep.
Wright and Kairui had settled the order for the night watch shift; it was originally the responsibility of Wright and Kemal, but since Kemal was injured, it had to be handed over to Kairui.
Li Qiuchen was very satisfied with his student’s growth, whether it was his preparation before the battle or his steady defense of the back door during the fighting.
After the battle, he had proactively helped Naili clean the wounds of the injured, acting nothing like an idle young master from a wealthy family.
Or perhaps before this, he had only been frustrated because Huo En had forced him to stay in the Castle, leaving his heart in turmoil.
Li Qiuchen thought of the Magic Corruption in the boy’s body, and his head began to ache again.
He might truly need to find that freakish older brother of his to ask what should be done.
That man also had Magic Corruption within him, yet he had always remained clear-headed, and instead spent his time exterminating Magical Beasts.
‘He will definitely have a good solution.’
At this thought, Li Qiuchen felt relieved.
The carriage would find a way when it reached the mountain; even if he couldn’t contact him right now, having such an example proved that the problem of Magic Infection was not unsolvable.
Just as Li Qiuchen was preparing to carve the Inscription Patterns for the Fool’s Food and then go to sleep, Jocelyn sat up and asked,
“Did you really peek at her while she was bathing?”
“That’s nonsense. Doesn’t the young lady just enjoy acting like that?”
Li Qiuchen said with a frown.
“Hmph, I thought you liked that type.”
Jocelyn rolled over and went back to sleep.
When Li Qiuchen lay down, he noticed Ruby, who was half-wrapped in her blanket, secretly watching him with her eyes open.
The moment Li Qiuchen made eye contact with her, she immediately turned over to face the other way.
The Lamb-person was clearly a bit worried.
‘It’s over! I’ve really been misunderstood as some kind of creep.’
“Hey! Did you think you could run away?”
Aili ran over furiously, with Kaili chasing behind her.
The several people who had been sleeping could no longer pretend.
Except for Ruby, the young beastmen all climbed up one by one, their eyes wide as they watched the scene.
Jocelyn sat up straight with great interest.
Kairui turned slightly, tilting his ear toward Li Qiuchen’s direction.
Kemal and Naili were polite enough to remain still.
Uncle Wright, who was on watch at the door, leaned against the doorframe and actually turned his head to watch with interest as well.
“I wasn’t trying to run.”
Li Qiuchen gave a very reliable smile and began to soothe the enraged hedgehog.
“The truth is, I only went to find Kaili to chat. You misunderstood my actions, and since you are still in an agitated emotional state, I left briefly in hopes that you could calm down.”
“You think I’ll believe your lies? You…”
Aili was still fuming.
“Of course, it is normal not to be calm. After all, a misunderstanding like this cannot be easily resolved. Just imagine, everyone—when such a beautiful girl just finishes bathing and encounters a man upon leaving her bath, it would be a strange thing if she didn’t have suspicions.”
Li Qiuchen spoke loudly, as if he were defending her.
Speaking from the other person’s perspective to advocate for them was the best way to dissolve hostility.
“What… what are you saying?”
Aili’s anger immediately subsided significantly.
“Of course, as far as I am concerned, that beauty is worth admiring. However, everyone, I did nothing. Lady Kaili is, as everyone knows, an upright and kind Demon Hunter. May I ask, if I were a villain intending to do something improper, would Lady Kaili’s sword not have been at my neck instantly?”
Seeing that the opposing debater had no response, Li Qiuchen continued to press his advantage.
“I committed no such act, yet I must bear that brand of guilt. Is that not a tragedy?”
Li Qiuchen knew from their previous interactions that a young lady like Aili hated being treated like a child more than anything.
Therefore, the simplest way to smooth her feathers was to give her absolute respect.
Li Qiuchen continued,
“Miss Aili suffered no loss, yet she is angry and sad over something that doesn’t exist. Isn’t that a pity?”
“A pity for what?”
Aili lay back down in the blankets to Li Qiuchen’s right, which was originally Kaili’s spot.
She was no longer obsessed with clinging to the other person’s mistake.
Li Qiuchen said with a look of grief, “Both anger and sadness will damage your beauty.”
Perfect.
Li Qiuchen inwardly cheered for himself.
If it weren’t for the need to walk the Seal Demon Path and find a Key Node to go home, he might have become an excellent Bard.
“Hmph, what a tuneless, glib-tongued scoundrel.”
Aili let out a cold snort from inside her blankets.
From a distance came the sound of Wright clapping.
“Qiuchen, if I ever get dragged to the City-State Court for trial, I must have you defend me.”
“Me too,” Kemal, who had been pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke up as well.
“I was just stating the facts,”
Li Qiuchen could only reply stiffly.
He couldn’t afford to be careless at this moment; one slip of the tongue and the hedgehog beside him would attack immediately.
Hearing Li Qiuchen’s response, the hedgehog beside him rolled over, her back toward him, without raising her quills.
“Brother Qiuchen, will you marry Sister Aili in the future?”
The ox-horned boy asked with wide eyes.
“Go to sleep!”
Ruby reached out a white arm from her blanket, grabbed the boy’s horn, and pressed his head heavily into the pillow before quickly retracting her arm.
Li Qiuchen sighed and prepared to sleep, but a large shadow loomed over him.
The blonde Valkyrie looked down at him with a smile.
“Kaili, what’s wrong?”
Li Qiuchen asked timidly, feeling a bit like he had a case of PTSD.
“I have something I want to tell you. Plus, you were looking for me earlier, so you must have something to discuss too, right?”
Kaili crouched down and spoke to him in a low voice.
“Yes.”
Li Qiuchen nodded.
The two of them felt a hint of awkwardness, as if they had only just met.
“You go first?”
The two of them spoke at the same time with surprising synchronicity.
“I’ll go first then. I’m actually not a Demon Hunter. You probably realized that a long time ago, right?”
Kaili said first.
Li Qiuchen nodded.
He couldn’t say it was because of the look in her eyes, so he swapped to a more common observation.
“Actually, ever since you arrived, I felt you didn’t look like a Demon Hunter.”
“Why?”
“Even though you carry many weapons, you don’t have the typical trunk used by Demon Hunters—the kind that should be lined with straw and filled with various bottles and jars of magic potions and alchemical drafts,” Li Qiuchen replied.
“I actually did prepare one. But those potions were used up very quickly, and since I couldn’t find a City-State to restock for a long time, I threw it away. A real Demon Hunter probably would have kept it with them,” Kaili said, nodding as if she were marking down her flaw so she could improve next time.
Li Qiuchen continued, “So, what is your true identity?”
“I am one of the candidate Valkyries of the Temple of the God of War,”
Kaili said softly.
She wasn’t showing off; she simply felt it was necessary to tell the man in front of her and didn’t want to deceive him anymore.
“Oh. So you are currently undergoing a trial?”
Li Qiuchen put on an expression of realization: three parts shock, five parts surprise, and a few parts of pure joy.
It was a well-coordinated performance.
Kaili nodded.
“What was it you wanted to see me about?”
“It’s about the young beastmen. They…”
Li Qiuchen explained the situation of the beastmen.
Kaili knitted her brows.
“We cannot actually interfere directly in secular matters; after all, there is still the City-State Court. However, you can rest easy. With me here, they will receive fair treatment. Even if they cannot become free citizens, they won’t fall to the level of slaves.”
Li Qiuchen smiled and expressed his gratitude.
Looking at the smile on the youth’s face, Kaili felt a sense of pleasure and stood up briskly.
Li Qiuchen finished carving the Magic Array for the Fool’s Food and prepared to sleep, unaware that a figure had long been crouching outside the marsh.
That youth had sensed the defensive Magic Array Li Qiuchen had set up, so he was clever enough not to launch an immediate attack.
Instead, he changed his approach.
He also knew a spell called Dream Intrusion Magic, which he had learned by chance from a Goblin Magician he once encountered.
As long as he was within a certain distance, he could enter the other person’s dream.
The price of this magic was not small, but he was more than happy to use it once.
He blamed this on his boundless curiosity.
Of course, it was this very curiosity that had brought him to his current position and would continue to support him toward his ultimate goal.
He really wanted to know what kind of person this black-haired fellow from Blackwater Town was, and whether Kellman had truly died by his hands.
He only needed to wait for the person inside to fall asleep, cast the spell, and enter his dream.
Then, success would be his.
The thought of meeting this “friend” in a dream shortly would surely give him quite a shock.
He was truly looking forward to it.