On a grassy area by the road, there were more than a dozen large carts full of goods. This was the school's caravan heading to Suero again. Also traveling along were Serinda, who had recovered from her illness, and members of the foreign affairs team who were going to negotiate with Count Carlos. People gathered in groups of three or four to eat lunch, while Chen Hansheng and Shi Hao took the time to check the ropes used to tie up the goods.
"Shi Tou, it's right to listen to me. A real man should still go out into the world. What can a good man like you achieve if you stay in school?" Chen Hansheng tucked in a piece of rainproof cloth and spoke intermittently.
Shi Hao didn't answer, but tightened a rope, tied a knot tightly, and secured the loose cargo on the cart.
"Are you thinking about Du Mei again?" Chen Hansheng didn't know why, but he seemed to be asking about something irrelevant. "Du Mei is gone, just like my family. There's nothing to think about in the past. Sometimes I think that those dead people may have returned to their original world. Haven't you ever thought about this? Are we all in a dream that we can't wake up from? Maybe Du Mei woke up first."
"Old Chen, you really don't know how to comfort people. What bullshit you say." Shi Hao patted the tied goods to make sure they were not loose. "Don't talk nonsense, I understand. The more I look at this world, the more fucked it is."
"What's this? Aren't you living a good life now?"
"I don't think it's good at all. Apart from anything else, I can't eat what I want to eat, use what I want to use, and see what I want to see."
"Hey. That's because you lack comparison. Once you compare, you will know what is good and what is bad. Let me tell you a secret." Chen Hansheng lowered his voice, "I was in prison back then..."
"Go in? Go to the police station?"
Chen Hansheng nodded mysteriously.
"After all this time, you are a prisoner?" Shi Hao perked up now.
"What's wrong with being a prisoner? I was wronged. I took the blame for someone else, understand?" Chen Hansheng saw the man's disbelief and scolded him, "If you don't believe me, forget it, but I figured out one thing while I was in there. No matter how dark and miserable a place is, there are always people who live a decent life."
"I only worked for two weeks and achieved this." Chen Hansheng gave a thumbs up.
"What is this?"
"I have the final say in our cell!"
"So you were a prison boss?" Shi Hao pretended to be surprised and pointed at Chen Hansheng.
"Go to hell, do you know how to talk? I'm actively helping my fellow inmates solve their problems and help them complete their reform as soon as possible!" Chen Hansheng slapped the other's hand away and said, "Anyway, you are free now, and you have such a group. It's much better than that life. As long as you have a goal, life will have a purpose."
"I have a goal! Since that night, I have had a goal." Shi Hao suddenly said to Chen Hansheng seriously, "I want to become stronger, stronger than a scum like Kadis. I swore to Du Mei who was lying there that I must, must become stronger."
Shi Hao noticed that Chen Hansheng was not moved by his oath, but frowned slightly. He asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with this? Can't I make becoming stronger my goal?"
"Nothing is wrong. I'm just afraid that you're too tense... You see, my goal is much simpler." Chen Hansheng pursed his lips. Shi Hao looked over there and saw that Kalanda and Serinda were practicing swordsmanship in an open space. The two of them were agile, their moves were exquisite, and they exuded a sense of beauty of strength. —————————
"You don't look like a mercenary." Serinda attacked with two swords, but was easily avoided by Kalanda, who then thrust forward with a huge two-handed sword, forcing Serinda back two steps.
"I have been a mercenary for a long time. Sometimes what you are doing now will make you feel like you have been doing it for a lifetime." After gaining the upper hand, Kalanda did not continue to attack, but took a step back and made a gesture to try again.
"Your two-handed sword skills are very advanced, which is not something you can see everywhere. None of the knights under my father have such an inheritance. You have an extraordinary teacher." Serinda made a starting move but did not continue. It seemed that guessing Kalanda's identity was more interesting than practicing sword skills.
"No matter how advanced the skills are, they are all created by humans. What you see may just be some of my experiences." Karanda replied.
Serinda did not continue to argue about this topic, but praised, "I like what you said. There is a kind of confidence in it, which makes us look very similar. I have believed since I was a child that as long as someone has done something, I can definitely do it. Maybe I have to fail once, maybe I have to fail a hundred times, but what's the point of a day without even failure? Some cowards will just wait there, not knowing that opportunities have slipped away one after another."
"You seem to be referring to something?" asked Karanda.
“Haven’t you seen those useless guys? They have the ability to accomplish something, but they are not as brave as us women?” Serinda sheathed her sword, seeming to have lost interest in fighting again.
Kalanda also put away his two-handed giant sword and put it into the scabbard behind his back. "Have you seen the strange wolf in the Black Mountain Forest?"
"A creepy wolf? I have a cape made of creepy wolf fur."
"The treacherous wolf is very small, much smaller than an ordinary wolf. It usually looks like a harmless squirrel, and you might even think it's cute. But once it starts hunting and shows its fangs, it's more ferocious than a big wolf. It's very fast and can bite the throat of its prey in an instant, then use its poisonous teeth to make the prey faint. I've even heard that a treacherous wolf has killed a leopard."
"You mean, some people..."
"I'm a mercenary. I've met many people, and I've gradually learned not to jump to conclusions. There are always some secrets that I don't know. There are always some people that I can't see through."
Serinda nodded and smiled slyly: "I understand. Thank you for your reminder. In fact, it's your attitude that makes me think you are not a mercenary. Other mercenaries would not talk to me like this."
"Look." Facing Kalanda's puzzled look, Serinda waved to a mercenary at random, and the mercenary ran over cautiously, smiling flatteringly, "Miss Serinda, what do you want?"
"Go, get me a few buckets of water." The mercenary nodded quickly and agreed to do it.
"Although I am a mercenary, I have fighting spirit after all. You can't expect a warrior with fighting spirit to give you bath water." Kalanda said with a frown.
"This is a habit, a brand. Even if the mercenary becomes as powerful as you, he will still be cautious in front of us noble knights. Maybe some people will become domineering and arrogant, but that is just another manifestation of inferiority. I have seen many such people. Humiliation has been engraved in their hearts and it is difficult to get rid of it. But you are not like that."
Serinda walked to the side of Karanda and hammered her breastplate with her hand. "Ever since you and I dueled and said those words, I found that you are very powerful and never feel inferior to me, just like Li Jia and the other people in that magic school. So, you should all have a lot of stories."
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Xiao Chen and Li Jia huddled in a corner of the campsite, surrounding a black cat basking in the sun on a rock.
"Look, that's it." Xiao Chen opened his hand and slowly waved it towards the black cat. The black cat, which was curled up and shaking its tail, suddenly stood up and looked at Xiao Chen with staring eyes.
"Is it possible? This cat is a treasure that Catalina picked up. Don't damage its brain." Li Jia looked at Xiao Chen unconvinced.
"It's okay! You still don't trust me?" Xiao Chen's hands rose and fell in a rhythm, and the cat began to slowly shake its head according to his rhythm.
"How many accidents have you encountered while playing magic? Wasn't the haunted dormitory building last week your masterpiece? Wasn't the flying soup spoon in the cafeteria your mistake? And that time a few days ago, you made Team Leader Chang stare blankly for a minute during the meeting, and finally he foamed at the mouth and fainted." Li Jia counted on her fingers.
"Hey, I never admitted it, but Chang Lin himself admitted that he had epilepsy. How can you blame me?" Xiao Chen smiled slightly.
"Team Leader Ren Chang has a good reputation. Why do you dislike him so much?"
"First, I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. I was having a headache for most of the day! Second, I hate people who say one thing in public and another behind their backs. When I was a reporter, I saw a lot of people like this. I could smell them from miles away."
"You make it sound like you had moral integrity when you were a reporter. Aren't you reporters all like flies? You go wherever there's stink." Li Jia curled her lips and stared at Xiao Chen's hand. That hand seemed to have a kind of gravitational force, pulling the cat's head up and down and left and right.
"You nerd, you're angry again! Morality is not something you show or talk about to others. It's fine as long as you keep it to yourself. Hi, I'm too lazy to explain it to you... Hey, it's almost done."
Xiao Chen clenched his hands into fists, and the black cat, which had been keeping its distance from strangers, suddenly shuddered, and stared at Xiao Chen blankly. After a few seconds, it meowed happily, and quickly jumped into Xiao Chen's arms, rubbing its head against his chest.
"Is this done?" Li Jia asked. He stretched out his hand and tried to touch the black cat that was being held by Xiao Chen and acting cute, but the black cat let out a sharp roar and then bit his finger.
Li Jia was so scared that she retracted her hand and stepped back, "Why did this cat suddenly get angry? Shouldn't it be bewitched by your charm? Why is it so fierce?"
Xiao Chen scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Li Jia saw the cat calling out again and again, and clapped her hands, saying, "Oh, I see! I destroyed your world of two. It's jealous."
"Stop talking nonsense. Do you want to learn?" Xiao Chen put the cat on the ground and waved his hands to chase it away a few times, but the cat refused to leave and instead rubbed against his trouser leg.
"Of course, of course! Teach me this magic quickly. I have already figured out how to use it!" Li Jiale said.
"Then let's go. Ouch!" Xiao Chen suddenly scratched his back, "I was bitten by something. Ouch, again."
Li Jia watched Xiao Chen frantically slapping himself.
"This is... Could it be that the lice on the cat have fallen in love with you too?" Li Jia slapped his head and seemed to have figured out the key point. At this time, Xiao Chen and the cat had already rushed to the stream in the forest and disappeared.