"Quick! There's a pheasant behind the bushes." Serinda hid behind a tree and reminded Li Jia softly, "Try the wind blade technique again."
Li Jia was already very familiar with this magic. He opened his right hand, and a faint blue light appeared from his palm. With a wave of his hand, a wind blade that was almost invisible to the naked eye flew towards the pheasant that was peeking out.
There was a slight explosion, and countless cut grass leaves burst out from the bushes, and a ball of blood spurted out. Li Jia walked over and saw that the pheasant had fallen in the bushes, its head and body separated.
"Your Ice Cone Technique is more suitable for hunting. The prey has been left in a mess when Wind Blade was used." Li Jia said a little depressed. He had been learning the Ice Cone Technique for a long time, but he still couldn't get the hang of it.
"Eagles can't swim, and cheetahs can't fly. No one can learn all the magic. Just find the area you are good at." Serinda followed and handed the branch in her hand to Li Jia, asking him to tie the pheasant on it. "If I can learn a few more magic, I will become a magician."
Li Jia asked curiously, "How many magics do you need to learn to be called a magician? Am I considered one now?"
"Of course not. You haven't been able to concentrate yet, so the speed and power of your magic are limited. Only when you can concentrate successfully can you be called a magician. Now you are just a magic apprentice. As for me, although I have concentrated my mind, my mental strength is not strong enough. Using magic to assist sword skills is my reliance, so I would rather be called a magic knight." Serinda smiled, "However, according to your skills... you should work hard to be a good magician.
"Magic is really hard to learn... So far, I have only learned Wind Blade and Swiftness from you, and Xiao Chen taught me a magic."
"Don't be impatient. There's an old saying in Montenegro: the wild boar that rushes ahead falls into the pit first."
"I just thought that if I want to face your father, it's better to have an identity that I can show off." Li Jia lowered her head, a little embarrassed, "Otherwise, I'm afraid he will have an opinion."
"Opinion? What about your courage? You didn't seem that nervous when you met Viscount Ruiz."
"How can this be the same thing? That's business..."
"Why, your visit to the Count becomes a private matter?"
"Selinda, you are asking this even though you already know the answer. Your father is an important person to me."
"Important?" Serinda shook her head in disdain. "He is just a mediocre man with the title of earl. I never need his permission to do anything. Why am I starting to not understand what you are saying?"
"You... know, you know what I mean."
"Haha, your feelings... I can't see or touch them, so how can I know? Feelings are harder to figure out than magic runes." Serinda looked at Li Jia with a half-smile, "Just like Cadiz, he told me his thoughts when he was about to die. Everything is meaningless now."
Li Jia looked at the other person nervously. Although the two had been through a lot and seemed to be quite close, there was still a layer of window paper that had never been broken.
Li Jia was afraid that if he broke through that layer of paper, what he would see behind it would not be what he expected.
Women are really hard to understand. If it was the cute country girl, Li Jia would hold her in his arms and tell her his heart. If it was the majestic and solemn magic knight, Li Jia would only dare to keep a distance and talk to her. What is her true face like? Different images of Serinda flashed in front of Li Jia, and finally overlapped with the female hunter in front of him.
Li Jia wanted to read the other person's expression, but as he looked, he fell into panic... Serinda was so beautiful, so powerful, and so noble. The way she stared at him made his already limited self-confidence melt away instantly.
Li Jia knew that he had made the same mistake again. As always, he was timid and didn't dare to speak in front of girls. He was worried about gains and losses, and cursed his cowardice, like a mouse trying to hang a bell on a cat.
"Have you ever thought about what kind of person you want to be with for the rest of your life?" Seeing Li Jia's hesitant look, Serinda slowly put away her smile.
"Ah? No, I don't think so..." Poverty will make people lose their imagination. Li Jia's poor luck with women means he doesn't even have his dream lover. He could only answer weakly like this.
"I have thought about it. When I was a child, I always thought my father was a hero, the earl of the kingdom, the leader of the knights, and the protector of the family. But one day, I found out that he couldn't even protect my mother, then I realized that he was just a coward and a playboy. The person I love can never be like that!" Serinda walked up to Li Jia and stared into his eyes. "Li Jia, you are knowledgeable, kind, gentle, and have great potential. But the person I am looking for is not enough. He must control his own destiny. He must be a hero!"
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"Hero? Leave heroes to those epics. I just hope that person is an ordinary person who can support a family and allow me to live in peace. Maybe in a remote town or a village in the mountains. He doesn't need to be very strong or handsome, as long as I like him." At this point, Kalanda seemed a little surprised, "Sorry, Chen, I was chatting with you and unknowingly said some nonsense."
"No, no, no. This really satisfies my curiosity. I thought female mercenaries like you all hope that your partner is a heroic man who can run horses on his arms and stand people on his fists." Chen Hansheng said as he hammered down a wooden stake to fix the tent.
Karanda slapped the other stake half a foot into the ground, which made Chen Hansheng feel a little sad. She was amused by Chen Hansheng's words, "Heroes and villains often have bad endings. I have been a mercenary for many years and have seen too many such things. So I never thought of looking for such a person."
"Okay, okay. I'm happy that you think so." Chen Hansheng said happily.
Karanda asked with a puzzled smile, "What are you so happy about? What's wrong with you today? You always say weird things."
"Are you happy? Because this is the second good news I heard today."
"Second good news?"
"Well, you don't want to find a hero as your husband, so I have a chance, right?" Chen Hansheng said directly, without blushing. "As for the first good news, it's that you don't have a husband, so I don't have to go through the trouble of killing a love rival."
"You..." Kalanda's hand was frozen in the air, holding a stake. Chen Hansheng watched as a red cloud slowly floated up from her face, passing over her straight nose, floating on her plump cheeks, bypassing her flustered eyes, and finally even her forehead turned red. They were so close that he could feel the heat rising from her face, and her face soon became like a big red Fuji apple, so Chen Hansheng couldn't help but take a bite.
"Ah~" After a short scream, the decisive and ruthless Captain Kalanda used her powerful fighting spirit and flew away like a rocket.
The airflow from the fighting spirit blew Chen Hansheng to the ground. He looked around with a silly smile and found that everyone was busy except Catalina, who was looking at him from behind the tent with her mouth wide open.
"You, you, you actually kissed the captain's face! The last mercenary who wanted to kiss her hand was kicked into the river by her!" the little girl said in shock.
"I'm also prepared to be kicked, but your captain seems reluctant to do so." Chen Hansheng stood up with a smile.
"But, but... why would the captain suddenly be with you..."
"Hey! Don't you see me doing this and that with your captain every day? That's all hard work. You, just remember our old saying, 'Hard work pays off.'" Chen Hansheng said proudly.
"Hard work pays off?" Catalina felt that this statement seemed to make sense. She recited it silently and glanced at a corner of the camp unconsciously.
"By the way, I have a task for you. I have set up a small kitchen behind the camp and plan to cook a good meal for your leader. She has been tired these days. As long as you can help me trick her... Oh, please come over. I will also let you eat your fill. I have brought all the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar from my hometown. I guarantee that you will never have such delicious food in your life!"
People in this era are easily moved by food. Catalina, who was not sure what she was thinking, came to her senses, swallowed her saliva, and bargained, "No, I can't let you get away with it so easily. Three meals! They must be three equally delicious meals! I promise to leave after I'm full tonight, and I won't be able to see or hear anything!"
"make a deal!"
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When Li Jia returned to the camp, he looked very uncomfortable. He saw Xiao Chen sitting by the fire in a daze. He casually handed a string of pheasants to the cook and ran over in a hurry.
Xiao Chen had changed into a local short outfit, a short cotton robe on the upper body and long trousers with tight legs on the lower body. The cat was lazily curled up next to his boots.
"This is terrible!" Li Jia rushed over and sat next to Xiao Chen, almost pushing him off the wooden stool. "Brother, please help me, I seem to have been given a good guy card just now, what should I do? What should I do?"
Xiao Chen was originally deep in thought when he was startled by Li Jia. "What's going on?"
Li Jia told Xiao Chen everything that Serinda said in the woods today, then pulled Xiao Chen's sleeve and kept asking, "Does she look down on me? Is that right?"
"It doesn't look like that..." Xiao Chen stroked his chin, "If she wasn't interested in you, why would she go hunting with you and waste so much time talking to you?"
"But, I behaved like a coward. I couldn't even say 'I like you'." Li Jia covered her face and said, "You have to find a way to help me, to help me win back her impression of me."
"According to me... you should do whatever you need to do. There are still many opportunities. I think this woman is not that simple. She must understand the benefits of marrying us and will not give up on you so easily."
"This, I'm talking to you about love... Besides, even if it's a marriage, there are many choices. Shi Hao is stronger than me, right? Lao Chen is more mature than me, right? There are so many big and small wolves in the business team and the guard team who are eyeing her. So, even you can be my competitor, right? Serinda is so beautiful, if she shows her affection to you, will you not be tempted?"
Xiao Chen chuckled, "Don't think everyone is like you, losing their souls when they see a woman. This matter can't be rushed."
"Cat!" Li Jia suddenly stared at the cat at his feet with an excited look on his face.
"Hey, no way, don't tell me you've thought about that? Do you really want to do that?" Xiao Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
And Li Jia had already told him the answer with a hungry look in his eyes.