Xia Lin and Jiang Yun were sitting on the wooden steps covered with mattresses, sipping hot tea while watching the night snow. They didn't say a word to each other. Anyone who saw this scene would surely say that it was a picture of tranquility and serenity.
After finishing the tea and chatting for a while, Xia Lin bid farewell to Jiang Yun and went back to his room to sleep. Although he wasn't very sleepy yet, they had to set off early the next morning. Staying up late would mean he wouldn't be able to get up on time.
Early the next morning, the entire General's Mansion, old and young alike, came out to see Xia Lin off. Besides the two carriages for Xia Lin and Jiang Yun respectively, Xia Lin's luggage filled two more carriages. Jiang Yun joked that he wasn't going to practice martial arts but rather on a spring outing.
Xia Lin was quite helpless. He had already discarded many unimportant items, and his mother even wanted him to take a lot of snacks.
At the gate of the General's Mansion, after nearly half an hour of bidding farewell to his family, Xia Lin and Jiang Yun finally set off.
By noon, they left the capital and reached a county in the nearest city.
"Let's find an inn to have lunch and take a rest before continuing our journey," Jiang Yun said to the coachman, then told Xia Lin to get off the carriage.
Xia Lin refused the servant's help and lightly jumped off the carriage. After all, he had practiced light - footed skills for two months and had acquired some basic skills. Xia Lin thought proudly that he was quite gifted in martial arts.
After lunch, they continued their journey. At night, they stayed at an inn in a small town. Xia Lin couldn't fall asleep on the hard bed no matter how hard he tried. So he got up and planned to go to the carriage in the yard to get a thick mattress. What he saw next was shocking.
Jiang Yun pulled his sword out of the masked man's chest. Blood dripped down the sword onto the ground, as if it were also dripping onto Xia Lin's heart.
Hearing Xia Lin's footsteps, Jiang Yun turned around and his gaze fell on Xia Lin. Under that cold and sharp look, Xia Lin couldn't help but take a step back. Was this the real Jiang Yun?
Seeing it was Xia Lin, Jiang Yun's expression relaxed. He sheathed his sword and casually asked Xia Lin, "Apprentice, why are you out?"
Xia Lin swallowed hard, "Mas... Master, the inn's bed is too hard, so I wanted to get a mattress from the luggage on the carriage... Master, why... why did you do this?"
Jiang Yun pointed at the dead masked man on the ground and said, "This is a thief. He came to steal at night and I caught him."
Xia Lin stammered, "Well... we could have tied him up and sent him to the government the next day."
Jiang Yun replied, "This is a quicker way. If we sent him to the government, we'd have to stay here for at least one more day. Apprentice, go get the mattress and go back to sleep quickly. It's cold at night."
"Okay... okay, Master. You should go to sleep early too."
Walking back quickly, it wasn't until Xia Lin got into bed and pulled the quilt tightly over himself that his racing heart began to calm down and gradually returned to its normal rhythm.
Jiang Yun had just killed someone! He had killed a man as easily as an ordinary person might kill a chicken. Xia Lin had always known that Jiang Yun was no ordinary person, but to kill someone so easily, even if he was a thief, it was just... not taking human life seriously. Were all people in the martial world like this?
The next day, Xia Lin was much quieter than before, and his attitude towards Jiang Yun became more respectful. The servants and coachmen found it strange, but due to their low status, they didn't dare to ask.
Jiang Yun, however, knew that the boy had been scared by him the previous day.