Ye Mo wasn't originally a resident of Tianling Garrison. He had been exiled to the borderlands as a criminal, serving in the army. Due to his aloof and solitary nature, the villagers in the garrison avoided interacting with him. He lived alone near the sparsely populated western edge of the garrison.
In an attempt to express her sincere desire to become his disciple, Li Wuya didn't even return home. She brought her younger brother, Li Qilang, and a small bundle of firewood to Ye Mo's residence.
Compared to Li's family courtyard, Ye Mo's dwelling was quite humble, a simple thatched hut. The walls weren't even made of yellow mud; a few sticks were randomly inserted around the perimeter, forming a makeshift enclosure.
"Uncle Ye, we brought you some firewood."
Li Wuya stood on her tiptoes by the wooden fence gate, trying to peer inside.
After waiting for a while and receiving no response, Li Wuya silently withdrew her gaze. She knew she would return empty-handed today and sighed in disappointment as she prepared to leave.
Li Qilang looked puzzled, "Sister, why do we have to learn internal martial arts from Uncle Ye?"
Li Wuya replied, "Of course, it's to ensure our safety."
The incident at the relay station had served as a wake-up call. Being situated in the borderlands, her life wasn't secure. She might face mortal danger any day.
Although she had narrowly escaped this time, there might not be a next time.
After all, there were skilled martial artists in this world.
Despite having spiritual power, it was still relatively weak. If she were to face someone with martial skills, even if not exceptionally powerful, she would have no chance but to perish.
And even if her spiritual power grew stronger in the future, she'd need excuses to employ it.
So, learning martial arts was imperative.
As Li Wuya looked at the closed door once more, she began to leave with Li Qilang. But just as they turned around, they saw Ye Mo returning from outside.
"Oh, Uncle Ye, you went out? I thought you were home." Li Wuya immediately put on a smile.
Ye Mo carried a small bag of black flour he had bought from the village chief's house and noticed the two small bundles of firewood at his doorstep. He frowned as he looked at Li Wuya and Li Qilang, "Didn't I tell you not to come here anymore?"
Li Wuya glanced at Ye Mo's stern expression and decided to play the pitiful card, "Uncle Ye, three days ago, a group of Northern Yan raiders attacked the relay station. My brother, my little brother, and I were all inside at the time."
"You didn't see how those Northern Yan raiders almost killed my brother and shot an arrow at him. I thought we were going to die."
Hearing this, Ye Mo's expression finally showed some change. He glanced at Li Wuya with mild interest.
When he had gone to the village chief's house earlier to buy supplies, the village chief had also mentioned this incident.
"Thanks to Sanlang's quick thinking, he used rat poison to defeat those Northern Yan raiders. Otherwise, none of the relay station's residents would have survived."
That's what the village chief had said, but Ye Mo wasn't entirely convinced.
In these two years, the little girl before him had pulled Li Sanlang along to fetch water and chop wood for him countless times. That young man was genuinely decent, straightforward. Ye Mo didn't think he could come up with a method like using rat poison to poison people.
It was more plausible that the mischievous little girl before him could do it.
Seeing Ye Mo's expression lighten a bit, Li Wuya continued, "Uncle Ye, please, teach us martial arts. If we learn martial arts, we'll be able to protect ourselves if we encounter such situations again."
Ye Mo reverted to his previous cold demeanour and replied, "I'm crippled. I don't have any martial arts skills. Go find someone else."
With that, he limped into his house, pushing open the wooden gate.
Observing Ye Mo's outright denial of any martial arts skill, Li Wuya lowered her eyes and knew that persisting any further wouldn't yield results. She left with Li Qilang.
She had come to realize that Ye Mo was an unyielding individual. Attempting to sway him through coquettishness, playing the victim, or whining wouldn't change his mind. The likelihood of him agreeing to teach them martial arts was nearly zero.
"Ah, I don't have a protagonist's aura!"
Five years had passed since she crossed over, and she was still struggling to make ends meet.
Finally finding someone with some ability, he paid her no attention.
Were there any other transmigrators as unfortunate as her?
Li Wuya couldn't help but feel bitter as she pondered this.
After multiple rejections, Li Qilang grew a bit upset. Pouting, he said, "Sister, since Uncle Ye doesn't want to teach us, can't we learn from someone else? Why insist on learning from him?"
Li Wuya looked at her sulking, innocent younger brother and sighed.
She didn't want to tie herself to just one option!
Among the native villagers in the garrison, there was scarcely anyone with the ability to teach them internal martial arts. They were all from the lowest echelons of society, let alone possessing high-level skills. Even literacy was a rarity.
People like Ye Mo, who were exiled here to serve their sentences, had more exposure and a higher level of skill.
"Qilang, the more skilled someone is, the more temperamental they tend to be. If we want to learn from Uncle Ye, we can't give up just because of a few setbacks."
"Take our father, for example. He paid quite the price to learn external martial arts from Elder Qiu. Not only did he stand guard for him and take night shifts, but for three consecutive years, he gave Elder Qiu all his salary. Only then did Elder Qiu agree to teach him martial arts."
"Consider how much effort our father put in and compare it to what we're putting in."
"Uncle Ye doesn't owe us anything. His unwillingness to teach us right now just means that the value we provide him isn't significant enough, or he doesn't believe in us, thinking we're not worth investing in," Li Qilang said, tilting his head as he looked at Li Wuya. He seemed to grasp the idea, yet also seemed a bit puzzled.
Li Wuya smiled at his reaction and didn't elaborate further.
Constrained by their circumstances, they lacked other avenues to learn internal martial arts. Therefore, Ye Mo had to be persuaded!
Thinking about Ye Mo's injured leg, Li Wuya narrowed her eyes slightly. If she could offer to treat his leg in exchange for his teaching, he might agree to teach them internal martial arts, right?
However, she quickly dismissed the thought. She was just a common villager, without any medical training. Without a legitimate reason, she couldn't reveal her medical skills. Despite her apparent fearlessness around Ye Mo, she was well aware of how dangerous he could be.
The first time she saw Ye Mo, she was struck by his sharp gaze. He seemed like a man who kept a low profile in the village, indifferent to everything. But Li Wuya knew better – he was definitely not as simple as he appeared!
"Five sisters, what should we do now? Should we keep delivering firewood to Uncle Ye?"
"Not for now. Let's go back home and learn some external martial arts from our brother."
"What? But five sister, didn't you say you'd never learn external martial arts even if you were forced to?"
"That's true, but sometimes we have no choice. Qilang, let me tell you, one must learn to compromise appropriately. Don't stick to one path until the end. In essence, we should choose what benefits us the most in the current situation."
"Now that Uncle Ye isn't willing to teach us, it doesn't mean we should do nothing. To ensure our self-defence, learning some external martial arts is our best option for now."
Li Qilang nodded with a somewhat vague understanding.
Before long, Li Wuya and Li Qilang returned to the Li residence. As soon as they entered, they saw a tall, robust man with a dark complexion standing in the courtyard.
"Dad!"
Recognizing him, the siblings rushed over to him with joyful smiles on their faces.
Li Changsen smiled at his daughter and son, delighted to see them. He took a step forward, grabbed each of them by the hand, and spun around in place, lifting them into the air.
"Ah~"
The excited screams of Li Wuya and Li Qilang echoed in the courtyard.
Li Changsen looked at his fearless children with pride. They were nothing like the eldest sons of his second and third brothers who would be frightened to tears by such playfulness.
Having been away for three to four months, Li Changsen missed his children deeply. He played with them for quite a while until Jin Yue'e's voice called for a stop. Only then did he cease the spinning.
"Settle down a bit. Your mother isn't pleased," Jin Yue'e said in a hushed voice.
Li Changsen chuckled with a touch of sarcasm, knowing that he shouldn't waste his precious time on unnecessary conflicts. He decisively led his daughter and son back to the eastern wing.
Li Qilang eagerly shared the events that had taken place at the relay station with Li Changsen, recounting every detail. Li Changsen listened with a pounding heart, then personally inspected Li Sanlang's wounds and relaxed upon seeing that they had scabbed over.
"In the future, if you encounter such situations, don't try to be a hero. Remember, you're just kids. Even adults wouldn't recklessly charge into danger," Li Changsen advised.
Before Li Sanlang could speak, Li Qilang jumped in, "Dad, we're not stupid. If there's no benefit, we won't rush forward."
As he spoke, he tilted his chin toward Li Wuya, as if saying, "Five sisters, I'm remembering your words."
Seeing his younger brother's rather dense expression, Li Wuya had the urge to facepalm.
Li Changsen was taken aback, turning to look at Li Sanlang.
Did the children actively step forward in the relay station incident?
Li Sanlang remained silent. He wasn't the instigator, but his younger sister was.
Following Li Sanlang's detailed explanation, Li Changsen heard a different version of events from what outsiders knew. It turned out that Li Wuya had killed the three Northern Yan men, and she was the one who had put rat poison in the water.
Was his little daughter too formidable?
Seeing his puzzled expression, Li Wuya's eyes flashed briefly. She couldn't reveal the truth about killing the Northern Yan men, so she had to appear vulnerable and pitiable:
"Dad, I was so scared at the time that I didn't even know what I was doing. All I knew was that either someone had to die or I would die. So, I acted. Did I do something wrong?"
Li Changsen couldn't bear to see his daughter like this and quickly reassured her, "Wuya, you didn't do anything wrong. It was the right thing to do." He paused for a moment and added, "But Wuya, you mustn't do it like this next time."
He speculated that the group of Northern Yan men was probably exhausted from being chased by General Zhuang and the others. Otherwise, he found it hard to believe that his five-year-old daughter could kill an eighth-ranked and a seventh-ranked expert.
Li Wuya obediently nodded, "Dad, don't worry. I don't like fighting and killing. In the future, I'll be a well-behaved and delicate girl."
Hearing this, both Li Changsen and Li Sanlang had strange expressions on their faces.
Delicate? Their little sister's character seemed quite far from delicate.