"I never claimed to be a good person," Li Nianlong chuckled softly. "But my affection for you is genuine. It's precisely because I care for you that I must consider your well-being. I can't let my selfish desires ruin you."
"Big Brother Liu..." Lin Yueru was deeply moved, blushing as she walked up behind Li Nianlong and gently hugged him, then quickly retreated. "Don't... don't misunderstand. Just now, I was only expressing gratitude for Big Brother Liu's care during these days, nothing more."
Li Nianlong turned to look at her, giving a slight smile. "I just hope you have other thoughts."
"Big Brother Liu, really, you..." Lin Yueru, feeling shy, put down her sword and whip, then lay down on the bed to rest, while Li Nianlong smiled slightly and fell asleep leaning on the table.
In the middle of the night, Lin Yueru quietly got up from the bed, covered Li Nianlong with a piece of clothing, and looked at his profile with a sense of happiness. "Big Brother Liu, we'll be together in the future, I'm sure of it."
Just then, a voice came from outside the room: "Thief!"
Lin Yueru was startled, grabbed her sword, and rushed out of the room, while Li Nianlong opened his eyes, glanced at the clothes draped over him, and smiled faintly. "Once a fierce woman is conquered, she becomes gentle as water."
Getting up and walking outside, they saw Lin Yueru confronting a female thief dressed in black on the second-floor corridor.
Seeing Li Nianlong coming, Lin Yueru hurriedly said, "Big Brother Liu, stop her!"
Li Nianlong looked at the black-clothed woman, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Indeed, it was Jisanniang.
Li Nianlong wasn't going to handle her personally like Li Xiaoyao did. Instead, he decided to stand by and let Lin Yueru deal with her. If the plot was correct, Zhao Ling'er would definitely be imprisoned by Sword Saint in the Locking Demon Tower. When Zhao Ling'er faced off against the Prison King, her power would greatly increase. Right now, what Lin Yueru needed most was training. If she entered the Locking Demon Tower with sufficient strength, she wouldn't end up in a vegetative state from being hit by a stone slab until the events of "Chinese Paladin 2" when she woke up.
"I'll be on the side, you handle her," Li Nianlong said.
Lin Yueru knew that Li Nianlong was training her. She smiled beautifully and waved her sword. "Prepare to die, thief!"
"Oh my! But this maiden doesn't want to die!" Jisanniang, being a mature woman, exuded charm with every word, which irritated Lin Yueru, who shouted angrily, "Shameless harlot! Take this!"
Jisanniang was a flying thief, skilled in hidden weapons and agile movements. She couldn't directly resist Lin Yueru's broad and forceful attacks, so she used her agility to dodge and occasionally shot some flying needles.
All these needles were knocked away by Lin Yueru with her sword, but since they were in an inn and didn't want to damage the property, Lin Yueru dared not use her full strength with the Seven Absolute Sword Qi. This inhibited her ability to fully unleash her strength, resulting in a balanced fight against Jisanniang.
Seeing Lin Yueru holding back her strength and still being able to fight evenly with Jisanniang, Li Nianlong was pleased. If Lin Yueru had only been an ordinary top-notch expert at first, she was now a super top-notch expert. With one more step forward, she could start hunting demons and eliminating evil.
Perhaps realizing that she wasn't Lin Yueru's match and that there was also a man standing by, Jisanniang's heart sank. Knowing that there was no benefit in continuing to fight, she used her thin needles to force Lin Yueru to retreat, chuckling, "I'm done playing, I'm leaving."
Just as she was about to use her lightness skill to escape, a voice rang out, "Leaving so soon?"
Before she could react, Jisanniang suddenly felt her body go numb, unable to move.
With a look of horror, Jisanniang stared at Li Nianlong. He was slowly retracting his fingers, saying calmly, "Stealing things and trying to escape? Where in this world is it that easy? Come with us to the authorities!"
"Wait a moment!" At this moment, a middle-aged man ran over, shouting, "She stole my belongings!"
Li Nianlong looked at the middle-aged man, sneering inwardly. This middle-aged man should be the wealthy merchant from Chang'an who, in the game, Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru helped retrieve his bundle but was then accused by him and reported to the authorities. Of course, he didn't end well. He was bitten to death by venomous insects on Toad Mountain.
Li Nianlong remembered that there was a purple-golden gourd in his package. The purple-golden gourd could be used with the Linggourd Spell to capture demons whose health had been reduced by three-quarters, thereby converting them into Linggourd value, which could be refined into Linggourd Elixirs.
While the item was valuable, the world of "Chinese Paladin" was filled with pharmacies where you could just buy it. Using the Linggourd Spell to refine elixirs was too time-consuming. If it wasn't for fun, there was no need to use it.
Lin Yueru found the bundle on Jisanniang, handed it to the merchant, and asked, "Is this it?"
"Yes, yes, this is my bundle." The merchant was overjoyed, immediately opening the bundle to find that nothing was missing. He smiled with relief. "Many thanks to the lady for catching this female thief."
Seeing the merchant's smug look, Lin Yueru felt displeased, saying coldly, "No need. It was Big Brother Liu who caught the female thief, nothing to do with me."
Only then did the merchant notice Li Nianlong and looked at him with a hint of suspicion. "Really? I didn't see him take action!"
"You—" Lin Yueru was so angry she wanted to punch him!
"Yueru, let it go." Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "I believe certain people won't end well."
With that, he left the merchant, who had an unsightly expression, and took Jisanniang to the authorities. The governor of Yangzhou was troubled by the capture of the Flying Thief and was overjoyed to see Li Nianlong and Lin Yueru bringing her in. After a brief interrogation, Jisanniang admitted her crimes and also mocked the governor a bit, nearly making him choke.
With the banditry in Yangzhou resolved, Li Nianlong and Lin Yueru could leave the city.
Under full speed, the two quickly arrived at the entrance of the Toad Cave, where Jin Chan Guimu was sitting. Seeing them, she remained silent.
Li Nianlong walked up to her with a faint smile. "Miss, we meet again."
Jin Chan Guimu looked at him. "Do you know me?"
"Yesterday, at the inn in Yangzhou, Miss knocked out a few hooligans. It was truly refreshing to see," Li Nianlong smiled.
Jin Chan Guimu shook her head but didn't speak.
"Why are you alone here?" Li Nianlong asked, stepping forward.
"...This is my home," Jin Chan Guimu said.
"Your home?" Li Nianlong looked around. "In this desolate wilderness, with no village in sight, why would you live here alone?"
"...," Jin Chan Guimu remained silent.
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "We need to continue on our journey. We won't disturb you."
"There's no road ahead," Jin Chan Guimu said.