Suren nodded subconsciously, only realizing what she had agreed to after the fact.
Before she entered, she had heard the mayor advising Lady Wu Yao not to rush into attacking Peiva Town.
Lady Wu Yao had agreed readily enough, but then turned around and said she was going to kill Peiva Town's cavalry squad and bring their gear back.
Wasn't this the very definition of outward compliance and inward defiance?
She stole a glance at Benita, who was standing behind Wu Yao.
Benita stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a helpless “I knew this would happen” look on her face.
She certainly didn't want to take down Peiva Town right now, but she also didn't want Peiva Town to retain the power to threaten Qinghe Town.
Those fifty fully armed cavalrymen were like a sword hanging over Qinghe Town's head.
It was enough for Lady Wu Yao to remove this sword; Peiva Town could wait until Qinghe Town had secured its footing before being dealt with.
Since Benita didn't speak up to stop her, Suren let out a sigh of relief and followed Wu Yao out the door.
“My Lady, I'll go call the men.”
The veterans of the guard were currently waiting in the open space behind the town hall.
Though they were called veterans, Suren had actually screened them one by one.
The original guard had been a ragtag bunch of good-for-nothings, and Suren had spent two full days interviewing them.
By the end of her screening, only about twenty who were relatively honest and obedient remained.
The new recruitment regulations had already been drawn up, and Suren had just posted the notice this morning, so barely anyone had come to sign up yet.
For now, the only available force was still that batch of remaining veterans.
Suren selected fifteen of them, ordered them to bring their spears and shields, and told them to follow her.
“Captain, where are we going?” a young man with acne on his face leaned in to ask.
His name was Toby, the youngest of the bunch, having just turned seventeen this year.
“Out to take care of some business with Lady Wu Yao,” Suren replied briefly.
Toby's eyes lit up, and he turned and ran back to grab his gear, running faster than anyone else.
Suren lined up the squad and instinctively thought of sending someone to fetch the five captured warhorses from the stable.
But on second thought, none of them knew how to ride. Bringing the five horses would only be a burden, and they would have to leave someone behind specifically to look after them.
They would just have to go on foot then.
As they passed by the market, Wu Yao's pace slowed down.
Qinghe Town's market was located in an open area on the north side of town, held on days ending in three and eight.
Today was not a market day, but the shops along the street were still open. The owner of a fabric shop was standing at the entrance, shaking out a bolt of newly dyed indigo homespun cloth.
Wu Yao stopped in front of a small stall selling wood carvings.
The stallholder was a wrinkled old grandmother. Beside her hand lay a dozen palm-sized wood carvings of birds and beasts. While the craftsmanship wasn't particularly refined, each piece possessed a clumsy, lively charm.
Wu Yao picked up a crooked wooden cat. She looked it over from left to right, feeling that it bore a slight resemblance to Xuanmiao, especially that indifferent, aloof attitude.
She turned to look at Suren.
Almost as a reflex, Suren pulled her coin pouch from her bosom.
She had seen Benita paying the bills behind Wu Yao.
Back then, walking behind them and watching Benita pay, Suren had felt an indescribable trace of envy.
Not because of the money, but because of that natural, taken-for-granted intimacy.
Now, Benita wasn't here.
Suren asked for the price and placed a few copper coins on the stallholder's wooden board.
“Suren,” Wu Yao called out, waving her hand without looking back as she stopped in front of another stall selling clay whistles.
Suren quickly caught up.
The clay whistle stallholder was a young man wearing a headscarf. Dozens of fired clay whistles shaped like various birds were displayed on his stall.
Wu Yao squatted in front of the stall, picked up a lopsided skylark-shaped clay whistle, and blew it once.
The sound was sharp and bright, sounding just like a real bird.
“This one is good.” Wu Yao switched to one of a different shape and blew it again.
Standing behind her, Suren watched her squatting before the stall and blowing the clay whistles one by one. The sunlight fell from above onto the crown of her head, and her braid, tied with a blue-and-white cloth ribbon, swayed gently in the wind.
Suren's lips curled up involuntarily, but she quickly suppressed the smile.
“I want this one too,” Wu Yao said, holding up a third clay whistle.
After a round of shopping, Suren's coin pouch emptied out at a visible rate, leaving only a few lonely copper coins clinking against each other at the bottom, making a thin, metallic sound.
Clutching the deflated pouch, she didn't look particularly pained about the money, but she began to reflect very seriously.
Her monthly salary was eight silver coins. Today, Lady Wu Yao had just casually browsed around, and she had already spent nearly four hundred copper coins.
At this rate, her monthly salary wouldn't even last two days.
She still wasn't earning enough money!
Wu Yao had no idea what Suren was thinking. Contentedly nibbling on a small piece of honey bread with her cheeks puffed out, she held the highest-pitched clay whistle in her hand.
Having fully satisfied her craving for shopping, Wu Yao lost interest in walking slowly with them.
She turned to Suren and the guards behind her, revealing an eager smile. “I'll speed you guys up a bit.”
The feeling of the Lightweight Spell being cast on them was very strange.
Suren only felt a lightness under her feet, as if someone had replaced the dirt road beneath her with a trampoline; she felt like she could fly with just a push of her legs.
The guards behind her were not nearly as composed.
One of them tried to take a step, but overdid it. He shot forward as if stepping on a spring, rolling and crawling until he face-planted into a haystack by the roadside, kicking up a shower of dry straw.
The others burst into loud laughter. He climbed out of the haystack himself, scratching his head with a bright red face.
“Don't laugh at him. Try it yourselves.”
Suren took a step forward, feeling as if she were walking on the wind.
After running a dozen steps, she found her rhythm. Her breathing and footsteps synchronized perfectly, and the wind whipped past her ears, blowing the stray hairs on her forehead straight back.
She glanced back.
The guards followed behind, running in a crooked, messy line.
Someone took too large a step and almost did a split; someone took steps too small and stumbled; someone was so focused on rushing forward that they forgot to watch where they were going and crashed headfirst into a companion's back.
Yet there was no fear on their faces, only novelty and excitement, like children who had just learned to walk, stumbling as they chased after a brand-new world.
Suren turned her head back and picked up her pace, catching up to Wu Yao at the front.
They encountered Peiva Town's cavalry squad halfway.
To be precise, they heard them first.
The dull thud of hooves on the dirt road sounded like rolling thunder in the distance, orderly and rhythmic, causing the gravel by the roadside to tremble slightly.
Suren halted, her hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
The guards behind her stopped as well. The laughing and joking guards from moments ago instantly sobered up, tightening their grips on their spears.
First to appear was a row of tall horses. The knights on horseback wore standard-issue armor, and the leading knight's helmet was adorned with a white feather that fluttered slightly in the wind.
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