Chapter 71: A Fumbled Confession and a Growing Unease

“Pfft… cough, cough, cough!”

Su Qinghan could hold it no longer. The laughter burst from her throat, but its suddenness caused her to choke, triggering a violent fit of coughing.

She covered her mouth, coughing so hard her entire face flushed crimson, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.

Well, there was no need to pretend now; her face was genuinely red.

Qian Xiaoxiao and Xiao Li were utterly stunned.

Su Qinghan finally managed to suppress her coughs. She lifted her tear-filled eyes, forcing what she hoped was a dignified smile, her voice a little hoarse from the choking.

“What a coincidence, both of you… also out enjoying the sun?”

As she spoke, she dramatically glanced up at the sky.

Qian Xiaoxiao and Xiao Li instinctively followed her gaze.

In the western sky, the sun had already dipped more than halfway, leaving only a sliver of blood-red afterglow that painted the clouds a fiery crimson.

‘Enjoying… what sun? The sunset?’

Their expressions instantly became unreadable. They simultaneously turned their heads back, their gazes fixed on Su Qinghan once more.

Their eyes clearly conveyed: ‘Go on, we’re listening.’

Su Qinghan’s smile froze on her face.

‘Hahaha, social death. So this is what it feels like. Thanks a lot, Lu Hongzhuang, you troublemaker.’

Just as her mind raced, trying to devise a graceful escape from this disaster, Lu Hongzhuang behind her delivered another ‘divine assist.’

Lu Hongzhuang saw Su Qinghan’s flushed face and mistook it for shyness, growing anxious in her heart.

‘Her mouth is usually so quick-witted, why is she failing at such a critical moment?’

She reached out and gently pushed Su Qinghan’s wheelchair from behind.

“Cough!”

Lu Hongzhuang cleared her throat, then declared loudly to Qian Xiaoxiao and Xiao Li, her voice carrying the weight of a major announcement.

“She has something to tell you!”

Swoosh!

Qian Xiaoxiao and Xiao Li’s gazes instantly shifted from Su Qinghan to Lu Hongzhuang, then shot back to Su Qinghan’s face, laden with double the confusion.

Su Qinghan: “…”

‘I have a vulgarity I’m not sure I should utter.’

‘At this moment, I truly wanted to crack open Lu Hongzhuang’s skull and see if it was filled with tofu pudding!’

‘It’s over.’

‘I probably won’t be leaving this courtyard today.’

Feeling those two gazes that threatened to pierce right through her, Su Qinghan’s fingers, hidden in her sleeve, turned cold.

‘Perhaps… knock them all out with a ‘Calming Talisman’?’

‘No, my spiritual energy isn’t enough to subdue everyone at once.’

‘Then…’

In a flash, a thought sparked in her mind.

‘Fine.’

‘Better a dead ally than a dead me!’

‘Xiao Li, my apologies!’

Su Qinghan threw caution to the wind. She lifted her head, her clear, cold eyes directly meeting the completely bewildered Qian Xiaoxiao.

With a flat, emotionless tone, she clearly uttered a few words.

“He holds affection for you, young lady.”

*Boom!*

Xiao Li’s pupils instantly dilated!

He had never dreamed that the words he’d mustered his entire life’s courage to say, yet couldn’t, would be casually and decisively revealed by Miss Su!

Qian Xiaoxiao was equally shocked. Her hand, which had been clutching Xiao Li’s ear, instinctively loosened, her mouth slightly agape, unable to close for a long moment.

Even the maid beside her widened her eyes, her face beaming with the excitement of ‘Oh, what a show!’

For a moment, the entire courtyard was so silent one could hear a pin drop.

Qian Xiaoxiao’s initial shock slowly faded, replaced by a complex silence.

She was no longer the boisterous martial artist or the naive, charming girl with peculiar thoughts.

She simply gazed quietly at the flushed guard before her, whose hands and feet seemed to have no place to rest.

After a brief pause, she spoke.

“There can be nothing between us.”

Her voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable finality.

“Do not speak of this again.”

Xiao Li’s heart felt as if it had been brutally squeezed by an invisible hand, instantly plummeting to rock bottom.

He was unwilling to accept it.

“Why?” he pressed, a tremor in his voice that he himself didn’t notice.

Qian Xiaoxiao offered no reply.

She looked at him deeply, her gaze containing pity and helplessness, but not a trace of the affection he so yearned for.

She turned, taking her maid by the hand, and walked towards her chambers.

As she walked, she spoke softly, as if explaining, yet also as if talking to herself.

“Your wages are all paid by my father.”

“What do you have to offer me a future?”

“Let’s pretend this never happened.”

The words were not loud, yet they were like a bucket of ice water, drenching Xiao Li from head to toe, chilling him to the core.

‘Indeed.’

‘He was a servant.’

‘Everything he had came from Master Qian’s household.’

‘How could he possibly love this young mistress?’

As that beautiful figure was about to vanish behind the door, a surge of emotion, originating from who knew where, rushed to Xiao Li’s head.

He clenched his fists, using all his strength to roar at her retreating back.

“Is that it! If I become famous and achieve official status, can I then come to marry you?!”

Qian Xiaoxiao’s footsteps faltered for a moment, but in the end, she did not turn back.

‘Fool…’

She sighed inwardly.

‘Even if I agreed, my father would never allow it.’

‘In the end, you’d gain nothing and lose your position as a guard.’

‘Sigh.’

Watching Xiao Li’s crestfallen figure, Lu Hongzhuang finally realized, belatedly, that she had apparently… messed up.

She scratched her head, looking at Su Qinghan with a hint of helplessness, wanting to ask what they should do next.

However, Su Qinghan merely frowned, staring in Xiao Li’s direction, lost in thought.

“Let’s go.”

Su Qinghan withdrew her gaze, uttering two faint words. Then, she turned her head and offered Lu Hongzhuang a ‘friendly’ smile.

“Idiot, you set me up to fail.”

With that, she propelled her wheelchair herself, sliding towards the guest room without a backward glance.

Back in the guest room, Lu Hongzhuang closed the door. Like a child who had done wrong, she lowered her head, her index fingers intertwined behind her back, muttering softly.

“Sorry… I thought…”

“Enough.”

Su Qinghan had no interest in continuing the awkward topic. She cut off Lu Hongzhuang’s apology and directly asked.

“You weren’t hurt, were you?”

At the mention of serious matters, Lu Hongzhuang immediately cast aside her earlier mood. She shook her head.

“No, they were just minor demons, nothing significant. Dealing with them was no trouble.”

She walked to the table, poured herself a cup of water, and drank it in one gulp before continuing.

“That Fat Fox and the soldiers have organized the villagers from nearby villages. They’re temporarily settled in open areas around Moonfall Town, where simple camps have been set up.”

“This way, manpower is concentrated, our Demon Exorcism Division personnel are sufficient, and it’s much easier to protect everyone. We don’t have to keep running between several villages.”

Lu Hongzhuang’s tone carried a hint of satisfaction at a mission smoothly accomplished.

However, Su Qinghan’s sense of unease grew stronger with her description, almost bursting from her chest.

‘Hundreds of refugees, settled outside the city…’

‘Not allowing them into the city…’

“Do you have a map of the surrounding terrain?” Su Qinghan’s voice was urgent.

“A map?” Lu Hongzhuang paused, shaking her head. “How would I have something like that? The Magistrate’s Manor should have one.”

Seeing Su Qinghan’s expression, she added: “But I’ve been running around, so I remember most of the terrain. I can draw a simple one for you.”

With that, she found paper and pen, and from memory, quickly sketched a simple map.

Moonfall Town was depicted in the center.

In each of the four directions—East, South, West, and North—a red circle was drawn.

“See? These four spots are open, good for camping, and convenient for our personnel to provide support,” Lu Hongzhuang explained, pointing to the four circles.

Su Qinghan’s gaze was fixed on the sketch.

‘One town.’

‘Four camps.’

These four camps, though seemingly chosen for their open terrain, had positions and distances relative to Moonfall Town that were…

Her fingertips tapped unconsciously on the wheelchair armrest, the rhythm quickening.

‘East, South, West, North… guarding all four sides…’

‘No!’

‘This isn’t guarding!’

A thought flashed violently through Su Qinghan’s mind!

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