Giving a few Lessons

So as to not arouse any suspicions of towards us, Wanjing leaves a few hours before we do. Arriving at the west exit we find Wanjing just past the gateway waiting for us. As we leave, one of the things I notice is that compared to where we entered from, the security check here is much more relaxed.

"I've been waiting like forever for you all to show up," Wanjing says while running over to us, "this is my first time travelling without my father around so I'm really excited. You're also going to teach me how to fight, right? I was too young when my mother died so I could never learn from her, and because my father was pushing me for the position of successor, he only taught me the bare minimum to keep me safe while travelling with him. Although it feels a little odd to be learning from people not much older than me."

"In due time, for now, let's walk and talk while we have you act as our guide. As our current objective is the Capital, how long is the journey and what's going to appear along the way?" Aurelia asks.

"To get to the Capital of Shenzhou, it will take around one month on foot if we follow the roads. and there are several small villages and large cities between us and the Capital. Currently, we are in the Xinhua province and we will need to pass through the Ji and Xu provinces before we arrive in the Xia province where the City of Long is, the Capital of Shenzhou."

"Are there any interesting places along the way, areas that look as if the hide something special? I ask.

"Hiding something special... this might not be exactly what you're looking for, but in the frontier of the Ji province, there are some old ruins from back when Shengdi was united. I don't know much about them or their location, so we would have to ask the locals."

"It's a good enough start, I wasn't even aware that Shengdi was once united... hey, do guys hear that?" I ask.

"Hear what?" the three of them ask.

"I thought I heard something, this way," I say, taking the lead off the road and up a hill.

Peaking over the hill, we see some people under attack by what looks to be bandits on a road that's a bit further down from the hill.

"I'm pretty sure there is a small village down the road those people came from and that road will eventually merge into the path we were on earlier. Are we going to help them?" Wanjing asks.

"No, we going to pretend we saw nothing," I say, turning back to our previous path.

"So how-- wait, what?"

"As Cory said, we saw nothing. We don't stand to gain anything from helping them, so it is currently a waste of time and effort to do so."

"Well said, Lia. Wanjing, this is your first lesson, don't stick your nose into other people's business for no reason, especially if you don't get any benefits from it. If you want to live a long life then I suggest you follow this advice. Good people often die young after all, so just don't be a good person."

"Oh, I see. Thank you for the lesson. I'll be sure to remember this," Wanjing says happily.

Muttering in a low voice that Lia and Wanjing can't hear, Aurelia whispers, "these damn bandits are going to corrupt this innocent girl."

As we make our way down the road I notice some rustling amidst the bushes far off the road, curious I glance over and while hard to see, I can make out a humanoid figure wearing rugged clothes that seem similar to what those bandits were wearing from before. As I start to get this bad feeling, I try to make it look natural as I check out the area around us. My gut feeling was on the mark as I find several more similar looking people surrounding us from afar.

Not too long after, I begin to hear the stomping of hooves as the bandits from before are catching up to us on horseback, along with an open air cart with the people from before tied up inside.

"Boss, how much do you think we can get if we ransom off these girls to the Imperial family?" one of the horsemen says with a loud voice, in a clear attempt to intimidate us.

"You fool, we can't possibly do such a thing or our heads would roll. But they're all good looking, I think we can make better use of them personally instead of selling them off like the people we caught earlier," the supposed boss says.

"In the end, we still have to deal with them. Fine, let's make this quick. I should give you a lesson as well, Wanjing. When fighting men, even more so for such vulgar men like these, make sure to strike their weakest spot," I say as I use a small explosion by my feet to propel myself towards the boss.

Surprising everyone of the bandits as well as Wanjing, I give the horse a good kick sending its rider to the ground. Using my Ice Breath, I freeze the limbs of the boss to the ground, immobilising him.

"And the weakest point on the male body is, of course, the family jewels," I say calmly as I bring one foot over his crotch.

"Wait! Wait! Please don't! I'm sorry, I'll let these people go and turn over a new leaf, anything but that!" the bandit boss cries out as his face contorts and tears fill his eyes.

"You see, Wanjing, not only does every man become as weak a kitten when threatened like this, a good strike," I say bringing my foot down, "not only causes immense pain but can even turn them into a eunuch, assuming they're still alive, unlike this guy."

Seeing the horrific fate that befell their boss, the rest of the bandits abandoned ship and ran as if their lives and descendants depended on it. Seeing as they left behind the cart of captives, we free them from their bindings as it doesn't cost us anything to help them at this point.

"Thank you so much, your Highness. It can't possibly express our gratitude, but we were returning after exchanging goods with the nearby village, although it isn't much for a person of your stature, please accept our humble gift," one of the captives say as she hands over a small cloth bag of copper coins that look similar to those cash coins from China.

They seem to have mistaken me for a member of the Imperial family here, not too surprising, but I make no effort to correct them, "I will accept your gift as a sign of goodwill, there won't always be someone around to save you, so do be careful in the future. Why don't you all take the horses they left behind and return to your village quickly."

"Yes, thank you, your Highness."

After the group of people left, Aurelia says, "how shameless, you don't deserve their payment after ignoring their initial capture."

"But I did save them in the end, so I will take what is rightfully mine. And did you catch on to my lesson on fighting men, Wanjing?"

"Yes, Teacher, I understood completely. When fighting men, aim for the balls."

"Teacher, huh, it's been a long time since anyone has called me that."

"Listen, Wanjing, I know your eager and all, but please don't take everything Cordelia says so seriously. There is nothing wrong with being a good person and helping others," Aurelia says.

"But she isn't wrong, I've heard my mother was the type of person who stuck her nose into others business and went out of her way to help others and she died young. If I don't want to end up like her I think Teachers way of doing things is right."

"I've thought this for a while now, but aren't you taking your mother's death a little lightly? You've brought it up a few times now like it's no problem," Aurelia asks.

"To begin with, I hardly knew her. She died before I could properly recognise her face."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

"Yeah, so don't worry about it. Anyways, it's going to get dark soon. There is a fork in the road up ahead, taking the turn will lead us to a village we can stay at for the night. If we hurry we can make it before sundown."