Xu Lian was drying her clothes in the courtyard when she suddenly heard Xu Ning's voice.

She saw Xu Ning push open the gate and walk in. He was holding a wine jar in his hand, with a big knife on his back. He looked exhausted.

"You're home."

A smile appeared on Xu Lian's face.

She quickly put the laundry tub in her hand on the ground and greeted him.

This was the first time Xu Ning had escorted carriages. Although he was with Tao Yungang, she was still a little worried.

After seeing Xu Ning return in good condition, Xu Lian was relieved.

"This is the wine I bought for my brother-in-law."

Xu Ning handed the wine jar to Xu Lian.

Before leaving Kangyun County, Xu Ning bought two jars of wine for his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan.

But during the subsequent battle, one of the wine jars was broken, so he could only bring back one jar.

"Recklessly spending money again."

Xu Lian took the wine jar as she reprimanded her brother.

But her tone was more relaxed than before.

Now that her family had savings and her younger brother had become a warrior, Xu Lian no longer worried as much about spending money.

"I'll go rinse off first and change my clothes."

Xu Ning felt his entire body was sticky.

"Put your clothes in the tub and I'll wash them for you."

Xu Lian said.

"Okay, Sis."

Xu Ning agreed swiftly.

But just after taking two steps, Xu Lian suddenly stopped Xu Ning.

She noticed the blood on Xu Ning's blade, and she then noticed the dried red stain on Xu Ning's body.

"Is that blood on your body?"

Xu Lian frowned.

Xu Ning paused and nodded. "Yes, we ran into a small group of thieves on the road. So we fought and drove them away."

Xu Ning did not try and hide anything, but he did play down the danger of the situation.

He didn't want his sister to worry.

However, although Xu Ning spoke casually, Xu Lian's facial expression immediately changed.

"Were you hurt?"

Xu Lian leaned forward and took a good look at Xu Ning's body.

Xu Ning shook his head. "Not hurt at all, see…"

Xu Ning turned around and jumped in the air, his body moving normally.

Xu Lian was relieved. "Good…"

Afterwards, Xu Ning took off his clothes, cleaned himself up, and put on the clean clothes Xu Lian gave him.

After some rest at home, both his physical and mental state returned to normal.

Xu Ning was refreshed and energized.

"Is Uncle back?"

Xu Ning was drying his hair in the house when he heard Tao Tao's voice.

The little girl came back from playing with her friends.

Tao Tao pushed open the door and went inside.

"Uncle!"

Tao Tao grinned when she saw Xu Ning. She threw herself forward and hugged his waist.

Seeing Tao Tao's face, Xu Ning couldn't help but smile.

But he still grabbed Tao Tao's pigtails and pulled her away from him.

"Tao Tao, stay away from me, you're covered with dirt, and I cleaned up just a second ago."

Tao Tao didn't care about Xu Ning's words.

"Come here."

After Xu Ning pulled Tao Tao away, he called her to the table.

Tao Tao leaned over and stood tiptoe, her head barely reaching the table.

"Look, do you like it?"

Xu Ning took out a wooden hairpin from his bag.

The wood hairpin was green with a simple pattern on it. It looked quite exquisite and beautiful.

"Is this for me?"

Tao Tao tilted her head to look at Xu Ning, her mouth wide open.

"It's for you."

Xu Ning put the hairpin in Tao Tao's hands.

Tao Tao took the green wooden hairpin and held it with both hands, as if holding some kind of rare treasure.

She stared straight at the wooden hairpin, her eyes seemed to be glowing.

After a while, Tao Tao laughed out loud.

She turned around and ran outside, yelling as she ran, "Mom, look, Uncle gave me a gift!"

"Silly child…"

Xu Ning was amused by Tao Tao's reaction.

Prior to all this, their family was quite poor, and Xu Lian's only wooden hairpin was given to her by Tao Yunchuan when they got married.

Xu Lian looked after her hairpin like a treasure. Tao Tao had always wanted to take a look, but Xu Lian wouldn't let her. Hence, Tao Tao always regarded wooden hairpins as something extremely precious.

Now that Xu Ning gave her a better-looking wooden hairpin, Tao Tao was overjoyed.

Xu Ning gave the other wooden hairpin to Xu Lian.

Xu Lian's reaction was much calmer than Tao Tao. But even so, after receiving the gift, she couldn't help but smile.

"Where's my dad?"

At the dinner table, the three waited for Tao Yunchuan to return.

Tao Tao was still holding the wooden hairpin in her hand. Xu Lian had asked her to put it down, but Tao Tao refused.

"He should be back soon."

Xu Lian glanced outside the door.

Tao Yunchuan opened the door and entered.

Although his footsteps were slow, he seemed to be in a hurry.

"Xu Ning, is Xu Ning back?"

Before he even entered the house, Tao Yunchuan asked in a coarse voice, his tone full of concern.

"Brother-in-law, I'm back."

Xu Ning quickly got up from the table and went outside to hold Tao Yunchuan.

"Good, good…"

Tao Yunchuan was breathing heavily, with sweat forming on his forehead.

Xu Lian took a towel and wiped his sweat. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I was worried about Xu Ning!"

Tao Yunchuan coughed and explained, "On my way back, I heard that Tao Yungang ran into an accident. They were robbed by horse bandits on the way back. People were seriously injured and three even died! I was shocked when I heard it, and came back quickly. I thought something happened to Xu Ning."

"Has it already spread…"

Xu Ning did not expect that in less than half an hour, the incident of Tao Yungang's carriages being attacked had spread throughout the Tao Village.

"Three people died?"

Xu Lian was startled and stared at Xu Ning.

Xu Ning didn't mention this at all.

Xu Ning knew that he couldn't keep it a secret any longer, so he confessed to Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian on what had happened.

"So dangerous…"

After hearing the story, Xu Lian's smile disappeared. She looked at her younger brother in fear.

Although Tao Tao was young, she vaguely understood that the wooden hairpin in her hand came from her uncle's dangerous adventure.

"You are not allowed to escort carriages anymore."

Xu Lian spoke sternly. Her tone of voice did not give Xu Ning any room for negotiation.

Tao Yunchuan also stared at Xu Ning without speaking, obviously agreeing with his wife's words.

Xu Ning knew that he couldn't argue with them, so he responded, "Okay, okay, okay… I won't escort carriages anymore.

If he went into Yunze Mountains to collect natural materials and sold them, he could also still earn a lot of income. There was no need to make his sister and brother-in-law worry.

Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian's expressions relaxed after Xu Ning agreed.

"Okay, let's eat."

Tao Yunchuan waved his hand and the family began to eat dinner.

…

Xu Ning was going to rest for two days before going into the mountains again.

The next morning, Xu Ning first went to pick up a few buckets of water before going outside the village. After cutting down some firewood in the forest, he brought them back to the village.

While Xu Ning was walking in the village, he felt that the people in the village were more friendly towards him.

Strangers would take the initiative to walk up and greet him, and acquaintances would often start a conversation. They praised his brave act of risking himself to rescue Tao Yungang and the others yesterday.

The story of Xu Ning fighting off the horse bandit leader and saving his people, had spread throughout the Tao Village.

"Xu Ning!"

Xu Ning carried firewood on his back, but before he got home, he heard someone calling for his name.

A girl holding a spear walked towards him.

"Tao Ye?"

Xu Ning recognized this person.

She was the granddaughter of Tao Jingxing, the head of the Tao Clan. She had collected the Spring Breeze Tactic prize with him.

"Brother Ning, you really are something."

Tao Ye came over and tapped Xu Ning's chest.

Xu Ning was a little uncomfortable.

"Using the intermediate realm Gale Knife Technique to fight against an inner enrichment realm warrior, how courageous."

Tao Ye had always thought that Xu Ning was in the elementary realm of the Gale Knife Technique. But yesterday, she found out that Xu Ning was already in the intermediate realm when they had received the rewards.

A 17-year-old elementary realm external skill user was nothing special, but being a 17-year-old intermediate realm external skill user was different.

With such a good cultivation of external skill, his internal skill would also be stellar.

"Everyone is too kind…" Xu Ning said humbly, "the enemy was killed by Uncle Gang, I just distracted the enemy, nothing more."