Chapter 433 - 78: Creepy Captain
Chi Xi sniffed it and recognized it; it was a new drink from the tavern called beer.
She had spent quite a while in Helen Tavern, tasting a bit of various leftover drinks, but she had not yet tried this beer.
Even though she knew that this unfamiliar young man wouldn’t offer her a drink without a reason, she couldn’t help it because her alcohol craving was causing a ruckus in her stomach; Chi Xi took the drink and gulped it down in one go.
The refreshing beer with foam smoothly slid down her throat, bringing a velvety delicate sensation.
Chi Xi couldn’t help but let out a burp, she glanced at the other drink that the young man was holding in his hand and swallowed her saliva secretly.
"Young man, I recognize you. You are the foolish captain from the Second Generation Soldiers, are you asking me to join your Mercenary Team?" Chi Xi’s face, hidden beneath her messy hair, flushed, whether it was from the drink or excitement, it was hard to tell.
Yue Jinghua’s smile froze on her face, suppressing the anger in her chest, she still maintained an innocently harmless smile, "Good observation, but there’s one thing to correct, please address me as the captain of ’Great Wisdom as if Stupid,’ our Mercenary Team is currently short of people, if you join us, I guarantee you’ll have drinks every day and meat at every meal."
There’s no doubt, Yue Jinghua’s expression and motivation strongly resembled a creepy man luring a little girl with sugar candies.
Unfortunately, the girl in front of her was born forty years too early and clearly didn’t care about what Uncle Yue was offering.
"I’ll keep the drink, but as for joining the Mercenary Team, sorry, I’ve lost the interest to be a mercenary," Chi Xi snatched the drink from Yue Jinghua’s hands and greedily started drinking.
"What if I say, the invitation isn’t from the ’Second Generation Soldier’ Mercenary Team but from the Imperial Duke Mansion, would you still reject it outright," Yue Jinghua was not deterred but instead threw out another invitation.
Imperial Duke Mansion?
Chi Xi paused her gesture of stretching her neck to drink.
"Don’t deceive me, how would people from the Imperial Duke Mansion turn up in Five Saints Town, accustomed to the prosperity of the Imperial City, who would return to this godforsaken place," as if speaking about herself and also reflecting, Chi Xi nonchalantly tossed the empty bottle, her eyes looking dazed.
In her eyes, Yue Jinghua seemed to see a bustling Imperial City, where there lay the home Chi Xi longed for, the husband and son of her dreams.
"The Imperial Laws state that the Imperial Family is as the heavens, the offspring of the Royal Family are of a special bloodline, nobles have a first-class bloodline, servants and subjects hold a second-class bloodline, merchants and craftsmen possess a third-class bloodline, and civilians and those below are of a fourth-class bloodline. Chi Xi, you were born in the wilderness, both parents were mercenaries, and you’ve always worried about your mercenary status. You wished to escape the bonds of being a mercenary and finally married into a merchant family, thinking you could escape your original identity. Who knew, after twenty years of delusional dreams, you still ended up back at Xuan Beast Ridge, your birthplace. Others think you gave up on yourself because your husband’s family abandoned you and you were separated from your child, in reality, you are just unwilling to accept that years of effort were destroyed in an instant," The young man waved his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then Qin Dongting grabbed two bottles of wine and brought them over.
Upon hearing the young man’s words, Chi Xi froze, her previously hazy eyes suddenly ignited with fire.
Unexpectedly, her thoughts were seen through by a young mercenary she had met only once.
Chi Xi glared fiercely at Yue Jinghua, "What do you know? Do you think I want this? As a woman, with my average cultivation talent, if I don’t attach myself to a good man, my whole life I can only be an ordinary mercenary."
"A woman? Do you blame your lack of cultivation and poor encounters entirely on your gender? It’s truly laughable. In this world, no woman is born a woman by default. The so-called woman is made by the environment around her. Do not forget, among the Five Mercenary Kings, one is a woman who has even reached the ranks of the Ten Saints. Who says women are naturally useless? That’s just the excuse of a mediocre person who’s resigned to fate," Yue Jinghua drained her drink in one gulp and stared down at Chi Xi, "I, in the name of Imperial Blood Cherry Duke Mansion and the current Lord of Fengdan County, extend to you my sincerest invitation. Today, if you accept my invitation, when the Mercenary Team ’Second Generation Soldier’ rises, I promise you the title of First Female Knight in Duke Mansion."
"First Female Knight?!" Chi Xi’s body couldn’t help but sway.
The title of a knight by the side of nobility offspring was an incredibly prestigious honor.
As a mercenary, there are many paths one can take, from adventuring in Xuan Beast Ridge to hunt for Xuan Beast Xuan Pills, to becoming higher-level mercenaries who could become nobles or even cavalry of the Royal Family. However, the existence of top-level mercenaries, like reaching the Mercenary King, is something most mercenaries can only ever look up to in their lifetime.
For Chi Xi, a mercenary born from a lowly civilian background, the noble title of a knight was more tempting than even the most exquisite wine.
This young man beside her, although not wearing any nobility badge to mark his status,
yet from his speech and demeanor, the elegant aura he exudes even when drinking, and the tales spreading through town these days about the actions of the "Second Generation Soldier" Mercenary Team, it’s not hard to guess that this team, seemingly composed entirely of rookies, might indeed receive backing from an influential noble of the Empire.
"Let me think it over," Chi Xi murmured, heart stirred by a tempest of emotions that had been silent for years due to Yue Jinghua’s unique demeanor or perhaps the wine.
However, Chi Xi was not a greenhorn mercenary like Weiwei and knew that Yue Jinghua’s words couldn’t be fully trusted.
She couldn’t tie herself to this precariously small team based merely on an acquaintance; she must be careful and prudent, perhaps it’s best to verify his real background further.
"What else is there to consider? You have no youth to squander, nor family or friends to consult; Chi Xi, it’s time for you to gamble for yourself, to show that heartless person in Imperial City and your matured child that their mother is not just a drunken woman who gives up on herself," Yue Jinghua’s voice, like a blade from hell, and her gaze, like a century-old fine wine, irresistibly drew her in.
Chi Xi felt herself completely sinking in, almost unconsciously, she nodded her head, agreeing to Yue Jinghua’s request.
And so, "Second Generation Soldier" Mercenary Team, after half a year, finally assembled five official members, and they were at last ready to start accepting team mercenary missions.