On the road, the Young Miss and Nangong Suxin read through Xiaoyao's books - one on military strategy, one on formation techniques, one on combat skills, and one on emergency medical treatment and survival.
These books all had one common characteristic - they were all written by the same person's hand. The Young Miss and Nangong Suxin could tell at a glance that this was Xiaoyao's handwriting.
Even if these were just Xiaoyao's handwritten copies, the two already felt they were very precious and would study these books thoroughly. In fact, these books weren't simple handwritten copies - the content was the most incisive and effective, with some things they had never seen before. Clearly, Xiaoyao had revised and compiled them himself, including some of his own thoughts.
Rather than books, these were more like several notebooks. Xiaoyao had highlighted all the key points and customized everything according to their specific conditions. Therefore, these books were most useful for the two of them - if it were others, the effect would be somewhat diminished.
These were exactly what they currently needed and could save them a lot of time. They might not need other things yet, but the combat skills would be immediately useful. Their sword techniques weren't suitable for charging into battle formations - using their previous sword techniques wouldn't allow them to display their full strength.
The combat techniques Xiaoyao designed for them could maximize their combat power when charging into battle. Maximum combat power naturally meant maximum enemy elimination, which reduced enemy attacks and maximized their survival chances.
Xiaoyao's books allowed the two to perform exceptionally well on the battlefield, advancing from common soldiers to incredible positions at a jaw-dropping speed. This was something no one had anticipated, as there were too many variables and coincidences involved.
Of course, currently all this had nothing to do with Xiaoyao. He continued living his leisurely days at the Le family - at least on the surface.
Secretly, it wasn't that the Le family mistreated him, but that he was doing some "unspeakable" things...
...
...
"Failed again today?"
In a certain place in the Le family, a middle-aged man frowned and asked somewhat coldly. The person facing him was now trembling, seemingly understanding he was about to receive punishment.
"Yes. We didn't even see anyone..."
"Tell me, what exactly is the reason? We've already protected this place so tightly that not even a fly could get in, so why did someone still manage to get inside?!"
"This... your subordinate doesn't know. This really doesn't make sense. We've guarded all the passages and arranged people to watch inside, but he still managed to switch the contents!"
The person opposite shook his head, brows tightly furrowed. Regarding this matter, he only felt it was supernatural, because it completely defied common logic.
"Could our opponent be a ghost?" the middle-aged man asked coldly.
"This... perhaps..."
"Slap!" The middle-aged man angrily struck the table. "Perhaps!! You actually say perhaps. If there really were ghosts, why didn't this happen before? Also, if it were ghosts, why would they need to take things away? They could read everything here!!"
"But we've already done this much and still can't catch anyone - we can't even see a shadow! This kind of skill - if it's not ghosts, then it must be the god of thieves among thieves!" The man frowned. "But if it really were them, this would be too strange. They have no reason to do such boring things!! This doesn't serve their interests!!!"
The middle-aged man was silent for a while, then sighed, "Indeed it doesn't serve their interests. If it were master thieves, they wouldn't come to this small scripture pavilion to steal books, and certainly not so many times, returning the previously stolen books each time! There's absolutely no reason for this, and we can't think of who would have such reasons!!"
That's right, this place was the Le family's small scripture pavilion. Three months ago, they discovered signs that someone had been tampering with the small scripture pavilion, so they paid special attention and indeed found someone had been handling the stored books.
So the Le family began preparing to catch the culprit, but subsequent events made them feel things became somewhat incredible. Initially, they didn't take it very seriously, feeling that someone stealing books here should be a minor character who could be easily caught.
Because the current situation was that this book thief hadn't actually stolen the books, but was merely coming to borrow and return books each time - the purpose was only to read.
This situation made the Le family's first reaction that it was an inside job - it should be someone in the family who wanted to read the books inside but didn't have permission, so could only take them secretly.
Although the Le family wasn't very opposed to studious people, secretly taking things like this was a serious problem. They wouldn't allow this situation to continue. After catching the person, they felt they would punish them according to circumstances.
But afterward, they discovered the situation far exceeded their expectations. They repeatedly increased security, but repeatedly came up empty, while the books inside continued to be switched. For three months, the same thing happened every few days.
Today, they had nearly maximized their defensive capabilities, but still couldn't stop their opponent!
Such a person was definitely not ordinary, nor would they be someone from within the Le family, because they didn't believe the Le family had such a character. Such a person would be a top-tier figure even across the entire continent.
What was incomprehensible was what purpose this person had. Was it really just to read the books inside? If so, he must have read quite a lot already.
Because the Le family only discovered this three months ago - as for how long this situation had been going on before, no one knew!
Regardless, this person currently just seemed to be borrowing books and hadn't done anything harmful to the Le family - he was a potential danger that was temporarily harmless.
But this was still a danger, so the Le family naturally wanted to resolve it. At the same time, they didn't want this to continue because this behavior was a slap in the face - if word got out, the Le family would lose all dignity.
Being entered and exited so freely while being unable to catch anyone, not even seeing a shadow - this would be humiliating anywhere.
It was this humiliation that made the Le family very tense now, using all their strength for defense, but still unable to defend successfully. This made them escalate the incident, feeling there was a master behind this who might have other purposes.
The certain someone who was the actual culprit didn't know about these circumstances and was still brazenly reading his book. No one knew that the book in his hands was actually from the small scripture pavilion.
This person was Xiaoyao, and he had been continuing this for almost a year now. Shortly after entering the Le family, he had found the small scripture pavilion's location and began "borrowing books" from inside.
From that time, Xiaoyao always had a book in his hands - a book that appeared never to change on the surface. What never changed was actually the book cover, which was always the same, while the books inside kept switching, sometimes changing ten or twenty times a day.
Some people had also looked at Xiaoyao's book, but it was always switched back to the original when they did, so they all knew Xiaoyao liked to read a book when bored - this might be a hobby.
When the matter was discovered, Xiaoyao's habit had long been accepted by everyone. No one would suspect Xiaoyao, and even if they did, it would quickly be dismissed.
If Xiaoyao had this ability, how could he be trapped at the Le family by Le Youran? Also, everyone knew that during this year, Xiaoyao still hadn't broken through basic skills. Although his Divine Farmer internal energy was already very deep, he still hadn't broken through.
Also, the book Xiaoyao carried had a very famous name...
"Le Xiaoyao, what are you still looking at those erotic pictures for? Hurry up and come with me!" Le Youran appeared before Xiaoyao, closed the book in his hands, then prepared to drag him somewhere.
That's right, this book was erotic pictures. Xiaoyao felt that such wonderful books as erotic pictures could be read endlessly, and always carrying such a book wouldn't make people suspicious of anything - at most he'd be called a pervert.
Xiaoyao had an explanation for this, which he called, "I'm researching sexuality and health cultivation - this is medicine. Don't be so crude!!"
"Why don't you research dual cultivation techniques!" Le Youran said irritably.
"I've researched that too - it's a mysterious art from Taoist sects. I just haven't found a partner to practice with. Are you interested?" Xiaoyao replied.
"Get lost!!" Le Youran shouted angrily, then continued pulling Xiaoyao along quickly.
"Le Youran, where are you dragging me?" Xiaoyao asked. Looking at Le Youran's manner, she seemed very urgent, as if something had happened.
But Xiaoyao felt strange - what did any incident have to do with him? He had never participated in other matters here, and Le Youran was clear about this.
"To the imperial palace!" Le Youran replied.
"Not going!" Xiaoyao said very decisively, without even asking questions.
"Eh, why don't you even ask questions before directly saying you won't go? Going to the imperial palace has benefits!!" Le Youran slowed her pace, looking at Xiaoyao somewhat puzzled.
"The imperial palace is where all the world's troubles gather. You're dragging me there because you've encountered a troublesome matter that needs my abilities to solve. For me, no matter what, such things are just trouble! And I don't want anything, so going would just increase my troubles with no benefits!!" Xiaoyao said.
"This... indeed, for you it's trouble, and the benefits are mine! Alright, how about this - let's exchange conditions, or you propose a condition and I'll see if I can satisfy it!" Le Youran stopped, trying to negotiate with Xiaoyao. She seemed to have lost her previous domineering attitude…
(End of Chapter)