Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 53 - 29: Will It Become the Shame of the Transmigrator?_2

Chapter 53: Chapter 29: Will It Become the Shame of the Transmigrator?_2

Are your brains full of holes?

"Wait, come back first!" He quickly stretched out his arm like Er Kang, trying to stop her and say a few more words to smooth things over. He really didn’t want that head, but Ah Man ignored him completely, slipped away lightning fast, and as soon as the door curtain lifted, she was gone.

For a moment, only he and Ah Qing were left in the room, facing each other in silence.

A casual joke turning into this—Harano was completely caught off guard. Plus, he wasn’t really close to this "weird kid" Ah Qing at all, so after a long moment of speechlessness, he forced a smile at her and said, "Alright, alright, it was just a joke, no need to be so serious. You don’t have to take it to heart... Hmm, you go out and play too! Just treat it like nothing ever happened!"

He started to regret it. As an adult, he really shouldn’t have bet his head with a kid. If he’d known, he’d rather have fired an arrow into the dirt and lost three coins to her!

Need to remember this lesson: ancient people actually take head-betting seriously—really ready to give you the head. It’s going to be the end of me!

Ah Qing was still kneeling there. She raised her head and glanced at him coolly before lowering it again, staying silent for a long time. Only her fists resting on her knees slowly tightened again—Harano was benevolent enough, so she didn’t feel humiliated anymore. But according to the bet, Harano not chopping off her head was already kindness; she should temporarily obey his orders and follow his instructions. But to obey a stranger—that sense of shame surged up again, making it hard for her to speak.

She already didn’t like talking to strangers; now it was even harder.

Harano waited quite a while, but she still said nothing. Internally, he was frantically ranting that this really was a "weird kid" and had no idea how to get her to leave. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he noticed her little fists tightening even more, and his pupils involuntarily shrank. His expression became instantly alert as he subconsciously gripped the iron-wood bow at hand—he never understood what was going on in this strange kid Ah Qing’s mind. What if she felt humiliated and suddenly pulled out a shuriken and charged at him...

He’d just barely managed to find his footing after all sorts of trouble—if he got stabbed to death because he joked around with that wild kid Ah Man, he’d become a disgrace to all transmigrators, right?

Luckily, before his nerves could finish fraying, Ah Qing’s little fists slowly loosened again. She finally spoke to him for the first time, eyes lowered and voice soft: "It wasn’t a joke. If Sister Ah Man won, even if she had to steal, she’d get her hands on those three coins. So if we lost, we lost, and should keep to the bet. You don’t need to... worry about us."

I wasn’t worrying about you at all, but glad you’re finally willing to talk! Harano secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quietly adjusting his sitting posture and using an extra gentle tone: "Still, that’s something between me and Ah Man—not related to you. Really, you should just... go out and play!"

"It is related to me. Sister Ah Man’s business is my business." Ah Qing remained stone-faced, eyes lowered, repeating coldly, as her little fists began to tighten again on her knees—Harano was so generous and above it all; in that case, all the more reason for her to persist. Even if she had to bear the shame, she couldn’t let a guy like him ever look down on her sister, think her sister was shameless.

Harano’s gaze tensed up again, starting to feel scared of those little fists. He also remembered what Ah Man said before—that she was stubborn as a mule and needed to be treated gently. And really, thinking about it, it wasn’t a big deal. The fact that the two of them valued integrity was better than having no integrity at all. Strictly speaking, that was a good thing.

As for this dogshit bet, he’d find an opportunity someday... Well, can’t make it too obvious—next time that little rascal Ah Man came to bet again, he’d just deliberately lose and "win" her back. Shouldn’t be a big deal.

His mind worked at lightning speed, and he figured there was no point arguing with a stubborn mule—safety first. He immediately nodded repeatedly, voice three times gentler: "So that’s how it is. I completely get where you’re coming from! As expected, you Koka people really value your word—quite admirable! So... let’s just leave it at that for now, alright? You just keep on as you are, and no need to talk about heads or whatever. We’ll sort out the rest later, okay?"

Just got to talk her out of here—this weird kid is a bit scary!

"Yes!" Ah Qing didn’t mind. She wasn’t afraid of dying, but she didn’t want to die either. She hesitated for a second, then softly asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

Is there anything I need you to do...

Honestly, there’s nothing I actually need you to do. If I encounter anything I can’t handle, I can just ask your sister—makes no difference whether you’re here or not!

But Harano wasn’t crazy, so of course he didn’t say that. After a quick spin of the gears in his head, he smiled gently: "From what I’ve seen, you spend a lot of time training your martial arts. You must be pretty good. So how about... you take charge of security! Yeah, you protect everyone, okay? How does that sound?"

Ah Qing hesitated a moment, feeling she could handle that. She really was good at martial arts; most people couldn’t beat Ah Man, but she could easily put down three or four Ah Mans at once, so she had some confidence in her fighting skills.

She stacked her hands in front of her, bowed and pressed her forehead to her hands, and said softly: "Understood. Please leave it to me!"

"Great! That’s settled then!" Harano heaved a huge sigh of relief. No way was he betting heads with anyone ever again—it was just asking for trouble. In ancient times, you really had to watch what you said, or else you could lose your life at any moment!

He felt this was the end of the matter. He just had to remember the lesson, immediately grabbed a sheet of paper, and started doodling some nonsense he didn’t even understand, to make himself look busy with important military affairs so she could take her leave.

Go wherever you want, play with the little monkey if you like, train martial arts if you want—whatever, he didn’t care, and didn’t really need her protection either.

"Yes!" Ah Qing answered again, then moved to kneel quietly in a corner of the earthen platform, head bowed, gaze fixed on the floor, motionless.

Harano was struck dumb again. Why are you still sitting there? I told you to leave! Seriously, how can someone be so stubborn and oblivious? I’m getting nervous with you here—my back’s starting to sweat!

He gave up. Kind of wanted to wave his sleeve with a dramatic "Leave my presence!" but then worried this stubborn kid would just kneel by the door, catch a chill, and come down with something, so he just endured it in silence, continuing to scribble like he was busy, and mentally updated her tag from [weird kid] to [weird, extremely stubborn kid].

As he was feeling all numb, the straw curtain at the door lifted, and Yayoi peeked in, kneeling and showing half her little face, reporting in a soft voice, "Sir Saburō, there is a messenger from Hosokawa Castle requesting an audience. Do you have time right now?"

"A messenger from Hosokawa Castle?" Business at last. Harano’s mind instantly sharpened, tossing Ah Qing aside, suddenly no longer feeling awkward. His mind started spinning—who’s looking for him, and for what reason, was it good or bad? Out loud, he politely said, "Please let him in!"