The carriage moved slowly and stopped at the gate of a large courtyard with a guesthouse sign hanging over it.

This courtyard was probably the largest in the entire village. It was evident that it was not originally used as a guesthouse but more like a residence for a well-off family.

Inside the spacious courtyard was a two-story house, and it looked like there was more than just this one; there seemed to be another set of courtyards at the back.

The courtyard was very desolate, with weeds growing out of the neat gaps between the stones, pushing them askew. The two wooden doors outside the fence were also dilapidated, full of large and small holes and damage.

As soon as the carriage arrived at the door, a woman ran out from inside.

The woman was dressed in narrow-sleeved coarse cloth clothes, with an indistinctly mismatched color, and around her waist was a dark red apron hanging down below her knees.

Zhu Yu’s gaze lingered on her dark red apron for a while, finding it very conspicuous.

Generally, whether in Jin Country or Shuo Country, ordinary people would tie a simple linen apron on themselves when cooking, to prevent grease from dirtying their clothes and to conveniently wipe their hands.

Butchers or those selling meat in butcher shops, fearing bloodstains, would wear black leather aprons, which could be easily cleaned of blood after slaughtering.

Zhu Yu had never seen anyone using such a color for an apron. As the carriage got closer, she looked carefully and found that the dark red was not very clean, with some mottled stains blending with the base color, hard to distinguish.

But in Zhu Yu’s eyes, those stains were glaringly obvious.

Those stains were clearly bloodstains! She had seen such marks too many times.

Therefore, that woman deliberately wore such a dark red apron to make the bloodstains less conspicuous.

While thinking this, the woman had already approached the carriage with a beaming smile, amiably greeting the talisman: "Gentlemen, would you like to stay at the inn?"

Glancing at the woman’s sun-darkened, rough skin and the faint wrinkles on her face, the talisman estimated her to be at least forty years old. That forced coquettish "gentleman" sent a shiver down his spine.

"Is there a vacant room in your guesthouse?" The talisman nodded at her. "I’d like to see if it’s clean and comfortable."

Our master and mistress are particular about where they stay."

"Yes, we have plenty of empty rooms, you’re lucky to come when it’s not busy. In our guesthouse, you can choose any room you like!

Come with me, I’ll show you around," the woman said warmly, trying to appear charming, while tucking her hair behind her ear.

Zhu Yu’s gaze swept over the calluses on her palm, then looked at her own, and grabbed Lu Qing’s hand to check his palm, smiling.

Her hands originally had calluses, specifically at the thumb pads near the joints on both hands, with faint, persistent long pressure marks on her fingertips.

Though now her hands were soft and tender, the memory of calluses and marks was etched in her mind.

Lu Qing’s hands were even more telling, with thin calluses on the tips of his ring, middle, and index fingers on his right hand, from practicing archery with bowstrings.

Lu Chao, who seemed reserved and quiet, actually had even thicker finger calluses than Lu Qing, so without asking further, Zhu Yu could guess he looked frail but was a skilled archer.

Besides the fingertip calluses, Lu Qing also had calluses at the thumb, index finger, and the web of his hand, with a patch on the palm below the finger roots, formed from practicing swordplay.

The woman with the appearance of a proprietress had calluses in similar positions on her hands.

In other words, this woman wasn’t typically involved with arithmetic or kitchen work; she also handled knives and swords.

She was a female mountain bandit!

After all, a proprietress who needed to attract customers wouldn’t greet guests without any honorifics.

It’s not a mistake a businessperson would make.

The talisman jumped off the carriage and followed the woman inside to inspect the rooms, while behind the carriage, a few people had quietly gathered outside the courtyard gate, seemingly prepared to stop the carriage if they didn’t choose a room, unwilling to let potential prey escape.

However, with the sun high in the sky, these bandits dared not be too blatant, peeking around like ordinary villagers, a not too clever but cautious trick.

Clearly, they were trying hard to pretend this was just an ordinary village, avoiding outside suspicion.

Knowing they intended to attack stealthily, Zhu Yu actually felt relieved.

She could guess Lu Qing’s mindset; if these bandits were too mindless and resorted to blatant robbery, Lu Qing’s plan wouldn’t work.

Soon enough, the talisman and the woman returned, apparently having inspected the rooms, and from her broad smile, the talisman must have told her they intended to stay.

"You’ve got a good eye! I’m telling you, within a radius of ten or twenty miles, our village is the only one with a guesthouse!

If you pass this inn today, there won’t be another one! Even if you leave now, you might not find another place to stay until tomorrow morning!"

She added mysteriously, "Not to frighten you, but I’ve heard that ten miles further... there are mountain bandits!"

The talisman appeared a bit nervous as he glanced at her, "Really? We’ve already decided to stay here, don’t scare me! If there are bandits just ten miles out... Doesn’t that mean it’s not safe here either?"

"How could that be possible!" As if unprepared for the talisman’s line of thinking, the woman hesitated but quickly changed her tone, "Whether it’s true, our village has never encountered them; it’s just a rumor.

You can rest assured; our lads are strong and tough, no bandits would dare trouble us!

Just settle down and stay peacefully!"