Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 141 Partnering
At noon three days later, Chen Xuan and his companions had arrived at the border between Fengzhou and Yezhou along the official road.

We had made a detailed plan in advance and knew how much distance we would travel each day. Therefore, we did not have to sleep in the wilderness for several days and stayed overnight in inns in towns.

However, the conditions on the road are relatively difficult. You have to eat and drink in the car, and bring your own dry food and cold drinks.

But the so-called hardship is only relative to the towns, and it can't be considered as suffering. The dry food is not hard steamed buns and biscuits, but meat patties, braised meat, roast chicken and the like. The water is not cold to drink, but can be heated by using internal force to activate fierce martial arts.

If they weren't traveling long distances, they would be no different from just taking a leisurely outing.

However, after a few days of traveling, one is inevitably a little dusty, even if one washes up in the town inn every day, the dust can still be removed.

As they continued to move north, the area became increasingly sparsely populated, and sometimes there was no sign of human habitation for dozens of miles. This was why Chen Xuan had expected to have to sleep in the wilderness.

It is normal for states to be sparsely populated, and it will be much better if you go deeper into the region.

The road between Fengzhou and Yezhou is blocked by a mountain range. It is not steep, but it can be said to be full of mountains. The vegetation is not lush. However, unless it is a sunny day, this straight line that crosses the mountain range for dozens of miles is often shrouded in clouds and fog, so it is called the Fog-covered Mountain.

Unless one uses advanced lightness skills or rides a flying mount to cross, not many people can cross in a straight line. The official road along the mountain winds around for at least eighty miles, and once you get there you will be in Yezhou.

There were three carriages, and Chen Xuan took the last one, not because he wanted to stay behind and guard the rear. On the surface, he was only eleven years old and his internal strength was shallow, so it would not be his turn even with Geng Hong and the others around.

It was because the upper half of the car's space was filled with many luggage and gifts, so it was quite spacious for Chen Xuan to ride alone. It was not convenient for him to squeeze into the same car with Gao Jingming, Xiao Cai and others, nor did he have to share a ride with Geng Hong and others.

Leaning against a thick quilt, Chen Xuan was leisurely reading a book, glancing out of the car from time to time. The fog at the foot of the mountain was getting closer.

What he read was not martial arts secrets or poetry books, but vernacular novels, which were quite interesting.

However, from Chen Xuan's perspective, the content of this novel is lively and interesting, but the wording and sentences seem a bit immature, as if written by a young person with an uncertain mind. I don't know what ability the author named Tingfeng Jushi has to publish such a "immature" novel. I have never heard of any other works by this author before.

The title of the book is "Lingyun Ji". The content is roughly about a young hero who has achieved success in martial arts and raised a crane that can carry people to fly. He and the crane are the story of how they traveled the world.

It's mostly all compact content about helping the weak and suppressing the strong, which is quite interesting at first, but when there's too much of it and no other aspects to diversify it, it becomes a bit monotonous.

Chen Xuan seriously suspected that the author named Tingfeng Jushi was a person who did not understand martial arts, because a lot of the content about martial arts did not match the facts. Chen Xuan even suspected that the other party was yearning for the freedom of people in the martial arts world and thus fantasized about the content.

This book is serialized. Chen Xuan is currently reading the first volume, and the subsequent volumes have not yet been released.

If I have time, I can write a letter to the author to discuss the follow-up content, but I don’t know if he will pay attention to me.

In this era, if you like a work, you can write a letter directly to the author. You can even criticize the author, but whether the author will pay attention or not is another matter. Gao Jingming, who was still young at the time and could read a few words, also wrote a letter to the author of The Legend of the White Horse Swordsman, but his letter fell into oblivion.

Of course, the letter is not sent directly to the author, but to the bookstore address left at the back of the book. They will forward it at their discretion, and it is still unclear whether it will reach the author.

If you are lucky, this way we can have something to talk about and even become pen pals.

There are many such situations here. People become close friends through correspondence, but have never met in their lives and cannot make video calls. This can avoid the embarrassing situation of being rejected in public, and it is more of a beautiful thought.

After turning a few more pages, Chen Xuan felt the carriage stop and couldn't help asking, "Why did it stop?"

One of the guards driving the carriage, Jiang Kai, was a man in his thirties, skilled in wielding an iron rod that reached his eyebrows. He replied, "Xuan'er, there seems to be something going on up ahead. I saw a few carriages parked at the foot of the foggy mountain. Brother Geng has already gone over to get the details."

"Let's hear what Uncle Geng has to say later," Chen Xuan nodded.

He also saw the situation ahead. The carriages were obviously not together. Half of them were pulling cargo covered with oilcloth. There was a faint smell of medicinal herbs. There were only about ten people divided into two or three small groups. The atmosphere was not tense, but a few of them had worried expressions.

Seeing Geng Hong coming back, Chen Xuan got out of the car and walked forward. Although Chen Xuan also listened to Geng Hong's negotiations and understood most of the content with his strong hearing ability, he still listened to Geng Hong's narration first.

He explained to Gao Jingming, who was also puzzled, "Sir, there is nothing wrong up ahead. It's just that those people stopped at the foot of the foggy mountain and didn't dare to cross the mountain. They planned to stay and wait for more people to go together."

"Why is this?" Gao Jingming asked in silence.

Geng Hong pointed to the misty Wuzhao Mountain and said, "Sir, I heard that after the spring, pythons appeared on Wuzhao Mountain. They are as thick as buckets and more than ten feet long. They can swallow cattle and horses in one gulp. Ordinary swords and knives are difficult to injure. Many people have suffered from them recently, so they are afraid to go there. The government has posted a notice at the foot of the mountain and offered a reward. They haven't eliminated this threat yet. I think it is true."

"Is that so? We do need to be careful. What should we do then?" Gao Jingming pondered and asked Geng Hong for his opinion. He had no intention of forcing his way in on his own.

The python, as thick as a bucket, was over ten feet long. Although they were all skilled in martial arts, they didn't know its specifics. If they encountered it, it would be dangerous, so they had to be cautious. Geng Hong was also a little embarrassed, and said in a tangled manner, "It's probably true. It's normal for pythons to revive after the spring. If it was just an ordinary python, we wouldn't be afraid of it growing that big. I'm just worried that it's a strange beast with unique features, such as scales like iron, the ability to spit poisonous mist, or even fire and ice. We wouldn't be able to fight it."

Hearing this, Gao Jingming touched the dragon horn pendant under his collar inconspicuously. With this thing, most strange beasts would automatically avoid him unless they were at the level of a dragon. However, this kind of thing could not be taken lightly.

He hesitated and said, "Master Geng, what do you mean? Go with them and wait until there are more people to travel together?"

"I think so too. It's better to be safe than sorry. But if we do this, I'm afraid we'll miss the time and won't be able to set foot in Yezhou and enter the town to spend the night before dark," Geng Hong nodded.

Gao Jingming thought seriously for a moment, looked at Chen Xuan and asked, "Brother Chen, what do you think?"

Looking towards the direction of Wuzhao Mountain, Chen Xuan pondered and said, "It's all OK. Brother Gao is the one who makes the decision."

In his heart, Chen Xuan couldn't say that he didn't care, but he didn't take it too seriously either. He had never seen a ten-foot-long python before, and he didn't know its details. He was not completely sure that he could deal with it. To be honest, he was not too scared. Anyway, Gao Jingming was the one who made the decision, and he could do whatever he wanted.

"Then let's wait. If there are more people, we can go together and at least we can look after each other. It's better to waste some time than to lose our lives. At most, we can speed up after we cross the mountain," Gao Jingming finally decided.

So it was decided that we would wait here for more people, but only before noon. The people in front also thought so. By then, they would have to cross the mountain no matter what, otherwise there would not be enough time left. It would be even more dangerous at night. We couldn't just wait until the next day in this wilderness.

Not to mention Chen Xuan and the others who were in a hurry, others were even more hurried, especially those who delivered the medicinal materials. One day earlier or later was related to reputation issues and also to money. It was hard-earned money, so wouldn't it cost them their lives?

Knowing that Chen Xuan and the others were waiting here for their companions, the people in front were naturally happy. After all, Geng Hong, Zhao Erhe and the others were all strong and powerful, and traveling together would greatly increase their safety. Therefore, some people sent wine and food to build relationships, but they were politely declined by Chen Xuan and the others. It wouldn't be wrong to be careful.

While waiting, Chen Xuan and the others also ate something to feed the horses. Xiao Cai and Xiao Ye did not show up to avoid unnecessary trouble due to their appearance, so they made a temporary fire to cook something hot.

After waiting for more than half an hour, another group of people came here, about ten people, eight horses and a carriage, with a flag. They were escorts from an escort agency. They asked about the situation very vigilantly. When they learned that there was a python, they stayed and waited for more people to join them. However, they had to be more vigilant and cautious than anyone else on the escort mission.

Time gradually approached noon, and no more people came. Including Chen Xuan and his group, there were about twenty or thirty people in total. More than half of them had some martial arts skills, and the scale was quite large. Therefore, everyone unanimously decided to cross the mountain together. If they were any later, there would not be enough time.

Even so, it was almost dark after we passed this mountain range, and we didn't have time to get to the town, but we had passed the most dangerous section of the road.

Just as they were getting ready to set off, another person came riding quickly from behind.

It turned out to be a woman, wearing a blue and black long skirt, with a striking figure and a pretty face. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail on top of her head, fixed with a jade hairpin. She looked very heroic, and a silver-white metal spear was hung on the side of her horse.

Judging from her face, the woman was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, not much older than Xiao Cai and the others. She had a silver dragon-mouth shoulder armor on her left shoulder, wrist guards on her arms, and a plate-sized breastplate on her bulging chest. She was obviously dressed like a person from the martial arts world.

It is a serious crime for ordinary people to wear armor without permission. The protective gear on this woman cannot be considered armor, so it is a skirting of the law.

She came to this place and pulled her horse to a sudden stop. She looked around and asked curiously in a clear voice, "Why are so many of you gathered here?"

His demeanor clearly showed that of a newborn calf who was not afraid of a tiger. His eyes were clear and innocent, as if he was curious about everything. He was obviously a rookie in the world.

"This girl doesn't know...", someone in front took the initiative to step forward and explain the situation.

After learning the whole story, the woman pretended to be serious, but then she smiled, twisted her body, grabbed the spear and jumped across several feet. The spear hummed, and the two-inch ice-blue light at the tip of the spear flickered. With a whistling sound, it pierced through an old pine tree like tofu that required two or three people to hug.

Immediately, she bent her body, tapped the pine tree with her toes, and easily pulled out her spear and flew back to her horse's back, without ever landing on the ground.

When she did this, many people present were surprised.

Looking at everyone's reactions, the woman smiled smugly and said, "What do you think? Can my martial arts skills withstand the foggy mountain? If the giant python appears, can I kill it?"

"Miss, you are very skilled. Would you like to go with us across the mountain? We can have someone to look after you." Someone immediately cheered with a flattering tone.

The woman bowed cheerfully and said, "Very well, very well. We are children of the Jianghu, and meeting is destiny. Let's go across the mountain together. I will definitely protect you."

"May I ask your name, young lady?" Someone immediately tried to get close to her. With a woman of such skill traveling with him, he should be in a safe position.

The girl raised her chin slightly and bowed again, saying, "I will always keep my name, Zhao Qingluan. Everyone, please remember this, this is my first step into the martial arts world."

Hearing her name, Chen Xuan was stunned and couldn't help but look at her again. Zhao Qingluan, isn't this the eldest daughter of the Zhao family in Luoshi County? How could he meet her like this?
Not to mention Chen Xuan, many people present looked at her strangely, probably having heard that she was 'currently' holding a martial arts competition to find a husband...

(End of this chapter)