Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 152 After Tonight...

After the crisis, most people have long sleepless nights, like frightened birds, until the warm wind from the south crosses thousands of mountains and rivers to awaken the sleeping early dawn in the north.

Flowers, birds, insects and fish are unaware of people’s worries and are still singing in the mountains.

The bonfire at night had gone out at some point. When the first rays of morning glow illuminated the earth, Zhao Qingluan stuck her head out from the cricket-pupa-like quilt. With sleepy eyes, she saw a figure moving slowly towards the morning glow.

There was heavy dew last night, and the surface of the quilt was already wet, but she had no time to care and was a little dazed.

But under the morning glow, the figure moved with the wind, leisurely and contented, as if he was a part of the world, like a free and idle cloud ready to fly away with the wind at any time, not far away, yet seemed to be far away in the horizon.

With this strange thought in mind, Zhao Qingluan sat up with legs bent, waved and said, "Good morning, young master."

She was still a little sleepy, her hair was slightly messy, and the tight skirt outlined her round hips with a beautiful curve. The morning breeze blew her hair, and the fiery morning sun seemed to have dyed her face rouge red, like a flower blooming in the morning with dewdrops on it.

The girl's youthful and lively beauty was fully reflected in her at this moment.

"Good morning, Miss Zhao," Chen Xuan turned around and said with a smile, continuing his soothing and calming exercises.

She felt a little embarrassed, not because of the sudden and fleeting thought, but because she, a grown-up girl, didn't get up as early as the other kid.

She stood up and stretched her muscles. She asked curiously, "Young Master, are you practicing the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises?"

"Miss Zhao has good taste," Chen Xuan responded with freehand movements.

Covering her mouth and smiling, she said: "What kind of vision is this? Everyone knows the Qigong of tranquility and health preservation. I can do it too, but it's useless."

"It's still useful. The teacher said that persistence can help you stay healthy and live longer."

"Haha, you believe this too? Speaking of which, you also practice martial arts, and you persist in practicing even though you know this technique is useless. It seems that your half-baked skills are not without reason." Zhao Qingluan said happily, and then he warned: "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean any harm, it's just a joke."

This girl has obviously forgotten yesterday's loss and is very heartless.

Chen Xuan didn't care and said, "It's okay."

"You are a scholar, right? You don't get up in the morning to read, but practice this useless thing. Should I say you are diligent or lazy?" She looked at him curiously and smiled.

After a few times, Chen Xuan had already begun to finish, and casually said: "Get up in the morning and move around, you will feel refreshed and it will be more conducive to reading."

"That's diligence. I'm a little ashamed. It seems I have to get up early and practice martial arts diligently in the future. Otherwise, if I meet that old guy next time, my skills won't improve and I won't be able to impress him to accept me as his disciple," she said with deep conviction, as if she had gained motivation.

The feelings haven't been forgotten, it's just that she was a senior yesterday, but today she has become an old thing. This girl is really naive.

After all, it is a good thing to be able to influence others for the good.

"Good morning, Brother Chen, and good morning to you, Miss Zhao," Gao Jingming also came out of the carriage, stretched, and greeted them.

Without waiting for Chen Xuan's response, Zhao Qingluan looked at Gao Jingming and said with a smile: "Young Master, you are embarrassing me. I dare not call myself a female hero in front of you. I was really grateful to you last night. Seeing your skills, I guess they are only slightly worse than mine. I am ashamed."

Gao Jingming still knows how to be modest. He shook his head and said, "I was lucky not to be attacked. For scholars like me, fighting and killing is really helpless. Miss Zhao, please forgive me for laughing at you."

"Oh my god, sir, look over there," Xiao Cai, who was dressed neatly, followed Gao Jingming out and pointed at the edge of the camp with her beautiful eyes wide open in surprise.

Looking in the direction she pointed, I saw a mess over there. There were many gullies and potholes within a radius of dozens of feet. Several big trees that were as big as a man's embrace were broken and collapsed, and many places were corroded to a shocking extent.

The scene looked like a beautiful ink painting that had been wantonly destroyed and graffitied.

Zhao Qingluan, who saw this scene, took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I didn't feel anything last night, but now seeing this situation, I know how dangerous it is. If it weren't for that senior, we would have become wandering ghosts long ago."

That kind of destructive power is beyond their ability to achieve, and it’s scary just thinking about it.

Chen Xuan smiled in his heart. Has he become a senior again?

"It's a blessing in disguise," Gao Jingming agreed seriously, but he looked at Chen Xuan inconspicuously, without saying a word.

Soon the camp became lively again. Xiao Cai, Xiao Ye and the others were busy cleaning and cooking, while Geng Hong and the others drove the livestock and horse-drawn carriages to a safe area to feed them, and Chen Xuan and the others took out books to read.

The breakfast was light, with meat porridge, goat milk, pickles and flatbreads, but it was quite rich. Zhao Qingluan, who had just returned from washing up at the stream upstream, had a free meal.

While eating, she chirped, "We'll set off soon. We'll go to the town and get the money from selling snakes yesterday. Then I'll buy a horse and some dry food for the gift. By then, the escort agency and the herbal medicine merchants will have gone their separate ways, and I have to continue north to Huizhou. By the way, young master, where are you going to visit your relatives?"

"Huizhou, my cousin's family has a new baby, let's go to celebrate and have a banquet," Gao Jingming said without hesitation.

Zhao Qingluan immediately smiled and said, "It's just right. We can go to Huizhou together and I can protect you along the way." Then she said seriously, "I was careless last night because I was inexperienced. You have also seen my abilities. Be vigilant from now on, and I will definitely protect you."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Gao Jingming said with a smile. This girl is actually very kind-hearted.

She waved her hand and said, "It's okay, you guys, it's just a matter of convenience. All you need to do is provide food on the way."

Well, it can be seen that she is not kind-hearted at all, she just wants to eat and drink for free, but she also found an excuse, anyway, she is a nice person.

"Then I'll have to trouble Miss Zhao," Chen Xuan said nonchalantly. There were still many days of journey ahead, and having more people to look after them would make things more lively. As long as no evil people were approaching with ill intentions, having more people wasn't a bad thing.

That's how it's decided.

To Chen Xuan and the others, he was just a passer-by they met on the road. They would eventually have to part ways. After all, they were not on the same path.

For Zhao Qingluan, as a man of the world, it is normal for people in the world to meet and make friends on the road. They come and go in a carefree manner. When they meet again in the future, they can drink and chat happily. There is no need to talk about the sadness of separation.

But she still doesn't understand that the people you meet when you first enter the world are the most profound. After you have experienced a lot, the people you meet later will lack the pure taste of the initial one.

Cherish every moment you have. Growth requires effort, both tangible and intangible, which cannot be fully expressed in words.

Being away from home is not like being at home, and the most important thing is to hurry on your way. After eating and drinking, the group packed up and continued on their journey. It was obvious that most of them wanted to leave this troubled place as soon as possible, as if the experience of last night had left them with a big shadow.

Even though they were far away, some people still couldn't help but look back to see the faint traces left by the old man in black robe. There was no life for several feet around him, and it was only waiting for nature to erase the traces over time.

Fortunately, the place where they camped was some distance away from the main road, otherwise the place where the poison had raged might have brought disaster to those who came later.

I'm lucky to have met a master, otherwise that would be my grave. If I had that kind of ability, I wouldn't have to worry so much, and I could go anywhere in the world...

A few hours later, Chen Xuan and his companions arrived at the first county town of Yezhou. After the money and goods were settled, most of them had to say goodbye here. If they had not spent time together in the Misty Mountain, they would not have met each other.

There is nothing to be reluctant to let go of, as we are all just passing by.

We wasted a little time here before continuing on our journey. Zhao Qingluan was traveling with us. She had bought a new horse and was still in the running-in period. She rode the horse back and forth a lot and was actually running in quickly.

The trip was delayed at Wuzhao Mountain yesterday, so Chen Xuan and his team had to speed up. If they didn't make up for the lost distance, it would disrupt a series of subsequent plans.

When there were no outsiders around, Zhao Qingluan also rode his horse to the front to have fun. Gao Jingming then came to Chen Xuan, who was lazily basking in the sun on the roof, and said in a 'tactful' way: "A Xuan, not bad."

He was referring to Chen Xuan's strength, but he didn't say it explicitly. It was something everyone knew.

Chen Xuan sat up and made room for him, saying nonchalantly, "It's okay."

"That's more than okay," Gao Jingming shook his head.

Smiling, Chen Xuan asked, "Master, what exactly do you want to say?"

"It's nothing. I just want to say that in the future, the two of us, one a scholar and the other a warrior, will definitely achieve something great," he patted Chen Xuan's shoulder and said with a smile.

Jiang Kai, who was driving the coach, had no idea what the two 'young masters' were saying.

The fact is that for guards like them, Chen Xuan's status in the Gao family is no different from that of a young master. In the future, when Gao Jingming takes charge of the family business, Chen Xuan's status will indeed rise to that of a grandfather.

Not hearing Chen Xuan's answer, Gao Jingming asked again: "Xuan, is that so?"

"Of course, this world is so big and so wonderful, we should all try our best not to be a passerby who leaves no trace after a period of time," Chen Xuan said with deep conviction.

Gao Jingming nodded happily.

Maybe they are not talking about the same thing at all...

As they continued to move north, the land became more and more desolate, similar to the loess plateau in Chen Xuan's hometown. The area is vast and sparsely populated, but that was only the case in Yezhou. It would get better when they reached Huizhou.

There are snow-capped mountains, grasslands, deserts, deep mountains and swamps on Huizhou's side. It is not the border of Jing State, but the environment of the state is complex and diverse.

The cultural scene is also quite diverse. Liuyu Academy, one of the three great academies of Jing State, is there. Hanshan Sword Sect, one of the five great righteous sects, is there. There are also merchants from the desert, as well as scholars and knights from neighboring countries to the north...

It is a wonderful place where literature and martial arts flourish. If you are knowledgeable and have outstanding martial arts skills, you will have many opportunities to become famous there.

After a few more days of boring journey, Chen Xuan and his companions had arrived at the junction of Yezhou and Huizhou. After crossing the border and setting foot on Huizhou territory, they would reach their destination in another day or two.

However, Yezhou is too vast and sparsely populated, so Chen Xuan and his companions had to sleep in the wilderness that night after crossing the border. This was something they had anticipated.

"Haha, I'm finally going to Huizhou. I'm here. I'll make a name for myself there," Zhao Qingluan cheered as she looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

We haven't arrived yet. We will set foot in Huizhou tomorrow.

No one spoiled her fun.

Chen Xuan's heart moved, and suddenly an idea came to him, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Calculating the time, it's been almost a month since the beginning of spring. I was delayed at Gao's house for a few days, and it took more than 20 days on the road...

"It's pretty much as I expected. With my power increasing day by day, even if I didn't take the initiative to open up my meridians, they will open up naturally under the influence of my internal energy. After tonight, I will reach the Xiantian realm!"

……

(End of this chapter)