The spring rain had just cleared.

A gentle breeze swept from the foothills of the Great Heaven Mountain’s snowy peaks, across Jiangyun Prefecture in northern Qizhou, all the way to the official road of Wuling City.

There were quite a few travelers on the official road, mostly wanderers far from home and drifting merchants.

The cloth-clad young man lay on his back under a plum blossom tree, an old book covering his face, dozing off in the warm spring sun.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and a plum blossom petal, still damp with dew, fell from the tree, landing right in his palm.

"Hiss—"

Song Yan shivered, removed the miscellaneous book from his face, and opened his eyes.

When he emerged from the forest that day and inquired at a village at the foot of the mountain, he learned that this was Qizhou territory.

It was thousands of miles away from Cave Abyss Sect.

However, Qizhou was not far from Liangzhou, where Jiran Valley was located. If he were to go to Jiran Valley, he could reach it in three to five days by using his spiritual power.

Returning to Jiran Valley now would be too dangerous.

He might be casually accused of some trumped-up charge by those unreasonable Profound Origin Sect Elders and killed on the spot... Yet, scattering his cultivation and rebuilding it was precisely to clear his name. If he returned to the Sect on his own, it would seem like he had a guilty conscience.

After much thought, Song Yan still decided to return to the Sect first.

His life was important... Song Yan now only had a Qi Refining Early Stage cultivation...

He had rushed as fast as he could, but after three days, he still hadn’t entered Fengan Prefecture territory.

"If I had known, I should have found a town and hired a carriage..."

Song Yan looked into the distance and saw a teahouse ahead.

He had just woken up from a hazy nap and was very thirsty.

Since scattering his cultivation and rebuilding it, his Realm had fallen back to the Qi Refining Early Stage, and feelings like thirst, hunger, and spring fatigue became more intense.

Song Yan didn’t dislike these feelings; on the contrary, such sensations gave him a long-lost sense of "humanity."

The teahouse in front of him was quite large, with a second floor, and it seemed to offer lodging, like an inn.

Some people were drinking, some were having tea, their conversations ranging from north to south, and in this world of chance encounters, there was actually such a lively place.

"Uncle Tong, tea for the guest!"

"Coming right up!"

The tea was a bit hot, but fortunately, the morning was cold, and his lips quickly adjusted.

As the sweet, warm tea went down his throat, Song Yan immediately felt warm and thoroughly invigorated.

"Hey, Old Fang, when you came back from Wuling City, did the County Magistrate invite you for a drink?"

"Hey, you little rascal, are you making fun of this old man?"

Old Fang feigned anger, tapped his bowl, and glared with wide eyes.

Song Yan drank half a bowl of tea, propped his head with his hand, and listened with interest to the travelers chatting beside him.

The fantastical nature of some conversations could even rival the "Complete Collection of Immortal Dao Customs."

"The County Magistrate held a banquet for his daughter. Anyone who could enter the Bai Family’s threshold was a wealthy, powerful official. Why would you ask me, Old Man Fang, to go? To eat swill?!"

"Hahahahaha..."

Old Man Fang widened his eyes, feigning exasperation, making everyone in the teahouse laugh out loud.

"Yan Yan, where is Wuling?"

A small snake’s head poked out from his sleeve, which Song Yan quickly pressed back.

He lowered his voice and leaned into his embrace: "It’s the town we passed a couple of days ago, a bit further east."

Song Yan had passed near there while traveling a few days ago, but hadn’t stayed long.

"What’s the happy occasion for the County Magistrate?"

"It seems the County Magistrate’s daughter was chosen by a passing Immortal and will be taken to an Immortal Mountain to cultivate Immortal arts..."

"Ah?!"

"Old Man Fang, you mustn’t trick us."

"This... I also heard some rumors. I... I’m a rough man, how would I know what’s true or false."

Immortal... Song Yan was startled, suddenly remembering that Qizhou’s Jiangyun Prefecture was the territory of Hanging Sword Mountain, one of the Six Major Sects of Chu Kingdom.

Frowning slightly, he sighed softly: "It’s better to hurry on our way."

The weather was still good. Song Yan stood up, paid for his tea, and continued northward.

Following the direction of Cave Abyss Sect, he soon left the official road.

On the forest path, there were no longer any travelers around. Everything was silent, making it very peaceful.

Tap, tap, tap... Tap, tap, tap... A sound of horse hooves broke the original silence.

"Oh? A carriage!"

Song Yan was somewhat surprised. Looking into the distance, he saw three carriages traveling together. The foremost carriage was very large and moved steadily.

In front of the carriage, besides the two coachmen, sat an old man holding a sword, who should be a martial artist from the mundane Jianghu.

The two carriages behind were likely for carrying goods.

"Old Sir! Old Sir!"

Song Yan, eager to return to the Sect, no longer cared about anything else and called out loudly: "Could you give me a ride!"

The old man in front frowned, and after driving a little further, he stopped.

The carriage window curtain was pulled open, and several tender children’s faces, both boys and girls, crowded together.

The sword-holding old man looked Song Yan up and down: "Where are you from..."

"My name is Song Yesheng. I am originally from Fengan Prefecture, and this trip is to visit relatives in my hometown. Could you please..."

The sword-holding old man seemed like a Jianghu martial artist. For him to stop the carriage and listen to Song Yan speak was already a sign of his kind heart.

However, although he was willing to help, he seemed to have some concerns.

After a moment of contemplation, he still refused Song Yan: "Young brother, don’t blame this old man for being unsympathetic, but I have important matters to attend to and truly do not wish to create unnecessary complications."

"Uh... No problem, no problem."

In this world, it was normal to be wary of strangers.

"Grandpa Xie! Grandpa Xie, let him get on!"

"Yes, the carriage is very empty!"

"Stop messing around!"

"Grandpa Xie Xing, he looks like a scholar! He won’t be a bad person..."

Three or five children in the carriage poked their heads out, chirping away.

"..."

Xie Xing shook his head. These children were truly naive.

In the Jianghu, it was a simple trick to have a harmless-looking scholar or a beautiful young woman pretend to be returning home after an exam or fleeing from enemies, and then sneak into a caravan to rob it.

If Xie Xing were alone, he would have helped. He was accustomed to wandering the Jianghu and upholding justice.

But he dared not gamble with the lives of the five Xie Family disciples inside the carriage.

"My apologies."

Xie Xing was about to order to continue the journey when he noticed that the leading boy among the children had already jumped out of the carriage and pulled Song Yan’s sleeve.

"Hurry up and get in!"

"Xie Chuan! What are you doing?!"

"Grandpa Xie Xing, giving him a ride won’t be a problem."

The boy laughed playfully and said to Song Yan: "We’ll only take you for a short distance. Once we reach Fufeng City, you’ll have to walk on your own."

It was unclear if he was speaking to Song Yan or to the sword-holding old man.

"Sigh... Come on in."

"Thank you all! I have some travel money..."

Xie Xing waved his hand: "Since it’s on the way, I won’t ask for your money. Are you taking this old man for a highwayman?"

"Young man, when you travel the Jianghu in the future, don’t reveal your wealth so easily."

From these few words, Song Yan could tell that Xie Xing was a person who upheld justice.

"This Junior has learned a valuable lesson."

Song Yan had wanted to chat with these children, but he was worried that the sword-holding old man in front might suspect him of prying for information, so he didn’t say much.

But these children chattered away, revealing their family background and status clearly, making the old man in front of the carriage sigh repeatedly.

"We are from Southern Hong City and are going to Jiangyun Prefecture."

Southern Hong City?

Song Yan had heard of this place; it was south of Qiyuan Prefecture.

It was famous for producing clay figures and clay figurines.

He often saw them in merchants’ boxes and stalls at the Shiliang Town market; they were indeed lifelike.

When he was little, his grandfather had even bought him one, but he didn’t know where it had gone.

"Oh? Going to Jiangyun Prefecture, why take this road?"

It wasn’t impossible, but it was a detour, a bit off course.

Perhaps worried that the children might speak carelessly, Xie Xing took over the conversation.

"We have some business to attend to in Fufeng City."