Chapter 115: Chapter 113: Huai Mountain County, Hundred Miles of Desolation

## Step 1: Contextual Analysis

Literary genre: Chinese web novel/cultivation novel with martial arts elements (wuxia/xianxia)

Language style: Casual narrative style with dialogue, internal thoughts, and descriptions. The language includes martial arts terminology and cultural references to Chinese traditions.

Tone: The tone is generally serious with occasional moments of humor or lightness. It has elements of suspense and danger, particularly when describing the bandits.

Plot keywords: Martial arts, journey, bandits, New Year celebrations, survival, disguise, red-turbaned soldiers, ambush, archery

Characters:

- 武良辰 (Wu Liangchen): Male protagonist, seems to be a skilled martial artist with archery skills

- 武梦婵 (Wu Mengchan): Female character, appears to be Wu Liangchen’s sister

- 杨莲儿 (Yang Lian’Er): Female character, traveling with Wu Liangchen and Wu Mengchan

- 刘东川 (Liu Dongchuan): Male character who appears to have grown stronger and changed physically

- 白老头 (Old Man Bai): Male character, appears to be Bai Erya’s father

- 白二丫 (Bai Erya): Female character, notices changes in Liu Dongchuan

- 樊姨 (Aunt Fan): Mentioned as having previously taken care of Yang Lian’Er

Setting: The story takes place during the traditional Chinese New Year period (23rd day of the 12th lunar month, known as "Little New Year"). The characters are traveling from Dinghai City through Huai Mountain region toward Huangpu Guard, encountering desolate areas affected by famine and bandit activity.

## Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing

Now I’ll proceed with translating the text while applying all the rules outlined in the instructions.

I notice this text includes Chinese New Year customs, martial arts elements, and a journey through dangerous territory with bandits. I’ll need to pay special attention to cultural elements while ensuring they’re understandable to an English-speaking audience.

Let me start the translation:

"It’s not that bad. It’s probably just those people from the Capital clashing with the martial arts families in the city—dogs biting dogs, that’s all," Liu Dongchuan said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"But to be safe, it’s better not to go out much."

"We understand, we definitely won’t go out!" Old Man Bai nodded repeatedly in agreement.

After giving his instructions, Liu Dongchuan didn’t linger. He turned and left.

"What a thoughtful young man, he even brought couplets," Old Man Bai remarked while examining the items on the ground.

Bai Erya asked curiously, "Father, have you noticed that Brother Dongchuan seems much more robust than before?"

"Really? I hadn’t noticed."

"Of course he is, and his gaze has become much sharper too," Bai Erya affirmed confidently.

Old Man Bai thought carefully and realized that Liu Dongchuan indeed seemed different.

"What’s going on?"

"Could it be... Brother Dongchuan is practicing martial arts?" Bai Erya speculated.

"Stop guessing. If Dongchuan is training in martial arts, that’s a good thing. Let’s not worry about anything now and just stay home quietly until Xiaowu returns."

"Mm!"

......

The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of Sugar Melons.

According to folk tradition, the Kitchen God would ascend to heaven on this day to report on people’s good and evil deeds throughout the year, determining their fortune or misfortune for the coming year.

To "bribe" the Kitchen God into speaking well of them, people would smear sweet maltose on the god’s mouth.

This day was also called Little New Year. From this day onward, the festive atmosphere would grow increasingly stronger.

Following Dinghai City’s custom of eating dumplings on every holiday, even the poorest citizens would find a way to make a meal of dumplings today.

Even Wu Liangchen’s traveling group was no exception.

By now, they had left Dinghai City’s territory far behind and were following the official road toward Huangpu Guard.

But the further they went, the more desolate the road became.

Even the villages along the way were completely abandoned, with obvious traces of fire and warfare.

Combined with the stripped bark on roadside trees, it was clear that a severe famine had previously ravaged this area.

Wu Liangchen had never even heard about this before.

The previous refugee crisis had mostly involved people coming from the western route of Great Yan, but Huai Mountain region was to the south of Dinghai City. He hadn’t expected the disaster here to be so severe.

Wu Liangchen quietly heightened his vigilance.

Only after entering deeper into Huai Mountain region did conditions improve somewhat, though there were still no inns or restaurants to be found.

Fortunately, Wu Liangchen had come prepared. The carriage was stocked with rice, flour, and pork—he’d even brought along a cleaver.

Wu Liangchen found a slab of stone to use as a chopping board. He lit a fire and thawed the frozen-solid pork before chopping it into mince.

Meanwhile, Wu Mengchan and Yang Lian’Er were kneading dough and rolling out wrappers. This was Yang Lian’Er’s first time doing such work—after all, she’d been cared for by Aunt Fan before and had truly never lifted a finger in her life.

Despite it being her first attempt, Yang Lian’Er learned quickly. Before long, she was rolling out proper dumpling wrappers with impressive skill.

And so the three of them began wrapping dumplings at a clearing away from the main road.

But before the dumplings could be dropped into the pot, Wu Liangchen faintly heard the sound of hoofbeats. He immediately leaped into a tree to scan the distance.

Sure enough, moments later, a convoy appeared on the official road.

The convoy was sizable but consisted mostly of empty carts. It appeared to be a merchant caravan returning home for the New Year celebrations.

Wu Liangchen stood silently in the tree, observing the scene.

He had chosen a concealed stopping point, so there was no worry of being discovered.

But out of caution, Wu Liangchen intended to watch until the convoy had passed by completely.

However, when the convoy approached, it suddenly stopped. After some commotion, the travelers began setting up cooking pots—apparently intending to camp right there.

At the same time, dedicated lookouts were positioned at both ends of the convoy. Many of these men had sturdy builds and steady gaits—clearly Martial Artists.

This convoy was quite formidable, which explained why they dared travel through this uninhabited area.

Wu Liangchen frowned slightly but said nothing.

After all, he didn’t own the official road, and these people weren’t breaking any laws by stopping at a distance.

Wu Liangchen climbed down from the tree, and Wu Mengchan asked, "Brother, what’s happening?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just a merchant convoy passing by. They’ve stopped to eat some distance away."

"Let’s eat quickly and leave this place afterward."

"Alright!"

The dumplings went into the pot and soon floated to the surface. After adding cold water twice, they were ready to be served.

The pure pork dumplings were so juicy that oil seeped out with every bite.

As the three ate heartily, a sudden uproar erupted in the distance, interspersed with battle cries.

Wu Liangchen’s expression changed instantly. He immediately leaped back into the tree and peered intently.

Sure enough.

The merchant convoy that had just been camped beside the official road was now locked in bitter combat.

They were surrounded by a group of red-turbaned fighters. These attackers wore mismatched clothing and wielded different weapons.

Their only common feature was the red turban each wore, making them starkly visible.

Despite the merchants’ fierce resistance, they couldn’t break through the encirclement due to the attackers’ overwhelming numbers.

Just then, a middle-aged man from the convoy suddenly leaped up and dashed toward the forest by the roadside.

Clearly, he was a Martial Artist of at least the second level.

But as soon as he moved, a cold arrow shot out from among the red-turbaned fighters.

THUD!

The arrow struck the middle-aged man’s back at an astonishing speed, piercing through his chest. Even then, its momentum wasn’t spent—the arrow flew far into the forest before finally falling.

Wu Liangchen was startled by the sight from his perch.

The power behind that shot was clearly beyond an ordinary archer’s capability.

His interest was immediately piqued.

He hadn’t expected to find such a remarkable archer hidden among what appeared to be a ragtag band of refugees.

It was truly unexpected.

Training a qualified archer was extremely expensive. Just the initial resources represented a huge investment.

Later maintenance of bows and the consumption of arrows made this type of fighter particularly costly.

Had Wu Liangchen not acquired a book of archery secrets, he wouldn’t have such superior archery skills himself.

While Wu Liangchen was still surprised and curious, a small figure emerged from among the red-turbaned fighters, carrying an elegantly crafted longbow.

The figure cautiously approached the forest, but didn’t rush forward. Instead, the archer first surveyed the surroundings, causing Wu Liangchen to hide behind the tree.

Seeing nothing unusual, the archer finally approached the middle-aged man’s corpse and began searching it thoroughly.

It was then that Wu Liangchen realized something—beneath the red turban was a head of flowing hair.

A female archer?

Wu Liangchen was astonished.

This was bewildering.

It wasn’t that women couldn’t become archers, but judging from the power of that shot, it clearly came from a strong bow.

How could this woman draw it?

While Wu Liangchen was privately amazed, the archer finished searching the corpse, stripping even the clothes without hesitation.

Not just her—the other red-turbaned fighters did the same, taking anything of value. They wouldn’t leave behind even a pair of tattered straw sandals.

They tossed their spoils into carts and tied up the survivors with ropes, attaching them to the backs of the carts.

Then the archer whistled once, and they drove the carts away.

In an instant, the merchant convoy that had just been cooking their meal completely vanished, leaving behind only corpses abandoned by the roadside.

These bodies wouldn’t remain long before becoming meals for wild dogs and vultures.

Even Wu Liangchen couldn’t help feeling a chill in his heart.

People who had been alive and well, looking forward to returning home for New Year, had become victims of the sword in mere moments.

"What a fucking miserable world."

Wu Liangchen sighed, then suddenly remembered something. He leaped into the forest to carefully search for the fallen arrow.

This wasn’t easy—otherwise the archer wouldn’t have abandoned it without even looking.

But with his keen eyesight, Wu Liangchen managed to find the arrow in the thick snow.

The arrow wasn’t elaborately crafted, but it was made with solid materials and embodied a design philosophy of simplicity and practicality.

Wu Liangchen had only seen this quality in one type of item before—military-issue equipment.

Only military supplies would be designed this way.

’So she has military origins, indeed!’

Only there could such an excellent archer be trained!

But he’d never heard of Great Yan recruiting female soldiers...

However, it was entirely possible that the red-turbaned fighters were actually disguised government troops.

Wu Liangchen shook his head, dismissing these thoughts.

Whether these people were government troops or not had nothing to do with him. Living in such chaotic times, Wu Liangchen didn’t want to meddle in affairs that didn’t concern him.

But the arrow was worth keeping—he was in desperate need of high-quality arrows.

Wu Liangchen returned to the carriage with the arrow and briefly recounted what he had witnessed.

Both Yang Lian’Er and Wu Mengchan paled at his words.

They had thought the situation in Dinghai City was dire enough, but conditions outside were even worse.

Bandits were bold enough to ambush merchant convoys in broad daylight.

"But there’s no need to worry too much. I suspect there must have been an informant among the merchants—otherwise the timing of the red-turbaned fighters’ appearance wouldn’t have been so perfect."

"Still, we need to be more careful on the road ahead. The fact that Huai Mountain region has deteriorated to this extent without any news reaching the outside world makes me suspect collusion between officials and bandits."

The women had no objections. After finishing their meal and packing up their utensils, the three continued their journey.

This time, Wu Liangchen was much more cautious than before, immediately hiding at the slightest disturbance.

Traveling this way for another two days, they finally left the vast uninhabited area and reached a populated city.

Wuyang Guard.

This largest city in Huai Mountain region now stood before them.

Wu Liangchen hadn’t planned to enter the city, but Wuyang Guard was situated directly on their necessary route—there was no way around it.

However, Wu Liangchen had come prepared. He changed into oversized, tattered clothes, messed up his hair, and disguised himself as a carriage driver on a journey.

As for his sister and Yang Lian’Er, Wu Liangchen had them cover their faces with mud to appear as ugly women before heading toward Wuyang Guard.