The middle-aged literati introduced himself as Han Guangzhong and was very talkative; he chatted quite a bit with Ma Lu about various aspects of Qingzhou throughout their journey.
He was well-read, knowledgeable about everything from musical instrunts, chess, calligraphy, and painting to playing cuju and donkey ball. He even knew many extraordinary stories from the martial arts circles.
Ma Lu took this opportunity to ask him several questions, including about his most pressing concern at the mont—the source of ingredients in this Plane.
After all, he couldn't always be this lucky, stumbling upon an escort agency transporting dicinal herbs, and then finding everyone dead, to his advantage.
"Eh, you, a man of Jianghu, don't even know where secret dicines co from?"
Han Guangzhong looked at Ma Lu with an increasingly strange gaze, "Well, I have nothing better to do, so I might as well talk about it.
"Our Great Qian Dynasty is vast and rich in resources. Many wild marshes and hills grow secret dicines. With so luck, one can find them, including so extrely rare varieties, one of which can be worth ten thousand silver ingots.
"Periodically, there are such lucky fellows who beco rich overnight because of a single plant of secret dicine, and from then on, they buy land and lead a life without worries about food or clothing. So even venture into the depths of rarely visited mountains and forests, ignoring the dangers of poison and wild beasts, solely in search of precious secret dicines.
"These individuals are generally called dicine seekers, and most are desperados. They not only have to struggle against nature but also against other people. Every ti a priceless secret dicine appears, it's often linked to nurous human lives."
Hearing this, even the monk who was imrsed in chanting scriptures put his palms together and uttered, "Amitabha."
Han Guangzhong continued, "However, the secret dicines in the wild are ultimately rare and far from sufficient to satisfy the needs of those in Jianghu who cultivate martial studies. And since these martial arts experts are so busy training and playing cards every day, most of them don't have the ti to venture into the mountains.
"This led so to try cultivating these secret dicines themselves, but success often attracted envy from others, prompting them to open their mountains wide, recruit disciples, and protect those secret dicines. This is how martial arts sects originated.
"Nowadays, most forces in Jianghu cultivate secret dicines, not only to et the daily cultivation needs of their disciples but also to sell the excess or exchange them for other necessary secret dicines.
"And those prestigious sects and martial family clans, in order to cultivate secret dicines, often occupy famous mountains and rivers and also control rare secret dicines that complent their sect's martial arts training.
"This way, even if their sect's martial studies are accidentally leaked, without the corresponding secret dicine, others cannot master the martial arts techniques even if they have the martial arts secret manuals."
"Hmm, aside from the two sources I ntioned, the kingdoms of the Western Regions also possess so unique secret dicines, which the rchant caravans bring to the Central Plains to sell, serving as an important source of their inco.
"As for those smaller sects that do not have their own mountains and can't cultivate their own secret dicines, they can only buy secret dicines cultivated by the large sects with silver. For instance, the Hundred Herbs Sect specializes in the business of secret dicines.
"Their dicine shops are spread all over the Great Qian Dynasty. They both buy and sell secret dicines, and their prices are quite fair. However, because the secret dicines are intrinsically valuable, even the cheapest one costs at least a hundred coins, which is beyond what ordinary families can afford."
After Han Guangzhong finished discussing secret dicines, Ma Lu started to inquire about the Heavenly Dragon Sect.
"The Heavenly Dragon Sect is a new sect that suddenly erged in the Qingzhou Martial Arts Circle in recent years; its developnt has been fierce, and in less than ten years, it has amassed tens of thousands of followers.
"The sect leader, Li Tianlong, is skilled in martial arts. It is said that he once played cards with Headmaster Song from Zhengqi Academy, and the two were evenly matched, even becoming good friends because of this.
"However, his background is quite mysterious; he rarely shows himself, not even in front of his own sect mbers—fewer than five people in the world know his true identity."
Han Guangzhong paused, "Additionally, I've heard that the Beggar's Sect seems to have so friction with the Heavenly Dragon Sect."
"Why?"
"Li Tianlong founded Heavenly Dragon Sect, not caring about one's background or past, and recruited a large group of martial arts heroes. Inevitably, there were so mixed elents which often clashed with the disciples of the Beggar's Sect. Moreover, although the influence of the Beggar's Sect was widespread, Qingzhou happened to house its main headquarters.
"Now, suddenly, there is another by my side in the bed chamber, and it's hard not to feel displeased. Fortunately, the forr sect leader, Deng Youtai, and Li Tianlong were both restrained and kept their disciples in check, which prevented any conflicts.
"However, now Deng Youtai is dead, and it's unknown how the new sect leader plans to treat Li Tianlong and his Heavenly Dragon Gang. It seems Qingzhou Martial Arts Circle is likely to be unrestful again."
Han Guangzhong let out a sigh, but quickly changed the topic and chuckled, "However, this matter has nothing to do with us ordinary folk. But you, Young Master Ma, be careful not to get involved in the strife between these two great gangs when you go to Yuchang County."
"Thank you for the reminder, Older Brother Han," Ma Lu thanked him, and the two chatted casually for a few monts afterward.
As they were nearing the outskirts of Yuchang County, Han Guangzhong suddenly felt whimsical and got off the carriage early to pay respects at a nearby historical site. Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire
Ma Lu continued with the rchant caravan and successfully reached the south gate. He alighted from the carriage and took back his pack horse, but did not see any sign of Gu Qingyi.
Just as Ma Lu wondered if Gu Qingyi had encountered so mishap, he noticed soone in the crowd sneaking glances at him.
The onlooker was a boy of about twelve or thirteen, quite sharp-looking. When Ma Lu looked over, the boy first bowed his head, then looked up, and then bowed again, rubbing his eyes.
When he looked up again, Ma Lu had already approached him and said, "What are you looking at? Let see too."
Before the boy could reply, Ma Lu had already snatched the piece of paper from his hand.
It depicted a small figure on horseback with a sword, crafted with a few simple strokes; the horse and rider seed to leap off the page, and the rider's face bore a resemblance to Ma Lu.
"Who gave you this drawing?" Ma Lu asked the boy.
The boy didn't respond, instead asking, "Are you Young Master Ma?"
"Yes, it's ."
Hearing his answer, the boy sighed in relief, "Soone hired to wait for you here. Please co with , Young Master Ma."
"Hold on," Ma Lu didn't imdiately follow him, "Who hired you, and what is his na?"
"That… I don't know," the boy replied. "He just said he was a friend of yours, and that he was supposed to et you at the south gate."
Upon hearing the latter part of the boy's statent, Ma Lu knew that Gu Qingyi was undoubtedly the one who had directed this boy.
Only, he didn't know why she had made it so mysterious. Perhaps she had encountered so enemy in the city.
Ma Lu thought this over as he and the boy walked to Drunken Goose Tower, where the boy led him to the entrance and then ran off as fast as smoke.
Afterwards, Ma Lu announced his identity, and a waiter from the restaurant promptly escorted him to a private room on the second floor.
Upon entering, Ma Lu indeed saw Gu Qingyi sitting by the window, now dressed as a wealthy country gentlen, complete with several strands of beard glued to her chin.
However, upon seeing Ma Lu, she was still very pleased, "Brother Ma, have you finished your tasks?"
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