"Traveling Swordsman?"
Wang Anfeng was slightly startled, a sense of recognition stirring within him.
It seed he had co across this na in a travelogue a few days earlier, but the book hadn’t detailed it extensively. Surveying the others and noticing their confusion, he realized that the senior from Qingfeng Edge was sharing his Jianghu experience. Anfeng set down his tea cup and listened intently.
Gong Yu’s Inner Strength was profound. His voice, clear and cool, resonated by their ears alone, while others could hardly catch the truth in it.
In just a few sentences, he made the origin of the ’Traveling Swordsman’ crystal clear.
This was not a custom throughout Great Qin, but peculiar to Fufeng County.
It referred to those who were disciples of clans.
During the prosperous tis of Great Qin, with its vast borders, it was inevitable to encounter bandits on the wilderness roads. If the rchandise was ordinary, bandits would not take much interest, but they were easily tempted by items of value. Traveling Swordsn were the martial artists who transported such goods from township to village and between county cities.
Similar to the escort agencies, but they dealt in shorter distances and carried less in their cargoes, complenting the work of the escort agencies quite well. Most were from local clans, with varying martial arts skills, and each group maintained several formidable mbers capable of deterring bandits. Over ti, it beca a recognized custom in the Jianghu circles of Fufeng.
If you saw a group of sturdy n, wearing broad-brimd hats, escorting goods, they were very likely Traveling Swordsn.
At that mont, a server had already brought over a squarely shaped wooden tray, calling out as he served them dishes: fresh-cut seasonal vegetables, cooked at platters – a total of four or five dishes.
Baili Feng had grown extrely hungry, being crude by nature and not much for proprieties, he reached for the sliced ats with his chopsticks, only to be blocked by Wang Anfeng’s own pair, causing him so confusion.
Before he could say anything, he saw the young man rise to his feet. With a slap on the pouch at his waist and no visible movent, several silver needles sprang out, tracing arcs of light and burying themselves in the food, quivering as if moved by a special technique.
The Inner Strength attached to the silver needles dissipated, and no abnormalities appeared in the food. Anfeng then relaxed slightly, retrieved the silver needles, and while cleaning off the grease with tea, he whispered,
"The food is not poisoned."
Gong Yu gave a slight nod, his opinion of the young man shifting positively. Baili Feng, at first stunned, then exclaid with a chuckle,
"So you were testing the food! I hadn’t expected you, Anfeng, to be so cautious despite your young age...
"You almost seem like you have traversed the Jianghu many tis."
Wang Anfeng smiled calmly on the surface, but his heart was filled with lancholy.
I only did once.
And I blew it.
After finishing their al and resting briefly at the inn, the group set off again after an hour.
Considering Baili Feng’s mount’s stamina, they proceeded more slowly that afternoon. As they headed north, they gradually left the County City of Fufeng behind. The sights shifted from bustling to quieter scenes, and fewer travelers appeared on the main road until, by dusk, only their party of eight remained.
With no inns in sight and no concern for sparing the horses, they quickened their pace. As darkness fell, they barely managed to reach a county town.
All day, the group had journeyed hard. Even though Baili Feng’s yellow horse had just ordinary endurance and couldn’t compare to the others’ fabled exotic beasts, they had still covered seven to eight hundred li from Fufeng County City, arriving at the edge of Fufeng County. This town was significantly poorer than others, hardly comparable, and might even be considered destitute.
On their way in, the locals had already returned ho for the night, leaving the streets pitch-dark, with an occasional lantern swaying in the wind, the clattering noises were faint, yet they underscored the surrounding quiet.
Fortunately, the layout of the cities in Great Qin followed a certain code, so after searching awhile, they found an inn, led the horses to the stable, and the rest went to book rooms and order food.
Wang Anfeng, however, was smoothing the mane of the Green-Maned Horse, and then pulled out a packet from his chest, filled with cooked soybeans that were quite fragrant. He had discovered by chance that the Green-Maned Horse was quite fond of this snack. Having prepared lots at ho, he poured so into his hand and fed the horse, patted its back as a sign of encouragent, and then took his leave.
But as he was leaving, a sudden clacking sound caught his attention; he paused and scanned a dark corner, where several wagons were parked. Most were empty, save for one side where a heap of black cloth lay. Only the farthest wagon was still piled with goods, completely covered with the black cloth.
"Are those travelers also here?"
The clacking sound rang out again, and Wang Anfeng stepped over, but he didn’t notice anything unusual.
Sothing inside the boy’s heart didn’t feel right for so reason, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He just thought he was being overly cautious, yet he still subconsciously adjusted the position of his wooden sword before walking back to the inn.
As soon as he entered, he saw those n dressed in black, wearing bamboo hats on their backs, sitting at three or four tables, their tables laden with at and wine, laughing and joking loudly, occasionally cursing, looking quite hearty.
Baili Feng and the others were sitting at a table a good distance away; seeing Wang Anfeng co in, they waved him over.
The young man nodded slightly, but subconsciously chose to pass by these travelers. As he did so, one of the burly n, who seed drunk, gestured too grandly while boasting and toppled backwards. Wang Anfeng reached out to support him, declined the burly n’s offer to join them for a drink in appreciation, and turned away with a slight frown.
He returned to Baili Feng and others. Tuoba Yue looked disdainfully at the n loudly drinking and boasting on the other side and murmured a couple of things at a low volu. Not wanting to cause further trouble, the group didn’t say any more, and after eating a simple al, everyone went back to their rooms.
But Wang Anfeng’s mind was still occupied with that strange poison.
When he walked by earlier, the reaction of his Mixed Yuan Body was even more intense, quite like he had just encountered poison.
If it had been just one encounter, Wang Anfeng wouldn’t have thought too much of it; however, encountering it again made the thought spin nonstop in his mind. After thinking for a mont, he couldn’t co up with anything and could only sit cross-legged on the bed, preparing to ditate and cultivate, because he had company, it was not convenient to enter Shaolin Temple these days.
Sitting on the bed, he discarded stray thoughts, chuckling self-deprecatingly.
He was being overly sensitive.
To say that poison, not to ntion martial artists, even ordinary adults would react to it at most a little.
It probably would only affect children.
At that thought, Wang Anfeng suddenly felt a lurch in his heart and opened his eyes abruptly. For so reason, the faint clacking sound he had heard earlier seed to echo in his ears. Unable to calm his mind, he got up and opened the window, looking towards the stable side, his expression changing subtly before he finally gritted his teeth.
Sothing wasn’t right.
Given his past experiences, whenever poisons were ntioned, the first thing that ca to the boy’s mind was sleeping drugs.
With suspicion clouding his mind, he decided to go down and investigate. Not taking the stairs, he used his Qinggong to lightly leap down from the second floor of the building, and cautiously made his way to the stable. Although it was inappropriate, the strange feeling in his heart still made Wang Anfeng resolute in his decision.
Looking around shouldn’t be considered theft, he thought.
Murmuring an apology, the young man carefully lifted a corner of the black cloth and peered inside, only to find so fresh fruits and a few scrolls and paintings piled up together. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was just being paranoid, but at that mont, his Mixed Yuan Skill suddenly accelerated.
Wang Anfeng’s expression changed, and he quickly stepped into the wagon, rifling through the piled goods, his face turning ashen.
A child.
Bound all over, the child’s face had more than a dozen slashes, making their real face indiscernible. They were thrown inside a bamboo basket, their eyes unseeing, apparently unconscious, but their fingers stubbornly trembling. Suddenly, they knocked against the board under them, producing a light clacking sound.
The body was stuffed with vegetables and fruits, the closer it got, the more intense was the reaction from his body immune to hundreds of poisons.
A surge of anger boiled within Wang Anfeng’s heart. He took a deep breath to suppress the urge to cause major destruction, and after carefully clearing the surroundings, found no other children. He pulled out the dagger left by Xue Qinshuang, channeled his Inner Strength, and smashed the bamboo basket. Reaching in, he carefully lifted the child and jumped off the wagon.
Just then, a clanging sound rang out. Wang Anfeng felt the hair on his neck stand on end and looked up only to see a drunken man, brawny and dressed in black clothes, who seed about to go outside to relieve himself, just staring blankly at Wang Anfeng leaping from the wagon.
After a mont of stupor, the man turned and ran. Wang Anfeng raised his arm, and the Whip Lock shot out like a python. The man, being drunk, stumbled to the ground after only a couple of steps. With the distance changing, the whip, originally aid to pull him back, rely brushed against his back, shredding his clothing and turning his skin instantly red.
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The man was struck hard and felt imnse pain which sowhat sobered him up. Realizing what was happening, he yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Soone’s stealing goods!!"
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