After descending from Heavenly Sword Sect, Wang Anfeng and Hong Feibai went separate ways, the latter heading towards the direction of the Heavenly Capital.
That place was the center of the entire Great Qin Empire, the epito of human prosperity, a dazzle of gold and a drunk of paper. Certainly, so swordsn would be unwilling to go to such a tainted land, but it was also inevitable that top swordsn would indulge themselves in it.
Martial arts have never been related to morality.
Wang Anfeng followed the mountain road, heading northward.
Previously, near the city close to Heavenly Sword Sect, he had acted out of desperation against the patrol guards' armored soldiers. Protecting the people of Heavenly Sword Sect, he cut through the swathes, and though he killed no one, in his agitation, he could hardly restrain his strength when he struck. Among those hundreds of armored soldiers, there were quite a few injured.
The military general himself had his helt's red tassel sliced off by Anfeng's sword, his face turning iron blue.
Although he wasn't afraid,
he had no interest in actively seeking trouble now. Having witnessed Hong Hui's death and the transformation of a good friend and many such events, for so reason, he felt sowhat spiritless at the mont, like the indolence that cos after growing accustod to prosperity.
Yet he was clearly young.
He didn't use any qinggong along the way, rely wandering aimlessly, without any worry, and when passing a mountain road, he casually broke off a dry branch to hold in his hand.
With his robe and hair in a bun, carrying a long zither on his back, he resembled an ordinary scholar out enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, it was winter, not the warm and bright spring, and without a bamboo staff and straw sandals, Wang Anfeng's appearance was sowhat odd.
On the official road, he encountered a traveling rchant caravan. The amiable shopkeeper charged him just a hundred copper coins for a spot on the last cart, which was carrying goods. After the servants made so space for him, the young man lazily leaned against the side of the cart.
With his right leg crossed, his left swayed with the motion of the cart, his eyes vacant, watching the landscape recede.
The dry branch in his hand aimlessly sketched patterns in the air.
There was no rhy or rhythm, let alone any skill involved. Even a herdsboy driving cattle on the mountain could make a willow branch whistle sharply through the air, but the dry branch in his hand seed lifeless, trailing through the air without making a single sound of breaking wind, yet he seed earnest.
Combined with his sowhat languid appearance, this drew laughter from passersby.
There were also young girls traveling with their families who, seeing the handso youth, noticed his paler and slender hands against the dry branch.
Though he was sitting ungracefully on the wooden plank of the cart, there was an indescribable ease and flirtation about him, which caused so girls to blush, and the n accompanying them gave Anfeng angry stares. Unaware of what he had done to provoke them, he remained puzzled, causing Hong Luoyu back in Shaolin Temple to laugh without stop, considering himself clever.
As evening fell, the temperature dropped.
"Young Master Wang..."
A young man dressed in vigorous attire reined in his horse, slowing down behind the caravan, and called out. Anfeng looked up to see the smiling young man.
He was the caravan's guard, Wang Xingqing, from a small martial arts school, practicing Horizontal External Skill without cultivating Inner Qi. His proficiency in the Great Spear Technique was big and expansive, revealing a bit of a military family's essence, perhaps having so connections to the head of the martial arts school and the military family.
Although his martial arts had barely reached the threshold of Ninth Grade, in a county city of Great Qin, as long as one didn't stray too far from the official road, troubles were unlikely to arise. He couldn't be considered to be wandering the Jianghu, but he was more than adequate as an escort master and guard.
Returning to his senses, Anfeng's subconscious movents with the branch in his hand stopped, and it seed to freeze in mid-air, motionless, yet nothing seed amiss, as if it was ant to be suspended there.
He looked up at the mounted guard beside him and smiled,
"What is it, Guard Wang?"
Wang Xingqing hadn't noticed anything unusual about the dry branch in Anfeng's hand, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared. He just smiled and said,
"Nothing much, just that the shopkeeper asked to inquire where Brother Wang plans to go. When you boarded earlier, we didn't ask much, but be careful not to go to the wrong city."
"You see, our caravan will pass through five or six cities for resupply on the way."
"If we make good ti, we should arrive at our destination in about half a month... and honestly, the New Year's festival is almost upon us, the brothers are all eager to finish this last trip quickly so they can return ho to spend ti with their wives and children."
"It's been almost a year since we've been out..."
Emotion filled Wang Xingqing's face.
He wasn't very young and had his own family to care for.
Upon hearing this, Anfeng was briefly lost in thought, feeling a sense of aimlessness welling up inside him.
Where to go...
His journey had begun as a quest to track down White Tiger Hall, and indeed, he had found traces of White Tiger Hall's activities.
But what he hadn't anticipated was the involvent of a master with the Cultivation of Fifth Rank hidden within the events at Heavenly Sword Sect, nor had he expected that he would not even et this master from White Tiger Hall before the latter was killed by Hong Hui's final life-ending sword thrust.
After nearly a month of running around, it had all been in vain.
The trail of White Tiger Hall had broken off again, and he hadn't gotten any thod of contacting the senior Jiu Zizai.
Now where should he go?
A look of perplexity appeared on Anfeng's face.
Seeing his expression, Wang Xingqing restrained his own sense of sentintality. With many years of experience in the Jianghu, he had developed a keen eye. After thinking for a mont, he smiled and spoke,
"Young Brother Wang, have things not been going well for you lately?"
Anfeng looked at him, not denying it, and simply asked,
"How do you know that, Guard Wang?"
The other man just smiled, pointed at his own eyes, and said,
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