Chapter 189 - On Their Journey

As he heard a father brag about his own son, Li Huowang gradually learned more and more about the life of Hou Laoer.

It was quite inspirational. The Hou family hadn’t really been that rich in the past. They were just as poor as the others. Since the few acres of land they owned wasn’t enough to feed their entire family, the second son was forced to leave the family in search of a job.

Li Huowang was suspicious about the ‘general’ that the old man kept talking about; from the looks of it, the old man thought that a general was the only high-ranking official within a camp.

“Sigh. It was even worse in the past. We didn’t even have enough food to feed ourselves, and only had a single pair of pants. Back then, whoever wanted to head out got to wear that single pair,” said the old man.

As he heard the old man’s words, Li Huowang nodded.

After talking for a period of time, the old man was finally satisfied with his boasting and slowly walked back to his home.

Seeing this, Li Huowang sighed and turned back. He was glad that the old man took his leave.

After having learned so much, Li Huowang was no longer as cautious about Hou Laoer as before.

It wasn’t because of his rank and identity, but because of the fact that Hou Laoer had really left the place. There was no way he could come and disturb Li Huowang anymore.

Just then, Li Huowang saw Puppy who was on his way back from purchasing some rations.

“Senior Li, look what I bought! It’s a map drawn on leather!” said Puppy.

That night also passed by peacefully. At dawn, all of them departed with full spirits.

As the wheels of the carriage rolled slowly along the path, the dunes around them slowly disappeared. Gradually the path became uneven and stones started replacing the sand.

Soon, smaller mountains made of stones and rock started to appear here and there. Thanks to them blocking the wind, Li Huowang and the rest were no longer buffeted by the sand. There was even some short brown grass growing near the sides of the path.

“We will walk through here before taking a turn here,” said Li Huowang as he pointed at the map and stopped at an icon representing a town. “If we do not get lost, then we will arrive at Ji City over here. As long as we reach there, we will be able to fulfill our escort mission, and we would have traveled halfway through Hou Shu. It looks like Hou Shu really is a much smaller kingdom, at least compared to the previous two.”

As Li Huowang was explaining all this, he felt someone tugging on his sleeves. “Senior Li, someone is in front of us.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang raised his head and saw that there was indeed someone.

As they got closer, they saw that it was an old man who was walking with a bamboo cane. He looked like a scholar. Even though he was old, his body was still fit and energetic. He showed no signs of tiredness despite the old bamboo basket he was carrying on his back.

At that moment, hearing the sound of horse hooves, Jin Shanzhao turned around. When he saw a group of people wearing black veils, he immediately stepped aside.

Who are these guys? Especially that young man in the red Daoist robes; he’s even going so far as to cover half of his face with a coin veil. Looks like these are people I shouldn’t mess around with. I guess I should hide then?

Jin Shanzhao analyzed the situation quickly and calmly. He wanted to slow down and let the group pass by first.

However, he had never expected the young Daoist to be the one to approach him and start talking.

“Old man, could you please lend us your map so that we can verify our map is correct?” asked the red-robed Daoist.

Hearing this, Jin Shanzhao rummaged through his bamboo basket and took out a paper map. “This map is hand drawn by me. I’ve been traveling around for many years and I’m quite confident that my map is accurate. You can have it if you want.”

“Thanks, but there’s no need for that. I just want to compare it with my own map. Once we are done, I will return it to you,” replied the red-robed Daoist.

Jin Shanzhao was slightly relieved to hear how friendly the young man was. The young Daoist was by no means rude either.

“Daoist, where are you going? I’m just asking out of curiosity, maybe you are heading in the same direction as me,” asked Jin Shanzhao.

“We are on an escort mission to Ji City,” replied the red-robed Daoist.

However, Jin Shanzhao did not believe them. How could an escort not even know their own route? It was a blatant lie.

“Oh? You are on an escort mission? That’s rare to hear. I’ve heard Daoists usually don’t bother with mundane tasks like these,” probed Jin Shanzhao.

“Even I have to eat, so I might as well earn some money along the way. Old man, why are you out here in the mountains, all by yourself? Isn’t it dangerous?” asked the red-robed Daoist.

Jin Shanzhao chuckled when he saw how the Daoist was trying to probe him. Just as he was thinking about what lie to tell them, a massive rock suddenly rolled down from the mountain and crashed into the path. At the same time, the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out from all around them!

Jin Shanzhao was shocked to see that they were being surrounded by bandits riding on horses. “Oh no! We have been trapped by the bandits!”

But when he turned around, he was surprised to see that the young Daoist was completely calm.

He must have a plan if he’s able to remain this calm.

Thinking about this, Jin Shanzhao immediately hid behind the young Daoist while the bandits approached them from all directions.

Tak tak tak~

As the sound of horse hooves got closer, they saw an imposing bandit appear in front of them.

“Shoulders together; I’m not an outlier. Is the spring book open?” spoke the red-robed Daoist.

Hm?

Jin Shanzhao was once more surprised by Li Huowang.

To think that he knew the codewords used by those belonging to the Jianghu. He must be someone extraordinary.

But just when Jin Shanzhao had thought that the bandits would reply to the codeword, the one-eyed bandit at the front brandished his blade and shouted, “Go! Kill them all!”

Immediately, the horses all around them resumed their charge. Unexpectedly, the bandits did not even bother with the codewords and directly attacked them.

Seeing this, instead of thinking about what had just happened, Jin Shanzhao immediately ran up the boulder as he tried to climb past it; he wanted to try and escape while the two forces clashed with each other.

However, just as Jin Shanzhao managed to climb up the boulder, he heard the sound of fighting slowly dying down behind him.

When he turned around, Jin Shanzhao got one last surprise for the day. He saw that the bandits had all been defeated!

At this moment, the ground was littered with the corpses of the bandits and their horses. On the other hand, the group by the young Daoist was completely unharmed besides some dents on the carriage!

What the... What did I miss?

Li Huowang ignored the old man as he placed his sword on the neck of one of the last surviving bandits. The bandit had already lost one of its arms.

“Do you not know the rules? Why didn’t you even answer the codeword?” demanded Li Huowang.

“Fucker! You dare to kill my brothers?! You are dead!”

Splurt!

One of the bandit’s ears was cut off just like that.

Meanwhile, Jin Shanzhao was horrified.

Yikes! So he had just been feigning to be a kind man before this. He didn’t even bat an eye when killing all those bandits!