Chapter 2: Qingniu Town

This was a small town, though to say it was a small town, it was actually just a larger village, and its name was Qingniu Town. Only those ignorant bumpkins living in the nearby mountain gullies would keep calling it "Qingniu City," "Qingniu City." (Web) This was the inner thought of Zhang Er, who had been a gatekeeper for more than ten years.

Qingniu Town was indeed not big. The main street was only one Qingniu Street running east-west, and there was only one inn, the Qingniu Inn. The inn was located at the west end of the long-shaped town, so passing merchants who didn't want to sleep in the wilderness had no choice but to stay here.

Now, a carriage that looked like it had traveled a long way drove into Qingniu Town from the west, sped past the gate of the Qingniu Inn without stopping, and drove all the way to the other end of the town, in front of the Chunxiang Restaurant, before stopping.

The Chunxiang Restaurant was not big and even a bit old, but it had a kind of antique charm. Because it was lunchtime, there were many guests eating in the restaurant, which could almost be described as packed.

A chubby man with a round face and a small mustache and a dark-skinned child of about ten years old got off the carriage. The man led the child straight into the restaurant in a swaggering manner. Some regular customers in the restaurant recognized the chubby man and knew he was the restaurant's manager, "Fatty Han," but no one recognized who the child was.

"Old Han, this dark kid looks a lot like you. He wouldn't be a son you had behind your wife's back, would he?" someone suddenly teased.

As soon as this sentence came out, it caused a burst of laughter from the crowd nearby.

"Pah! This is my own nephew brought from my family; of course he looks a bit like me." The chubby man was not only not angry but even a bit proud.

These two were Han Li and his third uncle—"Fatty Han" as others called him—who had just entered the town after rushing for three days.

Fatty Han greeted a few regular customers and then took Han Li to the back of the restaurant, to a secluded small courtyard.

"Xiao Li, rest well in this room and build up your energy. Once the inner sect manager comes, I will call you over. I have to go out first to greet some regular customers." Fatty Han pointed to the side room in the courtyard and said to him kindly.

After saying this, he turned and walked out in a hurry.

When he reached the door, he seemed to be a bit worried, so he added another instruction.

"Don't run around. There are too many people in the town, don't get lost. It's best not to leave the courtyard."

"En!"

Seeing Han Li answer honestly, he finally felt truly relieved and walked out.

Seeing his third uncle walk out of the room, Han Li felt very tired, so he fell onto the bed and started snoring, without the slightest feeling of being shy as a child.

In the evening, a waiter brought food, which, although not big fish or meat, was considered palatable. After eating, a waiter came in again, took away the leftover bowls, and only then did his third uncle walk in unhurriedly.

"How is it? Is the food to your taste? Missing home a bit?"

"En, missing it a little." Han Li appeared very sensible.

The third uncle seemed very satisfied with Han Li's answer and immediately started chatting with him about some daily trivialities, boasting about some interesting people and things he had experienced. Gradually, Han Li lost his sense of restraint and started laughing and talking with him.

Just like this, two days passed.

On the third day, when Han Li finished his dinner and was waiting for his third uncle to tell him Jianghu stories, another carriage stopped in front of the restaurant.

This carriage was painted black and shiny all over, and the horse pulling it was a rare, one-in-a-hundred yellow-maned steed. What was most eye-catching was a small triangular black flag inserted on the side frame of the carriage, embroidered with the character "Xuan" in silver with a red border, naturally revealing an indescribable mysterious color.

Seeing this small flag, any Jianghu veteran walking within a radius of several hundred miles knew that an important figure from the "Qixuan Sect," one of the two overlords of this area, had arrived locally.

The "Qixuan Sect," also known as the "Qijue Sect," was founded by the famous "Qijue Shangren" two hundred years ago. It once dominated Jingzhou for decades and even infiltrated several states adjacent to Jingzhou, and was once famous throughout the Yue Kingdom. But ever since "Qijue Shangren" passed away from illness, the "Qixuan Sect's" power plummeted, and it was squeezed out of the Jingzhou capital, Jingzhou City, by other sects working together. A hundred years ago, the sect was forced to relocate to the most remote place in Jingzhou—Mount Xianxia—and from then on took root there, falling into a third-rate local small power.

There is a saying that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The Qixuan Sect was, after all, once a major sect, and its potential was still not to be underestimated. After arriving at Mount Caixia, it immediately controlled more than a dozen small towns including "Qingniu Town," possessed three or four thousand sect disciples, and was one of the two veritable overlords of the area.

The only other force in the area that could contend with the Qixuan Sect was the "Yelang Gang."

The predecessor of the Yelang Gang was a group of horse bandits who burned, killed, and looted within the Jingzhou border. Later, after being suppressed by the government several times, a part of them accepted the government's amnesty, and the other part of the horse bandits became the Yelang Gang. However, the fierce, bloodthirsty, and daring spirit of the horse bandits was passed down, so the Qixuan Sect had repeatedly been at a disadvantage in conflicts with the Yelang Gang.

Although the Yelang Gang controlled more villages and towns, they didn't know how to manage them, and in terms of prosperity, they were far inferior to the towns under the Qixuan Sect. The Yelang Gang was very greedy for the few wealthier territories under the Qixuan Sect and had recently frequently provoked conflicts between the two, which made the current Qixuan Sect Master very headache-stricken. This had also become the main reason why the Qixuan Sect had repeatedly expanded its recruitment of inner sect disciples in recent years.

A thin man in his forties jumped off the carriage. This man moved nimbly, obviously not weak in martial arts, and seemed very familiar with this place. He strode straight toward the room where Han Li was.

As soon as Han Li's third uncle saw this person, he immediately stepped forward and paid his respects respectfully.

"Protector Wang, why did you come to bring people yourself, sir?"

"Hmph!" Protector Wang snorted coldly, his face full of arrogance.

"The road hasn't been peaceful lately, so we need to strengthen security. The Elder ordered me to come and lead the people myself. Stop the nonsense, is this the child you want to recommend?"

"Yes, yes, this is my own nephew from my family. I hope Protector Wang will take care of him on the road."

Seeing that this man looked a bit impatient, Fatty Han nimbly took a heavy bag from his body and secretly handed it over.

Protector Wang weighed the bag, and his expression relaxed a bit.

"Fatty Han, you really know how to act! I will naturally take care of your nephew on the road. It's getting late, let's get on the road quickly."

(Web)