Chapter 127: Li Yuliang

The Escort Head of this Second Escort Team is named Sun Huang; he is already over forty years old, has a square face, a sallow complexion, is taciturn, and his martial arts cultivation is at the Great Success Realm of the Internal Breath Fourth Layer!

Beneath the Escort Head, there are seven Escorts!

Among these seven, Xiao Yu and Liu Ao have the highest martial arts realms, both being at the Small Success Realm of the Internal Breath Third Layer, and they can be considered Sun Huang's right-hand men!

The remaining five Escorts, Wang Ziming, Shao Yongping, Yao Liangrong, Ceng Xiangui, and Luo Fanglong, are all at the realm of the Internal Breath Second Layer.

There are also two Intern Escorts, Duan Rong and Lu Feng.

Besides this, in the Escort Team, there are two Escort Runners, Tang Dejin and Ren Tiewa, who are responsible for shouting the escort calls and some miscellaneous chores for the team!

At this moment, it is the turn of the season between spring and summer; the scenery in the wild is beautiful, and mountain breezes blow in gusts, mixed with a faint, delicate fragrance...

Duan Rong cannot help but feel that this job of escorting is actually not bad!

Although riding horses is tiring, they are all people who practice martial arts, and this level of travel intensity is no different from a leisurely stroll for them.

Just as Duan Rong is experiencing the wild charm of the mountains and rivers, a series of abstruse and difficult-to-understand chanting suddenly rings out within the Escort Team...

It is a youth dressed like a scholar, just over twenty years old, riding on a jujube-red horse, shaking his head as he recites classical prose...

"... We walked together in the courtyard. Beneath the courtyard, it was as clear as accumulated water, with algae and water plants crisscrossing in the water; it was actually the shadows of bamboo and cypress. What night is without moonlight? Where is there no bamboo or cypress? It is just that there are few idle people like the two of us..."

Everyone in the Escort Team reveals an expression of disgust.

Duan Rong also blinks his eyes and thinks to himself: This world values martial arts, so why is there still such a narcissistic, pedantic scholar? He really doesn't know what he's talking about!

Looking at his self-satisfied and smug appearance, it is indeed annoying. If he can only recite a few pieces of sentimental literature, what use is that in this bloody and cruel jianghu?

Just as they set off, Xiao Yu had already explained to Duan Rong that this person is named Li Yuliang, and he is the Human Escort that this team is protecting!

The goods escorted by an Escort Team are usually divided into: Goods Escort, Silver Escort, Letter Escort, and Human Escort!

The Jiuzhou region is not safe, especially once outside the urban areas, where law and order are even more chaotic; swordsmen and rangers robbing pedestrians happens often, so an Escort Agency protecting a Human Escort to a certain place is also a common service.

Duan Rong thinks that in the modern society of his past life, there was also a profession called a bodyguard; the "escort" in bodyguard is the same as the "escort" in an Escort Agency, so the origin likely lies here!

In the ancient times of Blue Star, it is estimated that it was similar to the Jiuzhou World; Human Escort was also a common service for Escort Agencies at that time!

The Escort Team travels on the Official Road for half a day, passes a large slope, and suddenly, from afar, they can see a lush, undulating mountain peak ahead.

Sun Huang suddenly says: "Tang Dejin, Ren Tiewa, Funiu Mountain has arrived! Raise the flags and start shouting the escort calls!"

Tang Dejin and Ren Tiewa whip their horses, each pull an escort flag from the Escort Cart, carry them on their shoulders, and start shouting the escort calls one after the other!

The escort flags are black with gold thread, fluttering against the mountain breeze, and the two characters "Yuanshun" on them are quite imposing!

"Yuanshun Escort Agency! Requesting passage from friends in the jianghu!"

"He Wu! He Wu!"

"Yuanshun Escort Agency! Our martial arts are mighty! Requesting passage through the territory! He Wu! He Wu!"

"He Wu" is the secret jargon used for greetings in the jianghu, a common phrase used when shouting escort calls.

These Tang Dejin and Ren Tiewa both have good voices; not only is the sound thick and powerful, but the pronunciation is clear and round, and the tone of the calls rises and falls, drifting far with the mountain breeze, which is quite imposing!

Duan Rong, riding on his horse, cannot help but sigh; not just anyone can be an Escort Runner. In this world, if you want to hold onto a bowl of rice steadily, you really can't earn it without some ability!

Just as the Escort Team reaches the mountain pass, two black shadows suddenly dart out from the side of the road!

Everyone is startled and pulls on their reins to grab their blades!

They see two people standing by the side of the road, dressed in tight-fitting clothes with waist belts, but they do not seem to be carrying weapons.

Seeing the Escort Team pull their horses to a stop, the two immediately shout: "He Wu! He Wu!"

Sun Huang, sitting on his horse, cups his hands and says: "May I ask, are you friends from the Black Tiger Stronghold?"

"That is correct! Is the person coming Escort Head Sun Huang?"

"That is this humble one! I wonder what business the two friends have?"

"Li Meng is the Third Chief of our Black Tiger Stronghold. Chief Li and Escort Head Sun are old friends; hearing that you are passing through, he specifically ordered us to offer some good wine and game!"

As the two speak, they walk quickly for a few steps and offer up a jar of wine and several roasted rabbits and pheasants!

Sun Huang immediately dismounts, enthusiastically accepts them, and asks after their well-being before saying: "Please trouble you brothers to go back and tell Chief Li that when I have time another day, I, Sun Huang, will definitely come up the mountain to pay my respects!"

The two agree, their figures flash, and they disappear into the Wild Forest by the side of the road...

Li Yuliang glances at the roasted rabbits and pheasants and laughs: "This Escort Agency business is truly well-done! Walking halfway along the road, there are still people giving you food!"

The people in the Escort Team all have a bad impression of Li Yuliang, and no one picks up his conversation.

Instead, Xiao Yu looks at Duan Rong and explains to him: "Black Tiger Stronghold is a group of mountain bandits in this Funiu Mountain! Because it is located in a remote area and there are countless mountain hollows within this Funiu Mountain, it is easy to hide! The government troops have tried to suppress them several times, but it has been difficult to wipe them out!"

"In the early years, this Black Tiger Stronghold also robbed our escorts several times. Later, the Manager thanked them with heavy gifts and agreed on an annual tribute! Only then did we clear this Escort Route!"

"Do not think that escorting is just about fighting and killing! Being familiar with people, being polite, and being able to hold your own in a situation is the only way to keep an Escort Route open!"

"What we Escorts mostly guard against are actually those swordsmen, rangers, and some petty thieves... If we really encounter a large stronghold, it is not something our small group can handle!"

Duan Rong nods repeatedly in agreement; he naturally understands that Xiao Yu is teaching him the rules and tricks of the jianghu. These are the experiences of an old hand in the jianghu; if no one told him, a novice would not know how many setbacks he would hit or how much he would suffer before understanding these things.

As Xiao Yu speaks, the other Escorts look at Duan Rong with envious eyes; when they were interns, no one told them these things.

Moreover, Xiao Yu usually does not take on Intern Escorts, yet this time she actually took Duan Rong. As soon as Duan Rong joined the Escort Team, he followed such a beautiful master; how could it not make people jealous?

Especially Lu Feng, who is also an Intern Escort; he has already been an Intern Escort for half a year, and his master no longer guides him, leaving him to handle situations he encounters on his own.

The master who originally brought him was the Escort Yao Liangrong, but he had never heard these words; Yao Liangrong usually just assigned him chores, and he wouldn't say more than ten sentences in a day.

Although Lu Feng is jealous in his heart, he cannot say anything; after all, strength speaks for itself!

He has been an Intern Escort for half a year and has only just achieved the Internal Breath First Layer, but Duan Rong has already achieved the realm of the Internal Breath Second Layer, and Duan Rong has only been an Apprentice Escort for two months; he is simply a beast! How is he supposed to compare?

Every power has the same convention!

The better a person's talent, the more resources are tilted toward them!

Who told him he is an ordinary person? Ordinary people must honestly do their own work! Only by thinking less can one live longer!

Xiao Yu's explanation to Duan Rong is indeed pouring her heart out; although she keeps a cold face and sometimes her tone is a bit strict, she explains the knowledge related to the Escort Agency's business very clearly, fearing that Duan Rong might not understand!

(End of chapter)