Chapter 11: Passerby

"So that's how it is."

Li Musheng nodded in sudden understanding, while Cang Cang Yin Yue began leading him along a desolate path, deliberately avoiding the main thoroughfares.

Li Musheng did not mind this at all.

After all, Chuzhou was close to Jingzhou; they were only a few days' journey from Shangyang City, so the route taken mattered little.

Moreover, through his conversations with Cang Cang Yin Yue along the way, he had gained a general understanding of the entire situation in Great Li.

Within the borders of Great Li lay nineteen provinces, where Jianghu sects stood in great numbers, martial arts experts were plentiful, and their power was vast and complex, even capable of standing in opposition to the imperial court and its officials.

It could be said without exaggeration that Great Li was now in a state of joint governance by the court and the Jianghu.

The Jianghu and Wu Lin powers were unwilling to provoke the court, while the Great Li court, surrounded by neighboring states, had few options against those Jianghu people who frequently used martial force to disrupt the laws.

And according to Cang Cang Yin Yue, the situations in the other four great empires were similar to that of Great Li.

Indeed, the situation in Great Wu to the north was even more severe, with the entire empire showing a trend of being controlled by several top Jianghu sects.

This was the reason Cang Cang Yin Yue was unwilling to deal with the Yuxue Alliance; in the hearts of certain Jianghu powers, they did not truly hold the court in high regard.

Of course, Cang Cang Yin Yue was not afraid, but simply did not wish to create unnecessary trouble, avoiding uncontrollable factors during this journey.

The remote mountain paths were difficult to traverse, but the scenery was pleasant.

Li Musheng's previous black-maned yellow horse, exhausted from days of travel, had been sold halfway, replaced by a mule with better endurance.

Though this horse was cheap and unsightly, it was a master at climbing rugged mountain paths; even on very winding and twisting sections, it could push its way up on four legs.

"The clear wind chases the clouds to this place, the horse carries me to the mountain peak!"

Amidst the vast, verdant forests, Li Musheng patted the horse's back, humming a little poem as he walked along the winding, steep path with Cang Cang Yin Yue.

In the vast mountains and wilderness, the two people and two horses appeared extremely small.

Cang Cang Yin Yue remained cold and expressionless, her gaze never straying; as they walked, she found Li Musheng to be somewhat strange.

Although, due to staying in that small town's martial arts hall for so long, his information was extremely isolated, and he needed to ask her about many things.

Yet the other party's ability to accept things was very strong; he understood everything with a single hint, and some of his insights were even quite unique.

Furthermore, he would occasionally bring up words she had never heard before, and often, upon pondering these words carefully, she found them to be extremely profound.

Cang Cang Yin Yue saw many contradictions in Li Musheng.

For instance, his Wu Gong, the acupoint technique that made even her wary, and that occasional mix of playful banter and a carefree attitude as if he had seen through worldly affairs...

In short, he gave people a strange feeling.

"Eh? Miss Cang, look, isn't there someone on the opposite hill?"

At this moment, Li Musheng suddenly spoke, interrupting Cang Cang Yin Yue's thoughts.

Her gaze sharpened, and she looked in the direction the other party pointed.

Sure enough, amidst the dense forest several li away, three figures could be vaguely seen leading horses and hurrying along the mountain path with their heads down.

The figures of the three were sometimes obscured by thorny branches, but a slight observation revealed that they were heading in the same direction as them.

"It seems these people's person's thoughts are the same as yours; they also plan to take a detour from here," Li Musheng said, stroking his chin.

"The mountain paths in this area are extremely hidden; ordinary people could not possibly think to go to Jingzhou from here."

A flash of sharp light crossed Cang Cang Yin Yue's eyes, but as her gaze shifted, she saw that Li Musheng had already patted the horse's back and continued forward.

He seemed not to feel anything amiss about suddenly encountering a group of strangers in this deep mountain forest.

"Be careful."

Cang Cang Yin Yue offered a reminder, though she was not overly worried about Li Musheng.

After all, without any guard, the other party's miraculous acupoint technique was something even she could not resist, so self-preservation should not be a problem.

Not long after, the people on the opposite mountain path also discovered Li Musheng and Cang Cang Yin Yue.

While feeling extremely surprised, the other party also became extremely vigilant.

They not only kept staring at them, but their hands never left the hilts of the knives at their waists while walking, as if they would draw their blades and kill at any moment.

Finally, the two sides met exactly at a fork in the road ahead.

For a moment, Li Musheng and the other party, the three of them, all stopped.

Li Musheng sized up the people before him: two men and one woman.

There was a spirited woman in tight-fitting green clothing with a knife at her waist, a young scholar with a book basket on his back and a thin face, and a middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat who also carried a knife.

Cang Cang Yin Yue was also observing the three; her gaze fixed on the middle-aged man for a while, then lingered briefly on the woman and the scholar, before she suddenly spoke:

"Under whose general do you serve? Where in the capital are you currently employed?"

She asked this while looking at the middle-aged man, and after hearing it, the other party clearly showed a look of surprise on his face.

Cang Cang Yin Yue explained calmly:

"Your steps are steady and powerful, and your breathing rhythm is distinct; you must have practiced the Great Li army's 'Mountain-Shaking Fist Technique', so you are likely a military man."

"Additionally, although the knife in your hand looks ordinary overall, the style of the hilt is very exquisite and unique; it must have come from the 'Yanbing Pavilion' in Shangyang City."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's gaze changed, and then his entire aura suddenly rose rapidly, with his hand gripping the hilt showing the flow of martial arts true qi.

He stared at Cang Cang Yin Yue and said in a deep voice:

"Miss, your insight is sharp; to see through my background, you must also be from the capital, and certainly not an ordinary commoner woman. I wonder if your journey is to return to Shangyang City?"

"That is correct."

Cang Cang Yin Yue nodded, then suddenly let out a cold sneer:

"It seems you must be a subordinate of General Wu An, or belong to the Wu An Army, or perhaps be a personal guard of his residence."

Upon hearing this, Mengshan's face showed great shock again.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, a flash of coldness passing through them, and asked:

"How can you tell?"

"From your martial arts true qi; you cultivate the 'Heavy Origin Technique', which is the primary cultivation technique of the Wu An Army."

Cang Yin Yue's voice was flat as she sat upright on her horse, unmoved by the killing intent the other had just revealed.

Mengshan suddenly froze, staring silently at Cang Yin Yue before slowly nodding after a long while:

"To recognize even this, it seems Miss's background is far from simple."

At that moment, Li Musheng, who had been like a transparent person beside them, suddenly clapped his hands lightly and exclaimed:

"Miss Cang is truly impressive, discerning the great from the small and knowledgeable about many things; it is truly eye-opening. Not inviting you to handle cases is the Six Gates' loss."

Having said this, he glanced again at the middle-aged man opposite and said:

"I see you do not seem like bad people. Since we are traveling the same road, let us go together for mutual protection."

(End of this chapter)