Chapter 2: Finally, It Has Arrived

He Lingchuan only needed to move his eyes, without even opening his mouth, and a small golden-threaded date would be delivered to his lips.

He stretched, secretly sighing, "How comfortable."

Having replaced the original body for over a month, aside from the great suffering of being riddled with bloody holes when he first woke up, his days in Heishuicheng could only be described as pleasant.

Jinzhou is located in the far northwest corner of the Great Yuan territory, and Heishuicheng is less than ten miles from the border, serving as a gatekeeper for Great Yuan. It sounds good in name, but this geographical location dictates that Jinzhou cannot receive the loving gaze of its monarch father, not to mention that it has been calm and peaceful without war in recent years.

But the benefit is also that the mountains are high and the Emperor is far away.

The He family are standard local emperors on their own turf, and as the eldest son of the Prefect, He Lingchuan can have whatever he wants in Heishuicheng and even the entire Qiansong Prefecture.

The standard for his food, clothing, housing, and transportation can be summed up in three words:

The very best.

The delicacies on his table, the playthings in his hands, and his daily income—it is hard to say they gather rare treasures from all directions, but many wealthy people in the interior might not even be able to enjoy them.

The original He Lingchuan grew up to the age of sixteen in such a carefree environment.

How should one put it? He Lingchuan’s evaluation of the original body is that he had a bad temper and was somewhat arrogant by nature.

This fellow was usually high-spirited and fond of hunting with hawks and dogs; otherwise, he wouldn't have encountered a major accident on Mount Hulu.

Although this skin is now fully healed, the new owner has no intention of picking up the original’s hobbies again.

For the past month or so, He Lingchuan has often thought about the encounter on the cliff; the leopard demon that attacked him seemed to have been seriously injured as well. Would the person who wounded it come to Heishuicheng? But time passed bit by bit, and both inside and outside the city, everything remained calm.

Beneath the facade of a beautiful life, there always seemed to be undercurrents surging. This made him, a miserable wage slave who was originally only meant to have "blessings," feel uneasy while enjoying the fragrance of privilege.

He Lingchuan sipped the warm wine twice, suddenly feeling a bit stifled, and signaled Uncle Hao to open the window.

As soon as the window opened, a chill rushed in. The people on the second floor couldn't help but shiver, and the paper on the table in the next private room was blown downstairs; two of the sheets were small-denomination silver notes, immediately triggering a scramble below.

No one paid attention to the commotion downstairs, and Liu Baobao tightened his collar.

He Lingchuan took a deep breath, chasing away his little emotions. Just then, the play downstairs finished, and he took the lead in applauding, saying happily, "Good! Reward!" After saying this, he casually unfastened the jade pendant from his waist and had someone take it down as a tip.

With the "top donor" taking the lead, the atmosphere at the scene was pushed to a climax, and the audience downstairs also opened their purses one after another.

Outside the window was the main street of Heishuicheng. Once the window opened, the bustling noise came in with the wind. He Lingchuan glanced at it and saw the street was filled with a constant stream of carriages and horses. The main street, which had been widened three times, could accommodate eight standard carriages driving side by side, but at this moment, there wasn't even a two-foot-square gap.

"It’s this lively?"

Uncle Hao stood beside He Lingchuan and said upon hearing this, "It is now the eighth month. Merchants coming and going must pass through as quickly as possible before the Red Cliff Trade Route closes to finish transporting the last batch of goods before winter."

This was the top-tier expert the head of the He family had arranged for his beloved son after the accident on Mount Hulu to prevent him from encountering any more mishaps.

He Lingchuan nodded.

Heishuicheng is located on the edge of the Panlong Desert; it looks desolate, but it is a vital thoroughfare connecting the western countries to the interior of Great Yuan, as it is a mandatory check-in point for the famous Red Cliff Road.

Traveling through the desert has always been dangerous, with volatile weather and frequent bandits, and the Panlong Desert is the leader among them. Countless predecessors used their blood, sweat, and lives to find a relatively safe passage through the Panlong Desert: the Red Cliff Trade Route.

However, the center of the Panlong Desert changes drastically in September, at which point even the Red Cliff Trade Route is no longer safe. Therefore, experienced merchants must time their travel to pass through early so they can raise prices and make a killing during the months the Red Cliff Trade Route is closed.

In the busiest season, while other places are approaching the end of the year, Heishuicheng is in its prime right now.

Wealthy merchants have all arrived, all industries are thriving, peddling sounds along the street rise and fall, and the horse troughs at the post stations have no empty spots. The taxes collected in Heishuicheng over these two months must be quite substantial, right?

He Lingchuan came back to his senses at this thought and found himself worrying about his old man's business, which he found amusing.

Just then, someone downstairs asked to see the eldest young master of the He residence.

This was a messenger sent by a local gang called the Red and White Path. After coming up, he saluted but didn't make a sound, only looking left and right.

He Lingchuan waved his hand, and the servants immediately retreated thirty feet away; Liu Baobao was also very sensible and found an excuse to pace to another private room.

Only Uncle Hao stood where he was, motionless.

"Speak, what is it?"

This fellow had been sent by his altar master, saying that two dusty outsiders had just walked into the Zhuzhi Tavern to inquire about something.

In a transportation hub like Heishuicheng, travelers from the south and north are as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river, so the best places to inquire about news are naturally local taverns, teahouses, and red-light districts. The actions of these two outsiders were not wrong.

But they clearly didn't understand the local ecology.

Organizations like the Red and White Path, although they always have "it's not easy for brothers to earn a little money" on their lips, actually dominate one of the most profitable local businesses: alcohol.

Those two were unlucky and happened to walk into a tavern frequently visited by members of the Red and White Path.

"Tracking an injured sand leopard?" Hearing this, He Lingchuan felt his heart tighten, "And specifically near Heishuicheng?"

The trouble had finally arrived.

"Exactly." The gang member glanced at him and quickly lowered his head. The veins on the eldest young master's forehead were popping out, and he looked furious. "Both of them had foreign accents; the gang members said they sounded like people from eastern Yuan. The tavern owner said sand leopards live in the Western Mountains, far from here. They didn't argue, just told anyone with clues to find them, promising a heavy reward regardless of whether the target is dead or alive."