Chapter 621

"Rumor has it that there was a wicked flood dragon in the Jianghuai Great Marsh. One day, it went on a rampage, wanting to eat three thousand young boys and girls to practice its arts. Just as it was crossing the bridge into town, the Dragon-Slaying Sword hanging beneath the bridge suddenly fell, cleanly severing the wicked dragon's tail!

Whoosh, the dragon blood that spilled out had a strange fragrance and spread across the ground. It splashed onto a pregnant woman crossing the bridge, immediately triggering her labor. Before the midwife could even arrive, plop! A baby boy fell right into the river."

Ke Wenbin joked, "So the baby boy is the 'Dragon Crossing the River'?"

The man leading the horse in front nodded repeatedly.

"Exactly, exactly! The baby fell into the river, and a man jumped off the bridge to save him. He searched for half an hour, but there wasn't a shadow of a person. Everyone thought the baby had drowned, but guess what happened, my lords?"

"What happened?"

"Suddenly, an old woman came out holding a big red basin, and the baby boy was lying inside laughing! It turned out that after being splashed with dragon blood, the baby could breathe underwater from birth. He drifted all the way to the East River head, where the old woman washing clothes picked him up and wanted to take him home to raise as her own!"

"So, as soon as the 'Dragon Crossing the River' from the Jianghuai Great Marsh arrived in our Peng Ze, General Yuan noticed him. It was so affectionate, like an uncle and nephew! I heard the eldest nephew came to Huangzhou to offer birthday wishes, and he immediately scraped off a piece of turtle shell to give him as a birthday gift for Old Master Xu."

Strange.

It sounds quite plausible.

Could Liang Qu have paid someone to make this up on purpose?

Ke Wenbin thought to himself.

"Anyway, the story is told, and we've arrived just in time. My lord, the Xu family manor is right ahead. It's not appropriate for me to go any further. You were kind enough to hire me as a guide, but I can't walk right up to the door and let the gatekeeper look down on you."

"Well told."

Xiang Fang Su dug into his pocket and tossed out a small coin.

"Thank you for the reward, my lord! Thank you! May you be promoted, get rich, and marry a virtuous wife! May the autumn seedlings grow taller and taller!"

The Xu family residence.

"Who are you two lords visiting? Do you have a calling card?"

"The Dragon Crossing the River! Tell him to come out; don't hide like a turtle in his room. Tell him his enemy has arrived today! We will settle the score and decide who lives and who dies!"

"My lords, don't joke around. Are you two friends of Lord Liang?"

"Yes, one is surnamed Ke, the other Xiang. He'll know once you say our names. Go report it quickly. Oh, and tell him to bring plenty of silver. We haven't eaten all day, and we heard some annoying news as soon as we got off the boat. He has to treat us!"

The gatekeeper smiled.

From their words, it was clear they were friends, so he didn't dare delay and sent a fast-footed servant inside to report.

Before long.

Liang Qu saw Xiang Fang Su and Ke Wenbin at the gate at a glance and was overjoyed.

Upon reaching them.

"A Great Hunting Tiger Martial Artist?"

He had come out of seclusion only a few days before closing, and it was rare to be on official business, so he just happened to come out.

c

"Breaking through to Great Martial Artist, it's worth celebrating!"

Should I

take the gift

and look for it

hidden on my body?

"Don't say so much, did you bring enough silver?" Ke Wenbin put his arm around his shoulder. "You've been in Huangzhou for over a month; where's the good food? Shouldn't we go taste it?"

"I've got it prepared!"

Liang Qu patted his waist pocket, and the heavy silver clinked crisply.

"Let's head to the famous restaurant in Huangzhou!"

Qixia Tower.

The table was full of delicacies.

The aroma wafted through the air.

"How are things in Pingyang Prefecture?"

Ke Wenbin picked up some raw rice and tossed it into his mouth: "Same old, same old. You left in late September, and now it's mid-November. In a month or two, what could change? Oh right, did you start some kind of farming project? Raising frogs and rice?

There are two medicinal herb merchants who are spending heaps of silver to buy land outside Pingyang Prefecture. Even the Weng family was alarmed and said they wanted a share."

"Just some little gadgets to earn some pocket money."

"Pocket money?" Ke Wenbin sneered. "Doesn't look like it to me. If you have too much land, you have to pay taxes. Don't try to hide or underreport it. The canal can't be dug anymore; if you can't pay, you'll be dragged off to build the Great Wall."

"I, Liang Mou, have always been law-abiding. Even when I was at my poorest, I never missed an autumn tax."

Both officials and martial artists have tax exemption quotas.

Liang Qu bought land in large quantities, long ago exceeding the tax-exempt quota for his official rank, but he used to have to pay it himself. Now, minor officials come to his door to collect it, so he doesn't need to worry about it.

Besides.

It's just small change.

Xiang Fang Su pondered: "If you're talking about big news, it's not that there isn't any, but it's still under discussion and hasn't been finalized."

"What is it?"

"Pingyang Prefecture is discussing whether to build a city wall."

"A city wall?" Liang Qu was astonished. "What's the point of building that? Can it stop a Great Hunting Tiger Martial Artist? A Wolf Smoke Martial Artist? Isn't that a waste of manpower and money?" "Eh, it's not the little low wall you're thinking of. If they really build it, it will at least be a small, majestic pass."

"A small, majestic pass? Even a big one wouldn't be of much use, right?"

"You don't understand?"

"What should I understand?" Liang Qu scratched his head, realizing there must be a hidden story. "I was born a peasant, unlike you guys who have been visiting the Imperial Observatory since you were kids and have seen the Four Directions Celestial Instrument. Tell me in detail."

Xiang Fang Su dipped his chopsticks in tea and drew a winding curve.

"You've heard of the Great Wall and its majestic passes on the frontier, right?"

"I know, birds can't fly over them, and people can't walk to the end of them."

"You've heard of the 'Xiang' of the Immortal Islands above the clouds, right?"

"Hmm..."

"Think about them together?"

Liang Qu frowned.

After a moment of thought.

"Building a wonder can achieve an effect similar to True Steel?"

Ke Wenbin snapped his fingers: "Smart! You deserve to be the baby boy who could crawl out of the river after half an hour; you've been extraordinary since you were little!"

Liang Qu couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him.

The two of them had been teasing him about this since they arrived, and they couldn't stop talking about it.

Naked jealousy!

"That's right. The help of 'Xiang' to True Steel lies in 'Momentum.' If the 'Momentum' is strong, the person is strong—three parts faster and three parts harder in a fight.

If you have three hundred rogue cultivators and three hundred soldiers, all at the Galloping Horse Martial Artist level, the soldiers might not be able to beat the rogue cultivators who have been through the ringer in a one-on-one fight.

But three hundred against three hundred, with neat formations, the soldiers would win. That is 'Momentum'! 'Momentum' doesn't just rely on numbers; it can also rely on the 'wonders' you mentioned."

Ke Wenbin put down his chopsticks: "Ordinary prefectures don't need to go to such trouble, but aren't we facing the Ghost Mother Sect?"

"So Pingyang Prefecture is preparing to build a wonder?"

Xiang Fang Su shook his head: "It's still being discussed. Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with you."

"Me?"

"Didn't you trick a Jiaoren tribe into coming here? The River Patrol Office plans to build an island for trade, so the prefectural government proposed doing it all at once—a 'Dragon Spitting a Pearl,' using the water island as the dragon pearl and the majestic pass as the dragon. It can be used for both offense and defense."

"How should I put it." Ke Wenbin held his head with both hands and leaned back against the chair. "Wonders are good, and in a tough fight, the strength of those with a wonder can be several times higher. Unfortunately, the cost is too high, and they basically belong to the defensive side.

Our relationship with the Ghost Mother Sect is mostly active offense. So the River Patrol Office and the Demon-Hunting Division are all hesitant about whether it's worth it.

Not to mention that Pingyang Prefecture has been through turmoil once and hasn't recovered for a few years. Whether they have the ability to build it themselves is still hard to say, and the Ghost Mother Sect might even deliberately attack because of this.

Right, Ashui, weren't you a fisherman before? If they build a city wall, it definitely won't be as convenient for fishermen to catch fish in the future."

This really is big news.

Liang Qu clicked his tongue.

Xiang Fang Su put down his chopsticks.

"Come, come, let's raise our glasses. It's rare to go on such a long trip; why think about so much?"

The three cups clinked together.

Liang Qu was overjoyed: "Let's not talk about annoying things; let's talk about happy things."

"Stop." Ke Wenbin raised his hand. "If you want to talk about how you defeated three Hunting Tiger Martial Artists at the Great Hunting Meet or the turtle shell you gave as a birthday gift at the Xu family banquet, you don't need to. My ears are calloused from hearing it on the road."

"How is that possible? Am I the kind of person who brags and shows off?"

"The happy news has nothing to do with you?"

"It does, but the event itself didn't happen to me."

Ke Wenbin and Xiang Fang Su looked at each other and let down their guard.

"Go ahead."

Liang Qu crossed his arms and leaned on the table.

"My master has become a Grandmaster. Did you guys know?"