Chapter 13

Liu Qiaolian had worked as an itinerant merchant and frequently traveled between the north and the south.

In the days that followed, with Liu Qiaolian leading the way and keeping him company, Xia Daoming no longer had to worry about which path to take, nor did he have to sleep in the open or eat in the wind any longer.

Every single day, Liu Qiaolian would arrange their itinerary perfectly.

Whether it was where they ate or where they slept, even the mode of transport would have been changed from two fine horses to a carriage, had Xia Daoming not disagreed.

Riding on horseback with a beautiful woman serving him hand and foot, Xia Daoming felt like a young master out on a pleasure trip.

Not only that, but the curvaceous and graceful Liu Qiaolian was not like Ji Wenyue, who was young and inexperienced; she was charming and alluring, not avoiding Xia Daoming's seasoned gaze in the slightest. On the contrary, she would smile at him bewitchingly without reservation, revealing her fine figure, looking like an enticing woman waiting for him to take her.

Yet, toward other men they encountered on the road, she was as cold as frost, showing no color, as if they were all dead men.

A lone man and a lone woman together for seven days and seven nights—on a night of wind and rain, Xia Daoming, having had a bit to drink, finally could not resist his masculine nature and stripped the voluntarily offering Liu Qiaolian bare, playing poker with her.

The next day, Liu Qiaolian acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to fulfill her duties as a maid, though her gait was a little awkward; occasionally, when she looked at Xia Daoming's back, a hint of an indescribable emotion appeared deep in her eyes.

Xia Daoming, on the other hand, having just slept with her the night before, felt very guilty, especially after seeing Liu Qiaolian solemnly cutting off and putting away the bloodstains on the bedsheets afterward.

Seeing her dressed as a young married woman, he had assumed she was a widow or had suffered some past trauma, so when Liu Qiaolian threw herself at him the night before, he had no psychological burden and took the opportunity to play a round of poker with her.

As it turned out, discovering that she was actually still a virgin made the situation a big deal!

If he were to take responsibility, he was currently like a rootless duckweed, with no intention of settling down or starting a family, and furthermore, he and Liu Qiaolian had only just met a few days ago, so there was no talk of romantic feelings between them; at most, he was just craving her body.

If he didn't take responsibility, it seemed he would appear to be a real scumbag.

Therefore, Xia Daoming, not yet having figured out how to handle the aftermath, could only try his best to show favor to Liu Qiaolian, taking the initiative to do things, at least not letting Liu Qiaolian think he was the kind of scumbag who would pull up his pants and refuse to acknowledge her.

As a result, Liu Qiaolian did not appreciate it at all, continuing to perform her duties as a maid meticulously, not at all like the bewitching tenderness she showed while playing poker the night before.

Once, Xia Daoming was even a bit too enthusiastic, and she actually wept and knelt, saying that one must not disrupt the order of superior and inferior!

This made Xia Daoming's mood very subtle; it seemed he had become the kind of scumbag who couldn't handle a one-night stand, agreeing that everyone would go their separate ways after the fun, yet insisting on getting entangled with the other person afterward!

A few days later, it was another night of wind and rain.

Perhaps because Xia Daoming's gaze during the day was too seasoned, or perhaps because Liu Qiaolian had tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time and had her own ideas, after the lamp was blown out, she took the initiative to crawl into his quilt.

The next day, Xia Daoming still felt guilty and wanted to make amends.

As a result, she still refused to accept it to the death.

Gradually, Xia Daoming slowly got used to Liu Qiaolian's identity as a concubine-in-waiting.

The two of them would play a round of poker every few days, which actually made this trip another glamorous journey for Xia Daoming.

The mountain road was winding and tortuous, and they had to avoid checkpoints and intersections guarded by mountain bandits; after another ten days or so, the two finally arrived at Li Cheng.

Li Cheng was situated in a plain basin among the mountains, and the city walls were towering and tall, far beyond what Black Stone City could compare to.

On the huge wall stones were mottled, dark brown dried bloodstains, quietly telling the vicissitudes of history of this city.

On the city walls, fully armed soldiers were patrolling back and forth.

Xia Daoming and Liu Qiaolian paid the city entry fee and entered Li Cheng.

The main street connected to the city gate was much wider, more prosperous, and livelier than Black Stone City.

Men and women dressed in various ways rubbed shoulders, and taverns, teahouses, brothels, casinos, pharmacies, and rice shops stood on both sides, and there were many small stalls and vendors on the street.

The hawking of vendors and the weaving crowd almost made Xia Daoming think he had traveled to a prosperous and flourishing age at a glance.

Only when Xia Daoming truly merged into the crowd and walked on the street did he discover that beneath the prosperous and lively surface, there was desolation and tragedy everywhere.

There were beggars in rags, starving to skin and bones, people selling their children, people selling themselves to bury their fathers, and corpses thrown on flatbed carts like dead dogs, being pulled outside the city gate...

The alleys connected to the main street were dark, narrow, and filled with filth.

In a small alley, people wearing the uniform of a gang were hacking at people with knives, but the weaving crowd on the main street seemed to have become accustomed to it, and no one took an extra look.

A bitter smile could not help but appear on the corner of Xia Daoming's mouth.

Mangzhou was located in a frontier region, a place of exile where thieves and bandits ran rampant and starving people were everywhere; how could it possibly be a prosperous and flourishing age?

Under Liu Qiaolian's guidance, the two soon arrived at a street that looked quite clean and where no beggars or refugees could be seen.

Most of the houses on both sides of the street were half-new and half-old; although no large mansions could be seen, most of them were houses with small courtyards, much better than the dilapidated bungalows in the alleys Xia Daoming had seen along the way.

"This should be equivalent to a residential area for the middle class in Li Cheng," Xia Daoming thought to himself.

"Suimian Alley is one of the two streets under the jurisdiction of Liuyun Workshop, and Liuyun Workshop is the territory of the Situ family," Liu Qiaolian introduced as they walked.

"The Situ family mentioned by that young man at the mouth of Red Rock Valley?" Xia Daoming asked in surprise.

"That's right, it's that Situ family. The Xu family is the only Martial Arts Grandmaster family in Li Cheng, and Xu Shixiong is recognized as the most outstanding descendant of the Xu family with the most hope of becoming a Grandmaster. He is also a seventh-rank Great Wu Shi himself, so naturally, he can disregard the Situ family.

But in reality, the Situ family head, Situ Zhongliang, is a sixth-rank Great Wu Shi, which already counts as a good hand in Li Cheng, and the Situ family has a deep relationship and friendship with the Ji family in the neighboring Yongqing Workshop, always advancing and retreating together.

This Liuyun Workshop has the Situ family sitting in town, so general gang forces dare not come to make trouble. I prefer the quietness here, so when I fled to Li Cheng six years ago, I bought a house here to settle down," Liu Qiaolian said.

"The Ji family? Could it be the Ji family of Everlasting Spring Hall you are talking about?" Xia Daoming's expression became subtle.

"So the Master has also heard of the name of the Ji family of Everlasting Spring Hall!" Liu Qiaolian's face revealed a hint of surprise.

"Damn, what a coincidence!" Muttering to himself, Xia Daoming nodded and said, "I've only heard of it; I don't know the specifics very well."

"The Ji family is much stronger than the Situ family in terms of financial resources, manpower, and connections. The old master of the Ji family is a seventh-rank Great Wu Shi, but unfortunately, he is already old, and his descendants are not outstanding, with the highest stopping at a fifth-rank Great Wu Shi; so far, there has not been a single sixth-rank Great Wu Shi.

However, the Ji family is a large medicinal herb merchant with strong financial resources, using silver to recruit and cultivate many good hands, and even recruited three sixth-rank Great Wu Shi-level guest elders, which can be considered a force with quite a deterrent power in Li Cheng," Liu Qiaolian explained roughly.

While speaking, the two arrived in front of a house with two large locks hanging on the door.

Liu Qiaolian took out the key and opened the lock.

"Creak!"

The door was pushed open.

Presented before their eyes was first a courtyard with the ground mostly paved with bricks and stones, on which were placed some stone locks, iron bamboo shoots, sandbags, and other martial arts training equipment.

On both sides of the courtyard were side rooms, and facing the main gate were three main rooms and two ear rooms.

Liu Qiaolian had obviously been away from home for a long time this trip; there were many weeds growing in the cracks of the bricks and in the corners of the courtyard, and the doors and windows in the rooms were also covered with a layer of dust.

Familiar scenery came into view, and the memories that had been deliberately sealed by Liu Qiaolian all these days surged into her heart one after another.

Before her eyes, it was as if a young woman in green clothes appeared, watching with gratification as a young man sweated profusely while swinging stone locks.

But in the blink of an eye, the young man turned into a ferocious pockmarked face, pushing her toward the Blood Feather Eagle, and then the scene changed again, and that familiar pockmarked face pushed her toward a man with a fleshy face and a lewd smile.

Tears rolled down from the corners of Liu Qiaolian's eyes unconsciously.

"Let's stay at an inn tonight, and tomorrow we will go to purchase a new house. As for the house here, find a time to tidy up the things inside, and then sell it," Xia Daoming walked up, gently took Liu Qiaolian into his arms, and said softly.

"Thank you, Master, I am fine now. I will go into the room to tidy up some clothes and then go to the inn to stay temporarily with Master," Liu Qiaolian wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled sweetly at Xia Daoming.

A few days later.

Taiwu Workshop, Qianjiao Martial Arts Hall.

Xia Daoming, wearing a cyan martial outfit, followed a burly man with a curly beard through the spacious outer courtyard training ground, passed through an arched gate, walked through a curved corridor, and arrived at the inner courtyard training ground covered with green shade and cool breezes.

Compared to the spectacular and bustling training scene in the outer courtyard, the inner courtyard training ground appeared very quiet.

Only one man, who looked even younger than Xia Daoming, was sitting cross-legged in the shade at the edge of the training ground, circulating his blood and internal force.

On a slightly higher ground on the south side of the training ground, a pavilion was built.

Behind this pavilion grew a large tree with a canopy like a cloud, and the shade of the tree completely covered the pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, a man in his sixties with silver hair like a halberd and a mighty figure was closing his eyes and resting.

Hearing footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes and looked toward Xia Daoming.

His gaze was majestic and sharp; Xia Daoming's heart tightened, knowing that this person was the master of Qianjiao Martial Arts Hall, Liang Jingtang, a sixth-rank Great Wu Shi.

The young man circulating his blood and internal force also noticed the arrival of a stranger, opened his eyes and looked coldly at Xia Daoming, then quickly closed them again, continuing to circulate his blood and internal force.

"Master, the person has been brought," Yuchi Xiao arrived at the pavilion and bowed to Liang Jingtang.

Liang Jingtang nodded slightly to Yuchi Xiao, his gaze passing over him and landing on Xia Daoming.

"Younger Xia Daoming has met Hall Master Liang," Xia Daoming hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and cupped his hands in salute.

"I heard your martial arts are inherited from Chou Zhiheng?" Liang Jingtang asked, a hint of vicissitudes and reminiscence appearing deep in his eyes.

"Replying to the Hall Master, I have been practicing martial arts with Master Chou since I was twelve," Xia Daoming replied, bowing.

Hearing that Xia Daoming had started practicing martial arts with Chou Zhiheng at the age of twelve, the gaze Liang Jingtang looked at him with added a hint of an elder's kindness.

"I am three years older than your Master Chou. We practiced martial arts together, played together, and carried out missions together in those days; our friendship was very deep. It's just a pity that his talent was limited, and he offended a direct descendant of the Shi family, so he had no choice but to go far to the north thirty years ago.

Since then, he and I have never met again. I didn't expect to see the disciple he taught today! I wonder how he is doing?" Liang Jingtang asked.