Chapter 50: Not Going There

"Why are you here so late? You're already a day behind!" the youth dressed as a Daoist acolyte complained unhappily. "Where is the tally?"

Cui Yurong offered an apologetic smile while pulling out a Wooden Tablet: "Please forgive me, we truly encountered an accident on the road that delayed us."

Taking advantage of the moment the youth was verifying the tally, she quietly slipped a banknote into his sleeve.

The youth snorted through his nose, let them pass, and didn't complain any further. "Go in. Don't let your eyes wander, and get out as soon as you've finished unloading the goods."

"Yes." Cui Yurong replied submissively. The caravan followed the youth along the corridor at the corner of the side door until they reached a tall, spacious building. The youth exchanged a few words with the two guards at the entrance, then had the caravan park at the door and begin unloading. "I'll say it again: once the goods are moved inside, place them on the first shelf by the door. Do not leave a ten-zhang radius of me. If you understand, then go in."

The guards opened one half of the main gate. Inside, there were neither windows nor lamps; it was pitch black. Ruan Xing could only barely make out rows of shelves of varying heights, unable to see what was placed upon them.

Ruan Xing picked up a wooden box and, with her head lowered, carried it into the depths of the storehouse. The storehouse was vast and deep, almost impossible to see the end of at a glance, while the youth had already begun chatting with the two guards.

It was strange that such a large storehouse only had two guards at the door. Then again, with that peculiar barrier in existence, anyone with ill intent would be reduced to ashes before even finding the door, so these two guards were as good as non-existent.

Since this storehouse is so large, what kind of things would be stored inside? Would there be Luoqi Pill? In any case, it certainly wasn't just for storing daily necessities. Cui Yurong delivered goods once a month, and the four or five carts she brought could be accommodated by a single large shelf at the entrance with room to spare.

Ruan Xing had a mind to go inside and take a look. Seeing that the youth was still chatting and not paying attention to her side, she turned her feet and walked behind the shelves. She was small, and with the darkness and the shelves blocking the view, she couldn't see much.

But when she continued forward for less than ten steps, her body suddenly turned into debris and fell to the ground with a rustle.

This was exactly the distance of ten zhang.

……

Although she hadn't saved that guard, this simulation was already considered a relatively good outcome; Cui Yurong and the rest of the caravan guards had all survived.

As for the magical barrier in the National Teacher Palace, Ruan Xing had searched the youth from head to toe in previous simulations and found nothing resembling a Dharma Artifact, key, or amulet. Moreover, once she had stuffed the youth's corpse into a cart to enter the National Teacher Palace, she still died. Perhaps the barrier was quite intelligent and recognized the identity of living people; everyone recognized by the barrier was safe within a ten-zhang radius and could bring others inside.

In one instance, Ruan Xing didn't save Cui Yurong and instead disguised herself as Cui Yuqiong to enter the National Teacher Palace. After the youth saw through her identity, he also retreated a distance, exceeding ten zhang and letting the barrier kill her.

It was truly troublesome. If she could hijack someone in the National Teacher Palace to enter the storehouse... the success rate was slim to none.

Ruan Xing shook her head to cast off the thought, pulled out a stack of "Speed" talismans, slapped them onto the horse's rump, and used True Qi to activate them. "Giddyap!"

After the entire stack of "Speed" talismans was consumed, Ruan Xing finally arrived at Huaining City before dark. However, there was still some distance from the South Gate to the North Gate. She had simulated traveling through the city streets several times and was very familiar with them. Even so, it was nearly time for the gates to lock by the time she reached the North Gate. She seized the time to exit the city and rushed toward Cui Yurong's current location.

Since this was reality, Ruan Xing had an extra consideration: she didn't explain anything to Cui Yurong but instead knocked her unconscious directly.

Cui Yurong was petite and thin, not heavy at all. With her physical fitness at the Acquired Realm, carrying her was effortless. This way, Cui Yurong wouldn't see the Sword come out, nor would she see her use the Triangle Flag.

Both the Sword and the Triangle Flag were products of Ghost Cultivator techniques, and their appearance looked somewhat evil. For safety's sake, it was better not to let her know about these things.

As for the guard who was with Cui Yurong, he was also persuaded by Ruan Xing in a few words. After all, she had Cui Yurong as a hostage, so the guard dared not disbelieve her words. No matter who she was or what she wanted to do by rescuing Cui Yurong, it was better than falling into the hands of those horse bandits.

By the time Cui Yurong woke up again, those "horse bandits" had already been dealt with by Ruan Xing.

"Wake up." Ruan Xing patted her face. "Are you clear-headed now?"

Cui Yurong woke from the chaos, her neck and face stinging with pain. Upon opening her eyes and seeing Ruan Xing, she immediately became alert. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. What's important is that I'm here to save you. Cui Yurong, look over there." Ruan Xing stretched out her finger and pointed. She had dragged the six "horse bandits" she had dealt with on the main road over and placed them together on the low slope where Cui Yurong had first lit her campfire.

Cui Yurong turned her head in confusion. In an instant, she saw the mess on the ground: soil mixed with fresh blood, severed limbs, twisted heads with eyes wide open in death, and the pungent stench that had rushed toward her—which she had ignored earlier due to nervousness.

Fortunately, because the residual poison in that area had not yet dissipated, Ruan Xing and she had not stayed very close. Otherwise, if Cui Yurong had discovered she was waking up in a pool of blood, she might have vomited from joy.

Without having experienced a thrilling battle and being directly confronted with such a bloody and violent scene, Cui Yurong felt more fear than gratitude. She said with a trembling voice, "What do you want to do?"

Ruan Xing felt somewhat helpless. She had thought that killing the "horse bandits" using the method from the simulation would be enough, but she hadn't expected that her direct and brutal approach would affect Cui Yurong's perception of her.

But Ruan Xing's memory already held several instances of life-and-death experiences with Cui Yurong, so she could only say: "Cui Yurong, pull yourself together. Don't you want to save your father? Your younger brother and sister are still at home, looking forward to you bringing back good news."

"Yes..." Cui Yurong took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. "I must... live to go back."

It had to be said that compared to most ordinary women of this era, Cui Yurong's psychological resilience was much stronger. Except for that one time in the carriage when she tried to commit suicide with a hairpin, she had never cried or complained, but instead thought of every possible way to save herself.

Communicating with such a person was always better than communicating with those who couldn't understand human speech.

Cui Yurong quickly understood her current situation. At this moment, dwelling on why Ruan Xing had knocked her unconscious was meaningless. She could only choose to believe that Ruan Xing was here to save her. She turned, knelt on the ground, and bowed to Ruan Xing: "Many thanks to my benefactor for saving my life! But the guard who was with me at the time..."

"My condolences." Ruan Xing said in a low voice. "To protect you, he has already died."

"... Dead..." Cui Yurong had been mentally prepared, so upon hearing this, she was only dazed for a moment before continuing: "I beg my benefactor to help me one more time. My caravan still has other guards who were captured..."

"Fine, I know their location." Ruan Xing interrupted her. "If your legs aren't weak now, stand up and we will go save them immediately." "I can walk." Cui Yurong said with a determined face. Her soft, beautiful features were stained with spots of mud and blood, making her look even more pitiful. Such a delicate girl, yet her character was so resilient.

Ruan Xing's original intention in choosing to wake her up here was to let her see the results of her battle, so that Cui Yurong wouldn't underestimate her due to her harmless appearance and distrust her. Since Cui Yurong had already composed herself, she didn't waste time, and the two soon arrived at the ruined temple halfway up the mountain.

Next, untying the group, waking them up, going to the ruins of the carriages, leaving people to bury the corpses, and Cui Yurong writing Debt Notes to borrow money—all were done in one go.

When they reached the South Gate, the sky was bright and the sun had become scorching. The two sat in the carriage, and Cui Yurong wiped the sweat from her face, the bloodstains and mud marks on her face becoming mottled. She was calculating how to purchase the missing goods later.

Ruan Xing leaned against a box, drowsy, and said lazily: "Let's find an inn first. Wash up and change your clothes; you look too disheveled."

"Yes, right, thank you for the reminder. I cannot go to the National Teacher Palace looking like this." Her current appearance would make it obvious to anyone with eyes what had happened. How could the National Teacher Palace believe that the goods she was delivering were without issues?

Aside from the heavy marks on Cui Yurong, most of it was the blood of the guard who had fought to the death to protect her. Because the other guards were so outmatched by the "horse bandits," the other side hadn't intended to kill them, so none were seriously injured. At most, there were some fractures and abrasions. They were dirty and messy simply because they had been traveling and had no time to wash up, which was not particularly eye-catching.

After entering the city, they immediately found an inn and asked for rooms and hot water. Cui Yurong went in to tidy up her appearance, and the other guards also took medicine and rested as needed. In any case, she had originally planned to stay in the city for several days to save her father.

She also ordered hot water for Ruan Xing. It was just as well, as Ruan Xing had fought several times throughout the night and was covered in the smell of sweat and blood; a bath would be good.

"Your family is an Imperial Merchant. Didn't you set up a residence in the Capital?" While waiting for the hot water, Ruan Xing chatted with Cui Yurong.

Cui Yurong was silent for a few seconds before smiling: "I originally had one, but I sold it a few days ago. After my father was taken in, several partner firms worried that the person would die and the money would be lost, so they weren't willing to wait for the date on the Contract and came to me early to demand Silver. I had no money for turnover, so I had to sell the house."

"Then what kind of business does your family do?"

"Many, we are involved in quite a few, but our main business is medicinal herbs and furs. Shangyao City has many mountains, mostly growing wild animals and mountain herbs. My family owns a mountain in Shangyao City. Now that it's summer, it's the season for animals to shed their fur, so we can't hunt for pelts at this time. Once autumn arrives, the Silver available for turnover in the accounts will increase." As Cui Yurong spoke, she suddenly became dejected again. "The silk weaving case has nothing to do with my father, but because a few tribute furs used velvet cotton cloth as lining for cloaks, he was implicated. If I had someone in my family serving as an official in the court who could put in a word or two, how could he be treated like a soft persimmon to be squeezed?"

"Don't you still have a younger brother? Let him study hard; perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future." Ruan Xing comforted her casually.

Cui Yurong burst into laughter. After chatting with Ruan Xing several times along the way, she realized that she wasn't a vicious person who killed without blinking, but rather easy to talk to, with a casual and kind attitude, which made her feel much more relaxed and allowed her to speak more freely without being so nervous. "Haha, let him study? What about the family business? Yuqiong and I will have to marry sooner or later."

"You can take in a son-in-law."

"Take in a son-in-law? There are male heirs in the family; why would I take in a son-in-law?" Cui Yurong asked, puzzled.

The limitations of the era created the thinking of women. Ruan Xing opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. Her personality was very lazy, and she didn't want to fight the whole world to change it by her own strength. Even if she told Cui Yurong, it would be of no use and would only make her fall into resentment and sadness.

What a pity, the "female CEO" type wasn't common.

The hot water arrived. Ruan Xing washed herself and changed into clean clothes. Seeing that Cui Yurong hadn't finished tidying up, she took this time to start the simulation.

【Simulating...】

At six years old, you entered the National Teacher Palace with the caravan under the name of Cui Yurong's younger sister. While moving the goods, you took the opportunity to grab the youth and threaten him with a Short Sword to enter the storehouse together. You hurriedly walked past several rows of shelves and finally found something resembling a medicine porcelain bottle. Just as you had packed a few bottles into your bosom, the youth suddenly said, "Don't you know that private fighting is prohibited inside the National Teacher Palace?" After saying this, he threw himself onto your sword, and you died.

【Simulation ended】

Please select the reward for this simulation: 1, memories from age six.

2, a random item carried at age six.

3, a random skill mastered at age six.

4, the cultivation realm reached at age six.

Ruan Xing chose option two and was lucky enough to get a small medicine bottle, but it had no markings on it; Ruan Xing opened it and saw six small white Pills inside, and after sniffing them and finding they had no scent, she did not dare to eat them casually, so she put them away for now.

As expected, coercing a hostage inside the National Teacher Palace was simply impossible; the youth's willingness to walk in with her and then run into the Sword might have just been curiosity about what she was trying to do, and once he knew her goal was Pills, he decisively ran into the Sword, after which she was obliterated by the barrier for triggering the rule against private duels.

Ruan Xing sighed and ran the Simulation a few more times; sometimes her intent was too obvious and she would head straight for the shelf where the porcelain bottles were kept, and the youth would run into the Sword before she could even get them, and there were two successful times where she obtained identical medicine bottles, but when she wanted to go further inside to see what was on the other shelves, the youth was no longer willing to cooperate.

After putting away those three identical medicine bottles of unknown function, Ruan Xing sighed and sprawled out on the bed.

Cui Yurong came out from behind the screen, her hair damp with moisture and her little face flushed; as she tied her robe, she said, "Benefactor, aren't you going to see the National Teacher Palace? Let's go."

This time, Ruan Xing did not ask about entering the National Teacher Palace, only saying she would go in with her caravan to see what the interior of the National Teacher Palace looked like; she planned to go and make contact with that old City Lord herself first.

"Forget it, I'm not going; I'm too sleepy and want to sleep," Ruan Xing said lazily, turning over, hugging the soft quilt, and closing her eyes.

Ruan Xing had worked hard all night without sleep and had even fought, so Cui Yurong could naturally understand her physical exhaustion; she was actually sleepy too, but since she had passed out for a period in the middle, she could be considered to have slept, and for the sake of her father's life and the family's future, now was not the time for her to sleep.

"That's true, even if we go in, we can only enter the storehouse from the outer path and can't go inside, so there really isn't much to see; I'll clean up these used things when I get back, and I won't let the waiter come in to disturb you—by the way, Benefactor, are you hungry? Would you like to eat something?" Cui Yurong asked with thoughtful concern.

Thanks to book friend 20170912234121184 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Chiyu Zhiyu for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)