Chapter 140: 135 Lingzhou

On the second day of the four traveling together, they finally left Yunzhou and arrived at the border of Lingzhou.

Lingzhou is to the southwest of Yunzhou, with a great river separating the two prefectures. Standing by the river, one could only see vast yellow water; mud and sand churned in the river, and the waves were extremely turbid.

Tang Zhao was accustomed to the clear waters of Jiugao Mountain, and having heard that this great river was the mother river for this prefecture and several others upstream and downstream, stretching for a thousand miles, originating from the dragon vein, and rushing into the sea, he had long yearned for it, thinking it would be like the Tian He in the Demon Cave lying across the earth. Now that he saw it, he felt slightly disappointed.

But then he thought: regardless of whether the river water is clear or turbid, it still irrigates a thousand miles of territory. Can it be said that just because it is no longer clear, it is no longer everyone's mother river?

As he thought this, he reached down and scooped up a handful of river water. The water flowed through his fingers, leaving only the strange, gritty sensation of sand. He thought: What I hold in my hand is guest soil that has come from afar; I wonder where their home is?

Seeing Tang Zhao scooping water there, Che Sha asked curiously, "What's wrong? Does Big Brother want to drink water?"

Jiang Shenyi saw Tang Zhao's moved expression and said, "Your big brother has read too many books; he just gets sentimental when he sees a scene. He'll be fine in a moment."

Che Sha also understood some Central Plains culture and said, "Ah, is Big Brother going to compose a poem?"

Even if Tang Zhao had some sentiment, after being talked about by them one after another, he was left only with embarrassment. He stood up and said, "Stop it, how would I know how to compose a poem..."

Just as he was speaking, Che Sha and Jiang Shenyi suddenly changed their expressions. Tang Zhao looked back and saw a floating corpse drifting on the river; it rose with one wave and sank with another.

For a moment, Tang Zhao was also startled, but he immediately reacted. He flipped his hand to take a coil of rope from his canister. With a flick of his hand, under the influence of his Internal Energy, the rope naturally straightened and plunged into the water, then softened to accurately coil around the corpse and drag it out of the water.

This flick and coil took only a few breaths. Before Che Sha's eyes, the corpse was already on land.

Tang Zhao's movements just now were clean and efficient, not to mention his quick eyes and fast hands. Between the rope being straight and curved, his control of Internal Energy was extremely exquisite. Based on this move alone, he was at least a top-tier Knight-Errant. Che Sha couldn't help but marvel, thinking: With such attainments in Rune Formulas, why does he need such high martial arts? With such high martial arts, how could he have such high attainments in Rune Formulas?

The corpse was dragged onto the bank and lay face up on the ground.

The group knew at a glance that there was no saving it. The skin was already water-logged and white, and the features were distorted, but it shouldn't have been dead for more than a few days, otherwise, with the many fish and shrimp in the river, it probably wouldn't be so intact. A water-logged corpse is truly not a pretty sight. Tang Zhao endured the churning in his stomach to look closely, but he really couldn't make out the features. He could only tell it was a young man; judging by his physique, he was a bit bloated, though it might also be edema.

Perhaps because it had been soaking in the water for too long, the person was stark naked. Che Sha was the only woman present, but the customs of Liangzhou were bold, so she didn't shy away and said, "Eh? This is too bare. Could it be that he wasn't wearing clothes to begin with? Could it be that he didn't fall into the water by accident, but drowned while swimming?"

The few nodded. If he had fallen from the bank or a boat, he definitely wouldn't be so stark naked. Even if it were suicide, an ordinary person wouldn't take off their clothes before jumping. It really might be that he drowned while swimming and bathing in the river.

However, with the river so vast and turbulent, would anyone really go into the water to swim?

After all, Tang Zhao and his group were not constables, and there was no need to investigate the cause of death. Since Tang Zhao had pulled it up by chance, he let it be laid to rest. Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi hastily dug a pit and buried it. Although Wusun Tong and Che Sha found it strange why they didn't just give it a water burial, they helped out. Che Sha even provided a straw mat to serve as a coffin.

"Now we also need to cross the river. Shall we fly across, or take a boat?"

"Let's take a boat. If we wanted to fly, we would have flown already. Isn't traveling on foot meant to experience more?"

"Fine. The nearest ferry is twenty miles downstream, but there should be a wild ferry three miles away. There should be boats there, right?"

The group discussed it and felt that it was better to just go with the flow; in any case, they were not in a hurry, so they wandered downstream. At this time, none of the four had mounts, so it was convenient to take a boat.

When they arrived at the wild ferry, they saw seven or eight people already waiting, so it seemed there was indeed a boat. Most of the people waiting were dressed like small merchants, mostly traveling alone or in groups of two or three; there were no wealthy or powerful people surrounded by attendants, though there were one or two sturdy-looking men who seemed like martial artists from the Jianghu. The four of them lined up at the back.

Tang Zhao was at the front of the line, so he took the opportunity to chat with the person in front of him.

In terms of Jianghu experience, including the two companions from Liangzhou, Tang Zhao actually had the most. At least he had spent several months in the Jianghu with the Sui Family Troupe, had the experience of the Demon Cave, and had been doing tasks on and off with the Land Inspection Division for the past few years, so he was quite familiar with dealing with people. Jiang Shenyi was not good at social interactions, so he gave the "old Jianghu" persona to him.

Actually, Che Sha was also articulate and clever in her actions, but the customs of Liangzhou were very different, and the further south they went, the more unfamiliar things became, so she became restrained.

Tang Zhao went out dressed as a Scholar, his demeanor was scholarly, and his appearance was approachable, making it easy to chat with people. The person in front was a small businessman who claimed his surname was Wan. After chatting familiarly with Tang Zhao, he asked, "Little Scholar, we merchants travel back and forth to transport goods and earn some hard-earned money. Why are you readers also running to Lingzhou? Wouldn't it be better to stay in Yunzhou?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "We are going to be guests; we are actually heading to Yongzhou and passing through Lingzhou."

That Wan Laoban shook his head repeatedly and said, "Going to Yongzhou? Then you should cross Xiwang Mountain and go through Yan Prefecture. Although there are several Marquises in Yan Prefecture fighting each other, they still have a tacit understanding to leave a peaceful passage for traveling merchants. Only Lingzhou is a den of thieves that eats people without spitting out the bones..."

Just as he was speaking, a fellow merchant in front turned his head, lowered his voice, and said, "Manager Wan, be careful with your words. This is the edge of Lingzhou."

Wan Laoban changed his expression, cupped his hands in thanks, and turned to whisper to Tang Zhao, "You know what this means, right?"

Tang Zhao said thoughtfully, "I know Baixiong Mountain is in Lingzhou." The Great Chief of Baixiong Mountain, Chen Aoxiong, was known as the General Chief of the thirteen prefectures—nine inner and four outer—and was the nominal leader of the world's bandits.

Wan Laoban nodded repeatedly. Tang Zhao added, "But Lingzhou is so big, and Baixiong Mountain only occupies that one area. If we can't afford to provoke them, we can avoid them by going around."

Wan Laoban hurriedly waved his hands and whispered, "How can it be just one Baixiong Mountain? Under one mountain, there are dozens of branch strongholds, and hundreds of small hills using his name. There are also tens of thousands of mountain bandits and water pirates from who knows where, and the small thieves on the road are too numerous to count..."

Tang Zhao was very puzzled and also whispered, "With so many thieves, and everyone wanting to steal and rob, who are they robbing? How can there be so much wealth for them to steal?"

Wan Laoban said, "Exactly! But Lingzhou has millions of people, so there must be something to steal, right? Actually, there are truly wealthy people in Lingzhou, otherwise why would we risk taking this trade route? A round trip earns a lot. But those people aren't easily robbed. The ones who suffer are the commoners, small landlords, and merchants like us who are struggling for our lives. I heard that in Lingzhou, being a bandit is like you readers becoming officials; it's a path to success. Once you become a leader in a stronghold, you are considered a person of status. So every village has young people becoming mountain bandits."

Tang Zhao thought: What, is Lingzhou in the era of the "Great Bandit"?

He wanted to ask about the government. Doesn't the government care? But it seemed there was no need to ask; every radish has its hole, and Baixiong Mountain being so arrogant naturally occupied the government's hole.

Previously, both Xing Ji and Xue Yeyu had told him that since he was used to living in Yunzhou, he shouldn't be too surprised when he went to other prefectures.

As they were talking, a boat appeared on the river and drifted to the shore. The boat was not small and looked like it could seat dozens of people, but the hull was old and clearly had some years on it.

The boatman stood at the bow and shouted, "Crossing the river, crossing the river! One tael of silver per person."

Even though Tang Zhao was not short of money now, he couldn't help but be surprised. Crossing the river once was too expensive. One tael of silver was enough to buy half a Donkey!

Wusun Tong, who was behind, said, "So expensive?"

The boatman stood up straight. He was eight feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a fierce face. He wore only an open-chested vest, revealing muscles all over his arms and thick chest hair. He shouted, "Think it's expensive? If you think it's expensive, don't get on the boat. Go take an official boat, but I'm afraid you'll wait three days and not see one."

Wusun Tong snorted. Actually, as a Talisman Sword Master, he had plenty of ways to cross the river, but since everyone had agreed to take the boat, he couldn't disrupt it. His newly recognized big brother in front hadn't spoken yet.

Someone behind asked, "One tael of silver, that's one string of coins?"

The boatman sneered, "This boat doesn't accept copper coins, nor does it accept Dajin currency, let alone the scrap metal minted by some Marquis or Governor. Only real silver; if you don't have money, get lost."

There was quite a bit of dissatisfaction in the crowd, but the boatman stood at the bow like an iron tower, majestic and not allowing any opposition. Eventually, someone paid and boarded. With one person leading, the others paid one by one and filed onto the boat.

Tang Zhao boarded and paid four taels of silver, saying, "There are four of us." Jiang Shenyi and the others nodded. They were all wealthy Talisman Sword Masters, so they didn't take this small amount of money to heart, regardless of who was treating.

The cabin was narrow, and this private boat naturally had no comfort to speak of. In a short while, it was already full. The boatman kept pushing people inside until everyone was stuffed into the cabin. The cabin was already as crowded as a rice jar. Someone wanted to go to the deck to sit, but was loudly scolded by the boatman and forbidden.

Amidst the noise, the small boat finally left the shore. The cabin was extremely crowded and smelled bad. Wan Laoban saw that the four young people next to him all looked somewhat uncomfortable and smiled, "Young people, it's good to be home for a thousand days, but it's hard when you go out for a moment. Just endure it. Listen to me: when you get to Lingzhou, don't run around by yourselves. Find an Escort Agency, spend some more money, and ask them to send you across the border."

Tang Zhao asked curiously, "With so many thieves, can Escort Agencies still survive?"

Wan Laoban chuckled and said, "That's where the trick is. There are Escort Agencies, and only a few are reliable. Other agencies get robbed when they go out, but they are safe and sound. You say how amazing is that? I see you aren't short of money; this is called spending money to buy peace."

Tang Zhao was thoughtful and considered his suggestion. It wasn't that he was afraid of being robbed; they came for the experience, and fighting their way through was an experience, just as following an Escort Agency was an experience.

However, if they really could fight their way through, wouldn't that be looking down on Baixiong Mountain, which dominated the entire prefecture? They were the local emperors of a prefecture; in this world, since they could sit firmly in this position, they had hard power in their hands. Even if they couldn't compare to the Gaoyuan Marquis, could they not have a few swords to guard the mountain? If they really ran rampant, they might provoke Baixiong Mountain to send a few Sword Guests down.

Just as he was thinking, the boat suddenly stopped.

Is this it?

No, that's not right—

Still in the middle of the river!

Just as he was thinking this, the cabin door opened, and a strong light shone in from outside.

That was—blade light!

Tang Zhao narrowed his eyes, and then he heard someone outside shout: "Everyone, you've come at the right time. The hour has arrived, it's time to eat now."

A few of the passengers were still dazed, remembering they hadn't ordered any food, while old hands like Wan Laoban were already ashen-faced.

"Do you want to eat wontons, or do you want to eat broadsword noodles?"