Chapter 15

Jianghu people can smell the scent from miles away.

This was originally a proverb, meaning that as fellow Jianghu people, those little twists and turns and small tricks could deceive the "empty ones" (ordinary people), but they couldn't deceive fellow travelers.

But for Li Yan, this scent could truly be smelled.

After that night, his sense of smell had become even more sensitive.

This group of people was galloping on the official road, still a hundred meters away, but the rich scent of blood on them could not be hidden from Li Yan's nose at all.

That was the scent of human blood!

Not only that, but it also carried some corpse stench.

Fortunately, Li Yan could still distinguish that these scents were real and different from the special scents of the "Chang soldiers" and the Earth Temple.

He could see that Sha Lifei, this old Jianghu hand, was naturally even more alert; he immediately stood up and whispered to those around him: "Something's not right, everyone be careful..."

After saying this, he hurriedly stood up, planted his feet in a stance—neither quite a Ding nor quite a Ba—his elbows slightly bent, his palm no more than three inches from the saber hilt.

This was a defensive posture for a saber-wielder.

When encountering unfamiliar Jianghu peers, one would neither draw the saber to avoid misunderstanding, nor be unable to draw it immediately to gain the upper hand.

Li Yan's fast saber came from the same school as Sha Lifei's, so he naturally recognized it.

Not only that, he could also see that this old fox's center of gravity was in the back, clearly harboring the intention to run away immediately if something went wrong.

Wheat harvesters hiring a saber-wielder to lead them was not only to get jobs but also for safety; after all, the Guanzhong folk customs were fierce, and there was never a shortage of bandits robbing the road.

But Sha Lifei clearly didn't have that kind of responsibility.

The surrounding wheat harvesters were even more nervous, one after another gripping the sickles in their hands.

Some of them had learned a few moves, and although the rest didn't know sickle techniques, they had been using farm tools for years and were already handy with them; if they got desperate, they would hack at people too.

Coupled with their numerical advantage, they could still muster the courage to stand their ground without turning and fleeing.

The sound of hooves approached, and that group of people also stopped their horses and looked up to size them up.

Under the bamboo hats were faces covered in the weathering of the wind and frost, each expression gloomy, their eyes either playful or filled with disdain.

Li Yan was now certain that this group of people were bandits.

No matter their attire or the weapons they used, they all had a loose black cloth scarf tied around their necks.

This was a bandit characteristic; if they needed to work, they could just reach out and pull it to cover their faces.

But bandits also had bandit rules.

Gallivanting in broad daylight—was this group of people crazy?

Just then, he saw Sha Lifei reluctantly step forward, laugh, cup his fists, and say: "Mountains have five peaks, waters have five lakes; the Northwest has its own saber. You all look unfamiliar; I don't know where you come from?"

This was Jianghu jargon; others would be confused, but Li Yan understood.

"Mountains have five peaks, waters have five lakes" referred to all directions of the Divine Land.

Sha Lifei saw that these people were unfamiliar, didn't look like they were from the Guanzhong road, and pointed out his own identity as a Jianghu person to make the other party wary.

After all, there was a saying: "A strong dragon does not suppress a local snake."

Sha Lifei certainly couldn't count as a dragon, and he wasn't even qualified to be a snake.

But walking the Jianghu was like this: whether you could bluff them or not, you had to bluff first.

Generally speaking, after Sha Lifei asked, the other side would answer, saying which mountain they lived on, which river they walked, which incense they offered, and so on.

This was called "panning the road," figuring out each other's background to avoid misunderstandings.

Who knew, the other side had no reaction at all.

Among them, a few were playing with their knives, their eyes filled with ill intent.

Just then, the leader gave a low shout: "Let's go, they're all poor ghosts and mud-legged people; don't miss the time."

Judging by their accent, it was completely different from Guanzhong.

Qilu horse bandits!

Li Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately guessed their identity.

There were many strongmen on the greenwood road, and many were famous, such as the Guandong bandits, Guanzhong saber bandits, Central Plains pole bandits, Qilu horse bandits, Taihu water bandits, etc.

They were all of the Lan family gate, eating by kidnapping and robbing houses.

Generally speaking, each had their own mountain and territory, and rarely crossed boundaries.

For them to come here with such fanfare, there must be something strange.

Sha Lifei also saw it, his legs trembling.

Fortunately, after the leader's order, this group of horse bandits didn't stop at all, urged their horses on, and went far away accompanied by rolling smoke and dust.

After waiting for a short while, Sha Lifei suddenly stepped forward, drew his saber with a "clang," pointed into the distance, and cursed angrily: "You ignorant dogs, if it weren't for leading the fellow villagers, I would have given you a lesson today!"

Li Yan was speechless and rolled his eyes.

People were already gone; what was the use of saying these things?

The surrounding wheat harvesters hurriedly stepped forward to pull him back and persuade him.

"Hero Sha, calm your anger..."

"Yeah, don't call them back..."

Sha Lifei still had an angry look, and after sheathing his saber, he cursed: "A bunch of horse bandits, I, Sha Lifei, really don't take them seriously; if it weren't for fear of you getting hurt... Hmph!"

An old man was still fearful. "It's not very peaceful this year; why don't we leave quickly?"

"Leave? Leave where?!"

Sha Lifei glared. "That group of people just left; they might be going ahead to fight. Are you rushing to find death? Leave later to avoid them."

Li Yan nodded secretly upon hearing this.

Although this guy was a coward, his Jianghu experience was undeniable.

The wheat harvesters also nodded in agreement; they were out to make money, and no matter who those people were, they should try to avoid trouble.

However, not long after, Li Yan did a carp-flip and stood up, drew his saber with a "clang," and stared into the distance with nervous eyes.

"What's wrong again?"

Sha Lifei was startled and hurriedly came over to ask.

Li Yan gripped his Guanshan saber tightly and said in a low voice: "Something is coming!"

The "something" he spoke of was, of course, not a person.

Not long after that group of horse bandits left, he smelled another scent, cold and icy, carrying a rich fishy smell. It was several times richer than the previous "Blind Old Three."

Li Yan felt a chill in his heart; could it be that after opening his spiritual roots, he had been targeted by something again while passing by?

What kind of powerful thing would dare to appear in broad daylight...

Sha Lifei was also startled, drew his twin sabers to observe left and right, but the surroundings were flat, with no people in sight and no sound of horses, so he couldn't help but doubt: "You kid must be having a delusion; where is anyone here?"

"What is that!"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Hei Dan point to the left and exclaim.

Everyone looked up and saw that in the wheat field on the left side of the official road, the wheat waves were swaying and constantly parting, as if something was galloping rapidly.

And judging by the situation, the size was definitely not small.

Just as everyone was puzzled, a giant snake as thick as a rice bowl slowly raised its head from the wheat field, hissing and flicking its tongue, its scales shining brightly in the sun.

Even stranger was that there was something like a chicken crest on its head.

!.

"Crested snake!"

Many wheat harvesters were instantly scared pale.

There were rumors among the people that the crested snake had a crest like a rooster, and anyone it bit would surely die.

This snake was evil and yin, loved to burrow into graves and ancient tombs, and old people's stories often mentioned that grave-digging tomb robbers who encountered this thing met with retribution.

More importantly, it was said that this thing was an evil snake with cultivation.

Li Yan also felt his whole body hair stand on end; he felt it more clearly than others—this crested snake exuded a cold, fishy smell, even stronger than the incense smell of the Earth Temple.

Moreover, that cold gaze seemed to be fixed on him.

Li Yan reached out and touched the red cloth bag containing the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin saber tassel.

Fortunately, this thing had a body, and he might be able to kill it with the treasure.

He just didn't know if it would turn into some strange thing and haunt him after he killed it...

"Don't move!"

Just then, Sha Lifei gave a low shout, stared fixedly ahead, and said with a trembling voice: "I've heard people say that this kind of snake with cultivation likes to measure people."

"As long as you are taller than it, this thing will be scared to death."

"Quick, stack up!"

Many people had heard this rumor.

Even in the ancient books mentioned by storytellers, there were relevant records: "The snake has cultivation and likes to compare length with people. If it wins, it bites people; if it loses, it dies itself. However, it must face people and not compare secretly. Those who see it while walking in the mountains should hold up an umbrella; the snake will lose and die."

Although he didn't know if it was true or false, he could only follow orders.

They weren't fools; everyone saw how fast this crested snake was, and they couldn't escape at all.

Soon, the wheat harvesters stacked up.

They were very familiar with this childhood game; the strong ones stood at the bottom, and the thinner ones climbed onto their shoulders by stepping on their hands.

So they couldn't compare to those Jianghu performers, but in the blink of an eye, they had already stacked three layers.

What surprised them was that the crested snake was just staring from the wheat field in the distance, seemingly hesitating, and didn't move forward.

"It worked, I said it would!"

Sha Lifei was strong and carried two people, looking smug.

However, his face soon stiffened.

He saw the crested snake suddenly raise its head, its upper body standing upright, getting higher and higher, soon exceeding the stack they had made.

"Quick, quick, get more people up!"

"Who... who the hell had diarrhea!"

Everyone was in a panic, and Li Yan also jumped, stepped on the large locust tree beside him, and jumped to the top of the human wall, standing with his saber.

For this kind of unknown thing, he could only believe Sha Lifei's method.

But for some reason, he inexplicably felt that the snake was actually mocking them.

Just then, the crested snake suddenly twisted its neck, seemingly listening to something, then burrowed into the wheat field like a gust of wind, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The wind blew through the wheat waves, and there seemed to be a faint, mournful sound of a short flute in the distance...

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, each one scared soft all over.

One old wheat harvester couldn't help but curse: "What's wrong this year? First bandits, then strange snakes; did we bump into the Grand Duke of Jupiter when we went out?"

Li Yan was thoughtful and looked into the distance.

He had a feeling that the crested snake's target was those horse bandits.

After this series of scares, everyone was clearly flustered.

Seeing that the morale was unstable, Sha Lifei boasted and patted his chest again, gathered the team, and continued forward.

Originally, their plan was to take a remote mountain road to take a shortcut.

But in this situation, Sha Lifei also felt uneasy and led everyone only on the official road, inevitably wasting another day.

Fortunately, nothing strange happened along the way.

Sha Lifei was an old Jianghu hand and naturally asked tea sheds and pedestrians about the whereabouts of those horse bandits along the way; fortunately, these people didn't appear again after passing the official road fork.

Just like that, several days later, they finally saw Xianyang City.

The group didn't enter the city but, under Sha Lifei's lead, headed toward a nearby village.

Only then did Sha Lifei smugly boast: "The family we're going to this year is very generous; the wages are higher than the others, and they have a lot of land."

"If it weren't for me, Sha Lifei, where would you have this opportunity..."

Li Yan was absent-minded, looking left and right.

Sha Lifei had promised that after settling the wheat harvesters, he would lead him to Xianyang City to visit that Wang Daoxuan.

He didn't know if the other party had real skills or if he would be willing to lead him into the door...

(End of chapter)