Chapter 93: Mountain Rain and Martial World Road

Rumble!

The sky was overcast, and thunder roared.

Before long, a light rain fell, lingering like silk, hitting the leaves by the roadside, with a constant rustling sound.

It was currently the time of Frost Descent; all things were complete, the Yang energy entered the earth, the Yin energy began to condense, and the weather grew cold. It was the time of year with the greatest temperature difference between day and night.

Once the rain fell, the cold air shot straight up from the soles of their feet.

"This is bad luck..."

Sha Lifei stood under the eaves, shivered, turned, and entered the door, giving a thumbs up, "Still the Daoist who is high; he calculated that it would rain today and brought us to hide in advance. It's a pity there's no proper place to stay."

This was an old mansion on a hillside.

The old mansion was desolate and remote; it was said to have been built by a wealthy merchant many years ago, planning to establish the entire family here. Unexpectedly, it was smashed by bandits just after it was built and had been abandoned ever since.

Although most of the houses had collapsed and the surroundings were overgrown with weeds, the two remaining large main halls were enough to shelter everyone from the wind and rain.

Inside the house, Wang Daoxuan burned some dried mugwort and waved it in every corner, especially those decaying, dark nooks and crannies, to dispel bad luck.

The carriage driver, the old man, fed the horses, the four coffin bearers chopped wood and built a stove, and as for Li Yan, he disliked others' cooking for being unpalatable and unclean, so he did it himself.

After a few days, everyone had developed a tacit understanding and things were in good order.

Sha Lifei felt bored, so he found something to complain about, "That innkeeper is really not particular. At least we are fellow travelers in the martial world; he wouldn't even let us in the door."

"Otherwise, we would have eaten something hot by now..."

After they set off from Xianyang, the journey had been smooth.

A few days passed, and they had already arrived at the foot of the Qin Mountains.

Wang Daoxuan checked the sky and found that there would be continuous overcast rain. If they continued on their way, they were afraid the coffin would get wet, so he brought everyone to find a place to rest.

This place was not far from the road into the mountains; there was an inn a few hundred meters away, but unfortunately, they wouldn't let them in and only pointed out this place to shelter from the rain.

The leader of the coffin bearers was called Yue Bala, just because he was playful as a child and rolled down a hillside; he didn't die, but his head was covered in scars.

After growing up, he shaved his head, and the full head of scars combined with a fierce face made it inevitable for people to give him the nickname "Bala" (Scar). As time went on, no one called him by his real name anymore.

Don't look at his fierce appearance; he was honest and responsible. Combined with this fierce face, he became a famous coffin bearer in Xianyang City within a few years.

Hearing Sha Lifei's complaint, Yue Bala scratched his head and smiled honestly, "Hero Sha, we are sending a Yin person back to his hometown, and the inn is for receiving Yang people. Wouldn't it be adding trouble to others if we went?"

"Our profession has a rule: don't wander into other people's homes, lest we bring bad luck to others. In the past, we always slept in the wild or in ruined temples; we are used to it."

The carriage driver, Yu Laohan Meng, came from the Taixing Carriage and Horse Firm and could be considered an old slicker in the martial world. His eyes rolled, and he smacked his lips, "Traveling is just like this; who isn't exposed to the wind and sun? The only pity for this old man is that drink."

Sha Lifei laughed when he heard this, "Good for you, Yu Laohan Meng, you're beating around the bush to ask for wine, right? In this wild country shop, what good wine can there be?"

"Sigh~"

Yu Laohan Meng blinked, "You don't understand this."

"That Phoenix Inn at the foot of the mountain is a famous brand among Chang'an shops. The Willow Forest Old Qin Wine they brew, starting from the Phoenix Soaring side, is a must."

"Mellow, fragrant, elegant, sweet, moist, and refreshing, with all flavors coordinated, and a long, clean finish... tsk tsk, in terms of martial arts, this old man didn't make a name for himself, but having traveled north and south, I know exactly where the best wine is!"

Sha Lifei was drooling as he listened, "Don't lie to me."

Li Yan, who was cutting vegetables, also felt a stir in his heart, "Uncle Sha, since it's a famous brand, there must be quite a bit of news in the martial world."

"Anyway, we can't leave today. You go buy some wine to keep everyone warm, and while you're at it, inquire about the news to see if the Qin Mountains road is peaceful."

"Alright!"

Sha Lifei was happy, put on his bamboo hat and straw raincoat, and rushed into the rain.

In terms of doing work, he loved to be lazy, but running errands and inquiring about news was his specialty.

Wang Daoxuan had just finished dispelling the bad luck and lit three sticks of incense, inserting them into the small incense burner beside the coffin, before smiling, "Don't worry, the road we are taking is the Qin-Chu Ancient Road, which just happens to pass through Mount Zhongnan."

"On Mount Zhongnan, Daoist temples and shrines are like a forest, and there are quite a few Mystic Sect experts in seclusion. There are incense groups from Chang'an all year round, so there is basically no danger."

"However, it is now Frost Descent; the jackal is a sacrificial beast, and the wild beasts on the mountain will be spending the winter, so I'm afraid they will come down the mountain to harass..."

Halfway through his sentence, seeing Li Yan staring blankly outside the door, Wang Daoxuan frowned and whispered, "Has it appeared again?"

Li Yan nodded without speaking.

In his field of vision, in the drizzle outside the door, that Cold Altar Traveling Master appeared again, still covered in blood, with long hair hanging down, his left finger pointing at the Qin Mountains range.

Although Qing Yangzi said it was fine, he always felt somewhat uneasy.

No other reason; the appearance of this Traveling Master was too miserable.

What exactly had he experienced...

"The phoenix flying conveys good news, guests fill the seats talking of deep feelings..."

Sha Lifei looked at the couplet on the inn door and muttered, "Thief-like, a martial world inn, yet so literary; it must have been opened by some little girl!"

This Phoenix Inn was truly not small.

The tall wooden door had a couplet pasted on it, and strings of gourd lanterns hung down on both sides, connecting to the mud walls, circling the entire inn, along with the surrounding wild fields.

Before Sha Lifei even entered the door, he heard the neighing of mules and horses inside.

After entering the courtyard gate, he saw that on both sides of the spacious courtyard, there were livestock sheds to block the rain, and two attendants were busy running back and forth, feeding the mules and horses with fodder.

One of the round-faced attendants saw Sha Lifei, ran over hurriedly, bowed repeatedly, and smiled bitterly, "Ai yo, this guest, the team sending the Yin person is indeed not allowed in; please don't make it difficult for the little one."

"Look at how scared you are, you melon-head."

Sha Lifei glared, "I came to buy some wine and water; surely you'll let me in?"

"That is of course."

The attendant hurriedly bent over and raised his hand, "Guest, please come inside."

Those who open shops see all kinds of people; there were those who were unreasonable, those who walked sideways, and many more. Sha Lifei's posture couldn't scare him at all.

Sha Lifei was too lazy to tangle, ran in small steps all the way, jumped over the muddy puddles, lifted the cloth curtain, and entered the inn.

In the martial world, inns are also divided into three, six, and nine grades.

The top-tier ones are often opened in prosperous large cities, with a dozen courtyards inside and out, and the guests coming and going are all nobles and wealthy merchants.

The high-grade ones are about the same, just slightly smaller, often adjacent to famous brothels and wine shops in the city, or opened near places with many people like academies.

As for these ones on the road, most are relatively simple.

This Phoenix Inn was divided into a front hall and a back courtyard.

The front hall had two floors, spacious in the middle, filled with square tables for guests to drink and eat, and on both sides, there were wooden railings and brick stairs leading to the rooms on the second floor.

As for the back courtyard, there were both large communal beds for a dozen people and single rooms with private courtyards, depending on whether you had enough silver on you.

Perhaps because of the autumn rain, there were quite a few people in the inn.

"Waiter, bring a pot of Old Qin Wine and get some food."

Sha Lifei called out, found a corner with no one, sat down, took out "The Legend of the Red Matchmaker of the Sha Sect" from his bosom, and pretended to read it, but actually paid attention to the movements around him.

He was an old hand in the martial world and soon saw through the background of the people coming to the inn.

The group of people near the left, with neat clothes and elegant speech, all ate vegetarian food, and there were guards standing behind them; at a glance, they were an incense group from Chang'an.

The so-called incense group is to travel together to famous mountains and rivers to offer incense; one is to express sincerity, and the other is to take the opportunity to tour the scenery.

They usually have some family assets and pool their money to hire some guards; after all, some places on the road are not peaceful...

Those on the right were clearly the drivers delivering goods for carriage shops, drinking turbid wine, eating pickled vegetables, and when they were in high spirits, they even sang and started finger-guessing games: "Ai yo, burning wine is originally five-grain water, first softening the arms then softening the legs; wine ruins the gentleman, water ruins the road, the gods can't get enough of wine..."

They shouted loudly, making the few people in the Chang'an incense group beside them look unhappy, but after the guards whispered in their ears, they could only endure it without erupting.

Sha Lifei laughed secretly in his heart.

Don't look at these drivers as vulgar; they were never easy to provoke. They had the carriage shop backing them up, and maybe they were even familiar with the mountain bandits on the road.

If there was a dispute, covering their faces and beating someone up was the best-case scenario.

If there was someone with a crooked heart, they might secretly kill and rob, and after finishing, throw the corpse into the forest to feed the wild beasts; it wasn't like no one had done it before.

If they were wanted, they would just run to another state and continue working.

These Chang'an incense groups really couldn't afford to offend them.

As for the rest of the people in the shop, most were martial world artists working alone, some with muscles all over, selling arts, and others were drum-story artists carrying willow lutes and three-stringed instruments, full of wind and frost, with miserable faces, drinking a pot of turbid wine to mourn the hardships of the world...

Inns are just like this.

!.

Ordinary commoners are all busy with that little bit of work in the fields, so most of those on the road are either pulling carts and delivering goods, or eating the martial world's rice.

Sha Lifei watched for a while; there were no eyesores. Just as the waiter brought the wine and small dishes, he whispered and inquired, "Waiter, let me ask you, is the road peaceful recently?"

Saying this, he even took out a few copper coins and placed them on the table.

"Guest, you asked the right person."

The waiter put down the wine and small dishes, picked up the tray again, and the copper coins on the table had already disappeared. He laughed and said, "This is close to Mount Zhongnan; let alone bandits, even the wild beasts in the mountains eat vegetarian food and chant Buddha's name; they won't hurt people."

"Is the guest going to Shangzhou?"

Sha Lifei nodded, "Going to Fengyang."

The waiter looked around and whispered, "Once you pass the Mount Zhongnan territory, you must be careful. Yesterday, I heard from the drivers who came back that there are wild beasts hurting people over there."

"Also, over at Niubei Ridge, there are quite a few green-forest heroes on the mountain. Recently, they seem to be short of money and even had a fight with the Dingyuan Escort Agency; I heard it was quite a big deal."

"Although you are a team sending the Yin person, it's not guaranteed that they won't make a move."

"Oh..."

Sha Lifei frowned, "Thanks."

He had heard of the name of Niubei Ridge; the terrain was complex, the mountains were high and the forests were dense, and it was the only way to Shangzhou, so there were quite a few bandits entrenched there.

The government had tried to suppress them several times but hadn't cleaned them out.

It seemed he had to go back and discuss it with Li Yan.

Thinking of this, Sha Lifei immediately shouted, "Waiter, pack these up, and pour me ten jin of wine."

"Alright!"

The waiter was full of joy and hurriedly went to get the wine jar.

Those poor ghosts couldn't afford this Willow Forest Old Qin Wine; the more he could clear, the better. Maybe if the shopkeeper was happy, he would reward him a bit more.

Sha Lifei was tall and big, picking up the ten-jin wine jar as if it were a toy, but just as he was about to leave, another person entered from outside the door.

The visitor was a middle-aged man, dressed in a green shirt, wearing a cowhide belt and wrist guards, with a long sword at his waist, no smile at the corners of his mouth, and Sha Qi (evil aura) between his brows.

The key was the shoes under his feet; although covered in mud, they were black boot tubes with thick white soles.

These were thick-soled soap boots, which were official boots; only officials or children of official families could wear them.

He looked around, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Waiter, is there still a high-quality private courtyard?"

The waiter smiled apologetically, "This official, the courtyard has already been booked."

The middle-aged man casually threw out a string of money, "Who is it?"

The waiter hurriedly caught it and smiled honestly, "You're making it difficult for me; how would I dare to say..."

Although he said this, his eyes drifted to one side.

There, it was exactly the incense group from Chang'an.

The middle-aged man didn't say a word, went directly to the side of the incense group, cupped his hands, and said, "Everyone, excuse me, my master cannot stand the noise and wants a private courtyard. Can you let it out? I am willing to pay three times the inn fee."

The few people in the incense group were already annoyed by the noise of the drivers and were preparing to leave. Hearing this, they were immediately unhappy.

"Are you being a bit overbearing?"

"Exactly, do you think we can't afford the money?"

There was a young master in the incense group who saw the other party's official boots, his eyes changed slightly, and he hurriedly stopped everyone, smiled, and cupped his hands, "This official, my father is Zhang Xianqi, working under the new Provincial Administration Commissioner, Lord Li. I don't know if you..."

This was probing, and also a test.

If the other party's background was not small, they would let it out directly, which could also build a friendship.

If the other party was just from a common small government office, they would naturally retreat in the face of difficulties.

And speaking politely wouldn't offend anyone.

Hearing "new Provincial Administration Commissioner, Lord Li," the middle-aged man immediately changed his expression and said in a deep voice, "Forget it, no need to trouble everyone."

A trace of disdain flashed in the young incense guest's eyes, and he glanced at those drivers again, only feeling that being in the same inn as this bunch of rough people was really staining his status.

On the other side, the middle-aged man had already turned around directly and asked the waiter, "Is there a quieter place nearby to shelter from the rain?"

The waiter swallowed his saliva, and his eyes drifted again.

"You thief-like thing, I'll dig out your eyeballs if you look again!"

Sha Lifei cursed directly and then said, "Traveling in the martial world always has inconveniences. There is a house over there; it doesn't matter if we let out a room."

"But it's a team sending the Yin person; if you're not afraid, come."

Saying this, he put on his bamboo hat and straw raincoat and went out the door directly.

Leaving the inn courtyard gate, Sha Lifei immediately saw two carriages parked under a tree by the roadside. The carriage cabins were wide and elegant, the cloth curtains were tightly closed, and there were six knights beside them, all wearing green shirts and official boots.

He didn't want to cause trouble and walked away holding the wine jar.

And the middle-aged man also followed closely, ran to the first carriage, and cupped his hands respectfully, "Master, there is no private courtyard; it was occupied by a group of Chang'an incense guests..."

After he finished speaking, an old voice came from the carriage, "Fengping, you were deceived. Although the imperial court has repeatedly prohibited it, children of officials going out often ask for a note to rest in the post station on the road."

"Haven't you seen enough of these people who talk big in Chang'an?"

"But you did the right thing; we don't need to cause trouble."

The middle-aged man named Fengping nodded, "Master, there is a ruined house nearby to shelter from the rain, but there is also a team sending the dead."

Inside the carriage, the voice came out again, "Just sending the dead back to their hometown; I am also returning to my roots, there is nothing to avoid. Let's go."

"Yes, Master!"

The middle-aged man waved his hand, and the team immediately entered the rain curtain.

Just at this moment, a wooden window on the second floor of the inn revealed a slit, and a man with a full beard touched his chin, stared at the carriage team slowly leaving, and said in a deep voice:

"Big Official, Rich Person, Seventh Brother Good Hand, it's the right target, no mistake."

Saying this, he turned his head to look into the room.

"Third Brother, the target is a bit tough..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 94 =====