Chapter 113

During the reign of Emperor Zhou Son of Heaven, agriculture was prioritized, taxes were lightened, and exemptions were frequently granted, ensuring that every household lived in peace and prosperity.

He also opened a commercial route from east to west, exchanging the specialties of the nineteen Zhou provinces for those of the Eastern Sea and the Western Regions.

As a result, the Zhou dynasty became even more prosperous.

Because of this, the northern border of Zhou could maintain a large garrison of Zhenbei troops to resist the barbarians without damaging the empire’s economic foundation.

The Western Regions were filled with deserts and basins, with few farmlands.

The Buddhist Kingdom was like a great nation, surrounded by numerous small states, each with its own customs and languages.

To save trouble, Lu Fang joined a camel caravan bound for the Buddhist Kingdom.

Wherever you go, money always solves countless complications; after paying a sum of silver, Lu Fang no longer worried about the journey, nor about desert bandits, and even his food and drink were carefully provided.

Even in the desert.

During the scorching days, Lu Fang and the others lay inside a massive camel cart, surrounded by blocks of ice to cool the air, and could drink rich, chilled grape wine to their fill.

“Burp!”

Zhou Yiyi took a large gulp of chilled grape wine, her small face flushed, and let out a drunken burp; she lounged lazily on a bamboo mat, reached out, and grabbed a stack of sweets:

“Little brother, bring out more of those dried beast meat strips you showed me last time—don’t be so stingy.”

Lu Fang sighed helplessly; his fourth senior sister didn’t look fat at all, yet she had an extraordinary appetite—these past few days, she had taken a liking to the dried beast meat.

He had been happy to oblige at first.

After all, a third-rank Confucian scholar was acting as their bodyguard—what was wrong with giving her some dried beast meat? But gradually, he realized something was off—she truly ate too much.

Still, Lu Fang pulled out about ten catties of dried beast meat and said, “Fourth senior sister, I don’t have much left in my storage pouch—eat slowly.”

“Got it,” Zhou Yiyi replied offhandedly, picking up a thin strip and chewing it slowly, mumbling, “Little brother, this dried beast meat gets tastier the more you chew—it’s strange.”

Lu Ling smiled. “If Third Senior Sister likes it, eat more—I remember helping Brother dry plenty of it.”

Xiao Tao also took a strip and chewed it gently. “I wonder what Young Master was thinking—this meat really does taste good after drying.”

Along the journey, they mostly stayed inside the huge carriage.

With nothing else to do, they could only pass the time eating and drinking.

The Zhou realm was vast, and thanks to Lu Fang using the teleportation arrays several times, they reached the western frontier quickly—otherwise, it would have taken half a month to get here.

But Lu Fang was pleasantly surprised: over these past days, as the Zhou literary reports spread, more people had begun to exude the scent of scholarship, and the number of people from Taixu Mountain had increased significantly—along with his own scent of scholarship.

Now, he had thirty-five strands of scholarly fragrance.

This time, Lu Fang did not waste it recklessly; he waited to use it when raising his realm, since the Buddhist Kingdom’s trial grounds required sixth-rank to enter.

Although Lu Fang was already seventh-rank, third stage, and possessed a large quantity of Wanda Stones, he did not know how many Wanda Stones and strands of scholarly fragrance were needed to reach sixth rank.

To be safe, his current goal was to reach sixth rank.

Lu Fang blocked out all noise, closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged to cultivate with Wanda Stones; even Third-Rank Confucian Zhou Yiyi frowned at the sight of him constantly using mid-grade Wanda Stones to boost his cultivation.

But she said nothing.

For her, protecting Lu Fang was enough—as long as he could eat and drink.

…

“Young Master Fang, the team leader sent me to inform you—we’ll be stopping at the next city to restock essentials. If you wish to buy anything, feel free to explore.”

A voice came from outside the carriage.

“Understood.”

Lu Ling replied, lifted the curtain, and saw the silhouette of a city not far across the desert; the camel caravan did not enter entirely—only a few men led their camels into town to purchase supplies.

She picked up her scroll, lifted her skirt, and prepared to step down.

Xiao Tao whispered, “Miss, are you going into the city?”

Lu Ling quickly motioned for silence—but it was too late; Lu Fang had already opened his eyes and asked, “Why are you going into the city?”

Lu Ling replied shyly, “I want to ask if anyone in the city knows my mother—what if she lives here?”

Lu Fang nodded. “Fine. We’ll go in together—we might as well see what local delicacies are available.”

“Delicacies!”

Zhou Yiyi, still chewing dried meat, sat up instantly, eyes gleaming. “I’m coming too!”

The four stepped down.

A bearded middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed hat approached, smiling. “Young Master Fang, heading into the city?”

This bearded man was Zhao Ya—not from the Western Regions, but the leader of a Zhou caravan that traded Zhou specialties like silk to the Buddhist Kingdom.

“Yes, just exploring.”

Lu Fang smiled.

Zhao Ya nodded. “No rush, Young Master. We won’t depart for a long while—use a voice-charm to contact us when you’re ready.”

Lu Fang had paid a high price to join this caravan, which was why he received such good treatment—so Zhao Ya treated him with courtesy.

At the rear of the caravan were scattered individual merchants who had joined temporarily for safety—traveling with a caravan saved them much trouble.

These merchants came from both Zhou and the Western Regions.

One middle-aged man with distinct Western features and a scar on his lip whispered, “Found four big lambs.”

The bald man beside him glanced instinctively at Lu Fang’s group and whispered:

“Looks like wealthy Zhou youths on a trip to the Western Regions. Except for Fang Lu, who’s a seventh-rank, third-stage Confucian, the rest are weak in martial strength.”

The scarred man: “These four lambs are unlucky—joining this caravan means they’re ripe for slaughter.”

The bald man grinned, bit hard into a dried ration, and said, “When the time comes, we’ll team up and take out these four lambs—should net us plenty of silver.”

“Hahaha…” The scarred man licked his lips. “These three women are stunning—they’ll fetch a high price.”

At that moment,

Zhao Ya shouted loudly: “Ahead lies a larger desert zone—everyone must carry enough water and food. In case of emergencies, you’ll need them. Also, desert bandits have been active in this area.”

“If you encounter bandits, remember: don’t panic, don’t run. We’ll negotiate with them.”