Chapter 362: Go Down the Mountain

For the next seven days, Pan Yun and the others only went down the mountain once, on the first day of the month, to bring down a large basin of pastries and distribute them to their fellow students, then returned to the mountain to resume their student life of hanging their hair from the beam and pricking their thighs with awls.

After Master Xuanmiao taught Pan Yun the Star-Chasing Moon-Slicing Sword Art, she was still unsatisfied and began instructing her in a new cultivation technique every night.

Sword techniques, knife techniques, fist techniques, palm techniques, and spells—anything that Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He lacked the cultivation level to learn—Master Xuanmiao relentlessly poured into Pan Yun.

Pan Yun, who had once lived a lifetime and believed she knew many spells, discovered in front of Master Xuanmiao just how little she truly knew.

Just the spirit-summoning spells, she learned twelve in one go, then immediately mixed them up.

Summoning different deities required different incantations and hand seals.

And yet these incantations and hand seals were all very similar, especially the hand seals.

Even Pan Yun, with her photographic memory, mixed up several after learning twelve at once.

But Master Xuanmiao didn't slow down; she scolded her: "If you mix them up, it means you didn't memorize them; if you didn't memorize them, memorize them until you drop!"

Pan Yun was daily drilled by Master Xuanmiao, Wang Feiyin, and Tao Ji, her head spinning, and she stared blankly: "I have no time left…"

"Time is always squeezed out," Master Xuanmiao said. "You're already the First Marquis—if you can't squeeze out time, how much less can Wang Cong and the others? But have you heard them complain?"

Pan Yun turned to look.

They had no evening classes, yet right now, the four of them were paired up on the square, practicing sword techniques on each other—clearly, they weren't slacking either.

Pan Yun's spirits lifted; she shook her head and said solemnly: "Yes, Senior Sister, I'll stay up half an hour later every night—I'll master all the spirit-summoning spells by tomorrow!"

Master Xuanmiao was finally satisfied.

As long as you don't die from overworking, work yourself to death.

They kept at it until the seventh day.

Wang Feiyin, who had been relentlessly stuffing their heads with knowledge, suddenly said: "After the seventh, the New Year is officially over."

Wang Cong: "Father, isn't the New Year only over after Lantern Festival?"

Pan Yun: "I thought it was after the first lunar month."

Wang Feiyin: "You're all getting lazier by the day."

Pan Yun: "... Senior Brother, to be honest, in both my past and present lives, I've celebrated the New Year many times—but this is the first time it's felt nothing like a New Year at all."

Whose New Year starts with morning cultivation before dawn and ends with spell study past midnight?

She hadn't studied this hard even when preparing for the national exams in her past life.

Wang Feiyin cleared his throat: "This is all for your own good. If we weren't afraid you'd lack the skills for your mountain trials, would Wang and I really want to work overtime during the New Year?"

"Who doesn't want to rest?" Wang Feiyin said. "Don't think just because we're adults we enjoy teaching you—we want to lie around and relax during the holiday just as much as you do, or even go down the mountain to play."

Wang Feiyin grew more and more righteous: "It's all for your sake!"

Pan Yun and the others had nothing to say; they bowed their heads in silence.

Wang Feiyin then continued: "Tomorrow, the eighth, you'll go down the mountain."

Pan Yun froze: "But the Academy doesn't open for a long time yet."

Wang Feiyin glanced at her: "Have you completed your wandering-study assignments? Seeing Miao Zhen, aren't you going to Jingcheng to see your master? Miao He, Tao Yanbai—you two can now prescribe medicine. Who will take your prescriptions if you keep following Lao San around? As for you..."

Wang Feiyin turned to Wang Cong and sighed: "I know you can't sit still. Don't slack off in your cultivation during this trip. Take your junior aunt along—let her guide you, and let you guide her. What comes after depends entirely on you."

Wang Cong understood.

He had experience wandering the Jianghu; Pan Yun had the skills to survive it—they could elevate each other.

Wang Cong immediately agreed.

Wang Feiyin waved his hand: "Go pack. You leave tomorrow."

Pan Yun: "Isn't this too fast? Don't we need to prepare some pills or something..."

Wang Cong pulled her away: "Who doesn't know how to refine pills? Junior Aunt, don't worry—I'll go to the pill chamber right away and grab two pill furnaces. Let's hurry and pack our clothes."

Seeing how restless he was, Pan Yun couldn't help sighing: "No wonder your father let you down the mountain so early—he knew you couldn't sit still."

Early the next morning, Pan Yun and the four senior juniors were sent down the mountain.

None of them carried a single bag—all their belongings were stored in their space treasures.

Every last one of them thought bags were ugly.

Pan Yun and Wang Cong each had their swords strapped to their backs; Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He hadn't forged weapons yet, but carried crossbows on their persons.

The two of them generously gave Tao Yanbai one as well.

But they all stored them in their space treasures and didn't want to carry them.

The five stood before the Wang family teahouse, staring at the single horse grazing quietly.

"Just one horse."

Wang Cong: "Should we buy a carriage?"

Pan Yun: "I really want to ride a horse."

Miao He: "Me too."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Me too."

Tao Yanbai turned directly to look at Senior Brother.

Wang Cong: "... One horse costs at least twenty taels."

Pan Yun reached into her sleeve: "Do I look like someone who lacks twenty taels?"

Miao He: "I don't either."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Not lacking." Tao Yanbai: "I do."

All four turned to look at Tao Yanbai, patted his shoulder sympathetically, and in the end, Tao Yanbai took on a debt of twenty taels and joined them to select a horse in the county town.

Pan Yun also stopped by to see Xiao Qi and the others, giving them some money: "I've already spoken with the village chief of Fen Shui Village—he'll send someone to deliver a sack of grain to you every fifteenth."

Xiao Qi knelt down to kowtow, but Pan Yun held her up, stroking her head and smiling: "Don't rush. When you grow up and have the ability, if you see someone in need, help them out—it'll be the best reward for me."

Xiao Qi looked solemn: "Sister, I'll become a good person when I grow up—just like you."

Pan Yun said: "It's not enough to just be a good person and not a bad one."

Wang Cong waited until they finished saying goodbye, then called out, "Little Uncle, let's go."

Xiao Qi hurriedly asked, "Sister, when will you come back?"

Pan Yun: "That's uncertain, but I should be back for the New Year."

The five of them mounted their horses and left.

Saying they rode horses was really just sitting on them.

!. Read

Since they were young, Wang Cong had chosen for them old, gentle horses—older, taller, slower, but otherwise without fault.

Still, they couldn't ride fast now.

The five of them rode forward while learning.

Wang Cong rode beside them, now reminding one to grip the stirrups tightly, now telling another to lean forward, now instructing them to lift their legs and slightly rise from the saddle when galloping, to follow the horse's motion up and down…

He felt more exhausted than when he trained under the enhanced regimen on Mount Sanqing.

Pan Yun and the other three also felt exhausted; their buttocks were jolted raw, their inner thighs ached, and by the next relay station, all four slid off their horses with no will to live, legs too weak to stand.

Seeing their legs trembling, Wang Cong dismounted and asked, "Still riding horses?"

Four hours a day on horseback—they'd have no life left.

Pan Yun surrendered, waving her hand: "Sell the horses. Let's buy a carriage."

Wang Cong said: "We'll sell them after we reach Guangxin Prefecture."

Horse prices in Guangxin Prefecture were slightly higher than in Yushan County—not by much, about half to two taels of silver more per horse.

Wang Cong haggled for half a day and successfully sold four horses, ending up with five taels and eight mace of silver.

Wang Cong tossed the coins to the four of them and said, "We've got money for the carriage, and money for tonight's inn and meal too."

Pan Yun: "So this is why you didn't stop us from buying horses?"

Wang Cong: "My father said some lessons stick only after you've done them and taken a loss."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Are we going to ride carriages our whole lives, never ride horses again?"

"Of course not," Wang Cong said. "Once we find a place to settle and have time, I'll teach you."

Tao Yan Bai: "Right now, I'd rather ride a donkey."

Miao He: "Riding a cow isn't bad either—I often rode the big ox back at our monastery."

Pan Yun: "I'm different—I miss my flying artifact. Sigh, I wonder when I'll finish making it."

Wang Cong: "Before we left, Father gave me a list and told me to prepare gold. We'll stop by and ask when we pass."

"Come on, I'll treat you to a big meat meal, then a hot bath to rest tonight—we'll leave tomorrow."

The four slumped behind him, "Where's our next stop?"

Wang Cong: "First go to Kaifeng to see Little Uncle's artifact?"

Pan Yun immediately shook her head: "He's forging weapons—best case, he'll finish in three months. We'll walk to Nanzhili, then enter the capital from there."

Wang Cong: "Little Uncle wants to go to Changzhou Prefecture, doesn't he?"

Pan Yun: "Just passing through. Just passing through."

Wang Cong: "I understand. Before we left, Third Uncle mentioned it and gave me an address to take you to."

He pulled a slip of paper from his sleeve and handed it directly to Pan Yun—it bore the address of a academy.

Pan Yun blinked. "Why didn't Third Brother give it to me directly?"

Wang Cong: "Third Uncle said Little Uncle has a habit of changing plans on a whim—he didn't know if you'd even go to Changzhou Prefecture, so he gave me the paper to hold. If you mention going, I take you there. If not, we'll wait."

The address was where Pan Yun's Second Uncle, Pan Tao, taught.

Returning directly to the ancestral home would draw too much attention; visiting the academy was safer and more convenient.

Pan Yun touched her face, then recalled the wanted poster's portrait—now completely unrelated to her—and decided to use her own face to find the man.

The five bought a carriage; comfort improved, and the feeling of scholarly travel returned. They bought things along the way, wandered, and reached Changzhou Prefecture.

Seeing the city gate, Wang Cong called back: "We're here! We're here! Look—the city gate!"

The three inside the carriage immediately pulled back the curtain and leaned out. Seeing the long line ahead, they exclaimed, "Changzhou Prefecture is so lively~~"

"More lively than Guangxin Prefecture."

Wang Cong: "Is it because the Lantern Festival is near?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Since we're here, shouldn't we visit Mount Mao? I've heard the Qianyuan Pavilion on Mount Mao excels in talismans and ghost-catching techniques."

Pan Yun: "I can catch ghosts too. Talismans—we can exchange techniques."

Wang Cong: "Let's enter the city first."

See you tomorrow

(End of Chapter)