Chapter 39: City Guards of Gao Liu City

On the martial arts field, all the inner court disciples had arrived. Li Yuan also spotted Wang Gong and Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, who hadn't been called, and when they saw him looking, they nodded.

"Everyone's here, let's set off!"

Yue Yue Yunjin carried a hardwood red-tasseled spear, tall and dashing. Seeing everyone had arrived, he turned and left.

Li Yuan and the others slung their weapons on their backs and hurried after him.

The outer court disciples had already begun their day's labor. Watching the inner court disciples, armed and dashing, they couldn't help but feel envious.

The sky had just brightened, and there were few travelers on the road. The group walked in silence, and soon reached the city gate.

Neigh~

Li Yuan looked toward the sound.

Outside the city gate, Tang Tong sat astride his horse with spear in hand, talking with someone. He now waved them forward.

Li Yuan took stock.

Outside the city gate, several dozen people stood in formation. At the very front were the leaders of each faction, all mounted on tall horses, sabers in hand and swords at their waists.

"Second-rank spear, second-rank inner armor, first-rank boots... The old man talks about being bold, but he's actually more cautious than anyone!"

Li Yuan grumbled inwardly.

He had deliberately taken a roundabout path, brushing past each faction's leader. None of these leaders were easy to provoke, but the 'radiance' on Tang Tong, in the middle of the crowd, was the most dazzling.

The other leaders—whether it was Chai Gang's gang leader Liu Jin, Yu Gang's gang leader Xia Hou Liang, or Sanhe Gang's Wang Dong—were all far inferior.

It made him very envious, especially that second-rank inner armor, probably several times more expensive than the spear—a true luxury item.

Glancing at the messy ranks of each faction's disciples, Li Yuan muttered to himself: "The financial strength and influence of the Weapon Forging Shop are probably indeed far greater than the other factions."

If the Weapon Forging Shop were transplanted to his previous life, it wouldn't be on par with a blacksmith's shop. Ranked weapons would at least count as military hardware...

"Senior Brother Li, long time no see."

As Li Yuan was pondering, Wang Gong and Zhao Zhao Xiaoming came over, leading a swaybacked horse.

"Something you need?"

Li Yuan was lukewarm.

"No, it's just our first time taking part in something like this too. We wanted to keep Senior Brother Li company."

Zhao Zhao Xiaoming said softly.

It wasn't yet April, yet she was already dressed quite lightly. Her form-fitting martial robe outlined striking curves, and the moment she appeared, she drew gazes from all around.

"Senior Brother Yue is the leader."

Li Yuan stepped back a few paces, wary.

"... This little sister was presumptuous."

Zhao Zhao Xiaoming looked a bit embarrassed. Wang Gong, however, acted as if he didn't remember being swindled out of a bottle of Zeng Xue Dan, and said quietly:

"In a few days, there's a small gathering in the inner city, organized by the Young Lady. I hear it's related to the Divine Weapon Valley. If Senior Brother Li is interested, I could arrange an introduction?"

The Young Lady?

County Magistrate Lu Lu Yunqing's legitimate daughter, Lu Lu Bailing?

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly. Before he could reply, he heard Yue Yue Yunjin bark in a low voice:

"They're here!"

The dense sound of hoofbeats followed. Li Yuan looked up, and the several dozen people outside the city also turned to look.

On the official road, a group of over a dozen riders came at speed, every one of them armed with a saber and clad in armor, their momentum overwhelming. They caused a stir outside the city, and even Tang Tong reined in his horse, his expression solemn.

"The City Guard!"

Li Yuan heard someone nearby exclaim. Looking from afar, he too felt a sense of oppression.

How else could Qiu Long suppress the many factions of the inner and outer cities, and the bandits and horse thieves roaming the countryside, making them pay tribute year after year?

It was all thanks to these three hundred City Guards.

As he knew, all three hundred were strong and sturdy, every one trained in martial arts. As many as eight had cultivated internal force, and there were thirty cavalrymen—truly formidable.

"Why is it Brother Liu who's come? Where is Commander Qiu?"

Sanhe Gang's leader Wang Dong spoke first, his voice ringing out.

"Whoa!"

From afar, the dozen or so riders halted in unison. The leading knight urged his horse forward, cupped his fist, and said:

"The Commander has driven that great bandit Nian Jiu into Mount Fajiu Mountain and is in hot pursuit. He sent me to ask you all to go up the mountain to search and capture this wretch!"

"We were just about to help—how could we dare trouble the Commander to ask?"

Wang Dong cupped his fist in assent, slapped his horse, and took the lead: "Brothers, follow me!"

The dozen or so elite members of Sanhe Gang answered in unison and hurried after him. The other factions were not to be outdone and followed one after another.

The dozen or so elite members of the Sanhe Gang responded in unison and hurried to follow; the other factions were also unwilling to be outdone and trailed after them one after another.

Tossing down a single sentence, Tang Tong urged his horse forward.

How the hell are we supposed to keep up?

Watching the faction leaders ahead kicking up a cloud of dust as they rode off, Li Yuan only felt a bit disheveled in the wind.

Carrying a hammer of over thirty jin and racing against horses, is that it?

Carrying a hammer over thirty jin, racing against a horse—are you serious?

Yue Yue Yunjin bound his spear behind him and jogged after them.

Stance and step go hand in hand. The Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer naturally included footwork, which, combined with breathing techniques, was very enduring for long-distance running. The worst among the disciples had at least a small success in blood qi. Although they couldn't keep up with the horses, they didn't fall behind the group either.

However, the ones carrying hammers naturally fell to the back.

"How does this kid have such good endurance?"

"This kid has such endurance?"

Wu Ming glanced at Li Yuan, who had been following him constantly, then at Liu Chen and Tian Ding and the other apprentices lagging behind, and couldn't help but feel surprised.

"Fuck, how is that kid faster than me?"

Seeing Li Yuan ahead, his steps slow but not strained, the last few inner courtyard apprentices grew anxious.

They had been waiting to see what face the genius little junior brother, who'd chosen the heavy hammer, would make when left behind.

Now, they could only exchange uneasy glances and grit their teeth to keep up.

"It seems there aren't many apprentices in the outer city of Gao Liu who've fully cultivated their blood qi? Or is it, as Liu Qing said, that those with ambition and talent have all gone to Zhe Long Mansion?"

Carrying the heavy hammer, Li Yuan was not tired.

His blood qi might not match that of the veteran apprentices from wealthy families who had trained for years, but it wasn't far behind.

The blood qi conditioning method of Cheng Wu Gong had remarkable effects; though he didn't look as muscular as those veteran apprentices, his stamina was excellent.

Added to that, the full-grade Bai Yuan Pi Feng Chui Fa enhanced him.

Not only was he not tired, he even had spare energy to experiment with different frequencies of the Liu Hu Xi Fa, gradually learning how to synchronize it with long-distance running.

"Using the breathing method like this is quite interesting—I never noticed it until I ran this far."

After adjusting his breathing multiple times, Li Yuan even felt somewhat at ease, yet he could sense his blood qi slowly depleting.

This run lasted over fifty miles; at first, Li Yuan had the leisure to admire the scenery beyond the city, occasionally spotting small villages, but later he too grew weary.

Only just before Qiu Qiu Zhengshang did they reach the foot of Fa Jiu Mountain.

At this point, aside from the few team leaders on horseback, who entered the mountain as if nothing had happened, most disciples and apprentices were drenched in sweat, several collapsing onto the ground.

A brief rest was unavoidable.

Wang Gong and Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, who had ridden together, were also thoroughly jolted; they rested under the shade of trees, while farther down the mountain slope, woodcutters from the Chai Gang descended carrying freshly chopped firewood.

Under the tree shade, Li Yuan wiped his sweat and looked at the woodcutters, suddenly feeling the hardship of life:

"A round trip is at least sixty miles—my second brother has to do this every single day, rain or shine, just to earn seven silver coins!"

Gao Liu County is a large county, its city built over a thousand years ago; the nearer mountains had long been stripped bare, and any remaining patches were private lands belonging to just a few families in town.

Even these outer slopes of Fa Jiu Mountain could only be logged by members of the Chai Gang; ordinary people had to walk another ten miles into the hills just to chop wood.

"No wonder my second brother, even if he had to borrow money and bribe people, insisted on sending me into the Forging Workshop. I've never truly experienced real hardship…"

Taking out his dried rations and chewing slowly, Li Yuan sat on the grass beneath the tree, his thoughts drifting, until he finally heard Yue Yue Yunjin's voice ring out.

"Form up! Enter the mountain!"

(End of Chapter)