The Upper Dan Sect was located in Hu Mountain Country, in the southern part of Zhongzhou. For an ordinary person, a round trip from Shang'an Prefecture would take nearly three months.
On the morning of the tenth.
After breakfast, urged on by the Yu Cheng Taoist, Wang Ping began to pack his belongings. He packed two sets of gray-blue Daoist robes, four sets of undergarments, an iron sword, and at least four pairs of shoes into a travel pack.
Lastly, there was money for the journey—one hundred taels of silver. This sum would allow Wang Ping to travel quite comfortably.
When he finished packing and was ready to set off, the Yu Cheng Taoist was nowhere to be found. Wang Ping waited anxiously for Half an Hour. Just as the winter sun was about to break through the clouds, he performed a divination for himself before finally stepping out of the courtyard gate.
Upon reaching the front hall, some of the junior brothers who knew him quickly gathered around, calling out, "Senior Brother."
Wang Ping gazed at the transformed front hall, feeling as if a lifetime had passed. The once-deserted training grounds and courtyard were now bustling with people, and a never-ending stream of worshippers came from the mountain base to offer incense.
As he reached the renovated main gate, his three senior brothers and his junior brother, Wang Kang, who had been waiting for a long time, surrounded him.
His Eldest Brother gave Wang Ping some standard insect repellent for his travels. His Second Brother slyly fitted a hidden weapon onto Wang Ping's right wrist for self-defense. His Third Brother gave him his own steel sword, and Junior Brother Wang Kang presented him with a water flask made from a section of bamboo.
Stepping out of the main gate, Wang Ping discovered that the path up the mountain had been rebuilt at some point. The once-muddy trail was now a flight of stone steps that snaked into the distance for miles.
The once-desolate mountain path was now busy with people, and there were even pavilions for resting at regular intervals.
At the foot of the mountain, a bustling market had appeared. At the entrance to the mountain path, some dignitaries and nobles were selecting sedan chair bearers. When the vendors and laborers gathered there saw Wang Ping in his Daoist robes, they bowed from a distance. Even the dignitaries nodded to him in acknowledgment.
Qianmu Temple's efforts to spread its teachings over the past two years had been very successful; at the very least, the surrounding regions had become devout followers.
Following his memory, Wang Ping walked out of the north side of the market and finally saw a familiar river. The small path along the riverbank had become an official road.
Once clear of the market, he gazed at the village on the southern bank. That was his old home.
The small village, once a cluster of low earthen huts, had transformed into a fortified village lined with tile-roofed houses. A massive waterwheel stood out conspicuously downstream by the canal.
Wang Ping only paused to watch for a moment before turning away from the village.
…
「Eight days later.」
Wang Ping left Nanlin Road and entered the territory of Mozhou Road. He had been traveling on a tight schedule, but when he reached the nearest county town along the official road, he found its gates were already closed.
Many others were in the same predicament as Wang Ping, including a southbound merchant caravan. The caravan's chiefs were gathered in the only pavilion outside the city gates, eating dry rations.
Wang Ping didn't pay the caravan much mind. He walked to the edge of a temporary camp about a hundred meters away and bought a bundle of dry firewood from the camp's owner.
As he got a fire going, cheers erupted from the distant county town. The residents inside were likely celebrating something. The sound of the cheers made the travelers and merchants, forced to camp in the open, feel a pang of homesickness.
"I'm hungry..."
Yu Lian protested.
Wang Ping took out some jerky he had bought especially for Yu Lian. She gobbled it down in two bites, her small eyes darting around before she retreated back into his sleeve.
"I see a lot of bad people!" Yu Lian said, not yet ready to sleep.
"Mm."
Wang Ping acknowledged her, then took out a piece of hardtack and began toasting it over the bonfire. Two foul-smelling beggars nearby had been eyeing the lone Wang Ping for some time. When one of them saw him take out the food, he swallowed hard, and survival instinct drove him to crawl forward.
"SHINK."
A cold glint of light flashed. Before the crawling beggar could register what had happened, a sharp pain shot across his cheek. He instinctively stopped, only to see an unsheathed sword pointed coldly at him.
"Take it and eat it over there. Don't bother me."
Wang Ping tossed a small piece of the hardtack to the beggar and spoke indifferently.
The two beggars were stunned for a moment, then, like animals fighting over scraps, they scrambled for the piece of food and tumbled away into the darkness. The other onlookers watched this unfold in silence.
At that moment, the cheers from the county town sounded particularly jarring.
"Sigh."
An old man sighed. "A County Magistrate hasn't been assigned to Yuanning County in seven or eight years. Life in the surrounding villages is getting harder and harder."
"Isn't that the truth? I heard there were riots in several downstream villages before the new year!"
Once the topic was broached, the conversations flowed like an unstoppable flood.
Wang Ping listened quietly, and what he heard was yet another reminder of this world's cruelty. Ordinary people not only had to bear the burden of heavy farm work and corvée labor but also faced oppression and exploitation from the powerful. If they weren't careful, they could even be devoured by some troublemaking Little Demon.
Yu Lian nudged Wang Ping's fingers again with her small head.
"I'm fine."
Wang Ping replied softly, finished the now-softened hardtack in one go, then took two gulps of water from the flask his junior brother had given him. He then sat down to meditate and rest.
「Late that night.」
As if sensing something, Wang Ping opened his eyes. The bonfire in front of him had burned down to embers, and most of the people in the camp were asleep. In the distance, two night watchmen patrolled the perimeter of the merchant caravan, holding torches aloft.
Everything seemed normal.
Wang Ping's gaze shifted to the camp owner's thatched hut, where firewood was piled. He picked up the sword resting on his lap, rose, and leaped into the moonless darkness behind him. Two breaths later, he landed atop a distant old tree, crouching to melt into the night.
By the moonlight, Wang Ping saw five or six people emerge from the camp owner's thatched hut. They moved brazenly through the sleeping crowd, rummaging through luggage for valuables. Their movements were clumsy, yet they didn't wake a single person, because the camp owner had already used an intoxicating incense.
The merchant caravan had noticed the situation in the camp long ago, but they merely watched with cold detachment.
Judging by their practiced movements, this was clearly not their first time pulling such a heist. And considering Yuanning City had closed its gates early…
"You bastards! I've finally caught you!"
A woman's voice rang out from Wang Ping's left. He then saw a longsword, wreathed in flames, slash through the dim night sky toward one of the thieves' heads. But when the seemingly earth-shattering strike landed, its power was only enough to knock the man unconscious, not kill him.
Then, from Wang Ping's right, another person charged out with equally impressive momentum, seemingly holding a cauldron. But upon reaching the camp, this person, like the woman before, set their weapon down gently, merely knocking another thief out.
After all the thieves were tied up, the woman who had charged in first pointed in Wang Ping's direction and shouted, "You! Heartless Little Daoist! Get down here!"
Wang Ping knew the woman was talking to him, but he showed no intention of coming down.
After a standoff that lasted several breaths, the woman snorted, took a packet of powder from her pocket, and scattered it. A moment later, the sleeping travelers began to stir and wake up…