Chapter 62: Escort or Bandit?

Page 1 of 3

Liu Shen sat cross-legged in the quiet room, eyes closed, cultivating the Breath-Concealing Technique he’d learned from Yu Shan.

In the past days, he had visited Yu Shan daily, ostensibly to plunder the man’s toon tree and, in passing, consult him on martial cultivation and swordsmanship.

That toon tree was already an ancient, bark-bare specimen, and it yielded few buds in March; how could it withstand Liu Shen’s constant depredations?

Yu Shan, seeing Liu Shen arrive with wine and dishes—and being his employer—could only force a smile despite his aching heart. He thought, “If this old fellow dies from all this plucking, what will I eat next year when I’m down on my luck?”

When Yu Shan realized Liu Shen had only recently begun his martial path and was in the throes of obsession, and saw his own tree nearly stripped bare, he hatched a plan. He proactively taught Liu Shen a breathing method for concealing one’s presence, letting him cultivate it at home and savor its subtleties.

This unexpected inheritance delighted Liu Shen. Absorbed in the mysteries of the breath-concealing art, he didn’t trouble Yu Shan for several days.

Yu Shan, his ears finally spared, glanced at his battered old tree, now safe for the season, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

One man preserved his emergency rations for the next lean year, the other gained a rare breathing method—both were well content.

At the dockhead parlor.

The young man tasked with surveillance hurried to Liu Shen’s side and whispered his report of what had just occurred.

Upon hearing his subordinate’s message, Liu Shen’s gaze sharpened. He sheathed his heavy-backed, keen-edged Wild Goose Wing Blade and hid it beneath the false floor of the carriage he’d prepared in advance.

Only then did he set out, driving the carriage from his door.

In a shadowy alley.

When Yu Shan saw Liu Shen enter, his first reflex was to glance at his poor, bark-bare tree. Noting that Liu Shen carried neither food box nor liquor, he seemed to understand and felt at ease.

“Time to go?” Yu Shan asked.

“They’ve arrived.”

“Let’s be off…”

Their exchange was as succinct as ever.

Yu Shan splashed water on his face, donned the clothes Liu Shen had brought for him, then fetched a blade wrapped in worn cloth from his room, donned a bamboo hat, and stepped outside.

At the entrance to the Song estate.

Pei Xueyan heard the servant’s announcement, came out, and saw the three men who claimed to have been sent by “Master Pei to escort the young madam home for ancestral rites.”

Frowning slightly, she asked, “Did my father really send you to fetch me?”

“Yes, yes…” The wiry coachman hopped down, produced a letter from his breast, and handed it over with a broad grin. “This is a letter from Master Pei; please have a look, young madam.”

As Pei Xueyan examined the letter, he continued, playing the part of the simpleton: “We three brothers are guards from the Fortunate Might Escort Agency. You can just call me Hu Da, young madam. The two big lads behind me are my brothers—Hu Er on the left, Hu San on the right…”

“It is indeed my father’s handwriting…”

Pei Xueyan nodded slightly and then, smiling, asked, “All three of you are from Fortunate Might Escort Agency?”

“Yes, yes…”

Page 2 of 3

Hu Da nodded earnestly, replying, “It’s over a hundred miles from Heyang County to Xiyang. Master Pei was worried you might encounter danger along the way, so he specially sent us to fetch you.”

“How thoughtful…”

Pei Xueyan smiled, her mind seemingly elsewhere, and asked, “Fortunate Might is the foremost escort agency in Xiyang County, widely renowned. My father must have spent no small sum to hire you?”

“Not at all…” Hu Da waved his hands quickly, putting on a solemn air. “The Pei family is a leading household in Xiyang County, and you are the young madam. There’s no way Master Pei would begrudge a bit of silver for this.”

Pei Xueyan merely chuckled at this, but the bitterness in her heart grew deeper.

“The sky looks like it’s about to rain…” Hu Da glanced at the brooding heavens and urged, “Young madam, it’s a journey of over a hundred miles—by carriage, we won’t reach Xiyang until nightfall. With the weather so gloomy, we might run into rain. Why don’t we set out early?”

“One moment…”

Pei Xueyan summoned her maid, Xiao Yuhong, whispered a few instructions, and watched as the girl hurried off. She explained, “A business associate of mine happens to be going to Xiyang as well. He heard I’d be returning for ancestral rites and insisted on accompanying me.”

Hu Da frowned but couldn’t object. He replied awkwardly, “Given the weather, I hope your friend can hurry so we don’t delay the journey.”

“He lives nearby—it won’t take long…”

Sure enough, before long Xiao Yuhong returned, leading a carriage up to the gate. Pei Xueyan smiled, “See, here they are…”

Yu Shan, wearing a bamboo hat and holding a whip, occasionally flicked it at the horse’s haunches.

His appearance was utterly ordinary, and with his cultivation of the Breath-Concealing Technique, he seemed born for the role of coachman—so natural as to be almost invisible.

The two carriages met before the Song estate.

Yu Shan felt the wiry coachman’s gaze upon him; his whip hand twitched slightly, but his sleepy facade did not falter.

Inside, Liu Shen lifted the curtain, glanced around, then laughed and teased, “Young madam, why is the Pei family’s carriage so shabby?”

Pei Xueyan shot him a glare, retorting, “The Pei family is a humble house, hardly to be compared with your grand Liu family’s carriages.”

Then she turned to Hu Da and instructed, “Let’s be off—you lead the way; I’ll ride with my friend.”

Hu Da’s face twitched as he watched the young madam, without a backward glance, climb into her friend’s carriage. Frustration welled up inside him.

He was, after all, carrying Master Pei’s written instructions, yet the very person he was to escort was lured away before his eyes, leaving him to lead the way. How infuriating was that?

Still, his annoyance was fleeting; he was not so foolish as to pick a fight over something so trivial.

With a faint smile and a glance at his brothers, Hu Da signaled the start of the journey, climbed onto his carriage, and drove his team ahead.

Page 3 of 3

Behind them…

Yu Shan lounged lazily at the carriage’s side, flicking his whip as he guided the horse at a steady pace. He muttered quietly, “That skinny monkey of a coachman is quite the hand.”

“A skilled one?” Liu Shen, separated from him only by a plank, muttered, “You can tell their level of cultivation?”

“I can make a rough guess…” Yu Shan replied. “A martial artist’s aura, breathing, and habits all leave traces. That wiry coachman is likely at the third tier—not weak at all.”

“Third tier?” Liu Shen sounded both surprised and doubtful. “Could you beat him?”

Yu Shan’s face twitched outside the carriage. He had meant to be cautious, to say, “His strength may be close to mine,” but Liu Shen’s question changed his reply to, “I could handle two like him.”

Liu Shen, realizing his question was perhaps a bit tactless, fell silent, unsure how to continue.

Pei Xueyan, too, sensed the undercurrent in the driver’s tone outside, and seeing Liu Shen’s awkwardness, couldn’t help but cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“You’re still laughing,” Liu Shen scolded, pinching her delicate cheek. “Master Pei is quite the operator, sending a third-tier martial artist to fetch you home.”

Pei Xueyan swatted his hand away and said, “They claim to be guards from Fortunate Might Escort Agency…”

“Doesn’t seem likely…” Liu Shen and Yu Shan, one inside the carriage, one out, almost spoke in unison: “Doesn’t seem likely.”

Both fell silent, separated by only a plank, each waiting for the other to speak first.

After a long pause, Yu Shan broke and said, “I’ve dealt with plenty of underworld types. These three feel more like bandits than escorts.”

Liu Shen nodded in agreement. “I thought their eyes didn’t look like those of escort guards either…”

“If they truly are bandits,” Yu Shan murmured, lowering the brim of his bamboo hat, his voice dreamy, “we may not even reach Xiyang County…”

…