With the Blade

When Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan had just left Jiankang, the road was relatively peaceful.

Perhaps because it was close to the Capital City, the few states and counties near Jiankang maintained the most basic order—of course, only the most basic. Bandits, highwaymen, and man-eating monsters were still present in abundance, but as long as one wasn’t foolish enough to travel at night or head in some remote directions, things were generally manageable, and food supplies along the way could be bought in the towns.

"But from now on, the road won’t be so easy."

On the first day after stepping out of Bozhou, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan realized this.

Beyond Bozhou, they entered the territory of Songzhou. Starting from here, the influence of Da Chen began to wane. The evidence was the numerous Dock Fortresses dotting the roads—originally, these military fortifications were built by the official army on the northern frontier to delay the grassland people. Now, however, these fortresses were built by local noble families for themselves.

Nominally, these local noble families were building fortresses as a refuge from disasters. But who were they hiding from, as there were no grassland people around?

Exactly who they were hiding from was unclear to Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan. They only knew that the locals were not very accepting of them. Even when they offered to pay more for some supplies, the locals refused to let them near the walls of the Dock Fortress—thus, after being shut out three times while seeking lodging, Shan Bing, whose experience in the underworld was inadequate, couldn’t help but reveal the token given by the court.

But even after revealing their identity, they were not greeted by hospitality from the local noble families.

Instead, they faced armed attacks from bandits.

Shan Bing revealed his identity as a Commander at dusk, and that very night, eight waves of robbers came at them. Though called robbers, they were well-armed, each wave more formidable than the last. By the end, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan had to kill three warriors emanating Evil Qi to barely escape the encirclement.

"You’re from the military, so you might think showing your identity is useful, but in this case... You should treat this place as a hostile nation."

Only after escaping to a relatively safe place did Jiang Wenyuan explain to Shan Bing.

After the perilous skirmishes, Shan Bing understood that Jiang Wenyuan was right, but he was still confused, not knowing where things went wrong.

"Initially, we were regarded as scouts for bandits, so they wouldn’t let us in, fearing we might collude internally and clean out their Dock Fortress... As for later, it’s obvious, we were mistaken for court investigators, which happened to be investigating crimes they committed."

"Are you referring to those weapons?"

Upon hearing this, Shan Bing immediately thought of the weapons in the bandits’ hands.

Those well-crafted weapons were not something civilian blacksmiths could forge; their cold gleam and formidable Evil Qi were evident. Most absurdly, the weapons were all of the same style. If he couldn’t see it, his eyes might as well be gouged out.

"Indeed, the weapons from the state and county arsenals."

Jiang Wenyuan nodded.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the capital of Songzhou has already been cleared out by these surrounding noble families, under the guise of bandits entering the city. As for the things the bandits took, you’ve likely seen them. No wonder they can afford to support warriors with external Evil Qi... Okay, it’s not your fault. Even if you didn’t reveal your identity, they would sooner or later deal with us two outsiders, especially since they have guilty minds."

Guilty minds?

Hearing the last sentence, Shan Bing felt a sudden jolt.

He certainly didn’t have a guilty conscience; after all, there’s no second sun in the sky, and in his heart, only Eunuch Cao was the sole sun. For Shan Bing, who spent the first half of his life as a rank-and-file soldier, Eunuch Cao was the biggest figure he could cling to—as for His Majesty, that had nothing to do with him, that was Eunuch Cao’s connection.

Moreover, the feeling he had was not this kind of ’guilty,’ but rather another kind, more mysterious than mysterious. Simply put, it was indescribable...

"I think we need to run quickly."

After thinking for a while, Shan Bing decided to be honest with his temporary partner.

"You might think I’m speaking nonsense without reason, but I really feel that something is off..."

"Let’s go."

Before Shan Bing could finish speaking, Jiang Wenyuan decisively stood up.

Jiang Wenyuan was decisive, but Shan Bing himself wasn’t as decisive; after all, the feeling was still unclear to him, and how could he act on an unreasoned judgment...

"Intuition itself is a judgment."

Jiang Wenyuan’s expression grew solemn.

"Especially when it’s an intuition about danger... Hurry, we’ve already delayed too long!"

Saying this, Jiang Wenyuan and Shan Bing quickly packed their gear and fled afar.

Just after the two disappeared into the distant mountain road bend, four tattoo-covered Burly Men suddenly appeared at the place where they had paused.

"How did they manage to escape?"

The leader of the men was flabbergasted.

"We used the power of spirits and gods to divine their location. How did they know we would arrive so quickly?"

"Maybe one of them is also protected by spirits and gods."

Another man squinted.

"Anyway, follow the tracks first. The footprints are still fresh, they won’t get far."

With that, the four bare-chested Burly Men sprinted along the tracks into the distance.