Chapter 516 (1): Long Journey
Chen Ping'an traveled northward, passing through the Orchid Residence Nation.
The Orchid Residence Nation was renowned for its orchids, and the nation's wealth was almost entirely dependent on how many orchids it had.
Aside from that, there was nothing special about the nation, but it did have some memorable customs and traditions. For example, the women liked to conduct divination by tossing money into rivers, and all of the nation's citizens, regardless of their socioeconomic standing, liked to release living creatures as a means of accumulating good karma.
However, it was also a common sight to see fish being released upstream, only to fall into the nets of the waiting fishermen downstream. Furthermore, all of the boatmen, regardless of age or gender, had their upper bodies exposed to the elements, resulting in tanned and leathery skin. In times of drought or floods, the people of the nation liked to wander the streets with paper dragon king effigies.
However, the objective was not to pray to the dragon king for more or less rain. Instead, the people would whip the dragon king effigies until they were torn to shreds.
To the north of the Orchid Residence Nation was the Green Shrine Nation, where Daoism was the dominant teaching. There were Daoist temples everywhere, while Buddhism was severely oppressed, and the few Buddhist monasteries in the nation were all rundown and largely abandoned.
North of the Green Shrine Nation was the Golden Gate Nation, a southern subsidiary nation of the Great Seal Script Empire. This was a nation in which martial prowess was championed above all else, and it was a very common sight to see fights taking place on the streets, often with bloodshed as the end result. Many young men from affluent clans developed a fondness for the martial arts from a young age, often banding together to go out on hunting trips.
The ruler of the Golden Gate Nation himself was a seasoned veteran on the battlefield, and he had seized control of the nation through a military coup. Under his rule, military officials were favored significantly over their administrative counterparts, and the latter were often forced to take sick leave after being beaten black and blue during official assemblies.
This would've been completely inexplicable in other nations, but it couldn't be normal in the eyes of the Golden Gate Nation's citizens. Stories of grand secretaries being spat upon and the Minister of Rites having their teeth knocked out by generals were so commonplace that they were barely even worthy of a mention.
The Plum Rain solar term was about to arrive.
On this day, Chen Ping'an was making his way through the wilderness outside one of the Golden Gate Nation's prefectural cities. The area was rife with tigers, so the youths from the wealthy and powerful clans of the Golden Gate Nation often came here to hunt. Chen Ping'an had already seen many groups of hunters pass him by on horseback, equipped with sabers and bows.
All of them were quite young, and there was no lack of women among them. Despite their youth, all of them were already very capable horseback archers, and they were accompanied by some older servants who were clearly either current or past soldiers.