Chapter 239: Caravan Guard Han Yi
The next morning, before the first sliver of dawn breached the dark horizon, Han Yu—now fully in the role of "Han Yi"—stood beside the caravan, gear packed and glaive strapped to his back.
He kept his expression neutral but his senses sharp.
The disguise was simple but effective. With his soot-darkened hair, sun-worn skin, and traveler’s robes patched in just the right places, he looked no different than any of the other wandering cultivators desperate for work in the borderlands.
Merchant Kuo barked out a few quick orders to get the wagons rolling, and with a creak of wheels and snorts from the ox beasts, they set off. Han Yu took up a position near the rear left cart, neither drawing attention nor seeming too distant. Just another face in the crowd of caravan guards.
The first day was uneventful.
This section of the Plateau was mostly safe, the terrain flat and the surrounding hills sparse and low. The air was cool, the sky broad and washed with drifting white clouds. Occasionally, a wind would pick up and rustle the yellowed grass, bringing with it the faint dry scent of rough grass and the far-off screech of some flying beast.
The guards around him weren’t exactly chatty. Most had traveled this route several times, and they spent more energy swatting away flies and chewing dry jerky than making conversation. Han Yu didn’t press them either. It was better to ease into this identity naturally.
Beasts did appear, of course, but none of them were threats. A couple of Rockhide Boars emerged from a thicket, squealing and charging one of the ox beasts, but three guards made quick work of them with coordinated strikes.
Later in the afternoon, a lone Crimson Fang Lizard ambled onto the road, tongue flicking toward the scent of meat. Han Yu was the first to step up, his glaive cutting low and fast, and with two strikes, he brought it down cleanly.