Chapter 145 – The Carpenter’s Workshop - Part 1
Night fell.
With no villages ahead and no inns behind. The moon hung high overhead, and in the barren wilderness, a thick fog drifted across the ground, making it hard to see the road.
Yet on this lonely stretch, a horse-drawn carriage continued onward. Concerned about the weather, the driver slowed the horses, spoke briefly to the passengers behind the curtains, then stopped and tied the carriage to a leafless old tree.
When the carriage curtain lifted, Li Yuan glanced around. Winter nights were foggy enough; it was even denser here in the mountains.
“Let’s just spend the night here,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” the driver, Wang San, replied. He worked for Xue Ning—not a martial artist, but a good, reliable man.
Before long, Li Yuan and Wang San started a bonfire together, with Tang Nian helping on the side.
Crackle! Pop! Crackle! A puppet brought over piles of firewood while Tang Nian tossed the sticks, one by one, into the flames.
“Sir, Young Lady, let me do it,” Wang San said with a shy smile. “You should rest.”
Li Yuan shook his head. “Another pair of hands gets it done faster. Let’s just do it together.”
“If you insist...” Wang San scratched his head awkwardly, thinking to himself how kind the master was.
“How much farther until Flowerpath County?” Li Yuan asked casually. He only had three birds under his control, each stationed somewhere important—one at the mass grave in case of trouble, one at Antelope Pass to guard against outside threats, and one at the Hundred Lotus Manor to watch for surprises. With none of them free, he had only a rough idea of how far they’d traveled.