The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 183 Caravan
After the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army launched a large-scale southward invasion, successively annexing Hebei, Guanzhong and other places. Later, the Southern Song Dynasty rose to power, and the Jin and Song dynasties began a protracted war in Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Shaanxi and Anhui.

By 1141 AD, after the Shaoxing Peace Treaty, most of the territories of Shandong and Henan were lost, and the dividing line between the Jin and Song dynasties was mainly in Shaanxi, Jiangsu and Anhui, dividing these provinces in two.

The dividing line in Shaanxi is in the area of ​​Dasanguan in the Qinling Mountains. The area north of it belonged to the Jin Dynasty and was called Jingzhao Prefecture by the Jin Dynasty, while the area south of it belonged to the Song Dynasty.

In Jin Yong's novels, Dasanguan Pass is always used as the venue for martial arts conferences to unite martial arts heroes against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, precisely because this place has always been the front line for Han people to fight against the northern barbarians.

Based on the timeline and the vague background information provided by Jin Yong, Wang Chongyang, as an early leader of the rebel army, should have been fighting against the Jin army before 1141. After his defeat and the court's subsequent pleas for peace, he was disheartened and hid in the Ancient Tomb for many years.

Later, he was tricked by Lin Chaoying into leaving the ancient tomb, traveled to Shandong, where he took the Seven Masters of Quanzhen as his disciples, and finally returned to Zhongnan Mountain to establish the Quanzhen Sect.

However, since then, due to the brutality of the Jin people and the suffering of the people, there have been righteous armies in Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and other places, silently resisting the rule of the Jin Dynasty, fighting as tenaciously as wild grass in the mountains.

On the official road leading from Hubei to Shaanxi, there was a caravan over a hundred meters long, consisting of pack animals, pushcarts, and horse-drawn carriages. Horsemen with knives guarded the front and sides of the caravan as it headed west, about to enter Shaanxi.

It was noon, and the weather was hot. The caravan took shelter in a grove of trees by the roadside to escape the sun.

"Brother Xiaowu, Brother Xiaowu, the grasshopper you made is so beautiful, can you make one for me too?"

"Here you go. You all want this, right? Then go pull some weeds, the kind I just used. Don't go too far."

Wu Chengyu's current appearance is very deceptive. He is a tall and thin handsome young man with white teeth and red lips. Several children in the convoy are now surrounding him. He can easily make a grasshopper out of a few blades of grass or play a tune on a leaf. He immediately becomes an extraordinary figure in the hearts of these children.

Not only that, but the few women in the convoy would also steal glances at him from time to time, making Wu Chengyu sigh that good looks can change one's fate. In the past, he was a big, burly man who women didn't want to look at, and even children would avoid him.

These tricks for coaxing children were the same ones he used on A-Ku back then. It should be said that A-Ku, who was timid and dependent on others before she started practicing "Boonie Bears," didn't know if she became more and more beautiful after following Hong Qigong and practicing that damned Mysterious Maiden Technique.

She probably wouldn't have changed as much as she does now. At this moment, Wu Chengyu felt a pang of longing for her younger sister.

After leaving Xiangyang, he originally intended to travel alone, learn from those who practiced martial arts, measure the vast land with his own feet, and transform the spirit of his country and the world into the essence of his martial arts.

Unfortunately, martial arts and traditional Chinese arts are two different systems, or perhaps the rules of the world are different. Along the way, all Wu Chengyu saw was desolate mountains and wilderness, and sometimes there was no sign of human habitation for hundreds of miles.

At first, things were fine. He entered the realm of subtlety, specifically traversing mountains and valleys to understand how to integrate himself into the surrounding space. He made considerable progress at first, and many animals seemed not to see him, treating him as part of the forest.

But Wu Chengyu quickly grew tired of it. Not seeing any living people for several days and feeling isolated from society was really unpleasant.

Once this feeling appeared, he couldn't find the mood he had been looking for. Helpless, he left the mountains and forests and went onto the official road. Only then did he see some signs of human habitation and joined a caravan heading to Shaanxi in the Shiyan area.

As the children walked away, an old man sat beside Wu Chengyu, watching with a smile as he coaxed the children.

"Young man, you look like a scholar. Are you going to Shaanxi to visit relatives and friends, or are you just passing through?"

“Old Liang, I have no relatives or friends in Shaanxi. This trip is just to travel around and broaden my horizons.” “Traveling to Shaanxi is not a good idea. Back then, the Song and Jin dynasties fought for years, which made Shaanxi almost barren. The area south of the Qinling Mountains is still okay, except for a few bandits. But if you cross the Dasanguan Pass into the Jin territory, there will be more than just bandits there.”

The Jin cavalry would frequently come out to burn, kill, and plunder, and even often crossed the border into Song territory to raid for supplies.

You're a scholar with no strength to even kill a chicken; you'd better not go there. Just travel south of Dasanguan for a few days and return home as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, sir. Although I am just a scholar, I have a strong sense of righteousness in my heart. There is nowhere in the world I cannot go. What is there to fear from a few petty thieves?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Liang was too lazy to say anything more. He simply lowered his head and pursed his lips. In his opinion, this kind of ignorant scholar had become stupid from reading too much. He had no idea how dangerous the world was. Good advice was useless to persuade such a damned ghost. There was no point in wasting his breath.

Wu Chengyu chuckled inwardly. This old man Liang had managed to trick him into revealing a lot of information along the way, and he had always presented himself as an ignorant but confident and unyielding scholar.

However, this old man Liang did not look like an ordinary old man. He was dressed as a farmer, with dark skin and a face full of wrinkles. The key was his large hands, with prominent knuckles and dark color. It was as if he had been doing farm work for many years. But in Wu Chengyu's eyes, this old man's palm technique was quite skilled.

Half an hour later, the men and horses had rested, and the sun was no longer so scorching, so the caravan set off again.

Wu Chengyu sat in a carriage, not the kind with a carriage bed, but a flat platform with some hay piled on top of the two wheels.

Wu Chengyu squeezed together with Old Man Liang and a few others. People like Wu Chengyu, who joined halfway through, not only had to be paid, but also had to be thanked for their current appearance. If it were the burly man from before, he would not have been allowed to get on the bus so easily.

Old Liang was very talkative: "Once we pass this mountain, we will officially enter Shaanxi Province. Looking at the sky, we should rest at Menghu Village tonight."

"Tiger Stronghold? That name sounds like a mountain stronghold. I wonder if there's a mountain king there?"

"Haha, it's just a knock-off. Once you enter Shaanxi, unless you come to a city, you won't dare stay in those roadside inns."

You could call this Tiger Stronghold a bandit group, but they don't rob passing merchants. They're just a bunch of poor people who can't make a living and come up the mountain to establish a stronghold in search of a way to survive.

Our caravan has frequent dealings with that mountain stronghold; we always stop there to rest whenever we pass through. Young man, don't worry, it's very safe."

“I’m never worried. I have a strong sense of justice in my heart. How dare those bandits do anything to me?”

However, Elder Liang, you seem quite familiar with this mountain stronghold.

"Haha, I often travel between Shaanxi and Hubei. After a while, we've become familiar with each other."

Wu Chengyu smiled and stopped talking, but in his heart he thought, "I don't believe you for a second."

(End of this chapter)