Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 30 Nan Hong Clay Figurines
The spring rain begins.

A gentle breeze swept from the foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, across Jiangyun Prefecture north of Qizhou, and all the way to the official road of Wuling City.

There were quite a few pedestrians on the official road, mostly travelers away from home and wandering merchants.

A young man in plain clothes lay on his back under a plum tree, covering his face with an old book, dozing off in the warm spring sunshine.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew by, and a plum blossom petal, still glistening with dew, fell from the tree and landed right in his palm.

"hiss--"

Song Yan shivered, removed the miscellaneous books from her face, and opened her eyes.

When they left the mountains and arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain, they inquired and learned that this was the territory of Qizhou.

It is a long distance from Dongyuan Sect.

However, Qizhou is not far from Liangzhou, where Jiran Valley is located. If one goes to Jiran Valley, one can reach it in three to five days by activating spiritual power.

Returning to Silent Valley at this moment would be far too dangerous.

They might just be framed for some fabricated crime by those unreasonable Xuan Yuan Sect elders and killed on the spot...

However, the purpose of dispersing one's cultivation and starting over was to clear oneself of suspicion. If one were to return to the sect on one's own, it would seem as if one were acting out of guilt.

After much deliberation, Song Yan decided to return to the imperial palace first.

A dog's life is more important...

Song Yan now only has the cultivation level of the first level of Qi Refining...

He hurried as fast as he could, but three days passed and he still hadn't entered the territory of Feng'an Prefecture.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have found a town and hired a carriage..."

Looking into the distance, Song Yan saw a teahouse.

I had just woken up from a hazy sleep and my mouth was really dry.

After resuming cultivation, my cultivation level dropped back to the early stage of Qi Refining, and feelings of thirst, hunger, and drowsiness returned to their intensity.

Song Yan didn't dislike this feeling; on the contrary, it gave him a long-lost sense of "humanity."

The teahouse in front of us is quite large, with two floors, and it looks like it can be used as an inn or guesthouse.

Some people were drinking wine, some were drinking tea, and they were chatting about everything under the sun. In this world where people meet by chance, there was such a lively place.

"Uncle Tong, serve tea to the guests!"

"okay!"

The tea was a bit too hot to drink, but thankfully it was a cool morning and my lips were able to tolerate it quickly.

As the sweet and warm tea went down his throat, Song Yan immediately felt warm and refreshed all over.

"Hey, Lao Fang, since you came back from Wuling City, has the magistrate invited you to a banquet?"

"Hey you little bastard, are you trying to make fun of this old man?"

Old Fang pretended to be angry, tapped his bowl, and glared at her.

Song Yan drank half a bowl of tea, then rested his head on his hand and listened with great interest to the conversations of the travelers beside him.

Some of the stories are so mysterious that they are comparable to the complete biography of immortals and their customs.

"The magistrate is throwing a banquet for his daughter. Everyone who can step into the Bai family's doorstep is a wealthy, powerful, and influential official. What am I, old man Fang, supposed to do there? Eat swill?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The old man surnamed Fang widened his eyes, pretending to be furious, which made everyone in the teahouse laugh heartily.

"Yanyan, where is Wuling?"

A small snake's head peeked out from his sleeve, but Song Yan quickly pressed it back down.

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to his chest: "It's the town we passed through a couple of days ago, a little further east."

Song Yan passed by that area a few days ago while traveling, but did not stay long.

"Your Excellency, what good news is there?"

"It seems she's the county magistrate's daughter, chosen by a passing immortal to be taken to a sacred mountain to learn immortal arts..."

"what?!"

"Old Fang, you mustn't be lying to us."

"Well... I've only heard rumors. I'm just a rough man, how would I know what's true and what's false?"

Immortal...

Song Yan was taken aback, then suddenly remembered that this Qizhou Jiangyun Prefecture was the territory of Xuanjian Mountain, one of the six major sects of the Chu Kingdom.

He frowned slightly and sighed softly, "Let's get going as soon as possible."

The weather was still alright, so Song Yan got up, paid for the tea, and continued his journey north.

Following the direction of Dongyuan Sect, they soon left the official road.

The forest path was deserted, and all was quiet and peaceful.

Ta-ta-ta… Ta-ta-ta…

The sound of horses' hooves broke the silence.

"Huh? A carriage!" Song Yan was pleasantly surprised. Looking into the distance, he saw three carriages traveling together. The carriage at the front was extremely large and moved very steadily.

At the front of the carriage, besides the two coachmen, sat an old man holding a sword, who should be a martial artist from the mortal world.

The two carriages at the back must be used to store goods.

"Old sir! Old sir!"

In order to return to the clan as soon as possible, Song Yan didn't care about anything else and shouted, "Could you give me a ride?"

The old man in front frowned, and walked forward for a while before stopping.

The curtains of the carriage window were lifted, revealing several innocent children's faces, both male and female.

The old man with the sword looked Song Yan up and down: "Where did you come from..."

"My name is Song Yesheng, originally from Feng'an Prefecture. I am on my way home to visit relatives. Would you be able to..."

The old man with the sword seemed like a martial arts master from the Jianghu. The fact that he stopped his carriage to listen to Song Yan speak showed his great kindness and compassion.

However, although he was willing to help others, he seemed to have some concerns.

After a moment's hesitation, he still refused Song Yan's offer: "Young brother, please don't blame me for being cold-hearted, but I have important matters to attend to and really don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble."

"Uh...it's alright, it's alright."

In this day and age, it's normal to be wary of others.

"Grandpa Xie! Grandpa Xie, please let him come up!"

"Yes, the car is completely empty!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Grandpa Xie, he looks like a scholar! He can't be a bad person..."

Three or five children were peeking out of the car, chattering away.

"..."

Xie Xing shook his head; these kids were really naive.

In the world of martial arts, it's incredibly easy to rob a roadside caravan by sending a seemingly harmless scholar and a beautiful young woman, pretending to be returning home for the imperial examinations or being pursued by enemies.

If Xie Xing were alone, he would have helped him; he was used to roaming the martial world and upholding justice.

But he dared not gamble with the lives of the five Xie family members inside the car.

"Sorry."

Xie Xing was about to order them to continue their journey when he noticed that the boy who was the leader among the children had jumped off the carriage and grabbed Song Yan's sleeve.

"Get in the car quickly!"

"Xie Chuan! What are you doing?!"

"Grandpa Xie, give him a ride, it won't be a problem."

The boy chuckled and said to Song Yan, "I'll only give you a short ride. Once we get to Fufeng City, you'll have to walk on your own."

It's unclear whether this was addressed to Song Yan or to the old man with the sword.

"Sigh... Come on up."

"Thank you all! I have some travel money here..."

Xie Xing waved his hand: "Since it's on my way, I won't take your money. Do you think I'm a highway robber?"

"Young man, when you travel the world in the future, don't show off your wealth so easily."

From just a few words, Song Yan could tell that Xie Xing was a chivalrous and righteous person.

"Juniors have learned a lesson."

Song Yan wanted to chat with the children, but worried that the old man with the sword in front of him would suspect that he was trying to find out information, so he kept quiet.

But these children chattered away, revealing their family backgrounds in great detail, which made the old man in front of the carriage sigh repeatedly.

"We are from Nan Hong City and are on our way to Jiang Yun Prefecture."

Nan Hongcheng?
Song Yan had heard of this place; it was located south of Qiyuan Prefecture.

It is famous for producing clay figurines and clay figures.

During market days in Shiliang Town, you can often see these lifelike boxes on the vendors' stalls.

When he was little, his grandfather bought him one, but he doesn't know where it went.

"Huh? Why take this road to get to Jiangyun Prefecture?"

It's not that it's impossible, it's just a longer route and a bit off-center.

Perhaps worried that the children might speak carelessly, Xie Xing took over the conversation.

"I still have some things to take care of in Fufeng City."

Thank you to reader 【书说异世】 for the monthly ticket! Thank you to reader 【光阴走散了多少故人】 for the three monthly tickets!

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(End of this chapter)