Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 362 is also a form of teasing.

The next day at dawn, Pei Xia woke up on Feng Yao's lap.

The village was very humid, and dew was clinging to her hair. Pei Xia shook her head and wiped her face.

Jiang Shu had already packed up the earthenware jar, stuffed it into a bundle, and carried it with him.

Pei Xia glanced at it from a little distance again; the River Dragon was curled up in a ball, as if it were asleep.

Further away in the shacks, illuminated by the distant beams, several thin figures could be seen huddled together, seemingly asleep, yet shivering from the cold.

They were pitiful as they were, but the river bandits who robbed the way deserved to die, not to mention the human bones piled up in the river stronghold.

After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and kicked the River Dragon awake.

The man jumped, looked up and saw Pei Xia's figure, and quickly knelt down: "My lord, my lord..."

The sunlight behind Pei Xia illuminated his tall and imposing figure.

The dragon saw the adult reach into his robes and slowly, slowly... pull out a radish.

Pei Xia threw the jade ginseng in front of him: "Keep it safe. Cut off a small piece every day and put it in the fish trap. You won't starve until you've cut it all."

The man was a bit stunned. After a moment of hesitation, he suddenly grabbed the thick, emerald-green ginseng tightly, his eyes shining.

Pei Xia gestured in the direction they came from last night: "Go, pick a good boat and send us away."

"Okay, okay, I'm going right now!"

Considering the other party's character as a thief, Pei Xia sent Jiang Shu along as well, to prevent him from causing trouble.

These pirates' equipment was all so-so, and after looking around, they found they were all pretty much the same. In the end, they chose a wider boat so it wouldn't rock too much.

As before, Hunjianglong rowed the boat and escorted Pei Xia and the other two out of the water fortress. After repeatedly thanking Pei Xia, he jumped into the water with a splash and swam back to the fortress.

As the sun rose and the wind and waves subsided, the small boat entered the main current of the river and sailed smoothly.

Bathed in the river breeze, Jiang Shu turned to look at Pei Xia: "Pei... Master."

Pei Xia was also a little uncomfortable with this form of address, mainly because Pear rarely called her that before: "Ah, what's wrong?"

“If you give that jade ginseng to that man, he might not share it with the others in the village.”

Pei Xia nodded: "Yes, what else can we do?"

“Otherwise…” Jiang Shu paused.

He offered his opinion readily, but when asked for a solution, he couldn't think of one right away.

Seeing that he looked like he was about to rack his brains and make a detailed plan, Pei Xia simply waved her hand at him: "Don't overcomplicate this, or you'll get yourself tangled up."

River bandits robbed travelers, engaging in murder and even cannibalism.

It's difficult to tell who is innocent in that water fortress.

Pei Xia left the jade ginseng simply to comfort herself as an ordinary person, not to save anyone.

His abilities were limited. He could manage to share what he had in Yuqiong with Jiang Shu, but to use it to save the world in Qinzhou was just a joke.

Patting the boy on the shoulder, Pei Xia stopped short of saying anything. He gestured towards the fishing rod left in the boat and said, "Let's go fishing. Let's see if we can make some fish soup tonight."

Jiang Shu shook his head: "I don't know how to fish."

"Then I'll do it myself."

The small boat sailed downstream and was extremely lucky, with calm waters for two consecutive days without encountering any reefs.

The only regret was that Pei Xia hadn't caught a single fish as they approached Jiangcheng Mountain.

It's said that even fish in the river can't stop a famine; Pei Xia, with her abundant energy, is still struggling.

“Hunger destroys not resources first, but humanity’s ability to acquire resources, tools, social structures, and humanity itself,” Pei Xia said with a sigh as she stood on the bow of the ship.

Then came Jiang Shu's joyful shouts of surprise that the fish had taken the bait. Tsk.

As the sun began to set, the towering outline of Jiangcheng Mountain gradually emerged in the distance at dusk on the second day.

The river began to flow more rapidly, and Pei Xia and his companions' small boat rocked noticeably more.

Before nightfall, they abandoned the boat and went ashore at the nearest port.

As one of the major sects in Dongqin, and located at a vital waterway and close to Jiangcheng Mountain, it already has a clear road network.

As Pei Xia and his companions came up from the riverbank, they happened to see several galloping horses disappearing into the night and heading towards the area between the two rivers.

Jiang Shu peeked out and asked, "Shall we travel in the night?"

"Looking at the mountain makes one's horse run itself to death," and the journey was actually quite long. Under normal circumstances, Pei Xia would definitely have suggested resting for the night.

However, the night was exceptionally dark tonight, so much so that the giant bridges spanning the river on both sides of Jiangcheng Mountain appeared unusually brightly lit from afar.

Pei Xia felt a burning itch in her heart.

Since waking up in Qinzhou, he hadn't seen any proper human habitation for a long time.

Inns, restaurants, gambling dens, and brothels—just experiencing the atmosphere helps him regain some self-confidence.

"Then let's hurry."

Surprisingly, the night journey wasn't lonely at all.

People often dart across the main road of Jiangcheng Mountain.

Sometimes it was a few riders galloping by, their attire ranging from martial arts practitioners to soldiers in full armor. Other times it was cultivators running at full speed, their cultivation levels unknown. A dark shadow would flash by with a whooshing sound as it rushed past, like a bear charging forward.

“This Jiangcheng Mountain,” Pei Xia muttered, “seems to be no ordinary sect.”

Jiang Shu was also going down the mountain for the first time and didn't know much about Jiangcheng Mountain. He could only rely on the few things others had mentioned in his memory to reply: "They said that you have to travel by water. To cross the confluence of these two rivers, you have to go through the Jiangcheng Mountain boat station. So whether it's the people of Donghou or the traveling martial arts cultivators, they all give Su Shanzhu face."

"Lord Su, are you familiar with him?" Pei Xia asked.

Jiang Shu naturally shook his head: "How would I know? Let alone me, let alone Feng Laoqi, even the former head of Tianbao Mountain is nothing in front of Lord Su. I only know that she is the wife of the deceased brother of the Marquis of Dong. If we count the old country, she is a member of the royal family."

When dynasties collapse, powerful clans and wealthy families are the first to seize power and establish their own independent regimes, which is in line with historical patterns.

Although Pei Xia was the son of the Grand Chancellor of Da Ling, he was not really used to this kind of social interaction and secretly thought that it was best not to get involved with this damned mountain lord.

The three of them walked, and their pace was fairly fast, but it was rather dark tonight as there was no moon.

The sound of horses' hooves came from behind, but Pei Xia did not turn around.

But then they saw three dark figures rush past them, then suddenly pull on the reins and stop.

Then the three riders turned around and tiptoed closer to Pei Xia.

As they got closer, Pei Xia could see that the person riding the lead horse was a petite woman.

The woman seemed to be sizing them up as well. After a few breaths, she opened her mouth and said in a high-pitched voice, "The one with the backpack."

Jiang Shu pointed to himself.

“Yes, you,” the woman pointed at him with her riding crop, “you look fresh and tender, come with me.”

Jiang Shu narrowed his eyes slightly, and instead of being abrupt, politely asked, "And who are you, sir?"

The woman, clearly annoyed by the question, said, "Jiang Chengshan Ma Shilin, kid, I've taken a liking to you because I'm going to send you to be Master Su's first disciple. Don't be ungrateful!"

Jiang Shu glanced at Pei Xia, then let out a soft sigh: "Thank you for your consideration, Senior Ma, but..."

He untied the bundle, gently placed it on the ground, and tightened his sleeves: "Unfortunately, I already had a master a couple of days ago."

(End of this chapter)