I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

That night at the Sihai Inn really gave Jiang Chao quite a fright.

I thought this girl disguised as a man was about to have her martial arts career cut short by the aftermath of his fight with the shadowy figure.

If that's the case, then he'll probably be troubled for quite some time.

Hearing Jiang Chao's seemingly sincere yet cryptic words, Chu Ning gave a soft snort and waved her small fist:

"Regarding what happened that night... although I don't know the specifics, Jiang Qilin, don't underestimate me because of it!"

"My Chu family has never been known for its martial prowess; we excel in strategy and the art of concealed weapons. Jiang Qilin, you should know this, so you understand what I mean, right?"

Jiang Qilin...

Jiang Chao was both amused and exasperated. Who would give someone a nickname so casually?

Although the word "Qilin" is inextricably linked to him throughout his life, Jianghu still felt quite awkward being called "Jiang Qilin" so directly.

"Miss Chu, please don't misunderstand. I don't mean to belittle you, but I feel that the affairs of the martial world are too complicated. Miss Chu, you are simple-minded. If you get too involved and act solely out of a sense of chivalry, you will inevitably suffer losses in the future..."

"Suffering losses? I'm not afraid at all. The hardships I'm going through now are just the path I'll take after I become famous."

  

It's unclear where the girl learned these words, but they certainly startled Jiang Chao.

I don't know whether to praise or advise.

After thinking it over, Jiang Chao decided to give up trying to persuade him. He himself had just started his journey down the mountain to explore the world, and his experience was still limited, so he didn't have much say.

"Let's leave it at that for now. There's plenty of time in the future," Jiang Chao thought to himself.

Three days passed, and the number of people in Qingxi Town did not decrease; on the contrary, there were even more martial arts practitioners than a few days ago.

However, there were few familiar faces. Most of the martial arts travelers stopped briefly in Qingxi Town before continuing on to the next destination.

Yunzhou is not a city like Qingzhou City, but a prefecture.

This area is vast and populous, encompassing dozens of cities of varying sizes.

The capital of Yunzhou Prefecture is called Yunyang City. This martial arts tournament is being held in a place called Yunmeng Mountain outside Yunyang City.

Qingxi Town is just a small town on the edge of Yunzhou. The martial arts tournament is held at Yunmeng Mountain, which is quite a distance away from Qingxi Town.

In other words, if these people wanted to make sure they didn't miss the conference, they couldn't linger in Qingxi Town any longer.

There's no such thing as a hundred days to recover from a broken bone in the martial arts world. Martial arts practitioners who have trained in martial arts since childhood, tempering their muscles and bones and cultivating their inner energy daily, have the aid of their internal energy and recover much faster than ordinary people.

Therefore, it took Chu Ning less than seven days to go from being bedridden to being full of energy again.

Of course, the female doctor Su E also deserves a great deal of credit for this.

Whether it's acupuncture or medicinal baths, both achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Jiang Chao spent two thousand taels of real gold and silver to treat Chu Ning, and it was not in vain. By the morning of that day, Chu Ning was able to walk freely.

Perhaps because of Jiang Chao's earlier words, the girl, who had suffered a lot along the way, stopped pretending and showed her true self.

Dressed in a black outfit, Chu Ning truly looked like a dashing and heroic female knight-errant.

Seeing this, Jiang Chao stopped pretending to hide his true self and showed his true colors.

So what if he attracts attention? He can just keep a low profile when the time comes.

This is what I look like. Whether you're jealous or envious, that's your business and has nothing to do with me.

We were all born of fathers and raised by parents, so why should I be the one to blame for your bad looks?

That doesn't make sense!

After introducing themselves, the two were somewhat distant due to the difference between men and women, but only slightly. After all, they were the same age and considered themselves to be people of the martial arts world, who are not bound by formalities. So they quickly became familiar with each other again.

"Jiang Chao, lend me some silver, I'll pay you back later."

Jiang Chao discovered that after this Miss Chu opened her heart, her personality changed drastically, and she became much more spirited.

They've become shameless; now they're even asking him for money.

Jiang Chao was not stingy at all. Seeing that the other party was so straightforward, he took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket.

"Is ten thousand taels of silver enough?"

Jiang Chao asked with a smile.

Chu Ning's originally forthright expression froze.

Ten thousand taels? Did your family's silver come from a blizzard?

He keeps talking about ten thousand taels of silver...

Oh, your mother is the most business-savvy woman in the world, a female god of wealth, Yu Wushuang!

That's fine.

"...One thousand taels will be enough. The journey to Yunmeng Mountain is long, so I need to buy a horse to ride."

Jiang Chao expressed his understanding and handed over a thousand taels of silver notes to the other party.

This silver note was issued by Yu Guan Money Shop and was widely used throughout Daliang. Any money shop could exchange this note for cash.

Although Qingxi Town is a remote place, it does have a money exchange. The money exchange is not big and is run by a Zhang family in Qingxi Town, but it can still exchange a thousand taels of silver without any problem.

After exchanging the silver notes for silver, Chu Ning, accompanied by Jiang Chao, bought a horse at the town's horse market for two hundred taels of silver.

It was a yellow horse, tall and strong, full of energy. Although not as good as a chestnut horse, a fine steed from the north, it was still a good horse to ride.

Most people who travel the world have mounts, and they ride these kinds of horses. They are reasonably priced, easy to raise, and not slow.

After buying the horse, Chu Ning kept three hundred taels and returned the remaining five hundred taels to Jiang Chao.

"I'll lend you five hundred taels, and I'll pay you back the other half within a year."

Jiang Chao nodded. "Do as you please."

After buying the horse and some dry food at a local eatery, the two prepared to set off together.

Just then, a boy ran up from a street corner in the distance.

"Young Master Jiang, Miss Chu, please, please wait a moment!"

Jiang Chao stopped in his tracks upon hearing the sound and turned to look at the panting boy.

"Brother Lu Jing, what's going on?"

The visitor was Lu Jing, an apprentice at Huichuntang Medical Clinic.

That boy who looked thin and weak, but whose eyes were bright and piercing.

"Gentlemen, would you two young heroes be willing to accompany us?"

"you?"

Jiang Chao asked, somewhat puzzled, "Who are you?"

"Me and Mr. Su."

The boy smiled sheepishly:

"With the martial arts tournament being held at Yunmeng Mountain, there will surely be many masters sparring. Mr. Su said that this is a good opportunity for me to go there with her, to heal the injured martial artists, and to let me practice my skills..."

Jiang Chao was quite surprised to hear this.

Practice?

To find martial arts masters with profound inner strength who can split mountains and shatter rocks at will to practice against them?

This……

As far as he knew, this boy, who looked much younger than him but was actually the same age, was not the disciple of the female doctor Su E, but the last apprentice of the old doctor surnamed Chen, who was over sixty years old.

Su E and the old doctor were not master and apprentice. According to the female doctor, she was a traveling doctor affiliated with Huichuntang. She started practicing medicine at Huichuntang out of gratitude because the old doctor had helped her before.

Despite his doubts, Jiang Chao did not refuse, but nodded and smiled:

"Of course, Mr. Su is a miracle worker. I would be more than happy to have Mr. Su by my side on this journey."

Having said that, he looked at the female knight-errant Chu.

Chu Ning nodded, quite pleased as well. "That's wonderful. With Mr. Su here, I finally have someone to talk to."

The matter was settled, and what was originally a two-person trip became a group of four people, two horses, and a carriage.