Chen Chao threw a piece of dry firewood into the bonfire and smiled as he asked, "Elder Brother, I've always heard that those people in the North are the true martial artists of the Great Liang Dynasty. What say you?"
Han Hu drank a sip of wine and said with a slight smile. "To be honest, there is some truth to that. No one can embody the form of address 'martial artist' better than those fellows on the northern city walls."
"I previously heard about a young warden who came from Wei Prefecture, he rebutted countless academy students by the academy's lakeside. Although I didn't witness it firsthand, just hearing about it made my blood boil with passion. It was really well said, those foreign cultivators kept calling us uncouth martial artists, but we can't call ourselves that. If even we ourselves look down on ourselves, how can anyone else respect us?"
Han Hu spoke with a hint of anger and also some satisfaction in his voice as he said softly, "I also heard that the young warden had been killing demons in Wei Prefecture in his earlier years and had an excellent reputation. He's a truly rare good official. If you ask whether he counts as a martial artist, of course he does. Moreover, he has already become the champion of the Myriad Willow Convention, truly bringing glory to our Great Liang Dynasty!"
"Now that we brought this up, let's toast to the Great Liang Dynasty!"
He raised his wine gourd and took a big gulp of the alcohol. Then, he coughed uncontrollably. However, he did not forget to toss the wine gourd over. Chen Chao caught it and also drank a big gulp, muttering, "This damn world."
Han Hu retorted seriously, "The current state of the world is already very good. If it were during the previous dynasty, there wouldn't be such peace."
Considering they had just encountered a demon attack, talking about a peaceful world at this moment was actually a little ill-timed. However, if they seriously thought about it, looking back several decades or even hundreds of years, the world was not as good as it was now.
Chen Chao clapped his hands and laughed, "I misspoke."
Han Hu did not mind. It was just that he remembered what happened before and asked, "Judging by Younger Brother's cultivation level, I guess you come from a prominent family? Your movements were swift and clean; not inferior to those fellows from the north."
Chen Chao smiled and replied, "Not too big, not too small. I have a decent elder in the family, so I have some minor attainments."
Han Hu was a bit puzzled and asked, "Then Younger Brother, this trip south is purely for leisure?"
Chen Chao nodded and smiled, "To explore the beautiful rivers and mountains of the Great Liang Dynasty. It's interesting."
Han Hu did not doubt it either. The thoughts of those descendants from prominent families were often different from theirs. He could not fathom their intentions, so he naturally did not press for an answer either.
Afterward, the two of them chatted leisurely throughout the night. Coupled with the previous demon attack, their relationship grew closer once again.
When dawn came, the merchant convoy set off again. Chen Chao lay on the horse-drawn carriage filled with goods as usual.
Dozens of martial artists greeted Han Hu. Their attitudes towards Chen Chao improved significantly as well. The fundamental reason was that they had witnessed Chen Chao's attack that night. He punched through a demon with a single blow. It could be said to be extremely fierce. Judging from the intensity of Chen Chao's blood vitality, he was likely a martial artist close to Divine Trove Realm.
As for other things, they did not dare to think too much, especially considering Chen Chao's age. If they were to speculate that Chen Chao had surpassed that realm, he would not be an existence they should encounter.
Chen Chao just lay on the horse-drawn carriage filled with goods. Tilting his head, he looked into the distance.
……
……
The merchant convoy continued its journey south. In the following half a month, they encountered several major and minor attacks from demons. Fortunately, they could handle them. It was just that two martial artists were a little unlucky and were killed by the demons. The merchant convoy leader's expression immediately turned ugly, not because he felt guilty about people dying, but because the moment someone died, they had to pay a substantial survivor's pension. This pension money was much more than the mercenary cost for this trip. They naturally would not be happy about forking out large sums of skygold currency.
However, since it was agreed upon beforehand, even though it was painful, they still handed over the required skygold currency to Han Hu.
As the leader of this escort convoy, Han Hu had earned his credibility through repeated escorting jobs. If it were not for that, people would not feel at ease giving him a large sum of skygold currency either. After all, these people's wives and children would be depending on this sum of skygold currency to get by.
After finding a place to hastily bury the two fallen martial artists, Han Hu placed two stones that he had picked up on the grave and poured a gourd of wine on the graves. Then he squatted in front of the graves and said softly, "When I come back, I'll bring you guys home."
The other martial artists remained silent, saying nothing.
Chen Chao sat up on the horse-drawn carriage piled with goods, looking over there rather silently. He remembered that those two were just in their early thirties. Although they were not from the North, they were still considered veteran soldiers who had no choice but to retire due to old injuries. Although their cultivation realms were not high, they were extremely courageous. Originally, the two of them would not have died like this during the attack. It was just that in order to block an attack for one of the martial artists, he sacrificed his own life.
Such things had been happening all along; it was just that someone died today.
After a brief farewell, the merchant convoy continued its journey. This time, everyone's faces became more serious, and the previous relaxation was gone.
Han Hu's temples turned a little more gray, making him look much older. This veteran who returned from the North had a secret that others did not know – whenever someone who traveled together with him died, he would take out his own share of remuneration and add it to the compensation.
This time, Han Hu was destined to take this job in vain. But the old man did not feel aggrieved. Instead, he worried about the families of those two.
In the following days, the merchant convoy did not encounter anything. Finally, at a certain dusk, they saw a small city in the far distance. They were about to enter the territory of Cang Prefecture and that small city ahead was on the necessary route they had to take. Furthermore, they were indeed exhausted too, and eager to rest for the night.
However, they could not reach the city tonight. They chose a relatively spacious open area next to the official road and lit many fires.
The tired merchants fell asleep, while the martial artists took turns keeping watch.
Once again, the two of them sat by the fire.
Han Hu looked at Chen Chao with some weariness and said seriously, "You should know when it's most dangerous."
Chen Chao replied, "This city is right ahead. If we rest here for the night, we'll definitely be able to enter the city tomorrow morning. Their tightly wound-up nerves will surely relax at this moment. Once they relax, it will be the most dangerous time."
Han Hu's face turned serious as he said, "I've sensed something amiss for a while now. It's just a gut feeling, so I haven't said anything. I don't know if Younger Brother has the same feeling?"
Chen Chao looked into Han Hu's eyes and said very seriously, "You're right."
"There has always been a pair of eyes watching us in the dark night. It has been at least several days."
Chen Chao looked at Han Hu and said very calmly, "It's waiting for when we're at our weakest."
Han Hu tightened his grip on the saber at his side and asked rather nervously, "Should we wake everyone up?"
Chen Chao replied, "If the gap in the cultivation realm is still too large, it won't make any difference even if we have more people."
