Night Voyage Ship

Shao Baojuan smiled. "Wei River autumn wind—the willing fish takes the hook."

Chen Ping'an asked, "So this is Liyang Road?"

Shao Baojuan nodded directly. "Impressive learning, to remember even that."

Even in later generations, those wholly devoted to Buddhism, when carefully perusing Buddhist kōans, would often pay little heed to an insignificant place name.

Chen Ping'an understood at once. Liyang County also had a district called Mengxi. No wonder Shen Jiaoxiao had come wandering here; he even seemed to be a regular at that bookstore specializing in local chronicles. Shen Jiaoxiao was most likely much like Shao Baojuan—not a native of Tiaomu City, merely enjoying the advantage of arriving later and thus seizing every opportunity first. That was why he liked picking up overlooked treasures everywhere. Shao Baojuan, for instance, had seemingly acquired several treasures in the blink of an eye, and there were surely further opportunities in other cities, waiting for City Lord Shao to use "stones from other hills to polish jade" and claim them one by one. The opportunities and Magic Treasures Shao Baojuan and Shen Jiaoxiao had obtained in Tiaomu City today—whether Shen Jiaoxiao's book, the treasured blade Little Brow, the pouch of E'lü, or that length of fine cord—were all the real deal.

As for the gaunt old Taoist priest watching him like a tiger eyeing its prey, Chen Ping'an was not overly concerned. This was not Ghost Realm Valley on Bone Beach back then, where he had been doomed to flee and unable to fight. His only concern now was that tugging one hair might set the whole body in motion. That Horned Dragon Man beside the fortune-telling stall, for example—and especially Shao Baojuan—might have countless hidden moves waiting for him.

It was like a sword cultivator from the central lands traveling through the