Dragon Ascending Town Intelligence

Three days later, an inconspicuous carriage entered the official road leading into Dragon Ascending Town.

Driving it was an honest-looking middle-aged coachman dressed in plain hemp robes, his hat brim pulled low. He looked no different from the drivers of merchant caravans that traveled far and wide.

The carriage was equally ordinary, with a blue cloth canopy and wooden wheels. Mixed among the passing merchant caravans, it drew no attention at all.

Yet the people inside were far from ordinary.

Xiao Yun leaned against the inner wall of the carriage, seated on a thick, soft cushion. A corner of the window curtain had been lifted, revealing rolling mountains and sparse farmland outside. A few farmhouses dotted the landscape from time to time, wisps of cooking smoke rising into the air, creating a peaceful pastoral scene.

Yao Zi sat to his left, Shui Bing'er to his right, while Sheng Minglan sat across from him.

The three young women had all changed into ordinary clothes today. None wore their academy uniforms or any eye-catching accessories, making them look like daughters of an ordinary merchant family traveling abroad.

The carriage swayed along at an unhurried pace, its wheels crunching over the gravel road with a creaking sound.

"Tell me about it," Xiao Yun broke the silence. "What's the situation in Dragon Ascending Town?"

Shui Bing'er spoke first. She wore a pale green dress, her hair simply tied behind her head. She had lost some of her usual cool aloofness and gained the gentleness of a girl next door.

"There's a branch of the Shui Family in Dragon Ascending Town," she said in a clear voice. "Speaking of which, they have some ties to Skywater Academy."

Xiao Yun raised an eyebrow slightly. "Ties?"

Shui Bing'er nodded. "The ancestor of this Shui Family branch was