On the morning of the sixth day, a faint chill had already crept into the city.
The red sun emerged from that enormous blood-red wound, then was shrouded by mist, like a pickled egg yolk, casting desolation as far as the eye could see within and beyond Yuyang County.
Ji You pushed open the gate of his ancestral residence and saw a scholar already walking down the empty street through the morning fog, a bamboo case on his back, a bundle hooked over his left arm, and half a flatbread in his right hand.
"Brother Ji, morning."
Ji You had just locked the residence gate. Seeing him in such a state, he was momentarily dazed. "Caichen..."
Kuang Cheng had not heard him clearly and stepped closer. "I too am setting out for the capital today. The mountains are high and the roads far on this journey, so let us bid each other farewell here. May Brother Ji's immortal path forever go smoothly."
"You're going to Shengjing alone?"
Kuang Cheng nodded. "If not for the Qiu Family matter delaying me five days, I might have set out long ago."
Ji You glanced at the fog-drenched morning and noticed that the western sky was still gray and heavy. "How do you get from Yuyang County to Shengjing?"
"First, take a carriage southwest, then go on foot around Mount Dongshou, then take another carriage. Commoners are forbidden from passing within a hundred li of the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion, so I must make a detour, then take a carriage from Mog Valley Post Station..."
"That troublesome? How much silver will this trip cost you?"
"About five mace of silver."
Ji You was slightly taken aback. "You're a young master, at least. Are you sure five mace is enough?"
Kuang Cheng froze for a moment, then clenched his bundle. "A scholar must temper his heart and clarify his purpose. Where lodging is unnecessary, one may stay in ancient temples. Though there have been many rumors these recent years of demons rising in temples and evil spirits making mischief, I possess righteous qi, so naturally I am unafraid."
"Do you really have righteous qi?"
"Well... I'm not entirely sure, but that is what the books say."
"That's far too dangerous, Brother Kuang!"
Ji You narrowed his eyes and gave him a careful once-over. "How about I go with you? I'm quite interested in haunted ancient temples."
Kuang Cheng looked somewhat puzzled after hearing this. "There is no need, Brother Ji. Though the road to the examinations is fraught with peril, two out of five still make it out alive. I may not necessarily fail to be one of them."
"Only two survive? Then there really is no need."
Ji You pondered for a moment, then looked up at him. "You're the Kuang Family's only seedling. Wouldn't it be a terrible waste if you died on the road?"
Kuang Cheng raised his head toward the sky, which had yet to fully brighten. "If that truly happens, then it will be Heaven's will."
"Come with me instead."
"?"
Ji You slung his bundle over his shoulder. "I heard Fang Ruoyao plans to bring a maidservant along. I thought that naturally, I too can bring a study companion and page. Taking an immortal vessel will be more comfortable than having you go in circles."
Kuang Cheng was slightly stunned. After considering it for a moment, he smiled and declined. "Kuang is but an ordinary mortal. How would I dare ride a cultivator's treasure ship?"
"You can barely keep the corners of your mouth down."
"Kuang is not smiling."
After the two had been silent for a long while, Ji You suddenly held out his hand. "Give it to me. Travel expenses. Five mace of silver!"
Kuang Cheng hesitated for quite some time, then took the bundle off his shoulder and opened its layers upon layers. At last, he pulled out a bulging money pouch and found the smallest piece of broken silver, placing it in Ji You's hand.
Even this smallest piece seemed to weigh more than five mace when he hefted it.
To hell with this scholar tempering his heart and will. Ji You's brow furrowed into the shape of a river. "You have so much. Give me some more."
"Brother Ji, too much wealth can cloud the mind..."
"Then why aren't you afraid?"
Holding his money pouch, Kuang Cheng said, "Because Kuang is a scholar and possesses righteous qi..."
Ji You fell silent again. In the end, he politely reached out to beg, managing to fleece roughly two taels and three mace of silver and tuck it into his own pocket.
By then, the twilight haze had gradually faded, and daylight slowly poured down. Figures had begun moving in and out of the city.
The time from autumn harvest to spring plowing was not a season of leisure. The people of Yuyang County still had to climb the mountains to gather firewood, or travel farther away for work, struggling through life year after year.
Seeing this, the two fell silent for a long time.
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Autumn mornings were heavy with dew. By the time they had traveled this far out of the city, both their clothes had become somewhat damp.
Fortunately, the sun soon broke through the clouds and mist. A ray of dawn spilled down, pierced through the city gate, gilding the feet of the scholar and the youth and stretching their shadows ever longer as they walked.
By the time the two reached outside the city, many people were already gathered in the open ground before the county stele.
Cao Jinsong, Pei Ruyi, the Fang father and daughter, and all three members of the Qiu Family were there.
Besides them, those townsfolk who had acknowledged kinship with Ji You at the grain field that day had also gathered here to see him off.
Seeing Ji You and Kuang Cheng emerge from the city one behind the other, little Qiu Ru suddenly broke free from her mother's embrace, ran over on her short legs, hugged Ji You's thigh, and looked up at the corner of his mouth.
"Little girl, why are you getting heavier and heavier?"
"Young Master, Ruru ate meat at the County Magistrate's house! It was delicious! Father was lying! I wanted to save a piece for you, but my mouth wouldn't allow it, and it made me cry from anger!"
Ji You could not help laughing. Then he saw the Qiu couple hurry over, a bundle in their hands. "Young Master, this is the silver exchanged when you saved Ruru before. Please take it with you on the road..."
Li Shuping also dropped to her knees with a thud. "Young Master, this foolish woman was ignorant before and always spoke harshly to you. Yet in the end, you still saved Ruru. This foolish woman kowtows to you here..."
"There's no need for that."
Ji You reached out and helped Li Shuping up. "I regard the third household by the Nanya River as my own household, and Qiu Ru is my little sister. Before I ascend and become an immortal, I will surely return many times. If you always treat me this way, how could I have the face to return?"
Hearing him speak of ascension so lightly, Cao Jinsong's eyelids twitched.
This boy spoke with an overbearing air revealed amid wind and cloud-like calmness. As expected, he was no ordinary person.
Old Qiu handed over the bundle then. "Young Master, take this with you. When you leave your homeland and travel far away, you won't know anyone. Many things require silver. Don't treat yourself poorly."
"No need, Old Qiu. I still have money. Keep this for your household expenses."
"When the Ji Family fled, they took all those valuables with them. They did not leave you even a single silver ingot. Old Qiu understands this better than you do, Young Master, so please stop refusing."
"I'm not refusing. Your young master truly has money."
Seeing that he did not believe him, Ji You reached out and patted Kuang Cheng's bundle.
Kuang Cheng fell silent for a moment, suddenly recalling the sight of Ji You covered in blood at the Ji residence.
That day, Ji You had sighed that Qingyun World had ultimately lost an extraordinarily gifted peerless bandit. Yet why did he feel that it had not lost one in the slightest?
"Everyone, though one may see a friend off for a thousand li, parting must come in the end. Let us stop here."
"If any neighbors have the time, please help clean my residence. Should any members of the Ji clan return, entrust it to them."
After saying this, Ji You turned and looked toward the rising sun in the distance and the unbroken mountain ranges, breathing out softly.
He felt that he had not come here for no reason. There were things he needed to accomplish.
"Come, young man. Let us go meet the wind in destiny."
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