Two days later.
Fan Wu looked at the somewhat low city walls ahead and knew he had arrived at Baihe County. This was a county town he had to pass through on his way to the Southern Commandery Prefecture, and he also needed to replenish his supplies here.
Baihe County was clearly much livelier than Prison Dragon County.
There were already plenty of vendors outside the county town, hawking their wares.
There were also several people dressed as constables maintaining order outside.
However.
From the moment Fan Wu stood there...
The scene gradually fell silent.
Compared with the people around him, his build was simply too tall and massive. Combined with the aura he unconsciously exuded, which was like that of a ferocious beast, it made onlookers' hearts tremble with fear at a single glance, filling them with dread.
Even though he was currently wearing a Daoist robe, at first glance, he looked more like a murderous maniac!
The kind who killed without batting an eye.
The constables of Baihe County, cowed by his imposing aura...
All secretly swallowed.
Finally...
A young constable with bandages wrapped around one injured ear gathered his courage and shouted, "S... stop! Where did you come from? Wh... what do you want in our Baihe County!?"
Fan Wu turned his head slightly and cast him a calm, placid glance.
"Gasp!!!"
The constable who received that glance could not help sucking in a sharp breath.
He felt every hair on his body stand on end, and his scalp go numb.
Terrified, he hurriedly staggered two steps backward.
As if afraid that if he retreated even a moment too late, his head would be crushed with bare hands.
Fan Wu did not answer his question. He seemed to ponder in place for a moment.
Then, leading Old Green Ox, he strode forward...
Closing in step by step.
His tall, burly, imposing frame seemed capable of blocking out the morning light in the distance, plunging the young constable who had spoken into shadow.
An enormous pressure swept over him, and the young constable's legs instantly turned soft as noodles.
The young constable was so frightened that he hurriedly kept backing away.
He even forgot to draw the saber at his waist.
Until his back pressed against the city wall...
He finally had nowhere left to retreat.
"Y-you you you... what do you want? This is Baihe County! M-my brothers are all here! Don't act recklessly! Please... please don't do anything reckless!"
The constable's trembling voice nearly broke into sobs.
He claimed with his mouth that his "brothers" were all here.
The problem was...
The remaining Baihe County constables did not dare approach him at all!
"Weren't you going to ask what I came here to do?" Fan Wu lowered his head slightly, looking down at the constable who did not even reach his chest, and asked in an indifferent tone.
"N-no... I won't ask! I won't ask!" Cold sweat streamed down the constable's forehead. He forced out a smile. "I-I knew the moment I saw you, Hero, that you had to be a truly excellent good man. I-I just... just wanted to greet you, Hero."
"You won't ask?" Fan Wu frowned.
The reason he had walked over was that he had seen the constable's ear wrapped in bandages and clearly injured.
He thought that if he answered from farther away, the man might not be able to hear him.
That could lead to some misunderstanding and cause trouble.
So he had wanted to come a little closer and explain why he was there.
After all, there was nothing improper about Fan Wu's purpose.
He had merely happened to be passing through and was planning to go inside to buy some things, then rest and replenish his supplies.
As a result, for some unknown reason, the young constable had been so frightened that he kept backing away, nearly to the point of wetting himself.
That left Fan Wu utterly speechless, while also forcing him to follow step by step.
And now...
He said he would not ask?
"Ridiculous." Fan Wu tossed out those four words, then led Old Green Ox into Baihe County on his own.
After Fan Wu's back gradually vanished from sight.
The young constable, whose back was pressed tightly against the city wall and who had practically wished to merge his body into it... finally collapsed onto the ground as if utterly drained.
He had been scared senseless!
Only then did the other constables outside Baihe County muster their courage one by one.
They came running over.
An old constable saw that nothing had happened and slowly let out a breath. He earnestly admonished him, "You really have some nerve, boy! You dared provoke such a savage fellow? You only get half a tael of silver in loose change a month. What are you risking your life for?!"
Just as the young constable trembled and tried to say something, a dense burst of hoofbeats came from nearby.
Then...
A convoy of escorts bearing the flag of the "Huwei Escort Agency" approached Baihe County, escorting cart after cart.
Those escorts, each holding a weapon and wearing sharp, piercing gazes...
Clearly looked like people nobody should mess with!!
The travel-worn escorts all sighed in relief when they saw Baihe County close at hand.
"We finally made it..." Escort Head Lin reacted the same way. His nerves had been stretched taut these past two days, all because he feared encountering some other strange incident.
If they ran into another evil ghost on the road, he felt his little heart could not withstand another shock.
Fortunately, the past two days had passed peacefully.
"My lord, we've arrived at Baihe County. But we didn't see Daoist Master Fan. He may have gone inside ahead of us." Escort Head Lin spoke respectfully to Xie Jiuyi inside the carriage.
Xie Jiuyi's voice came from within. "Just deliver the goods to the Imperial Astronomy Bureau's branch office in Baihe County."
"Yes, my lord!" Escort Head Lin nodded.
Their group entered Baihe County without anyone blocking their way.
That was because the Huwei Escort Agency's reputation in Baihe County...
Was fairly well-known.
Meanwhile.
Inside Baihe County.
Fan Wu, leading an Old Green Ox down the road, drew the gazes of countless passersby.
Fan Wu had long since grown accustomed to it.
Back in Prison Dragon County, he had also been the sort of person who attracted ten thousand eyes the moment he stepped outside.
He ignored all the gazes around him, whether shocked or fearful.
After walking through Baihe County for quite a while.
He finally spotted an inn.
Baihe County was undeniably much wealthier than Prison Dragon County. The size and scale of this inn were also the largest Fan Wu had seen in this world, and it was much larger than the haunted inn from two nights ago.
When a waiter in front of the inn saw Fan Wu walking over, he was just about to put on a smile and welcome the customer.
But...
The closer Fan Wu came, the higher the inn's waiter's head involuntarily tilted.
Until he had to crane his neck to look up.
"C-customer, would you like me... to lead this ox to the back of the inn for you?" The waiter forced himself to withstand the nameless pressure in his heart. His smile was unnaturally stiff as he asked in a timid murmur.
"Mm." Fan Wu said, "Take it to the back of the inn and give it some grass. There's no need to tie it up. It's intelligent and won't run away."
"Yes, yes!" The waiter hurriedly nodded like a chick pecking grain and scampered over to lead Old Green Ox away.
Fan Wu withdrew his gaze.
He walked into the inn.
There were quite a few customers inside. Fortunately, they were all living people, not strange entities, and there was no Great Venerable.
Otherwise...
Fan Wu felt that he would have had to hack this place clean again!
"Hm?!"
However.
The attribute information above one person's head in the inn caught Fan Wu's attention.
Imperial Astronomy Bureau Squad Leader—Lifespan: 329—Strength: 8.5—Skills: Dragon Elephant Body Protection Skill, Hundred Killings Divine Path Technique, Seven Seals of Demon Suppression, Imperial Astronomy Bureau Sixteenth Edition Complete Basic Talismans Compendium
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