Departure (2)

Departure (2)

The city was full of weeping women, children, and old people. White cloth hung everywhere; poor families could not afford proper white silk, so they simply tore off a strip of white cloth and hung it up as mourning.

Many streets were riddled with potholes as well. No one knew what had smashed into them to leave such devastation.

Lu Sheng took in the sights along the way. After this calamity, Nine Links City was already half-crippled.

After looking over the city, he visited each of the masters he had studied martial arts under. Fortunately, these masters were all alert people and had protected themselves well, avoiding tragedy. After seeing them, he gave each of them quite a few banknotes before heading to the Zheng Family.

Smack.

Zheng Xianggui clapped his hands heavily.

"Brother Sheng, I'm coming with you too! Yu'er and I will follow your family's convoy. Is that alright? Damn it, this is an escort by government troops—the kind of treatment only a county magistrate gets!"

Speechless, Lu Sheng glanced at the Zheng Family residence, which was blackened and charred everywhere. Clearly, plenty of trouble had happened here too.

"Just you and Yu'er?" he asked casually.

"Mm. Like your family, everyone else is scattering to other cities. My old man has finally seen it for what it is—Nine Links City is a place where trouble breeds. Even if nothing happens later, what if something like before happens again? We might not be lucky enough to escape a second time. If Brother Sheng hadn't introduced Daoist Returning Yang Child, our Zheng Family would have suffered terrible losses too."

He paused and sighed. "It's just a pity about Sister Qingqing..."

Lu Sheng said nothing.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "So nothing happened to your family?"

Zheng Xianggui was immediately stumped. He lowered his voice, looked around, and whispered, "My eldest brother is gone."

"Alright. That really is a good thing for you." Lu Sheng was speechless. "Since you're coming with me, I plan to set out tomorrow. Hurry and get ready, and let Yu'er know too."

"Alright!" Zheng Xianggui nodded. Both of them understood that after what had happened in Nine Links City, both families had begun considering moving away. In a large city, those Jianghu people would not dare run so rampant. That great fire would not have been so brazen either.

After leaving the Zheng Family, Lu Sheng had Xiao Qiao pack his things. He was heading out to study, and East Mountain Academy was an extremely renowned major academy in Yan Mountain City and many nearby cities. Its rules were strict; students were not allowed to bring maids or servant girls, so Xiao Qiao could only remain in Nine Links City for the time being.

After hurried preparations, Lu Quan'an stuffed Lu Sheng with banknotes worth ten thousand taels of gold, then had him leave the city with the government troop convoy that was ready to depart.

Yet as Lu Sheng was leaving, he vaguely heard that Song Duanchi, the Prefect of Nine Links City, had suddenly come down with a vicious illness several days ago. He was bedridden and on the verge of death.

Thinking of the massive explosion at Pearl Estate, Lu Sheng guessed that the Prefect had most likely been caught in the blast like fish in a pond. Prefect Song was, in truth, a pitiful man as well.

They set out early in the morning, when the sky had only just begun to brighten.

Lu Sheng stood among the convoy, his face pale. He was wrapped in a thick white fox-fur coat, as though an entire white fox pelt had enveloped him from head to toe. It was warm and luxurious; this single coat alone had cost over a thousand taels of silver.

He quietly gazed at Nine Links City behind him. Perhaps he would never return to this place. Before he left, his father Lu Quan'an had clearly told him that the whole family would move to a large city.

"Brother Sheng? What's wrong?" Zheng Xianggui stood nearby with Zheng Yu'er, whose cheeks were rosy.

"Nothing. I was merely feeling a little sentimental. Cough, cough..." Lu Sheng began coughing again. He had forcefully practiced the Black Fiend Skill during this journey and injured the lung yang in his body. On top of that, he had taken too many nourishing-yin, cooling medicinal herbs, and his body could no longer bear it.

"You should return to the carriage first. We're about to set off, Young Master Sheng," said Old Niu, the captain of the government troops leading the convoy.

Lu Sheng nodded. After one last look at Nine Links City, he turned and was the first to board a carriage.

"Let's go, let's go! Everyone, let's go!" Zheng Xianggui shouted loudly, having long since grown impatient.

Yan Mountain City, February.

Spring was in full bloom. Outside Yan Mountain City, vast stretches of Welcoming Spring Trees had gradually turned red like clouds lit by a blazing sunset. Countless little red flowers fell, then bloomed anew; bloomed, then blossomed again, filling both the ground and the trees with red.

Beside a small river south of the city, several academy students in neat, respectable clothing sat inside a white octagonal pavilion.

Each student wore a gray-white long robe, their long hair tied with black cloth, and each held an identical folding fan.

"Brother Lu? Brother Lu?"

A somewhat enthusiastic voice pulled Lu Sheng out of his distraction.

He turned back, withdrawing his gaze from the Welcoming Spring flowers covering the mountains and plains, and looked at the people in the pavilion beside him.

The one calling him was Song Zhenguo. Like Lu Sheng, he had come from a northern city to study. His family was wealthy, and he had been proficient in eating, drinking, and entertainment since childhood. He was also rather handsome and often organized like-minded people for outings in the countryside.

Zheng Xianggui had introduced Song Zhenguo to Lu Sheng. Most of those present were fellow townsmen as well, academy students from northern cities. Naturally, they had gathered together for this outing, sticking together for mutual support.

"Brother Song, forgive me. My mind wandered for a moment." Lu Sheng smiled.

Half a year had passed since he sent Yan Kai and the other two away.

Over those six months, he had traveled from Nine Links City to Yan Mountain City and lived here for several months, yet he had not encountered anything unusual again.

Yan Mountain City had excellent public security. The Flying Curtain Army patrolled around the clock in shifts, and within a radius of more than ten li, people could leave their doors unlocked at night. Compared with Nine Links City, it was like heaven and earth.

There were no calamities here, no demons or ghosts, and not even many cases of murder. The commoners traveling within and outside the city were all properly clothed, unlike those in Nine Links City, who could barely cover their bodies.

Not long after arriving, he and the Zheng siblings found East Mountain Academy and completed their enrollment procedures. By now, three months had passed since they entered the academy.

Over those three months, Lu Sheng had finally managed to make up for the injuries he had suffered when he previously raised the Black Fiend Skill. His body had gradually recovered.

Coming back to himself, Lu Sheng looked over the people in the pavilion.

These academy students were playing a game similar to floating goblets along a winding stream.

They filled a wine cup and had a servant place it into the stream at one end of the pavilion. The students then waited inside, watching as the current gently carried the cup along. Whoever it stopped before had to drink the wine and answer a private question decided upon by everyone.

Besides Song Zhenguo, there were five or six other students in the pavilion, all children of merchants. There were also two women in white and blue dresses sitting to one side, watching everyone play. Whenever they heard something amusing, they would cover their mouths and laugh softly.

One of the two women was also from their hometown and had delicate features.

The other was a dainty girl with a cherry-red mouth named Chen Yunxi, a local of Yan Mountain City.

Chen Yunxi could be called fairly attractive. Though she did not have the beautiful face of many female students at the academy, her skin was fair, and her figure ranked among the best. Her long legs and slender waist were especially striking.

But by the standards of this era, such qualities were merely average. From Lu Sheng's perspective, however, Chen Yunxi was a classic beauty. Her pair of long jade-like legs in particular were balanced and toned, their contours exceptionally perfect.

Unfortunately, people here did not like long legs. They preferred petite, delicate figures, especially legs that were not too long.

Thus, a great beauty like Chen Yunxi in Lu Sheng's eyes was considered only below average by the people here.

At that thought, Lu Sheng noticed that Chen Yunxi's gaze had unknowingly fallen on him again. He could not help but smile bitterly inwardly.

He had only chatted with her a few times, and even then it was because of Song Zhenguo's introduction. Unexpectedly, they had hit it off during those conversations. They never ran out of things to talk about and soon became friends of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, good times did not last. For some reason, the way Chen Yunxi looked at him had gradually changed, carrying a flavor that was not quite right.

Chen Yunxi's gaze kept falling on Lu Sheng. Anyone could see the light in her eyes.

"Brother Lu, Yunxi's eyes are always fixed on you," one student beside him teased.

"A beauty favors you. Don't you all think he should be punished with a drink?" another person chimed in.

"Miss Yunxi is beautiful and kind, with wealth beyond measure. Her father is a tycoon not only in Yan Mountain City but across the dozen or so nearby cities. If Brother Lu doesn't seize this chance quickly, he may lose the perfect opportunity!" Song Zhenguo whispered into Lu Sheng's ear.

Lu Sheng shook his head. Amid everyone's heckling, he picked up a cup of wine from the stream and drank it in one gulp.

After drinking, he showed everyone the bottom of the cup.

His movements were graceful, and his looks were not bad. Unlike the other students, he was strong and well-proportioned. Because his martial arts were formidable and he cultivated both internally and externally, his eyes shone with a spirited light that left a deep impression at first sight.

Thus, though he came from a border city like Nine Links City and his family background could not compare with many wealthy families from northern cities present, his bearing and presence were the most striking of them all.

After a round of teasing, and with Song Zhenguo fanning the flames, Lu Sheng was soon arranged to sit beside Chen Yunxi.

Women in this era were mostly open-minded. So long as they were not dressed as revealingly as Duanmu Wan, no one gave them strange looks.

Chen Yunxi quietly said a few words to her female friend. Not long after she sat down, everyone urged her along, and she and Lu Sheng were soon "driven" out of the pavilion together.

The two slowly strolled over the nearby grass, finally gaining a little space alone.

It was morning. Birds sang and flowers scented the air, while Welcoming Spring flowers stretching across the mountains and plains dyed the entire range into splendid red clouds.

"They... always love to fool around like this." Chen Yunxi looked at Lu Sheng with her large eyes, making no effort to hide it. This was not the first time they had been "driven out" together.

They walked across lush, tender green grass. Once they crossed a small hill, it blocked the occasional glances from the others.

Lu Sheng looked at Chen Yunxi beside him. She wore a pure white one-piece dress whose hem only covered her thighs, leaving her knees exposed. She wore a pair of long boots to cover her bare calves. Her waist was slender, her chest full, her legs long, and her hair fell to her waist. At a glance, words like autumn moon, white orchid, and pure innocence came to mind.

"They mean well too." Lu Sheng smiled. He was neither a hypocrite nor someone unmoved by a woman sitting in his lap. A beautiful girl was actively pursuing him, and he himself was not married. He had no resistance to it and simply intended to let things take their natural course.

Especially since this girl's finest feature was clearly her long legs, yet people here saw them as her worst feature. Thinking of that, he felt some regret.