Helplessness (Part 1)

The tinkling of sheep bells rang out continuously as the merchant group traveled onward.

Dawn had only just broken.

On the winding Official Road through the forest, the Bai Family Merchant Group, led by Guards from a hired Escort Agency, hauled its long Convoy toward Tanyang.

Among the cargo wagons in the middle and rear were some travelers who happened to be heading to Tanyang as well.

They had all paid to receive the merchant group's escort protection.

Inside one ox cart, a beautiful young married woman leaned against the window where the curtain had been rolled up, gazing outside.

She wore a touch of rouge on her face, her skin pale and tender, though a faint worry lingered between her brows.

Behind the ox cart, at the edge of a cargo wagon, a young Daoist in blue robes and a white overgarment followed step by step, a round wheel-shaped bundle strapped to his back.

The Daoist had a sturdy build, especially thick arms, and sharply defined features. He was not particularly handsome, yet possessed a distinctive bearing of his own.

These two were Yang Hongyan and Zhang Rongfang, traveling with the Bai Family Merchant Group to Tanyang.

Yang Hongyan claimed she was going to Tanyang to purchase goods, so she had brought one of the family's ox carts.

Zhang Rongfang, meanwhile, traveled on foot.

The mountain roads were rough and uneven. Even with an Official Road, they were difficult to travel.

He had spent all his money on medicine, so naturally he could not afford a horse.

Zhang Rongfang swept his gaze over the merchant group. Among all the parties ahead and behind, only a handful of people rode horses.

Most traveled in ox carts or rode donkeys; some even rode sheep. So those old TV Series really were lying. In these times, the cheapest horse costs more than seventy taels, while the price of a fine steed has no upper limit. At that price, even the cheapest horse could buy two oxen.

Ordinary families simply could not bear to waste so much money on a horse.

Other than pulling carts and riding, horses were truly less useful than oxen. Oxen were stronger and could also plow fields.

In TV Series, the protagonists rode horses at the drop of a hat. After comparing things, Zhang Rongfang understood.

It was like luxury cars worth seven or eight hundred thousand appearing everywhere on the streets.

Do the math, and one would know how unrealistic that was.

He looked ahead.

Inside the ox cart, Sister-in-law Yang Hongyan had lowered her head. She held a small silver ornament in her hand, carefully wiping its pattern with a silk cloth.

The ornament was shaped like a lotus flower, with what seemed to be words engraved along its edge.

"This was given to me by your Senior Brother Master before he left," Yang Hongyan said softly.

"He seemed to feel that something was wrong."

"Did Senior Brother mention any details to you?" Zhang Rongfang also felt that something was amiss. Senior Brother had suddenly asked him to protect Sister-in-law and leave Huaxin County for Tanyang. It was far too unusual.

"No. He didn't say anything." Yang Hongyan shook her head.

Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.

Before he left, Master Zhang Xuan had made him memorize all the Martial Arts and Talisman Art by heart, as if he wanted to cram every secret and key point into Zhang Rongfang's mind in one go.

That behavior was equally strange.

"After we return this time, Junior Brother Rongfang, if you have time, try to persuade your Senior Brother more. I feel..." Yang Hongyan Paused, her face clouded with worry. "I feel like he has many things weighing on his heart, but no matter how I ask, he won't tell me."

"I'll give it a try." Zhang Rongfang nodded.

Soon, it was noon. The sun blazed fiercely, making everyone sweat profusely.

The merchant group found a shaded clearing beside the Official Road and stopped to rest.

Someone led a group to fetch water from a fixed Stream nearby.

"Anyone who needs water, come along! There are only two places to get water on this road. Once we pass this village, there won't be any more until the day after tomorrow. Get yourselves ready."

A shop hand from the merchant group walked from front to back, calling out.

"Also, anyone who needs to relieve themselves: men to the left, women to the right. The areas have already been cleared and marked. Each family, take care of yourselves."

The "areas" referred to the sites. The markers were little flagpoles on each side, tied with gray cloth bearing the characters for men and women.

After calculating how much water they had left, Zhang Rongfang took several emptied waterskins, along with Yang Hongyan's water bag.

"Sister-in-law, I'm going ahead to fetch water. I'll be right back. Rest in the cart for now," he reminded her.

"Thank you, Rongfang. I've made some Osmanthus Cake. When you get back, we can have some together," Yang Hongyan quickly said.

"All right, thank you." Zhang Rongfang answered, glanced around, and spoke with two Guards from the Escort Agency nearby.

Only after asking them to watch over Sister-in-law while he was gone did he leave with the empty water bags.

His severe sense of insecurity made him extremely cautious about everything he ate and drank.

When it came to water, he had to handle it personally before he could feel at ease.

As for the two Escort Agency Guards, Zhang Rongfang had arranged to give each of them two taels of silver once they reached Tanyang.

Inside the cart, Yang Hongyan watched Zhang Rongfang gradually disappear into the forest and softly sighed.

Compared to when she had previously gone alone to purchase goods, she had to admit that having Zhang Rongfang around brought her much greater peace of mind.

Leaving aside anything else, merely Zhang Rongfang standing there with his robust frame gave people no small sense of security.

Just after Zhang Rongfang left,

the two Escort Agency Guards conscientiously moved closer to the ox cart. Each carried a Kaishan Saber. Paid to do a job, they remained quite professional.

At that moment,

several miles from the Official Road where the merchant group rested,

on a hillside shaped like a graveyard, more than ten burly figures dressed in mismatched old clothes appeared on the slope, their faces all covered in gray cloth.

At the front stood a tall, brawny man whose black beard was so thick that even his face covering could barely conceal it.

He was none other than Daoist Qi Shan, who had brought men to seize someone.

"I've already coordinated matters with the merchant group in secret. When the Black Wolf Escort Agency Guards see us approaching, they'll cooperate covertly.

"Do not touch the cargo wagons. Seize the person and leave. Do you all understand?"

"Understood!"

The others responded in succession.

Most of them were Qi Shan's household servants, while the rest were Martial Cultivator Daoists from Qinghe Temple.

The group pulled thick wooden clubs from behind their backs.

Qi Shan himself also drew a wooden club as thick as his forearm. He specialized in his family's staff technique, supplemented by Qinghe Temple Martial Arts, and was naturally enormously strong.

So even if the Black Wolf Escort Agency truly resisted, disregarding their prior arrangement, he was confident he could still seize the target successfully.

"Let's go. Move quickly!"

At once, the group charged toward the merchant group.

...Gurgle, gurgle.

A string of bubbles drifted downstream along the Stream.

Zhang Rongfang submerged the water bags in the water, filling them while also washing their outsides.

The place to fetch water was about two li from where the merchant group rested.

As he filled the bags, he pondered the odd behavior of Zhang Xintai and Master Zhang Xuan.

They definitely had something they were concealing from him. Asking him to take Sister-in-law away gave the faint impression that they were settling their worries for those left behind.

After filling the water bags, he fastened them at his lower back and stood.

Just then, among several Guards filling water nearby, one suddenly hurled his Kaishan Saber, striking a fat rabbit running through the woods.

The men laughed heartily as they went over and picked up the gray rabbit, which had been knocked unconscious by the saber's hilt.

Should I get some game too, so we'll have something convenient to eat on the road? Zhang Rongfang's heart stirred.

With his movement technique, catching some game would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Watching the men cheerfully carry the rabbit off to skin it and remove its entrails, Zhang Rongfang immediately made up his mind to hunt nearby.

Carrying the water bags, he turned and headed into the forest beside the Stream.

Of course, before that, he still followed his usual practice and made a round of the area to check for danger.

After all, he had promised Senior Brother that he would protect Sister-in-law.

And with Senior Brother Master acting so strangely this time, he naturally had to be even more cautious along the way.

Entering the forest, Zhang Rongfang reached behind him and removed the Wish Wheel, casually hanging its outer wrapping cloth from a branch.

Swish.

With a light flick, the Wish Wheel's sharp blade spun at once.

The two characters newly engraved upon it gradually blurred in the forest light.

Clink.

The wheel abruptly stopped, revealing the words Leaving Injury.

Before the sound faded, Zhang Rongfang had already vanished from where he stood, silently slipping into the woods.

...Within the mountain forest,

Qi Shan swiftly led his group toward the merchant group.

Tall trees flashed past him one after another. Through the forest ahead, the outlines of the merchant group's ox carts were faintly visible.

"It's just ahead. Prepare yourselves! Once we seize the person, do not stop. Anyone who tries to loot goods or silver will be severely punished!"

Qi Shan issued one last command.

"Yes!"

The others answered in succession.

Just then, someone suddenly rushed out from the side of the forest ahead.

It was a young Daoist with a sturdy build, carrying a strange round wheel weapon.

The Daoist spotted Qi Shan's group at once.

"Hm?" The other man looked puzzled. "Senior Brother Qi Shan? What are you...?"

It was not that his eyesight was exceptionally good. Qi Shan's build and that distinctive enormous black beard were simply too conspicuous.

Thus, Zhang Rongfang recognized him at a glance.

Qi Shan was also startled.

Instinctively, he touched his face. Good, the covering was still there.

"You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Qi Shan."

He denied it on instinct.

Zhang Rongfang was speechless. He stared at the man's beard without saying a word.

Qi Shan immediately understood where he had given himself away.

His old face reddened as he angrily tore off the face covering.

"Damn it! What's the point of wearing this damned face covering? Wearing it is the same as not wearing it!" Qi Shan snapped furiously.

"All of you, take off your face cloths! They're useless anyway!" Feeling it was unfair for only him to remove his, he waved at the people around him and barked.

The group looked at one another, but no one moved.

What kind of joke was that? With Qi Shan's build and beard, wearing a covering truly made no difference.

But they were different.

With their faces covered, they could still conceal their identities quite well.

Seeing that no one listened, Qi Shan was about to fly into a rage, but Zhang Rongfang was right before him.

He stopped wasting words.

"Forget it. I don't know how you ended up here, but since we've run into each other, then..."

With a swish, he raised his wooden club and pointed it at Zhang Rongfang.

"If you don't want to die, obediently come with me."

"Senior Brother Qi Shan, you mean to fight me?" Zhang Rongfang looked at Qi Shan and the people behind him in surprise.

...Near Huaxin County, within a valley called Earth Dragon Slope,

more than ten men and women in different attire had gathered together.

Chen Lianqing, her face covered, stood atop a boulder and swept her gaze across the crowd.

"We've just received word. The other counties are ready; only our county remains."

"On our side, there are around two hundred people we can mobilize in the city, scattered throughout the city," said a man who looked like a Scholar.

"In the villages and towns outside the city, we can mobilize more than a thousand people. But we don't have enough weapons. If a real fight breaks out, we'll be at too great a disadvantage," another person said.