The carriage raced along the official road, its wheels rolling over the hard, frozen winter ground with a rapid rumble.
Inside the carriage, Chen Yuan carefully shielded Little Mermaid. Through the gap in the window, he could see the withered yellow fields and bare woods on either side of the road rushing backward.
Zhang Zhenshan, who was driving, was uncharacteristically unsteady. His whip cracked softly from time to time, urging the horses to go faster. His back was ramrod straight, yet he could not hide the anxiety in his heart.
After roughly two hours, the carriage turned off the official road and entered a relatively secluded path.
After another quarter of an hour, a large manor with gray roof tiles and green bricks appeared before them.
This was Zhao Village, the ancestral land of Zhao Canghai, Martial Hall Master of Blackwater Martial Arts School. Only then did Little Mermaid finally open her bleary eyes. She did not make a sound, merely staring blankly at Chen Yuan.
The carriage stopped at the manor's side gate. Zhang Zhenshan exchanged a few hushed words with an old man from Zhao Residence guarding the gate. The side gate soon opened, and the carriage stopped before a secluded courtyard.
"Junior Disciple Brother Chen, wait here for now. I'll go in and report to my master first." Zhang Zhenshan jumped down from the carriage and solemnly instructed him, "Remember, don't let anyone approach the carriage before I come out."
Chen Yuan nodded. "Don't worry, Senior Disciple Brother."
The wait seemed especially long.
After roughly the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Zhang Zhenshan's figure finally appeared at the courtyard entrance again. Behind him followed a middle-aged man in a dark blue brocade robe, his aura deep and steady. It was none other than