In Jining, Parting at Last

As soon as Escort Chief Lin stepped onto the stage, he noticed something was amiss. The way the spectators were looking at him was rather strange. As a seasoned veteran, he had seen this kind of look before, but it usually came from those young upstarts who dared to challenge the big shots.

This made Escort Chief Lin), feel extremely bad. Based solely on the strength of his internal energy, he could tell that this young man had entered the Grandmaster realm less than a month ago, while he himself had already reached the Grandmaster realm ten years ago. Why was he being considered Overestimating Oneself?

Taking a deep breath to suppress his resentment, Escort Chief Lin), mindful that he couldn't lose face while traveling, cupped his hands and said:

"Lin Changsheng of Hongxing Escort Agency, please enlighten me."

"My Li Goudan." As soon as the young man opened his mouth, Escort Chief Lin almost lost his composure. However, for the people of Jining City, this name was not a problem. In the end, the people of Jining City were only of two types: one type was the master-level experts or technicians (doctors, craftsmen) trained by the Demon Eradication Department and Jianghu sects; the other type was the ordinary poor people who escaped the disaster in Jining City after Qingzhou fell and Yanzhou was hit by disaster.

Moreover, most of those who were slightly wealthier have left over the past two hundred years, leaving only those who are poor and have no distant relatives trapped here.

For someone like this, being able to read is already quite an achievement; don't expect them to have a good name.

Although a name is just a label, Escort Chief Lin felt the pressure at this moment. Winning against Li Goudan was not glorious, but losing to Li Goudan would be even more fatal.

He didn't think the rumors would be specifically clarified that Li Goudan, who defeated him, was a grandmaster.

"We can't lose!" Escort Chief Lin /escort), gritted his teeth and made up his mind. Seeing that the two had already announced their names, the referee immediately spoke up:

"Start!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Biaotou had already rushed out. Like many of the escorts working in the agency, he was an outer disciple of Leiyin Temple, and his body skills were just the most common methods of lifting and lightening one's body.

However, as the most widely circulated and classic movement technique in the martial arts world, this lightness skill is slightly inferior in terms of dodging and maneuvering, but its long-distance attack and short-distance burst of speed are no less than those top-level lightness skills.

The ten-meter distance to the arena was covered in an instant. Lin Biao Escort Chief Lin looked at Li Goudan, who hadn't even taken a stance, but he didn't let his guard down at all. The moment his left foot touched the ground, he suddenly sank down, pressing his heel down, and his originally light and agile body suddenly became heavy.

The sudden stop caused by the Thousand Jin Drop also amplified the force on his foot when it came into contact with the ground. As a tingling sensation ran through his foot, the force, driven by muscle memory, completed the transfer.

Using that force, Escort Chief Lin threw a simple, unadorned straight punch.

The force of the punch, carrying a powerful aura, ruffled Li Goudan. As if only now remembering that he was facing an enemy, he jerked his body away.

"Take him down..." Before Escort Chief Lin could even boast in his heart about the power of his surprise punch, Li Goudan advanced instead of retreating. Before the force of his punch had even reached its peak, he had already collided with his opponent.

Unexpectedly, Li Goudan did not block with his fists or feet, but instead took the blow directly with his shoulder. The moment they made contact, Escort Chief Lin's mood changed for the second time.

"It feels like hitting a piece of hard cowhide!"

The moment Escort Chief Lin's thought arose, he felt a sudden, unexpected force, and the world spun around him, leaving him sprawled on the ground.

Without time to think about what had happened, he instinctively braced himself with his left hand and sprang backward, trying to create some distance. But then, a sound like a sheet rustling in a gust of wind came from beside him, and a pale yellow hue came into view.

Escort Chief Lin), felt his arm being pulled by a force, and before he could break free, his vest jolted.

Such throws were nothing to Escort Chief Lin bodyguard/escort), who was protected by true qi. However, being thrown twice in one round of combat was a real blow.

"Open!" With a shout, Escort Chief Lin's body suddenly exploded with internal energy, shaking off the dense force that had been binding him. He adjusted his posture amidst the impact of the explosive energy, and then saw Li Goudan swinging his cloak with one arm.

"Is this the Yellow Robe Eighteen Falls?" Escort Chief Lin), was astonished, but he realized the subtlety of the technique. He lifted his left foot and thrust it downwards, the tip of his shoe, enveloped in qi, immediately creating a small dent in the arena.

"Watch out for the hidden weapon!"

With a burst of energy, several pebbles flew towards Li Goudan, enveloped in his True Qi. Although they were hidden weapons, the martial world has its own rules. In a life-or-death battle, there's no need to elaborate, but if it's just a friendly spar, one must shout this before making a move.

Facing the handful of pebbles, Li Goudan flicked his left arm, his yellow robes gliding smoothly over the pebbles. Then, he took a step forward, his ankle twisting sharply, and the handful of pebbles was flung back at Escort Chief Lin with even greater force than before.

Seeing this, Escort Chief Lin transformed his hands into the shape of a tiger, using his inner energy. Although theoretically, this kind of effort to shape his inner True Qi was a waste of mental energy, it was also a form of self-suggestion.

The pair of tiger-shaped figures seemed to actually roar, but Li Goudan's attack was not on this handful of pebbles. Before Lin Biao Escort Chief Lin could knock all the pebbles away, the yellow-clad figure twisted into a long stick was already close at hand.

"Roar!" The True Qi surged like a tiger's roar. Escort Chief Lin's two fleshy palms transformed into tiger claws, grabbing at the cloth stick twisted from silk. This Cloth Tied into a Stick was not a rare move in the martial arts world. In fact, when traveling the martial arts world, you will always encounter all kinds of situations, and it is normal to use whatever you have on hand.

There's even a proverb that goes, "A bench is incredibly brave and powerful, daring to dominate among weapons, fearing neither soft nor hard objects, but only afraid of encountering Wet Cloth Dragon." The "Wet Cloth Dragon" mentioned here refers to a cloth stick that has been soaked in water.

However, since it's an old trick, there's naturally a way to counter it. Although it's called "Cloth Tied into a Stick," it's essentially a "Soft Weapon." Treating it like a meteor hammer or a nine-section whip won't cause much trouble...

"Oh no!"

Escort Chief Lin), gripped the middle of the cloth stick based on his experience, but only felt a numbness in his palm. The seemingly condensed cloth stick suddenly spread out like a spider web, tightly binding his right arm. Then a force surged in, and his solid lower body was unable to maintain its balance for a moment.

Li Goudan's fist was already raised, and Escort Chief Lin Tou knew things were going badly. The two had only exchanged two blows, and if he were to lose so easily, he would lose all face.

"I'll fight!" At this moment, dignity prevailed over the fear of injury. Escort Chief Lin raised his left arm in a shield-like stance. Although taking a punch head-on might break Root Bone, at least he wouldn't be defeated immediately!

Only.

As he took the punch head-on, he felt that Li Goudan in front of him had lost his human form; it wasn't a human being in that posture, but rather...

A snake...

No, not just one, but a whole nest!

There were countless snakes!

In Escort Chief Lin's eyes, Li Goudan seemed to have completely melted away in that instant. With a posture that no human skeleton could possibly do, he bypassed his defenses. When he came to his senses from the shock, a fair, slender, and resilient hand was already pressed against his throat.

"I won."

A voice, devoid of sorrow or joy, as if casually greeting someone, entered Escort Chief Lin's ears. At this moment, exactly five breaths had passed since he jumped onto the arena.

Regarding the mortality rate of caravans, a 30% casualty rate among servants is not high. Leaving aside the Wuxia World's Kyoto Animation setting, even in ancient Yan Kingdom, if a caravan's losses on a long-distance trade route were less than 30%, it would likely be Great Shang (for example, illegally possessing controlled weapons, maintaining a private army, or traveling with the army). Ancient armies often suffered significant non-combat casualties. Stepping into a pothole, falling into water, or even being carried off by a tiger from the forest were all common occurrences.

To put it bluntly, even nowadays, people don't suffer casualties when climbing mountains or surviving in the wild, let alone in ancient times with its challenging terrain. Carrying goods meant slow movement, and there were also concerns about supplies and other necessities. If you encountered bandits or highwaymen along the way, it took real skill to make it through.

Furthermore, in the world of the book, these merchants mainly deliver supplies to Yanzhou, including grain and medicine. However, the protagonist's appearance causes a shortage of silk, so this silk delivery is part of logistical support. Even with significant losses, it still has to be delivered. As for risking one's life for money, in feudal society, apart from the aristocracy, what industry doesn't involve risking one's life for money?

Even nobles risked their families' property being confiscated and their entire clan wiped out to make money—though most of the time they were taking other people's lives.

Of course, this doesn't mean that all the supplies in Yanzhou were delivered by merchants. In fact, most of them were delivered by the government. But ultimately, the casualty rate in Yanzhou was very high due to the war situation, and merchants were a kind of supplement. Otherwise, the government simply couldn't supply the goods. It wasn't that they didn't have the money, but it wasn't worth it.

Therefore, the normal strategy is for the government to maintain basic consumption while leaving the remainder to merchants. This can save a lot of intermediate costs and transfer some of the transportation risks.