After Li Chang and his party arrived by boat at Songhe Prefecture in Jiangnan, what they saw was a scene of prosperity. Between the river and sea docks, merchant ships wove back and forth like threads on a loom; through the city streets, carriages and horses streamed like dragons. Out in the village lanes and fields, though many commoners wore shabby clothes, people were densely gathered, and the cries of chickens and dogs could be heard from one household to the next.
But once they entered Yungui, it was an entirely different sight. Bandits ran rampant, rebel soldiers strutted arrogantly, and in the rugged Mountain Forest, many villages were nine homes empty out of every ten. The better-off villages had all built stockades to protect themselves.
They had originally been traveling by boat along the river, but Chen Hengchang's rebel army was now gathering to attack Jiangnan, and the river routes had long since been sealed off by the rebels. Ships from Jiangnan could barely enter Yungui anymore, so they could only take the land route, crossing mountains and ridges, wearing starlight as their cloaks and chasing the moon.
A journey that should originally have taken only Half a Month ended up taking them more than a month before they finally reached the Yangtian Sect.
The Yangtian Sect was located in Yunzhou, Or In the western part of Yungui. Chen Hengchang had not expanded toward the west or south of Yungui, so for now, the territory of Yunzhou was still relatively peaceful.
Of course, Yunzhou's peace was also due in no small part to the Yangtian Sect. A powerful sect possessed great deterrent force in a region. Though sometimes an overbearing sect could become a Dashan pressing down on the heads of the government and the common people, a powerful