The sun blazed high overhead.
On the outskirts of Moon Creek Valley, the White Crane Merchant Association's convoy came to a temporary halt. More than a dozen ox carts piled high with medicinal herbs clustered together, waiting for the vanguard to clear the way.
Bag after bag of herbs was stacked high on the ox carts. Each bag weighed a hundred pounds. The list of items Chen Dai had given Jiang Yan hadn't been all that long, and Jiang Yan hadn't thought it amounted to much of a shipment.
But piled together, the herbs made an impressive haul.
The ox carts stretched out one after another in a long line.
"Send word ahead and tell them to pick up the pace."
Jiang Yan rode his black horse and looked up at the sun, gauging the time. He knew they were nearing the time he and Chen Dai had agreed on.
But as for arriving at the agreed-upon spot on time...
He could forget about it.
Moon Creek Valley was a good place to trade: the forest was dense, and few people lived nearby. But the roads were a whole other story. They were damn near impossible to travel.
There were no main roads, only narrow paths wide enough for one person.
To get the ox carts through, they had to clear the way, cutting down weeds as tall as a man and hacking away branches.
"Hall Master, this road's too difficult. There are too many obstructions. We really can't get through." One of his subordinates hurried over and reported in a low voice.
"Could we ask the buyer to change the meeting place? If we keep going like this, we might not reach the trading site until dawn."
The subordinate was telling the plain truth.
On the one hand, he