Parents

"Father, will there be meat tonight?"

Watching the white porridge bubble away, Jiang Xiaoxi propped her chin on both hands, her childish face wearing a sorrow far beyond her years.

"No." Jiang Fu took a pull from his pipe and exhaled. "Your mother went to the market to buy tofu. Tonight we're having Pickled Vegetable Tofu Soup."

"Ah?" Jiang Xiaoxi looked utterly unwilling. "We've eaten pickled vegetables for so many days. Your daughter wants meat."

"No."

"But Second Brother gets to eat meat. Why can't Xiaoxi?" The young girl's eyes brimmed with tears, feeling deeply wronged.

She cast a glance toward the main hall. Inside, a young couple was eating from a plate of meat, their mouths glistening with grease.

Meanwhile, she could only swallow her saliva—or wait until her Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law had finished, then go lick the plate.

"What are you crying for?" Jiang Fu glared at her. "Your brother is practicing martial arts. He needs meat to nourish his body. Once he becomes a martial artist, you can eat whatever delicacies from mountains and seas you want."

"But..." Jiang Xiaoxi's voice softened. "Second Brother hasn't gone to the Martial Arts Hall for days. He stays in the room with Sister-in-law every day."

"What does a child like you know?" Jiang Fu rebuked her, though his brows furrowed slightly as well.

Ever since his second son, Jiang An, had gotten married, he had gone to the Martial Arts Hall far less often over the past half month.

And only after Jiang An began practicing martial arts did he understand just how much silver it consumed. In barely two months, the Jiang family had already incurred quite a few debts just to support Jiang An's training.

But whenever he thought of Jiang An's talent for martial arts, anticipation quickly filled him again.

They just had to endure a little longer. After some time, things should get better.

Just then, Zhang Yun came hurrying in from outside with a vegetable basket in hand, her face brimming with excitement.

"Old man, there's news of our child! There's news of our child!"

"You're all flustered. What news?" Jiang Fu asked with a frown.

"Our child—our Ping'er. I found out where he is." Zhang Yun spoke happily.

During this time, she had constantly been asking around about Jiang Ping's whereabouts. Unfortunately, she had found nothing before, but now she finally had news.

"Big Brother!" Jiang Xiaoxi couldn't help shrieking before bursting into tears.

Only after Jiang Ping left home had the young girl realized just how much she missed this big brother of hers. When Big Brother had been around, she had never suffered.

Jiang Fu, however, merely gave a cold snort. "Why did you bother looking into him? He isn't dead yet?"

"What kind of thing is that to say?!" Zhang Yun could not resist grabbing a wooden stick and striking her husband with it.

Who cursed their own child like that?

"Mother, where is Big Brother? Xiaoxi wants to find Big Brother." Crying, Jiang Xiaoxi tugged at Zhang Yun's clothes as she asked.

"Your Big Brother is right here in Yang City. He didn't go far." Zhang Yun comforted her youngest daughter, then glanced at her husband. "Vegetable Seller Aunt Wang said she saw Ping'er leaving the city with a group of people this morning. It seemed to be Four Seas Escort Agency. Ping'er has gone to work for the escort agency."

"Four Seas Escort Agency?"

At that moment, Jiang An and his wife came out of the main hall after finishing their meat. He had heard everything his mother said and could not help commenting, "Four Seas Escort Agency is quite formidable. Since he left the city with people from the agency, he was probably chosen as one of their porters. One long-distance trip should earn him dozens, maybe even over a hundred copper coins in three to five days."

"That much?" Zhang Yun was startled. She ran a small business, yet could hardly earn that much money in three months. Then she smiled. "Ping'er has made something of himself."

"What kind of achievement is that?" Jiang An curled his lip. "That's money earned by selling one's life. If they run into bandits on the road, cannon fodder like them will be the first to come to harm."

Four Seas Escort Agency had been in the limelight recently, so he had looked into it a little and heard some things about escort missions.

"What? Ping'er could be in danger?" Zhang Yun's face changed dramatically. Her voice trembled as she said, "Let's call him back."

"Now that he has joined the escort agency, he can't simply leave whenever he wants. Anyway, I've never seen anyone in that line of work return with their whole body intact. Even if they don't lose their lives, they'll definitely lose an arm or a leg."

Jiang An shrugged and stated a fact.

Escort agencies did make quite a lot of money, but one had to live long enough to spend it. Otherwise, people would have long since been fighting tooth and nail to get in—would it ever have been his brother's turn?

"My Ping'er!" At those words, Zhang Yun covered her face and sobbed, filled with boundless regret.

Seeing her mother cry, Jiang Xiaoxi, who had just managed to stop her tears, began wailing again.

The sound annoyed Jiang Fu, and he could not help shouting, "What are you crying for? If he dies, he dies. When he chose this line of work, he never considered us. Why should we worry about that unfilial son? Let him do as he pleases."

"What kind of words are those?" Zhang Yun glared at him furiously. Jiang An was the one who comforted her with a few words.

"Don't worry, Mother. I know a few people at the Martial Arts Hall who have some influence. I'll ask around. If I can get Big Brother to leave the escort agency, I'll definitely bring him back."

Outside Yang City, on the official road.

Jiang Ping wore a set of blue robes, a belt knife at his waist, his thick long hair held up by a jade hairpin.

His complexion was no longer dark; instead, it had gained a measure of fair clarity.

As a result, the heroic spirit in his facial features was fully revealed. Together with his tall, slender build, he no longer looked like someone born into poverty, but rather like a handsome young master.

But at the moment, this "Young Master" was leading a horse for someone.

Beside him, Liu Wensheng looked at Jiang Ping, who was also leading a horse, and could not help saying, "Brother Jiang, how has your complexion become more and more delicate? We train under the same sun, don't we?"

"You're being too honest. You can train in the shade—do you have to bake in the sun for it to count?"

Of course, Jiang Ping's change in complexion could not have come merely from staying out of the light.

Rather, it was a natural change in his body as he progressed deeper along the path of the Martial Dao.

"Come to think of it." Liu Wensheng edged closer, glanced at the figure on the horse Jiang Ping was leading, and whispered:

"Brother Jiang, this Miss Chen is fair-skinned and beautiful, with curves in all the right places. She seems rather well matched with you."

"Don't talk nonsense." Jiang Ping shot him a look. "She's our client, and we need to escort her safely. How can you go around playing matchmaker?"

Besides, there was something he did not say.

On the way here, Jiang Ping had exchanged a few words with Lady Chen and discovered that she was terribly insecure—she did not even dare look him in the eye.

"By the way." Liu Wensheng looked ahead again, at the young man walking shoulder to shoulder with Escort Huang at the front of the group, and asked suspiciously:

"Why is Fang Yong traveling with us? With Head Escort Liang looking after him, he shouldn't have been sent out on an Escort Mission so soon."

"To gain experience." Jiang Ping recalled the secret Escort Huang had told him before their departure.

Fang Yong had actually entered the ranks of Ninth Grade martial artists with his considerable talent, becoming a martial artist with some real strength.

However, this needed to remain confidential for the time being and was not to be spread around. Very few knew of it, so Jiang Ping could not tell Liu Wensheng outright.

That was also why Head Escort Liang had felt at ease letting Fang Yong follow Escort Huang out to gain experience.

Naturally, now that Fang Yong had become a martial artist, Jiang Ping was unwilling to fall behind. He ought to reveal a little of his own talent.

So he displayed the Fist Force of the sixth layer of the Nourishing Life Technique to Escort Huang, making the elder want to give Jiang Ping silver again.

"Keep up. It'll be dark soon. There's a Post Station ten li ahead—we'll rest there for the night."

At that moment, Escort Huang turned his head and said.