A Chance Encounter

With a little girl who chattered nonstop and asked question after question along for the ride, the Escort Mission wasn't too boring.

After more than ten days on the road, they finally reached their destination.

The journey had gone fairly smoothly.

They'd run into a few bands of petty thieves, but Li Gan had easily dealt with them all.

Ye City, Xuan Prefecture.

It lay nearly a thousand li from the Divine Sword Sect, yet still within the Sect's sphere of influence.

The area was famous for smelting, with several large iron mines scattered around. It was renowned throughout the Dachang Kingdom, and the local powers that controlled these mines naturally had countless ties to the Divine Sword Sect.

The Lin Family had once been a renowned smelting lineage in Ye City, with generations of ancestors forging weapons for the Divine Sword Sect.

But times had changed, and the Lin Family had fallen into decline. All that remained of its holdings was a single smelting workshop, barely scraping by.

"Yun'er, things are so chaotic outside right now. Why did you come back instead of staying in Linjian City?"

In the rear courtyard of Lin Manor, Lin Yun was talking with her father.

"Father, I missed you. Besides, it's Mother's death anniversary again."

Lin Yun said.

She came back about once every two years.

In the past, her husband had accompanied her.

This time, her husband Yun Xi had a mission and couldn't get away, so she'd had to post an Escort Mission in the Inner Sect to bring her and her daughter home for a visit.

"Yun'er, once you return, stay in Linjian City as much as you can. The Moon Worship Cult's rebellion in the Eight Southeast Prefectures certainly won't end anytime soon. Besides, I've decided to move the Lin Family to Fuyang."

Lin Wansheng said.

Lin Yun was delighted to hear this. "Father, you've finally come around?"

"Ah, there's no point fighting age. And with your brother lacking the ability, we definitely won't be able to hold on to the workshop much longer."

Lin Wansheng sighed.

The Moon Worship Cult was running rampant, and things in Ye City were unstable. He worried that the Lin Family could easily be caught up in it.

Perhaps if they sold their business and moved the whole family to Fuyang to settle down, they could get back on their feet with his son-in-law's support.

Besides, Fuyang was close to the Divine Sword Sect.

It was at the heart of the Sect's territory and far more stable than other places.

Li Gan was staying at the Lin Family's home, where he was treated to plenty of good food and drink.

According to Lin Yun, they'd stay at her family home for two or three days before returning to Linjian City.

And so, three days passed.

Lin Yun suddenly came to see him.

"Young Hero Li, there'll be another carriage and a few more people on the way back to Linjian City."

"Madam Lin, my mission is to keep you and your daughter safe. I can't guarantee the safety of anyone else."

Li Gan said.

Lin Yun understood what he meant and said no more.

Her husband, Yun Xi, had told her a little about Li Gan, an Inner Disciple.

He'd taken part in the True Disciple Selection.

His strength was surely impressive.

Still, she was puzzled. Why would a True Disciple Seed as capable as him take on an Escort Mission?

Sure enough, when they set out the next day, there was another carriage, carrying three members of the Lin Family: one adult and two children.

The Lin Family had also sent two servants to accompany them.

Neither servant was even a Ranked Martial Artist. They could only handle ordinary thieves; if they ran into martial artists, they'd be walking straight to their deaths.

Li Gan didn't mind.

If danger arose,

he only needed to protect Lin Yun and her daughter.

Xianlin Town.

It was already late, so Li Gan and the others planned to spend the night at a local inn.

They'd stopped in Xianlin Town for the night on their way to Ye City, too.

But this time, things were a little different.

Torches had been planted all along both sides of the streets.

Many of the residents walking the streets were carrying torches as well.

The whole town was as bright as day.

"Mother, why are there torches everywhere?"

The little girl asked curiously from inside the carriage.

"It should be the Xianlin Town's special Torch Festival. Before dark, they light the torches to drive away the darkness. It lasts until dawn the next day."

Lin Yun explained with a smile.

Suddenly, the road ahead was blocked.

One of the servants went to ask what was going on and learned that a procession of Fire-Sacrifice Mages would soon be passing through. No one else could go by until they'd passed.

With no other choice, the group had to stop and wait.

A little over fifteen minutes later, the road ahead suddenly came alive.

A huge crowd of people carrying torches surged toward them. At the center of the procession was a massive throne bristling with torches, with a red-haired old man in a scarlet ceremonial robe seated upon it.

Dozens of brawny, bare-chested men carried the enormous throne.

At the front and rear of the procession were people wearing grimacing masks. They danced in strange steps, occasionally spitting fire.

The atmosphere was eerie and mysterious.

The residents holding torches seemed to have fallen into a hysterical frenzy, shouting strange slogans in unison.

As the Fire-Sacrifice Mage's procession passed, Li Gan couldn't help looking at the red-haired old man. He faintly sensed a powerful, invisible aura radiating from him.

He's definitely a martial artist, and no weak one.

Li Gan murmured to himself.

Not only that, the people wearing grimacing masks also seemed to have Cultivation Bases.

That was outrageous.

So many martial artists in a single town.

All for a Torch Festival.

Thinking this, Li Gan scanned the area.

With torches everywhere, the streets were well lit. And since he was still on horseback, he could see everything around him from above.

Suddenly, he spotted someone in the crowd.

The person wasn't carrying a torch.

An invisible aura radiated from them, burning brightly in his perception like a candle flame.

Ever since the Chen Bell had been upgraded into a Dharma Tool, Li Gan could use it to disguise his own aura. His senses had also become exceptionally sharp.

Another powerful martial artist?

Li Gan's heart stirred.

Then he spotted several more martial artists in the crowd. All of them seemed to have impressive Cultivation Bases.

He didn't know what was going on or why so many martial artists had gathered in Xianlin Town for a Torch Festival. But the signs all pointed to one thing: this was no ordinary event.

Suddenly, Li Gan sensed someone looking at him.

Their eyes met.

Li Gan was taken aback.

He'd seen this woman before. She was one of the nineteen people who had taken part in the True Disciple Selection.

He didn't know her name, though.

He hadn't noticed her at all until now.

Clearly, she was skilled at concealing her aura, which was why he'd overlooked her.

Why would an elite Inner Disciple of the Divine Sword Sect be here? Could the others be Inner Disciples of the Divine Sword Sect, too?

Li Gan's heart tightened. Xianlin Town was likely becoming a dangerous place.

With that in mind, he went over to the carriage and said to Lin Yun, "Madam Lin, we shouldn't spend the night in Xianlin Town. We need to leave at once."

"Young Hero Li, we'll follow your lead."

Lin Yun didn't know what was going on, but if Li Gan had suddenly said this, he must have had a good reason.

Once the Fire-Sacrifice Mage's procession had passed, the roadblock was lifted.

On Li Gan's orders, the two carriages didn't head to an inn. Instead, they followed the road leading out of town.

As they got farther from town, the noise gradually faded, and Li Gan's tense heart slowly settled.

Traveling along the road at night carried its own risks.

But it was certainly much safer than staying in Xianlin Town.

Xianlin Town.

On the second floor of a building by the roadside, two figures leaned against the railing, watching the Fire-Sacrifice Mage's procession in the distance.

"The Moon Worship Cult really is everywhere. Even the local Jihuo Temple has been infiltrated. If we can't stamp out the source, this could grow into a catastrophe like the one in the Eight Southeast Prefectures."

A young man in white said worriedly.

"Why think so much? We just need to complete our mission. The Sect's higher-ups can deal with something this big."

Beside him stood a bald man in black.

It was Pang Bai.

Just then, a woman in blue fitted clothes hurried over.

"Junior Sister Yuan, you got a close look. How strong is that Fire-Sacrifice Mage?"

Pang Bai asked.

Because of the techniques they cultivated, he and Chu Yuan couldn't get too close to the Fire-Sacrifice Mage without risking alerting him.

Yuan Mingzhu was the Peak Master of Yuping Peak's Personal Disciple, and she practiced the Mingyu Void Transformation Technique. The technique naturally concealed her presence and aura.

"Senior Brother Pang, guess who I saw?"

Yuan Mingzhu didn't answer Pang Bai's question. Instead, she asked him one of her own.

"Who?"

Pang Bai asked.

Uncle Master Zhou's disciple, Li Gan. Didn't you try to recruit him last time?"

Yuan Mingzhu said.

"Li Gan? What's he doing here?"

Pang Bai was surprised.

Hadn't Li Gan taken an Escort Mission?

"I think he's still doing the Escort Mission. But after he saw me, he seemed to recognize me, then took his group and headed out of town."

Yuan Mingzhu said.

"Forget him. That coward can wait. We need to clear out the people from Jihuo Temple."

Pang Bai waved a hand.

"Senior Brother Pang, he may be a little timid, but he's still strong. Why not bring him in? It'd make it easier for us to wipe out Jihuo Temple."

The young man in white, Chu Yuan, couldn't help speaking up.

"The three of us can kill that old man. Bring in another person and we'd have to split the Contribution Points one more way. Besides, aren't you worried he'll hold us back?"

After what had happened in the Mission Hall, Pang Bai had formed a very poor impression of Li Gan.

Chu Yuan shrugged and said nothing more.

Yuan Mingzhu had even less to say.

After all, she didn't think much of Li Gan either. Someone who wouldn't even take a Suppression Mission wasn't worthy of joining them.