The mountain mist still hadn't lifted.
Yet the escort team had already traveled ten li.
They were moving incredibly fast, far faster than on the way here.
The wheels rolled over the stones on the Official Road, rumbling in a steady, muffled rhythm.
Since this wasn't official business for the Changwei Escort Agency, naturally, there was no Escort Banner bearing its insignia on the carriage.
Chen Feng walked in the middle of the convoy.
Cheng Li was beside him.
The two of them followed behind the box-shaped carriage.
The three Bone Forging Realm martial artists were stationed at the front, middle, and rear of the convoy.
The other Blood Refining Realm martial artists were spread across the convoy, keeping watch on the roadside brush.
They guarded the entire party tightly.
"Madam... that Cao... is just awful..."
The maid's complaints kept coming from inside the carriage, though the woman's replies came only now and then.
Chen Feng wasn't deliberately eavesdropping.
But his senses were sharp. Even with wooden boards between them, he could still make out what was being said.
"That maid must be a real chatterbox."
Chen Feng thought to himself.
For the past hour, she hadn't stopped complaining once.
It was hard not to wonder whether she was the maid or the Young Lady.
If she was the maid, she talked on and on without worrying that she'd annoy her mistress. If she was the Young Lady, all that incessant muttering hardly seemed dignified.
Chen Feng pulled a Coarse Cake from his pocket, took a bite, then wrapped it back up and stuffed it away.
The road was dull, and he kept wanting something to chew on.
Every now and then, he listened to the sounds coming from the carriage beside him.
A faint, delicate fragrance drifted to his nose as well.
On the first day, they encountered no danger at all before the sun went down.
Chen Feng began to wonder.
Was Outside the City really as terrifying as everyone said?
Why hadn't they seen so much as the shadow of a bandit in several days?
Could he really be that lucky, making money for nothing every time he went on an escort mission?
"Whoa!"
"Stop and make camp!"
Zhang Biao Tou, at the very front, raised a hand and called out the order.
The convoy had arrived at a village.
They really were traveling light and fast. At this pace, they'd made the journey in a day and a half—half the time it had taken them to come.
At Zhang Biao Tou's command,
everyone dismounted and headed into the inn at the village entrance.
And the woman in the carriage
finally showed her face for the first time.
Chen Feng was standing nearby. One glance at her was enough to make his heart skip—
Her hair was swept up high. She wore a pale yellow gauze dress, its waist cinched with white gauze that formed a begonia-shaped knot.
As she stepped down from the carriage, her long legs showed beneath her skirt, seeming even more slender by contrast. Her skin was as white as snow, gleaming with a soft luster.
Her brows and eyes were alluring, her gaze rippling with light. Her breath was fragrant as orchids, and her moist red lips glimmered.
Most striking of all was the curve of her chest. It was too much to speak of.
"A beauty who brings ruin..."
The thought flashed through Chen Feng's mind.
Perhaps sensing his gaze,
the woman lifted her eyes toward him, and their gazes met.
She smiled gently and gave him a slight nod.
"Hey! What are you looking at?"
The maid jumped out of the carriage with her hands on her hips, glaring at Chen Feng.
Only then did Chen Feng realize he'd been rude. Embarrassed, he quickly turned his head away.
He cupped his hands and apologized.
The two women went into the inn. The other escort guards couldn't help turning their heads for another look, either.
Their eyes were practically popping out.
The escort agency was full of rough men. Where would they ever have seen such a beauty?
Chen Feng tied up his horse and went inside a little later.
At dinner,
the people from the Xu Family showed their disdain for Chen Feng and the others, more or less openly.
Everyone there was a martial artist.
They were all proud and arrogant.
Naturally, no one was willing to fawn over people who gave them the cold shoulder, so Chen Feng and the others simply sat together, far away from the Xu Family.
"Do you know who the woman in that carriage is?"
Chen Feng asked.
"You don't know?" The other three stared at him in shock.
"Am I supposed to?"
Chen Feng was baffled.
"With a face like that, a beauty that breathtaking—who else could she be but Cheng Tingxue, the Cheng Family's heiress?"
The escort guard named Wang Huan said.
Then he added, "Aren't you a Personal Disciple of the Dragon Walk Martial Arts School? How come you don't know her?"
Chen Feng was even more confused. What did being a Personal Disciple have to do with knowing her?
Wang Huan continued, "She and Su Wanqing were very close. They used to be practically inseparable."
"Because of the two of them, relations between the Su and Cheng Families improved quite a bit, too."
Chen Feng froze.
Fifth Senior Sister?
"Right, I didn't expect her to be the one in the carriage, either," Zhang Jiu chimed in.
Seeing that Chen Feng still looked puzzled,
the others hurried to explain in detail:
"Strictly speaking, she isn't a member of the Cheng Family anymore. Just a few days ago, she married into the Xu Family in Nanxun Town."
"Her husband was the Xu Family's young master when he was alive. The Patriarch had already chosen him as his heir..."
"When he was alive?" Chen Feng asked.
"Yeah. A shame, really. He died young."
"He died? When?" Old Li asked in surprise, clearly unaware of the news.
Wang Huan warily glanced around.
Only after making sure no one from the Xu Family was nearby did he lower his voice and say,
"It happened just last month. He'd barely married before he died."
"That's awful." Old Li paused, then said without thinking, "What a miserable fate."
"Isn't it? He was about to become Patriarch, and he'd already won a beauty's heart. Why did he have to die so young?"
Everyone sighed.
"Ah... Once I finish this escort job, I'm spending every last coin I have at Zuìchūn Tower and living it up. If you die, you really do leave everything behind."
Wang Huan spoke from the heart.
"Old Li, life's short. You've got to enjoy it while you can. What's the point of saving all your money? It won't grow legs and have babies."
Chen Feng nodded. Though "Zuìchūn Tower" sounded like no decent place, Wang Huan had a point.
Once you were dead, you really had nothing left.
So Chen Feng decided that when he got back, he'd trade all his silver for cultivation resources and do his best to die later.
"Wait, that's not right. Didn't you get married? Why are you going to Zuìchūn Tower?"
Zhang Jiu objected to Wang Huan's suggestion.
Everyone gave Wang Huan a knowing look.
"Treat me, or I'll tell your wife," Zhang Jiu said gravely.
Chen Feng's mouth twitched. So that was the sort of men they were.
After eating and drinking tea,
they prepared to return to their rooms to rest.
The four of them shared a room. The two people from the Xu Family were next door, while the three Bone Forging Realm martial artists each had a room of their own.
Like the two women, they were all upstairs.
Chen Feng was just about to head back to his room when he saw the two martial artists from the Xu Family coming downstairs. One of them was cursing under his breath.
"Dried-up old fossil. You're only a Bone Forging Realm nobody, yet you act so high and mighty..."
Chen Feng hadn't quite heard what he was saying.
But from the shape of his mouth alone,
it was clear he wasn't saying anything good.
"Bang!"
A deafening crash rang out.
It sounded like a wooden door exploding.
Chen Feng's whole body jerked.
He turned toward the entrance—
A hulking brute stood in the doorway, his muscles knotted beneath his skin. He carried a Black Iron Great Saber on his shoulder, his broad face covered in bulging flesh as he grinned menacingly.
His massive body blocked the inn's entrance completely.
The door had been smashed to pieces.
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
One look was enough to tell that he'd destroyed it with that saber.
Bang!
The brute stepped forward.
He didn't cross the threshold; he simply crushed it beneath his foot.
Chen Feng's eyelid twitched.
"So strong?"
The escort guards heard the commotion and rushed out of their rooms, weapons in hand.
Chen Feng put on his knuckle guards, too.
He kept his eyes on the brute, watching for his every move.
The brute paid no attention to the escort guards in front of him. He simply thrust his saber out before him and barked,
"Which one of you has a woman named Cheng Tingxue? She's coming with me!"
The iron blade gleamed with a bone-chilling cold.
The pitch-black blade looked overwhelmingly domineering.
If it struck someone even once, it might split their bones in two.
And the brute's brazen words made it clear to everyone that he was no friend.
Chen Feng heard it clearly.
The person beside him swallowed nervously.
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