The woman wore a pale green gown that concealed her ankles and most of her neck.
The veil over her face was quite exquisite and blocked others' line of sight, making it impossible to see her true appearance clearly.
From head to toe, only her hands and eyes were exposed, while a trace of gentleness showed between her brows.
Yet even the long gown could not conceal her exquisite figure. Of all the women Zhang Yuan had seen, only Ya Fei could compare to her.
Though the veil concealed her features as much as possible, one could tell from her brows and eyes alone that she possessed delicate features and was surely an unparalleled beauty.
They probably just shared the same name.
Zhang Yuan thought he was being overly sensitive and withdrew his gaze without looking further.
Luck truly existed. Xiao Yan and Lin Dong were each Children of Luck from a declining plane and a newly born plane respectively, while Mu Chen had been born in accordance with fate in the Great Thousand World.
A woman like Qing Yanjing could be said to bear some special mission. She had been born into one of the Great Thousand World's five great Ancient Clans, so why would she be in the Dou Qi Continent, a rundown plane without even a passage to the upper realms?
If she were merely an ordinary beauty, there were far too many such women in the Great Thousand World for her to deserve a second glance from him.
Still, he spared some attention for the distance, because they were talking about him.
"Why not?" Qing Yanjing stared into the young man's eyes and said coolly, "Meng Xing, don't tell me you think the Black Armored Guard transferred from the southern border is unreliable too?"
Over the past few days, she had wanted to bring several more trustworthy merchant caravans along with them. That would minimize the chances of being targeted by the Illusionary Mist Nine Bandits, but the young man before her had ruined every attempt with one excuse after another.
Now that they had finally encountered a group of imperial Black Armored Guards who were also preparing to depart, there was no need to worry about their stance. Their strength was outstanding among those of the same realm as well. She had no intention of passing up the chance to cooperate.
"Of course the Black Armored Guard is reliable, but what can a few dozen men accomplish?" Meng Xing's face held undisguised contempt as he said, "Judging by that leader's age, he is probably a squad captain with the strength of a Dou Master. At most, he is a battalion captain. He definitely cannot be a Da Dou Shi. If we cross Misty Mountain with them, won't the guards from our three groups just be acting as their babysitters?"
"Nonsense." Qing Yanjing said coldly, "Our two families and the Qingyun Escort Agency have three Da Dou Shi and six Dou Masters, precisely matching the Illusionary Mist Nine Bandits. This group of Black Armored Guards has at least one Dou Master and dozens of high-level Dou Zhe. They are a force capable of affecting the balance. Why would we need to protect them?"
"Escort Master Qin, what do you think?"
As Qing Yanjing spoke, she turned to a bare-chested, powerfully built middle-aged man beside her. He was Qin Hai, the person in charge of the Qingyun Escort Agency's shipment this time and a Three-star Da Dou Shi.
"We can ask them." Qin Hai nodded in agreement.
The greatest concern when escorting goods was allowing people of unknown origin to mix into the group. That was why he had supported Meng Xing several days ago and opposed Qing Yanjing's attempt to recruit more people.
But if they were the empire's renowned Black Armored Guard, that was naturally another matter altogether.
Moreover, Zhang Yuan gave him an unfathomable feeling, raising a frightening suspicion in Qin Hai's heart. He wished to make his acquaintance.
Meng Xing's face turned livid, but he said nothing more.
He was the young master of the Meng family, not the person calling the shots for this journey. He could oppose Qing Yanjing, but he could not directly confront a Da Dou Shi.
Qing Yanjing smiled faintly and nodded to her steward. The latter walked straight over to Zhang Yuan and the others, cupped his hands, and said, "Greetings, young general."
"Greetings, elder." Zhang Yuan returned the gesture with cupped hands.
The middle-aged man smiled. "It seems the young general is also heading to Qingyun Town. Would you like to travel with us? We can look after one another along the way."
"Thank you for the invitation, elder." Zhang Yuan smiled. "Under normal circumstances, I would gladly agree. However, I am on military business this time and must reach Qingyun Town within three days, so I cannot travel with you."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man looked regretful and cupped his hands in farewell.
"Miss." The middle-aged man returned to the group and reported the situation.
Qing Yanjing and Qin Hai both looked regretful. Only Meng Xing smiled and muttered, "At least he knows what is good for him. If I run into him in Qingyun Town later, I can reward him with a cup of wine."
The Meng family was the foremost family in Qingyun Town. His second uncle, Meng Li, was the strongest member of the family, a Dou Ling expert who also served in the military and had close ties with the Mu family, one of the empire's three great families.
His cousin also served in the Black Armored Guard and could become a commanding captain at any time.
In his eyes, Zhang Yuan was nothing special.
Qing Yanjing could not be bothered to say anything more to this useless young master. She lifted the curtain of her carriage and prepared to board the magical beast carriage.
But just as she stepped forward with one foot, her body suddenly lost its balance. At the same time, chaotic cries came from the Qingyun Escort Agency's group nearby.
"This is bad."
"It got out."
"Damn it, who was responsible for checking the seal last night?"
"Move! Capture it! Be careful, and do not injure it, or you will not be able to bear the consequences."
Whoosh!
Dou Qi gathered beneath Qing Yanjing's feet. She leaped high into the air, spun one hundred and eighty degrees, and landed on the ground before looking toward the Qingyun Escort Agency's group.
White smoke rose from the top of a massive iron cage, and a purple bird's head the size of a lantern poked out from within. It was struggling to break free and escape.
People continuously rushed forward to stop it, but they were all forced back by the blue flames spewed from the purple bird's mouth.
"An Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle!" Qing Yanjing's pupils contracted.
The Purple Cloud Eagle was a type of Magical Beast. It was a First-tier Magical Beast at birth and became a Third-tier Magical Beast upon reaching adulthood. Its distinguishing trait was its ability to control azure flames. Should it encounter a fortunate opportunity, it could grow into a Fifth-tier Magical Beast, the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle, comparable to a Dou Wang.
Clearly, this Third-tier Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle was the cargo being escorted by the Qingyun Escort Agency this time.
The appearance of the Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle had frightened the magical beast horse pulling her carriage into kneeling, throwing her away.
"This is bad!"
Qing Yanjing heard Qin Hai's anxious shout. He immediately summoned his Dou Qi Armor and made his move.
But he was still a step too slow. The Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle broke free from its cage, flapped its wings, and flew toward the city gate while continuously rising into the air.
"Friend, please lend us a hand! The Qingyun Escort Agency will surely reward you generously."
As Qin Hai gave chase, he amplified his voice with Dou Qi and called for Zhang Yuan's help.
"You two, move." Zhang Yuan remained perfectly still atop his horse.
His personal guard captain, Ye Ya, and Xiao Boyuan understood at once. They simultaneously summoned Dou Qi Gauze, slapped the ground, and soared into the air, each grabbing one of the chains around the Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle.
The two of them were naturally no match for the Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle at its full strength. But using the sealing chains on its body to temporarily restrain it was no problem.
"Roar!"
Once Ye Ya and Xiao Boyuan seized the chains, they immediately poured Dou Qi into them.
The Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's barely recovered strength was suppressed once more, and its body lost power as it fell downward.
Seeing this, Qin Hai accelerated again and caught the Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle at the last moment, simultaneously pouring Dou Qi into the sealing chains.
"Push the cage over here!" Qin Hai roared over his shoulder.
The Qingyun Escort Agency's people immediately pushed the enormous cage before Qin Hai, helping him place the Azure Flame Purple Cloud Eagle back inside while reinforcing the seal.
After returning the chains, Ye Ya and Xiao Boyuan returned to their horses.
Boom!
After this brief incident, the southern city gate opened on time.
Zhang Yuan flicked his reins and charged out of the city first, with dozens of riders following closely behind him.
"Hey!" Qin Hai called out from afar, then finally revealed a helpless smile. "It seems they truly are in a hurry."
"If Escort Master Qin wishes to thank them, there will be plenty of opportunities once we reach Qingyun Town." Qing Yanjing stared in the direction of the city gate, seemingly lost in thought.
"That is all we can do." Qin Hai nodded, then said, "Even two of his subordinates have the strength of Dou Masters. I wonder how strong that young man leading them truly is."
"Who knows?" Qing Yanjing's beautiful eyes flickered as she said softly, "What a pity. Such a powerful group cannot travel with us."
With that, she boarded the carriage by herself, completely ignoring Meng Xing's livid expression.
In a nearby alley, an ordinary-looking man stuck his head out and said with relief, "Good thing they left first because they were in a hurry. If they had accepted the invitation from the Myriad Books Pavilion, that fat sheep already in our grasp would have escaped."
After saying that, the man stepped onto the street, blended into the crowd, and openly left the city through the gate.
Mist filled his view, making it difficult to see anything beyond ten feet away. Yet the man moved as though he were returning home and soon arrived at a secluded cave, from which he led out a horse-like Magical Beast covered in scales.
"Go!"
The man mounted the beast and rode away, but he did not take the official road. Instead, he followed an extremely concealed trail.
The man did not know that not long after he left, a figure in black robes appeared at the entrance to the trail.
"Zhang Yuan was right after all."
(End of Chapter)
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