The carriage left Liangshui Town, moving at an unhurried pace along the dirt road.
"Another twenty li ahead is my home village, Tianjia Village. We should reach Yi Region before dark today."
Before becoming a coachman, Tian Wang had been a farmer. He seemed reserved at the Yahang Agency, but once he was on the road, he proved quite talkative.
During the time since leaving the city, Lu Li chatted idly with him and learned quite a bit about the local customs around Cloud Province City. The two gradually became more familiar with each other.
After waking up, Liu Yueling had regained much of her energy. Fortunately, she was well-behaved and did not make a fuss, merely listening quietly as the two spoke.
As they chatted, Lu Li suddenly asked, "Old Tian, do you have a map? When I was buying provisions, I looked all around but didn't see anyone selling maps."
"A map? What would you want that for? Liangshui Town doesn't have such things. Illiterates like me wouldn't understand one even if we had it, and those who can read don't drive carriages. Coachmen like us keep a map in our heads."
Tian Wang drove the carriage and answered casually.
Lu Li was slightly disappointed to hear there was no map, but when Tian Wang said he had one in his head, his eyes brightened faintly.
Opportunities from his memories began to surface in his mind.
The journey from Cloud Province City to Nanliu Prefecture spanned a thousand li and passed through the three major prefectural cities of Qingzhou Prefecture, Huangzhou Prefecture, and Cangxing City.
Qingzhou Prefecture was only a little over a hundred li from Cloud Province City. If he remembered correctly, there was an opportunity to be found along this stretch.
"Old Tian, do you know White Crow Town?"
As soon as the thought arose, Lu Li immediately asked Tian Wang.
Tian Wang answered without hesitation:
"Of course I do. It's just two mountain peaks away from my hometown. When I was a child, I often drove cattle over there to graze."
Lu Li was delighted upon hearing this. The ruined Buddha statue in Rebirth Temple of White Crow Town contained the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body, and it should be another twenty years before anyone took it.
"Could we make a stop in White Crow Town?"
Lu Li looked at Tian Wang, who readily agreed. "Of course."
At a fork in the road, Tian Wang turned the carriage in another direction.
The shortest route to Qingzhou Prefecture passed through Yi Region, but White Crow Town was not much of a detour. Besides, they could have some fun there.
Nanliu Prefecture was still a long way off. This employer knew how to enjoy himself—he knew to have some fun along the road. The journey ahead probably would not be too dull.
Tian Wang hummed a little tune, in high spirits. Just thinking of White Crow Town made his hands itch, and he could not help speeding up his whip.
Lu Li nodded in satisfaction at the sight.
As a body-tempering martial art, the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body eventually became the signature technique of Zhao Xingming, a Heavenly Ranking expert in the jianghu version. It possessed an exceptionally special effect: Mind's Eye!
While active, Mind's Eye could greatly enhance one's senses, perceive the flaws in an opponent's martial arts, and counterattack accordingly.
Lu Li's Poison Astral Body required Deadly Poison, poison capable of inflicting fatal injuries on martial artists. Ordinary poison would not work.
When buying provisions, he had searched all over Liangshui Town and found nothing that met the requirements. Later, he learned that Deadly Poison was generally only available in major cities at the prefectural level.
Therefore, he could not cultivate the Poison Astral Body for the time being before reaching Qingzhou Prefecture City. But if he could master the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body, it would not only strengthen his defenses but also break through others' techniques.
Demonic martial arts did not lack raw power. If he supplemented them with martial arts possessing different mechanics, their combined might would only grow stronger.
"A day's plan begins in the morning. Cultivation must not be neglected."
Having finalized his plans.
Lu Li then closed his eyes, sat cross-legged in the carriage, and continued refining the blood qi within his body.
Tian Wang glanced at him and wisely said no more. He simply focused on driving, whipping the horses far more frequently.
The journey remained smooth and unobstructed. The sky gradually darkened, and just as they neared White Crow Town, a woman's mournful, grief-stricken voice drifted faintly over.
"Hm?"
The carriage jolted to a stop. Sensing the disturbance, Lu Li opened his eyes and frowned slightly. He lifted the curtain and looked toward the voice.
The woman blocking the road wore a filthy, tattered dress. Leaning on a cane with one hand, her hair was matted and tangled, her body covered in dust. She looked every bit the beggar.
More chillingly, the woman appeared dim-witted. She kept muttering and sobbing, her voice mingling with the wind. Faintly, one could make out, "My son... my poor son!"
"Move! Get out of the way!"
Tian Wang did not seem surprised by the sight. He merely raised his whip and cracked it through the air with a sharp snap.
As though frightened, the woman staggered and fell, then quickly crawled to the side of the road.
The carriage slowly passed by. Liu Yueling leaned against the window, watching the trembling woman by the roadside.
Lu Li, meanwhile, frowned as he studied her and noticed something amiss.
This woman knew martial arts.
Seeing Lu Li and Liu Yueling looking grim, Tian Wang hurriedly explained:
"Boss, that madwoman is White Crow Town's famous lunatic. She stops every traveler and carriage headed into town. I only cracked the whip because I was afraid she might offend you."
"What happened to her?"
Lu Li lowered the curtain again. Liu Yueling also withdrew her gaze and turned curiously toward Tian Wang.
At this, Tian Wang shook his head and sighed.
"That madwoman is pitiful too. I heard she's been around White Crow Town for nearly ten years. People said that when she was young, she was quite beautiful. She married a butcher and gave birth to a sturdy ten-pound baby within a year."
"Her life had been happy, but nine years ago, some unknown evil descended upon White Crow Town. Every child under the age of three was abducted, including the madwoman's child. Since then, there has been a madwoman in White Crow Town stopping people to ask whether they have seen her son."
After hearing this, Liu Yueling's clear black-and-white eyes held both pity and confusion.
"What about her family? Don't they take care of her?"
"Ah, that's strange too."
Tian Wang waved his hand, clicking his tongue in wonder.
"Her in-laws tried every method they could. They locked her in a cellar, shut her in a cage... but the woman seemed to have a thousand tricks. They could never keep her confined. In time, her in-laws simply stopped bothering."
Lu Li's eyes shifted as he fell into thought.
Tian Wang seemed to have opened the floodgates and poured out everything he had heard in one breath:
"She's a strange one. She spends every day disheveled and filthy, living worse than a pig or a dog. At first, seeing her like that, her in-laws sent several strong men to capture her and bring her back, but who would have thought that several burly men could not restrain her..."
"Besides acting crazy, she also raised a litter of wolf cubs outside town. Over the years, she cried herself blind and her hair turned white, yet every wolf cub in that litter grew fat and strong."
At this point, Lu Li's memory became completely clear. He had already confirmed the woman's identity.
Madam Peng, a descendant of the Xunshan Peng Clan and Zhao Xingming's adoptive mother!
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