A Test
Qin Yi opened his oil-paper umbrella, stepped down from the carriage, and followed the heavily armored brute ahead with Zou Qing at his side.
The relay station stood roughly a hundred zhang ahead of where the convoy had halted. Through the curtain of rain, a few warm yellow lights could vaguely be seen. Yet amid the wild countryside and forest, they looked rather eerie, like a haunted inn from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Several times, Zou Qing, clad in a straw rain cape and bamboo hat, wanted to remind Qin Yi of certain things. In his eyes, this disciple of a reclusive powerhouse seemed ignorant of many matters beyond the outside world. But with the heavily armored brute leading the way before them, he never dared speak.
Imperial princes and nobles of such exalted blood were simply too distant from escorts like them who roamed the martial world—so distant that even a single guard at their side seemed dazzling.
With a longsword on his back, Qin Yi sensed Zou Qing's unease, yet said nothing. He merely shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Though he had done his utmost to conceal it, the karma of someone of high standing had still dragged him into a level he had no wish to set foot in for now.
Rain pattered against the oil-paper umbrella, then ran down its ribs in silver threads through the dim surroundings. Before long, the rain-shrouded building glowing with warm yellow light entered the eyes of the three.
Rather than a relay station, the building resembled the earthen fortress of some wealthy clan from Qin Yi's memories of his previous life.
It was square, with walls over two zhang high stretching twenty zhang in every direction. The tops were lined with battlements, the walls were covered