The autumn wind, once carrying the lingering fire of summer's heat, now bore a chill.
"Someone, come."
Tan Yuanshang called out calmly. Almost a single breath later, someone appeared nearby.
"What are your instructions, Master?"
"These old bones of mine could use some movement."
The old servant understood Tan Yuanshang's meaning at once and spoke with concern.
"Master, your health..."
Tan Yuanshang waved a hand.
"If I don't move about now, I won't have another chance. Prepare a ship. We're going to Tea Province."
"Yes!"
The old servant offered no further persuasion. Once his master had decided something, no one could talk him out of it.
Later that day, Tan Yuanshang's carriage stopped beside a small riverside harbor, where a tower ship was already moored at the dock.
After nearly a dozen years recuperating at home without traveling far, Tan Yuanshang, who had spent those years resting alone in his secluded mansion, stepped beyond his gates once more. But he was not going to visit his children and grandchildren. He was heading for Tea Province.
Although the Tan Household had long since fallen far short of its former glory, and Tan Yuanshang had stayed out of worldly affairs for many years.
Tan Yuanshang was still Tan Yuanshang, after all. Merely reading the opening portion of the Four Seas and Mountains Record had allowed him to infer a few things.
If some events in the book had truly happened, then the old man in Tea Province who had drawn well-wishers from every quarter, commanded widespread respect, and even befriended the prefect of that time naturally possessed a certain standing.
The old man in the book had indeed been described only in vague terms. Neither his name nor his occupation was given, and even the time had been obscured. One could even