"Sir, there's an inn up ahead!"
At the sight of the inn, the White-Faced Scholar's face lit up with excitement.
He had been traveling with Li Ping'an and Old Ox for more than half a month now.
They had spent almost the entire journey in the wilderness, eating in the wind and sleeping beneath the dew.
Li Ping'an and Old Ox had long grown used to it. Once darkness fell, they stopped walking.
They would find some shade beneath a tree and lie down, eating sweet-and-sour wild fruit while dealing with the White-Faced Scholar's pestering.
The White-Faced Scholar could hardly be called a white-faced scholar anymore. In another few days, he would probably look little different from a beggar.
Yet he enjoyed himself and cared nothing for the changes in his appearance.
Li Ping'an's stories stirred him as nothing ever had before.
Cooking smoke rose on the mountain.
There were some mushrooms they had gathered yesterday, honey they had bought earlier at the monster market, half a ham, and some wild greens.
Cooked together, they had a distinctive flavor.
The White-Faced Scholar shook out his aching shoulders and looked at Li Ping'an, his face full of anticipation.
"Where were we?" Li Ping'an asked absently, chewing a mushroom.
"Great Sui had gone to war with Great Yu, and you set off alone to travel through Great Yu."
"Oh..." Li Ping'an thought back for a moment. "..."
The next day, they walked for another half a day.
An inn!!
In the White-Faced Scholar's eyes, seeing an inn now was like a traveler in the desert seeing a vast ocean.
He took a hot bath and enjoyed a fine meal.
The White-Faced Scholar collapsed onto the bed, buried his head, and slept deeply.
He had been sleeping on the ground all these days.