In eighteen years, this was Fang Ling's first time leaving through that long-sealed gate.
He descended the stone steps one by one.
Untrodden for years, the steps were covered in slippery moss.
An ordinary person would likely fall here with a single careless step.
As a child, he had yearned to leave this ruined temple, but now that he was actually leaving, he suddenly felt lost and uncertain.
He had no idea where to go, so he followed a road at a leisurely pace until he reached an inhabited village.
The village was small and lay in a remote area.
Thus, the arrival of an outsider immediately drew the villagers' attention.
Several young men from the village gathered around him, but none dared act out of line.
Fang Ling wore silk woven from the threads of the poisonous silkworms his fat master raised. At a glance, he looked like a young master from a prominent family.
"What brings you to He Family Village, young master?" asked the dark-skinned young man leading them.
"I lost my way in the mountains and don't know how to get out," Fang Ling said.
"I'd like to reach a nearby city. Sorry for the trouble, but could you show me the way?"
"I see." The dark-skinned young man nodded and looked at the others beside him.
"Goudan, you fellows go back to your work! I'll take this young master into the city. It's about time I went back there to work anyway."
"All right! Come back often when you have time, Brother Hei Zi!" The others bid him farewell.
"I will, I will!" The dark-skinned young man smiled and waved at them.
Then he led Fang Ling onto the road to the city.
"My name is He Dayou. Since I've had dark skin since childhood, the villagers also call me Hei Zi."
"May I ask your name, young master?" the dark-skinned young man asked.
"I'm Fang Ling," he replied.
This was his first time dealing with people from below the mountain.
He discovered that people outside were not all as treacherous and cunning as his masters had claimed. This man called He Dayou seemed quite kind.
"Your surname is Fang? Are you from the Fang family in the south of the city?" He Dayou quickly asked.
Fang Ling shook his head. "No, I came from elsewhere."
"All I know is that this is the Great Chu Kingdom, and there's a Smelting City nearby."
"The Great Chu Kingdom? Are you joking, young master?" He Dayou was astonished.
"The Great Chu Kingdom was destroyed long ago. This is already year 678 of Emperor Shao's reign in the Southern Sun Kingdom!"
"Our Southern Sun Kingdom was founded over twenty thousand years ago. As for the Smelting City you mentioned, it was renamed Willow City ages ago."
Seas turn into mulberry fields. So my eldest master and the others really haven't left Cold Mountain Temple for tens of thousands of years... Fang Ling muttered inwardly.
He Dayou carefully looked Fang Ling up and down and said, "I understand now. You must be a cultivator, young master!"
"And you were teleported here from somewhere far away, weren't you?"
"Yes," Fang Ling replied.
He chatted with He Dayou throughout the journey and gained some understanding of the place he had found himself in.
Nearby Willow City was a large city with over a million inhabitants, and it had quite a few cultivators and cultivating families.
Compared with other places, however, Willow City was unremarkable and remote.
None of that mattered to Fang Ling.
What he wanted most urgently was to understand this world. Only then would he consider where to go next.
He Dayou was an ordinary man. With stops along the way, they only reached Willow City toward evening.
Fortunately, he was young and strong. Someone else would likely have struggled to arrive before the city gates closed.
Though Willow City was only a tiny speck of a place, it was still enormous to Fang Ling, who had spent eighteen years holed up in Cold Mountain Temple.
The bustling streets and all manner of novel curiosities made everything feel unreal.
"Young master, I've brought you here, and I need to return to my employer!"
"Shall we part here?" He Dayou asked with a smile.
Fang Ling murmured thoughtfully, then said, "On the way here, you mentioned that the Zhao Family you work for is also a cultivating family."
"I've ended up here without a single coin for travel expenses. If possible, I hope you could help introduce me, Brother Dayou."
"Let me make a living with the Zhao Family for a while too."
"Well..." He Dayou hesitated.
"May I ask what skills you have, Young Master Fang?"
"Does killing count? Though I've never killed anyone, I've studied the art of killing since childhood," Fang Ling replied.
He Dayou gave an awkward laugh and replied, "I imagine you do have some abilities, Young Master Fang. In that case, you could consider becoming a guard for the Zhao Family."
"The Zhao Family's guards are treated far better than a lowly carpenter like me."
"But I can't promise they'll accept you. Their standards for recruiting guards are very high, after all."
"That's fine. Thank you, Brother Dayou!" Fang Ling said with a smile.
"All right, follow me!" He Dayou nodded.
"But there are a few things I need to warn you about first. The Zhao Family is very strict about its rules."
"Once you're there, don't look at anything you shouldn't, and don't ask questions you shouldn't. Otherwise, you could bring serious trouble upon yourself."
"Understood. Don't worry, Brother Dayou!" Fang Ling replied.
Before long, Fang Ling followed He Dayou to a large residence in the west of the city.
He Dayou went inside first. Only after some time did a potbellied middle-aged man emerge from the main entrance.
The lavishly dressed middle-aged man looked Fang Ling up and down and said, "I am Zhao Ruixiang, the steward of the Zhao residence."
"You are no ordinary man. Whatever brings you to the Zhao residence, please speak plainly."
Zhao Ruixiang's cultivation was not high, yet he had held the position of steward securely for decades.
Whatever his other abilities, he was quite skilled at judging people and situations.
At first glance, he felt Fang Ling was not someone to underestimate, so he remained courteous, not daring to offend him.
"I've ended up here with nowhere to go for the moment, so I'd like to seek a position in your household," Fang Ling said.
Zhao Ruixiang pondered for a moment and came to a decision.
The young man before him seemed exceedingly strange. Taking him into the household rashly might invite trouble.
Thus, he could only find an excuse to put him off and send him away for now, without offending him.
Just as he was considering what pretext to invent, a carriage suddenly stopped before the residence.
"The eldest young lady is back!" Zhao Ruixiang hurried over to greet her first.
A soft acknowledgment came from inside the carriage, then a black boot emerged, and the Zhao Family's young lady stepped down.
"Uncle Rui, who is this?" She looked curiously at Fang Ling nearby.
"Here's what happened..." Zhao Ruixiang immediately explained.
"Since he's fallen on hard times, there's no harm in helping him for a while," the Zhao Family's young lady said mildly.
"Stay with our Zhao Family for now. As for what work you'll do, we can discuss that later."
"Thank you!" Fang Ling cupped his hands toward the Zhao Family's young lady, then followed the steward into the Zhao residence.
Zhao Ruixiang did not put him in the servants' quarters, but instead took him to one of the finest guest rooms.
After a few brief instructions, Fang Ling settled in.
"Father, you wanted to see me?"
That night, the Zhao Family's young lady asked this in the room of the family head, Zhao Tianlong.
"Xilian! I heard from your Uncle Rui that you took a stranger into our residence?" Zhao Tianlong said gravely.
"He had nowhere to go and said he wanted to stay with us for a while," Zhao Xilian replied.
"I went to have a look at him just now and found that he's no ordinary person..." Zhao Tianlong continued.
"It was precisely because he's no ordinary person that I was willing to take him in," Zhao Xilian said.
"The Qin Family has been pushing us far too hard lately. All the more reason for our Zhao Family to have more hands."
"Aren't you afraid he's a spy sent by the Qin Family?" Zhao Tianlong asked sternly.
Zhao Xilian chuckled. "The Qin Family couldn't possibly have someone like him. There's no way he's their spy!"
Zhao Tianlong also burst out laughing. "You truly are my daughter. You couldn't be more right!"
"With the Qin Family's values and upbringing, they could never nurture someone like him."
"Your father traveled far and wide back in the day and met all sorts of people."
"This man is anything but ordinary!"
Before you continue