Four Seas Escort Agency

The southwest.

A secluded manor.

A strong medicinal smell wafted from a room. Before long, a foreign monk of the Hehuan Sect emerged carrying a bowl of medicine and entered the room next door.

Lou Zizhen, the Hehuan Sect's Left Protector, lay on the bed, his entire body limp as a puddle of mud.

His face was pale. When he saw the disciple, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to ask, "Have they returned?"

"Almost."

The disciple approached the bed with the bowl and a spoon. "The sect master sent word. All the tomb's mechanisms have been disarmed. They're on their way back with the treasures. Tomorrow, we can return to Sasja."

"Good!"

Lou Zizhen was elated. He sighed. "Over a hundred years, across five generations. At last, we can go back. With the Mani Jewel, the Hehuan Sect will surely reclaim its ancestral home and restore its glory!"

The disciple was delighted too. They had long since had enough of hiding and fleeing.

He began spoon-feeding Lou Zizhen the medicine.

After only two mouthfuls, two knocks suddenly sounded at the door.

"Protector Lou, Jiang Yushan requests an audience."

His tone was fawning in the extreme.

"Come in."

A sneer flickered at the corner of Lou Zizhen's mouth, then vanished beneath a kindly, amiable expression.

A richly dressed young man entered. In contrast to his elegant, handsome appearance, his face betrayed impatient eagerness, though he tried to look reserved.

"Protector, what Miss Ren promised..."

He seemed rather embarrassed.

Lou Zizhen inwardly sneered, but maintained the dignified bearing of a master. He told the disciple, "Yangzong, fetch our sect's secret method and give it to Young Master Jiang."

"Yes."

Yangzong took a roll of cloth covered in illustrations of men and women practicing dual cultivation from the bedside cabinet and reverently presented it.

"Young Master Jiang, here is our sect's Great Bliss Zen Method. Please accept it."

"Thank you for imparting this art, Protector!"

Jiang Yushan's voice trembled with excitement. He immediately dropped to both knees and respectfully received it.

To him, harvesting another's essence to nourish oneself was the martial art that offered both the greatest pleasure and the fastest progress in the world!

Jiang Yushan had always scoffed at the arduous training practiced by martial artists. In his eyes, pleasure between men and women, harvesting yin to replenish yang, and gaining supreme martial power through bliss was the best way.

"Now that I have it, now that I have it..." Jiang Yushan's face was flushed with excitement, and both his hands shook.

Lou Zizhen smiled. "With it, as long as you 'train diligently,' your martial skills will soar within a month! Then the Four Seas Escort Agency will be yours for the taking. Even your father won't be able to stop you!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Jiang Yushan laughed. "May your auspicious words come true, Protector! The old man is away escorting a shipment, so I have the final say over the entire agency. Your sect can rest and recuperate without worry. The escort guards stationed here have my promise and will do their utmost to protect you! It's just that..."

An expression every man would understand crossed Jiang Yushan's face. "Miss Ren is a peerless beauty and well versed in dual cultivation. I've admired her for a long time. Now that I have the method, I hope she might... offer personal instruction..."

"Of course."

Lou Zizhen nodded at once. "Imparting our arts is part of a protector's duties. Besides, she thinks highly of you, Young Master Jiang. She will certainly agree."

"That's wonderful!"

Jiang Yushan was beside himself with joy. He was already fantasizing about dual cultivation with Ren Lingjiao. How exquisite it would feel!

Just then.

Someone suddenly hurried up outside the room and said quietly, "Young escort chief, we have unwelcome visitors."

"Throw them out!"

Jiang Yushan looked impatient. "Do you need to ask me about something like that? Haven't I already given instructions?"

"But..."

The man said awkwardly, "They're from the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Jiang Yushan's expression stiffened.

The smile instantly vanished from Lou Zizhen's face.

Lanterns hung high.

The night was deep.

Cao Jinxing sat in the huanghuali chair at the head of the main hall, utterly indifferent to the furious stares of the Four Seas Escort Agency's thirty-eight escort guards.

He was feeding his cat.

As long as he was nearby, Xuan Yuan Fourteen was fearless. The cat ignored everyone else, sitting on the table with its head raised, waiting for its master to feed it.

Sun Lang stood proudly behind him, holding his Embroidered Spring Saber against his chest, as cold and stiff as a block of wood.

"My apologies, my apologies."

The crowd parted. From a distance, Jiang Yushan entered the hall with a broad smile and his hands clasped in greeting. "May I ask which lord of the Pacification Commission has honored us with his presence? Forgive me for failing to come out and welcome you."

Cao Jinxing did not even look up. "Hidden them away?"

"..."

The smile on Jiang Yushan's face froze. "What do you mean, my lord? I don't understand."

"You don't understand?"

Cao Jinxing smiled and looked him in the eye for the first time. "No wonder your father wants to leave the agency to your senior fellow disciple. You brainless fool!"

Jiang Yushan's expression cooled slightly. "My lord, the Four Seas Escort Agency has the honor of being one of the ten great escort agencies of the Central Plains. We have connections of our own. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard should offer an explanation for barging in at midnight! You insult me without cause. I..."

Cao Jinxing took out a sheet of paper containing all the information on the Four Seas Escort Agency.

"By connections, do you mean your father's junior fellow disciple, Investigating Censor Chang Maotian? The Hehuan Sect dared to abduct the Selected Maidens. Forget an investigating censor-even the ministers of the Six Ministries and the Nine Chamberlains would have to die if their crimes warranted it!"

Cao Jinxing looked at him as though he were an idiot. "The remnants of the Hehuan Sect have committed unforgivable crimes. Those who shelter imperial fugitives face confiscation of their property and extermination of their families. I'm only sitting here talking to you because your father once led an escort troop against the Tatars in Datong. For that righteous deed, I'll give you a chance. Hand them over now, and you may receive a lighter sentence."

Jiang Yushan's face darkened further. "What Hehuan Sect? What remnants? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Cao Jinxing sighed.

He looked at the silver spear bearing the agency's flag, planted in the open courtyard out front. "Poor Jiang Xuanwei. A hero all his life, yet he fathered a creature like you. A father bears the blame for failing to teach his son, so perhaps he isn't entirely innocent either. Seize him!"

Sun Lang lunged like a tiger.

His eagle claws went straight for Jiang Yushan's throat!

An ignorant wastrel, Jiang Yushan recoiled in fright at the ferocious attack.

The escort guards behind him had no time to react. At the critical moment, a silver spear suddenly thrust in at an angle from the rear, like a venomous dragon, blocking the eagle claws.

"The Overlord Soul-Chasing Spear..."

Cao Jinxing coldly watched the two men fight and casually picked up the sheet to check the information.

The man was in his early thirties and had three scars on his right cheek. That confirmed he was Ding Zhaosheng, Jiang Xuanwei's eldest disciple.

Most of the Four Seas Escort Agency's guards had received instruction from Jiang Xuanwei, but only three had inherited the true teachings of his Overlord Spear.

His eldest disciple, Ding Zhaosheng, had been taken in during his early years and possessed considerable talent. Unfortunately, after making a name for himself, he had grown fond of wine and women and gradually lost his master's favor.

His second disciple, Wang Jing, had been taken in during his middle years. His talent was ordinary, but he was honest, resolute, and willing to work hard. He had already attained seventy percent of his master's proficiency. In recent years, Jiang Xuanwei had often kept him by his side, intending for him to take over the agency.

The third was his only son, Jiang Yushan. Constantly away escorting shipments, Jiang Xuanwei had neglected his upbringing, leaving him lazy by nature and riddled with bad habits. Though Jiang Xuanwei had taught him the spear, he had failed to grasp even its rudiments.

Ding Zhaosheng was one of the agency's leading figures and had already reached the xiantian realm. Sun Lang was only at the ninth level of houtian, so defeating him should have been easy. But against a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Ding Zhaosheng held back and dared not strike to kill. As a result, he merely fought Sun Lang to a standstill.

Sun Lang attacked fiercely but could not break through.

Ding Zhaosheng deliberately yielded ground.

The two fought for nearly a quarter of an hour.

Throughout that time, Cao Jinxing focused on feeding his cat, while Jiang Yushan grew increasingly relaxed. Finally, the fighters exchanged a palm strike and each retreated several steps.

Cao Jinxing asked, "Had your fill?"

Sun Lang smiled and rubbed his wrist. "It's a rare chance to have a xiantian expert help me hone my moves. I've gained some insights. I'm confident I can break through to the eighth level of Heavenly Eagle Claw within ten days."

Cao Jinxing nodded. "Good."

"Unfortunately..."

From among the crowd, Jiang Yushan suddenly cut in, his face twisted with malice. "You won't live another ten days!"

The moment he finished speaking, a hole exploded in the hall's roof. A figure in a scarlet kasaya descended from above, striking at Cao Jinxing with his palm!

He moved with incredible speed, wielding the Hehuan Sect's secret technique, Demon-Subduing Great Hand Seal. Like a meteor falling from the sky, he came with unstoppable force!

"Die!"

Yang Gongbu poured all his strength into that palm strike, determined to kill Cao Jinxing with a single blow!