A party of men and women slowly emerged from the Mountain Valley carrying several bundles. The Great Jin soldiers guarding the entrance leveled their spears from afar, and the squad leader at their head shouted, "Hand over your identity tokens and state who you are!"
The Martial Warrior Zhong Huan stopped ten paces away and cupped his hands. "We're from the Vigorous Martial Gate of Guangling Commandery. We have our identity tokens here!"
The squad leader beckoned, and Zhong Huan hurried over to hand him a wooden identity token issued by the court and the Immortal Sect.
After inspecting it, the squad leader looked up and asked, "Find anything?"
"Yes! With the Immortals' blessing, we really did find something! There's also a mineral vein we need to report to the Immortals..."
"What? What mineral vein?"
A Cultivator dressed in the robes of a Taihua Sect outer disciple narrowed his eyes and slowly emerged from a nearby tent.
Zhong Huan looked at the Cultivator, then surveyed the dozen or so Great Jin soldiers around them. He hesitated... but eventually reached slowly into his robes and took out a piece of ice soul stone.
"Well, well! You really found something... Was this found up in the mountains? Which peak? Is there much ore?"
Zhong Huan placed the ice soul stone in the hands of the excited squad leader beside him, then cupped his hands. "My lord, we found it on Snow Peak farther inside. It took an enormous effort to climb up there. There should still be some ore buried there... Please accept this ice soul stone as a humble gift!"
The squad leader respectfully handed the ice soul stone to the Cultivator, then turned back and gave Zhong Huan a cold look. "What good fortune! Enough to make anyone jealous..."
Behind Zhong Huan, Zhong Duo'er was just about to speak in anger when Liu Zhi grabbed her and stopped her. Zhong Huan smiled, took another dozen or so pieces of ice soul stone from his robes, generously selected six, and added several pieces of silver...
"When fortune comes, everyone should share in it! All thanks to your blessings... Please divide these trifles between this lord and the officers here! I fear we'll have to trouble both of you again over what comes next..."
The squad leader smiled, accepted the valuable bundle, and turned to hand it to the Taihua Sect Cultivator.
The young Cultivator hefted the little bundle and smiled without warmth. "Reporting a mineral vein is no small matter... At least you know how things work. But requesting an audience with an Immortal Sect envoy is no small matter either, and keeping your own share won't be easy!"
Hearing this, Zhong Huan instead felt a stone drop from his heart. As long as there was room to negotiate, it meant the other man had not yet decided to kill them and seize everything. He bowed respectfully. "Understood! I'll leave everything in your hands, my lord..."
With that, Zhong Huan took out half the remaining ice soul stone, leaving himself only three pieces, and personally placed them in the young Cultivator's hands.
"Heh, things are easy when you know how to behave! You'll be getting your benefits later anyway. When you meet my senior brother in a moment, don't hang on to those last few pieces either. With the two of us putting in a few good words for you, you'll have everything you need."
"...Very well! Everything will be as you command, my lord..."
Zhong Huan turned and beckoned. Duo'er, her two senior brothers, and a raggedly dressed youth immediately came over.
The squad leader suddenly raised a hand. "Wait! Everything you've found must be inspected by the Immortal Sect and the court. Come here and let us search you! And... where did this beggar-looking thing come from?"
The young Cultivator beside him frowned. "Did this person enter the mountains with you?"
Zhong Huan's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "He wasn't originally with us. He's a little beggar we picked up in the town outside the mountains! There are so many strange things in the mountains... If-if we ran into danger, we could have him take the blow for us! Usually he lights fires, gathers wood, and does odd jobs..."
The young Cultivator burst out laughing. "You really are a clever man! Never mind, never mind... Come with me! These days, people like you deserve to get rich!"
Zhong Huan breathed a sigh of relief and bowed. "Thank you for looking after us, my lord!"
A soldier led a horse over. The junior Cultivator apparently still lacked the cultivation to ride the wind. After mounting, he looked at Zhong Huan and the others standing on the ground... "Can you keep up with a horse?"
Zhong Huan cupped his fists. "We're all thick-skinned, tough-fleshed Martial Warriors. You needn't worry, my lord!"
Liu Zhi immediately seized the back of Lü Bufan's collar with one hand, pretending he was going to carry him as they ran...
The young Cultivator nodded inwardly, then his eyes lit up. "Oh? What a pretty little Martial Warrior. Young lady... if you can't keep running, you can share my horse, hahaha!"
Before his daughter could flare up, Zhong Huan immediately said, "She's my only daughter, my lord. She's used to running wild... but she is a Second Realm Martial Warrior! We wouldn't dare trouble you..."
"Oh? Never mind, then..."
The young Cultivator cracked his whip. The horse neighed and galloped away, and Zhong Huan's party hurried to follow close behind.
Beside the checkpoint, a soldier carefully brought the squad leader a flask of fresh water and asked, "Chief, there's treasure and a pretty girl... why didn't we just rob them outright?"
The squad leader spat. "Are you blind? Didn't you see that he's a Martial Warrior of the middle Fifth Realm? The others are trained fighters too... Cultivator Zhao is only in the Second Realm. Even with all of us together, that Martial Warrior could slaughter us with one hand! Squeezing them for money is fine... that's called using our position to crush people! But if we really drove him into a corner and he started slaughtering us, who could escape? Idiot..."
"Hehehe... Your eyes really do burn like torches, Squad Leader. Even a Martial Warrior of the middle Fifth Realm has to tuck his tail between his legs in front of us!"
"Get lost! You'll all get your share. Keep your eyes sharp over the next few days, and be careful about everything."
Two Taihua Sect inner disciples and an Accompanying Rong Colonel of the Great Jin Dynasty's court were stationed beside a stretch of ruins.
The junior Cultivator announced their arrival, then eagerly led the Martial Warrior Zhong Huan inside.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, two Cultivators came out with Zhong Huan.
"Off you go! Keep this token safe... Once you're home, go to the Immortal Sect residence in the commandery city every six months to collect your share, based on the Mine Cave's yield... It'll mostly be converted into silver, a few spirit stones, and pills. You don't need to make another trip into the mountains with us... Once you're home, keep your wealth hidden and don't show it off everywhere... Understood?"
Gritting his teeth, Zhong Huan cupped his hands and answered, "Understood... I won't make things difficult for you, my lords!"
"Hahaha... Let's hope nothing goes wrong with that location you gave us. Otherwise, the charge of deceiving the Immortal Sect will be enough to ruin your household and leave your family dead!"
"Rest assured, my lords! There will be no mistake!"
Zhong Huan knew that keeping him out of further involvement surely meant these damned Taihua Sect Cultivators wanted to swallow all the credit for discovering the mineral vein... The Immortal Sect offered substantial rewards for reporting such veins!
Knowing he was powerless to resist, Zhong Huan could only watch helplessly as a party of Cultivators rode straight into the mountains... A Great Cultivator of the middle Fifth Realm also rose on the wind and vanished into the sky.
"Forget it. Only benefits that reach our hands safely are benefits we can truly count on... Don't be angry anymore. This world... is just like that! Let's go home..."
The party adjusted their packs, chose a quiet trail, and hurried away from this place of trouble.
A campfire burned inside a dilapidated Little Mountain God Temple.
Zhong Huan studied Lü Bufan as he added wood to the fire beside him... "Boy, have you made up your mind?"
Lü Bufan sat down and answered softly, "No. I still want to stay..."
"There's nothing left. That place you described is gone... Hundreds of li around it have been reduced to ruins. Even the mountains were battered down. The Immortal Sect and Guardian City's people have occupied thousands of li around Two-World Mountain... Everywhere the Ghost Mist can't reach is guarded by Immortal Sect Cultivators and Martial Warriors!"
Hearing this, Lü Bufan asked, "Did anyone in the mountains survive that day?"
Zhong Huan gave Lü Bufan a meaningful look. "I don't know... I'm afraid only the Immortal Sect and the court know the truth behind these things."
"I have no family left in this world, only my masters in the village..."
Zhong Huan said quietly, "Could they have escaped into the Wild Spirit Land? Perhaps they sealed you inside that cave because they feared you would hold them back, or because you couldn't protect yourself?"
"I don't know..."
Lü Bufan knew that sending him away must have been Old Skeleton and Big Black's idea... But Master Ming, Du Yuan, Huang Jiu, and his other masters surely would not have died just like that. The village had already been preparing to relocate, and they had Big Black, that terrifying being who could kill Immortals. Old Skeleton certainly was no easy opponent either... All slaughtered? How could that be...
Then what exactly had Old Skeleton and Big Black intended? To leave me to fend for myself? Back in the village, Old Skeleton's words really had carried that implication...
The Daoist Scripture, the Thirty-Six Fists Method, and Wandering Swordsmanship...
A Martial Dao fist method, a Daoist cultivation method, and a sword art that blended the two... Was this meant to send me out of the mountains and into the world to cultivate?
"Leave the mountains... leave the mountains..."
Lü Bufan quietly repeated some things Old Skeleton had casually said to him...
Beside him, the Martial Warrior Zhong Huan smiled. "Once you've come to terms with it, come with me and settle near the commandery city! By rights, the cave where you cultivated should count as something your masters left you... We've gained quite a bit from it now, so we owe you a favor!"
"Our Vigorous Martial Gate is a tiny, tiny sect. We have eight Martial Warriors in total down here below the mountains. There are also a dozen or so men and boys who haven't managed to establish a Martial Warrior's foundation. We don't have any connections up in the mountains either... And we don't want to do dirty work for those mountain sects and Immortal Sects. Apart from teaching a few disciples, we escort people and shipments, guard homes, and things like that."
"If you don't mind, you can stay at my place... I know your lineage probably isn't ordinary, and I won't ask you to join our humble little sect. Come and go as you please... All I ask is that you don't drag insignificant people like us into some calamity that reaches the heavens..."
Lü Bufan lowered his head and quietly listened to the honest, good-natured man ramble on...
"Uncle Zhong, thank you..."
Zhong Huan smiled. "I'm no divine Immortal or Cultivator from the mountains, but even I know some things aren't as simple as those Immortal Sects make them sound... Your master must be a kindhearted person. He should be able to escape! Heaven watches over good people, after all... Perhaps one day he'll come out of the Wild Spirit Land to find you!"
Lü Bufan tossed a few pieces of dry wood into the fire and answered, "My masters always told me to live on and live well. I will!"
Zhong Huan carefully studied the look in Lü Bufan's eyes and sighed... "Boy, trust the words of someone who's been through it all, and forget the hatred in your heart! Never mind your Two-World Mountain, which the court and the Immortal Sect have always regarded as an enemy... How many places, both in the mountains and below them, had nothing to do with the Wild Spirit Land and were still crushed into ash under some trumped-up charge? Cultivate well and live well... Only while you're alive is there hope."
Lü Bufan nodded. "Understood! Uncle Zhong, don't worry... I won't go looking for trouble!"
"Good, then. Are you really only in the Second Realm?"
Lü Bufan nodded. "My master always thought poorly of my aptitude, hehe... He said my foundation was too weak."
"Throw a few punches. Let me see!"
"All right!"