"Steamed buns..."
"Candied hawthorns..."
At the end of February, heads thronged the docks, and traveling merchants from north and south were everywhere.
An unremarkable little ferry slowly drew ashore amid the clamor, and three young men and women dressed as wandering martial artists stepped off.
Ye Jingtang wore an ordinary hemp robe, his hair tied with a ribbon and a Bamboo Hat on his head. After disembarking, he came to the riverside and first glanced back toward the lands to the south.
After spending ten days in Jingjie City, Ye Jingtang had largely recovered from his injuries. Though nights of revelry were intoxicating, Yu Hu truly was feeling unwell, and dragging things out too long could lead to trouble. Thus, once his body was all right, he packed his things and began the next leg of his journey through the martial world.
This trip to Northern Liang was not particularly far. Once past the Yazhou border checkpoint, he would be near Eastern Lake Circuit. The distance to Yanjing was about the same as that from Liangzhou to Yun'an, only a few days' travel with light baggage.
But these were two different countries, and the circumstances were entirely different. In the Southern Dynasty, Ye Jingtang counted as a great hero, and martial artists would show him some respect. In the north, however, righteous and wicked alike stood against him. The slightest carelessness could bring the northern martial world down on him.
Though Ye Jingtang did not fear ordinary martial artists, the north still had supreme powers such as Zhongsun Jin, Xiang Hanshi, and Bei Yunbian. One careless move could leave him like a dragon stranded in the shallows.
For safety's sake, Ye Jingtang had brought only Yunli and Qinghe on this trip.
Yunli's martial skills were decent, and she was even