In their sights

"Candied hawthorns! Sweet and tart candied hawthorns! Don't pass them by without giving them a try~"

"Iron-oven roast chicken! Fresh from the oven, a time-honored specialty! If it doesn't taste good, you don't pay!"

"Tofu! Fresh tofu for sale, ground from this year's newly harvested beans..."

People bustled along the street. Besides the shops lining both sides, there were plenty of peddlers carrying shoulder poles through the streets and alleys.

"A bowl of plain noodle soup, please!"

"Certainly! That'll be ten copper coins. Would you like anything else, miss? We have a new dish, braised bones, fifteen coins apiece..."

"Then give me ten braised bones, too!"

"Coming right up! Take a seat, miss!"

After wandering around the unfamiliar city, Lu Mingyue found a roadside food stall and sat down. Once she had ordered some food, she set down her already rather worn bundle, took out a piece of silver, and handed it to the waiter as she asked:

"Excuse me, I'm traveling to stay with relatives, but our caravan ran into bandits, and I got separated from them. This is my first time here. May I ask which city of the Great Ye Dynasty this is?"

In truth, saying this could easily arouse suspicion, but Lu Mingyue had to establish her current circumstances.

County Commandant Qin of Yangguan City was the sort who enforced the law impartially. He would never allow a criminal to escape before his very eyes-at least, that was how he appeared on the surface.

Thus, Lu Mingyue had no doubt that wanted notices for her had already been plastered all over Yangguan City and several nearby cities.

"Oh, you're traveling to stay with relatives, miss? What dreadful luck. Still, our Yumen City lies on the border of the Great Ye Dynasty, so ruffians from neighboring countries often slip across and turn to banditry, robbing homes and plundering households..."

Seeing how young Lu Mingyue was, the waiter said a little more, then ended by lamenting the hardships of the times.

"Do you have relatives here in Yumen City, miss? If not, you'd best hurry farther inland. The closer you are to a neighboring country, the more dangerous it gets. Don't travel alone again, miss. Find yourself a bigger caravan, preferably. Spending a little more silver won't hurt. You need to make sure you're safe, don't you?"

"You're right. I'll remember that!"

Lu Mingyue nodded, inwardly relieved. It seemed her speed really was comparable to that of a fast horse.

After traveling swiftly along the mountain range through Old Crow Mountain for half a month, she had actually reached the Great Ye Dynasty's border. She was almost out of the country!

Although Lu Mingyue did not know how far Yumen City was from Yangguan City, she had seen no wanted notices for herself along the way just now. She could rest here for a while without worrying.

Of course, Lu Mingyue had no intention of staying here permanently, much less continuing her work as a corpse collector within the Great Ye Dynasty.

She had not forgotten how the Twin Blades Gang's second master had spent five years on the run, only to have the prefectural authorities collect his corpse in the end.

"Miss, here are your noodles and braised bones. Enjoy~"

"Thank you!"

After eating a bowl of noodles and gnawing the meat off ten braised bones under the somewhat astonished gazes of the other customers, Lu Mingyue finally left, rubbing her stomach.

After she left, several idlers squatting across the street from the stall exchanged looks, then quietly followed her.

Lu Mingyue did not notice at first. After all, Yumen City stood on the border with a neighboring country, and its population was several times that of Yangguan City.

People crowded the streets, all walking in the same direction. She could hardly forbid others from following behind her.

Only after Lu Mingyue had bought quite a few medicinal herbs to replenish her blood and qi at an apothecary, eaten a lavish meal at a restaurant, and gone downstairs to choose an inn did she notice that two men who looked thoroughly idle had been following her all along.

Was the world outside really this dangerous?

Lu Mingyue could not help muttering inwardly. She could more or less guess the reason: a young woman traveling all alone was indeed something of an oddity in the broader setting of this ancient world.

This was not the modern world, where even a girl could travel abroad on her own.

But she was not afraid. She was, after all, at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage now. How could she fear a mere pair of idlers?

"Innkeeper, how much is a room for the night?"

Ignoring the two idlers following her, Lu Mingyue walked into an inn that appeared to stand in a bustling part of town. For now, she did not want to stir up trouble.

"Ah, how many guests will be staying, miss? Our superior rooms are one mace of silver a night, with a chamber pot and bathing tub, and we provide one breakfast. Standard rooms are seventy copper coins a night, without breakfast. Basic rooms are thirty coins a night, with only hot water and a chamber pot. We also have shared sleeping platforms..."

The innkeeper was clearly an old hand. At the sight of Lu Mingyue, he rattled off his inn's room rates and amenities.

"I'll take a superior room!"

Lu Mingyue took out a two-tael piece of silver. When she had left Old Lu's home back then, although she had left most of his money behind, she had still taken around two hundred taels of silver with her, precisely to meet urgent needs such as this.

From the [Five Elements Eternal Spring Art], Lu Mingyue had gained more knowledge about immortal cultivation. She knew that, apart from using fasting pills, cultivators could only gain the ability to go without food after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Thus, even though she had obtained an immortal cultivation art, she would remain unable to separate herself from the mortal world for a long time.

"Certainly! Upstairs, honored guest!"

After taking Lu Mingyue's silver, the innkeeper's smile grew even warmer, and even the way he addressed her changed. He was clearly intent on earning a little more money for his establishment, signaling to the idlers outside not to cause trouble here.

"Heh, that fellow Niu really does light up at the sight of money!"

"We're making money too. Nothing shameful about it. I don't believe that woman can stay here forever!"

"You're right. We'll keep watch here from now on and see when she leaves the city!"

Outside the Lucky Arrival Inn, the two idlers heard the innkeeper's greeting and squatted by the wall with their hands tucked into their sleeves.

When suppertime came, one stayed behind while the other went to bring back some food.

Lu Mingyue glanced out from behind a second-floor window. A cold curve touched her lips, and she returned to bed to rest.

During the years she had spent hiding in Old Crow Mountain, Lu Mingyue had been able to find her own food, but she had lived with her heart in her throat day and night. In all those years, she had not enjoyed a single good night's sleep.

That was also why she had entered the city.

But this was only a place for Lu Mingyue to rest briefly.

After staying for ten days, Lu Mingyue settled her bill and left the city with her new bundle and dry provisions.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the city is too thin. It seems the more people there are, the thinner the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi becomes? If I want to find a sacred place for cultivation, it looks like I'll have to seek out those grotto-heavens and blessed lands!

Walking along the main road leading out of the city, Lu Mingyue planned her next steps and looked toward the vast wilderness beyond Yumen City.

? ? Thank you to reader "2021...8209" for casting one monthly vote!

? The first monthly vote from a dear reader! I'm truly so excited~