Beyond the Pass

"Miss, this is where we part. This old man wishes you smooth sailing!"

"May your kind wishes come true, Uncle. Thank you for all your help, and may business at your inn flourish!"

"Haha, may your kind wishes come true as well!"

At the entrance to the Evergreen Escort Agency, Lu Mingyue stood with her three bundles of various sizes on her back. Only after watching the proprietor of the Dragon Gate Inn leave did she turn and walk inside.

"The four of you, I'll go arrange the travel documents now. We can leave the pass tomorrow between seven and nine in the morning!"

Seeing Lu Mingyue enter, Meng Hai, the head escort of the Evergreen Escort Agency, spoke with a broad smile, then carried the escort fees the four had paid him into the back of the main hall.

"There are rooms here where you four can rest a little. If you need anything, you can have our escorts fetch it for you. Of course, you're welcome to get acquainted, too. After all, we'll all be together for the next few days!"

Before long, Meng Hai came back out. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the four, he left seven escorts behind to prepare for the journey, while he took a man who bore some resemblance to him straight to the County Yamen.

"Honored clients, these are the rooms where you can rest. Please make yourselves at home!"

Once the head escort had left, another middle-aged man pointed out the side rooms to the four. He cupped his hands in farewell, then went off to attend to his own work.

Lu Mingyue and the other three exchanged glances. The man from the married couple was the first to speak.

"Hehe, what a surprise. My wife and I thought no one else would be leaving the pass for a while. Who would have thought we'd first meet Brother Bai, and now Miss Lu as well!"

The man had ordinary looks and a kindly face, with the appearance of an honest fellow.

"Miss Lu, I've already become acquainted with Brother Bai, but this is our first meeting. My name is Guo Ding, and this is my wife, Yang Qin!"

"This is our first time leaving the pass as well. If we do anything improper, please bear with us, Sister Lu."

The gentle woman standing beside him smiled with her lips pressed together as she spoke to Lu Mingyue, seemingly quite well disposed toward her.

"My name is Lu Mingyue, and it's my first time leaving the pass, too. I'll be in your care from now on, Brother Guo, Sister Yang, Brother Bai!"

Lu Mingyue likewise cupped her hands and bowed to the three. Her youthful face was full of innocence, but inwardly, she remained on her guard.

Although the three acted like ordinary people, she had sensed it right from the start: all three were clearly immortal cultivators, just like her!

Of course, since even she, with her cultivation at the third layer of Qi Refining, could sense that the three were immortal cultivators, presumably they had already noticed that she was one as well.

Still, since none of them wanted to reveal their true identities as immortal cultivators, Lu Mingyue naturally would not take the initiative to reveal anything.

Perhaps these three were newcomers to the cultivation world, just like her?

"I-I'm Bai Zishan, a mere rogue cultivator..."

When it was the white-robed young man's turn, he looked rather nervous and could not keep himself from stammering.

Lu Mingyue gave him a surprised glance. Though he was an immortal cultivator, wasn't he a little too timid?

Could this really be his first time away from home?

"Hehe, since we're all leaving the pass, we'll certainly have to look after one another when the time comes!"

Guo Ding gave an honest smile. Seeing the young man beside him standing there blankly without speaking, he said to Lu Mingyue:

"Brother Bai is a little shy around strangers. Since meeting us yesterday, he hasn't said more than ten sentences, even counting today. Miss Lu, you're around Brother Bai's age. The two of you could chat more!"

"I'm afraid we've made fools of ourselves, Sister Lu. My husband and I searched everywhere for traveling companions so we could leave the pass, worried that we might run into something afterward..." Yang Qin smiled apologetically and explained to Lu Mingyue:

"Now that we've finally settled our departure today, my husband and I are both a little tired. We'll come out and trouble you and Brother Bai again later."

With that, Yang Qin linked her arm through Guo Ding's, and the couple walked into a room, their affection for each other exceedingly sweet.

Lu Mingyue glanced at the young man before her. Seeing his shrinking, frightened expression, which did not seem feigned, she thought he truly did look like someone away from home for the first time, and said with a smile:

"Brother Bai, I'll go rest as well. See you later."

"All right..."

Without waiting for the young man named Bai Zishan to answer, Lu Mingyue chose a room a little farther from the couple's, went inside, and shut the door.

Although they had said they would see one another later, that "later" turned out to be the following morning.

Even for dinner, the three parties of four people went out separately, displaying remarkable unspoken agreement.

"Honored clients, this escort job is mainly about seeing you safely beyond the pass, so we won't be taking any other goods. Do any of you have anything else you need to bring?"

Early the next morning, Meng Hai gathered all eight of the agency's escorts.

"My wife and I are leaving the pass to look for relatives, so we have no goods to bring. As for Brother Bai and Miss Lu..."

As Guo Ding spoke, he looked at Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan. Both naturally shook their heads.

"Everything I need to bring is in these bundles. Just some food!" Lu Mingyue said with a smile.

"I-I have nothing to bring..." Bai Zishan remained just as reserved. Even Meng Hai could not help glancing at the young man before sweeping his hand and saying:

"In that case, let's set off. Honored clients, please get into your carriages and take your seats!"

The agency had prepared three carriages in total. Since Guo Ding and Yang Qin called themselves husband and wife, they shared one, while Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan each had one to themselves. Though it was only a small matter, it made Lu Mingyue a little more satisfied with the seventy-five taels of silver the Evergreen Escort Agency had quoted.

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"Head Escort Meng is quite attentive."

Inside the carriage, Lu Mingyue leaned against the wall and rested, recalling the information she had learned from the head escort of the Evergreen Escort Agency yesterday.

"Leaving Cangzhou Prefectural City doesn't count as leaving the pass yet. The wilderness outside the city is a lawless stretch between the Great Ye Dynasty and its neighboring country, with neither side exercising jurisdiction. Vast numbers of mounted bandits gather there..."

"And if you want to leave the pass and gain a foothold, you must cross that wilderness and enter Taiping City, which was built within that lawless region!"

"Once there, even the mounted bandits must obediently dismount. Even those immortal cultivators dare not cause trouble within Taiping City, because its city lord is an extremely powerful immortal cultivator himself! Legend has it that, on the other side of Taiping City, you can travel to the lands of immortal cultivation..."

"So you four have come to the right people. If you went beyond the pass alone, with only your shadows for company, never mind those immortal cultivators who soar high and travel far-even the mounted bandits wouldn't let lone travelers beyond the pass slip away!"

"Don't be put off by the fact that our Evergreen Escort Agency only has nine escorts, including me. This is, after all, a trade passed down through our family. We guarantee we can get you safely to Taiping City!"

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