Something amiss

"Escort chief, that was the seventh band of mounted bandits already. Shouldn't we recruit more escorts when we get back?"

After they dealt with another band of mounted bandits blocking the road, Meng Hai's son, Meng Qing, walked over to his father and spoke with a wry smile.

Their martial arts were not bad, but there were simply too few of them, so every mounted bandit treated them as lambs waiting for slaughter.

If they recruited more escorts-not even that many, just enough for a party of twenty-they could have scared off at least three or four bands of mounted bandits along the way. Why would they have had to toil like this?

"Mm. Once we finish this escort job, our agency's reputation should recover quite a bit. We can recruit another five or six escorts then, and our next job will be much easier!"

Meng Hai nodded, though he did not set his sights as high as his son. He only planned to recruit a few people and train them properly.

"All right, I'll listen to you, Father."

Meng Qing had little objection. He merely glanced at Lu Mingyue and the others, who had stopped their carriages to rest, his gaze lingering a moment longer on Guo Ding's and Yang Qin's faces.

"Father, don't you think those two..."

Before he could finish, a look from Meng Hai stopped him.

Meng Hai said nothing. He followed his son's gaze, but inwardly shook his head.

This was already their eighth day beyond the pass. Of course he had noticed something was off about that married couple.

Though there was also something off about Young Master Bai and Miss Lu.

But from certain small details, both father and son had noticed that there was definitely something wrong with Guo Ding and his wife!

The two were simply too calm around those mounted bandits.

Although Guo Ding had acted nervous at first, people's breathing changed when they were nervous, and that could not fool Meng Hai's ears.

Yet apart from Miss Lu...

"Just focus on escorting the convoy!"

Meng Hai had no intention of saying more. All four were clients of their escort agency. Whether anything was wrong with them had nothing to do with him. He only needed to fulfill their agreement and collect the remaining silver.

Of the seventy-five taels of silver, each of the four clients had only paid thirty-five in advance. The remaining forty would not be paid until they reached Taiping City.

Meng Hai knew perfectly well that he had inherited his lineage's escort agency to earn money and expand his ancestral business, not to meddle in other people's affairs.

"Have you all finished resting? The sun is blazing right now. This isn't a suitable place to linger!"

Since his father had spoken, Meng Qing walked over to Lu Mingyue and the others, who were eating dry rations, and reminded them with a smile.

"My wife and I have finished eating. Brother Bai, Miss Lu?"

Guo Ding brushed off his hands, looked at Bai Zishan and Lu Mingyue, and pulled Yang Qin to her feet.

"I'm finished!" Lu Mingyue took a sip of water, stood up, and entered her carriage.

"I-I'm finished too!" Bai Zishan still reacted with that same reserved shyness.

"Then let's set off!"

Meng Hai swung onto his horse, glanced at the dozen or so corpses on the ground, and urged his horse forward, taking the lead.

"Caw! Caw!"

Vultures that had long since caught the scent of blood circled high overhead. Once the escort convoy had left, they swooped down toward the corpses on the ground.

A gluttonous feast.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi beyond the pass really is much denser than inside it!

Inside her carriage, Lu Mingyue went over Meng Hai's martial arts moves to familiarize herself with them, then silently sensed the changes in her surroundings.

And the closer we get to Taiping City, the denser the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi seems to become!

At the thought that she had finally left the Great Ye Dynasty and no longer needed to worry about being wanted, and might even enter the cultivation world, Lu Mingyue was filled with anticipation. Even the fatigue of traveling diminished somewhat.

The three people in the other two carriages were likewise filled with anticipation.

Inside the last carriage, Bai Zishan put away the nervousness and fear on his face, murmuring with a brooding expression:

"Still not making a move? We'll reach Taiping City soon. That fellow is at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage. Even I have to give him some ground. If you two don't act in the next few days, you won't have another chance..."

As he spoke, Bai Zishan stroked a pale green miniature sword in his hand, a cold curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

The pale green sword was only about an inch long. Its entire body looked as though it had been carved from bamboo, exquisitely small and delicate.

And at that very moment, inside the first carriage at the head of the convoy, Guo Ding and Yang Qin were showing signs of anxiety, just as Bai Zishan had anticipated.

"We're only five days away from Taiping City! What do we do?" Yang Qin extended a finger and wrote in Guo Ding's palm, taking great care.

"Wait another two days! If that rogue cultivator doesn't appear, we'll have no choice but to act!" Guo Ding turned his hand over, took Yang Qin's hand, and wrote his answer.

Yang Qin nodded without saying anything more, and closed her eyes to rest along with Guo Ding.

The couple had chosen the Evergreen Escort Agency precisely because a rogue cultivator had once "paid it a visit." They had also learned that rogue cultivator's cultivation level: the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage, on par with the two of them!

But if they fought, that rogue cultivator would definitely be no match for the couple.

They had assumed that rogue cultivator would appear again this time. Who would have thought that so many days would pass without any sign of that person? Perhaps the rogue cultivator had died at the hands of another rogue cultivator.

With things as they were, the couple could wait no longer. They could only settle on a time to act.

Over the next two days, whenever they stopped to rest, the couple carefully observed their surroundings.

Of course, their caution was only relative to most people.

But to Meng Hai, who had once survived an encounter with a rogue cultivator, the couple's behavior drew his attention.

"Come over here, all of you. Let's arrange tonight's watch!"

Two days later, Meng Hai noticed that the couple no longer examined their surroundings when they got out of their carriage that evening. His heart gave a jolt, and while they were lighting fires and setting up camp, he summoned all eight escorts to his side.

"Tonight, Number Five and Number Seven will take the first half of the night, and Number Four and Number Eight will take the second half..."

The eight escorts surrounded Meng Hai in the middle. Since they had done this throughout the journey, Lu Mingyue did not find it strange.

Yet Meng Hai, surrounded by the others, was speaking while using a fire-tending stick to write a few words on the ground.

-Stay away from the carriages after dinner!

They were all escorts who had followed Meng Hai for years and could be considered relatives. Naturally, all eight understood his meaning at a glance. Their expressions shifted slightly, and two of the younger ones instinctively stiffened their backs.

"All right, thanks for taking the trouble tonight, Number Seven and Number Eight!"

Meng Qing had anticipated this long ago. He clapped his hands onto the two young men's backs and stood as he spoke with a smile. His foot landed squarely on the words, and he ground it down hard as he turned.

"It's no trouble, no trouble..."

"We all take turns. Brother Qing, you're teasing us again!"

Number Seven and Number Eight caught on and turned with Meng Qing, blocking the others' movements behind them.