Wang Chong swept out a palm, sending the green-robed girl's Green Maple Sword flying. Without pausing for an instant, he had already slipped past her like a wisp of smoke and headed straight down the mountain.
After racing through the mountain woods for four hours, he finally reached the foot of the mountain. In the distance, a faintly visible official road stretched through woods and open country into the distance.
Though his body was slightly tired after running so long, the surging Qi within him flowed on without end, scarcely depleted at all, and he remained full of vigor. Wang Chong alighted beneath a large tree, intending to rest a little before continuing on his way, and thought to himself, With my lightness skill at full power, I can cover a hundred meters in under three seconds. You could call me a top-spec Ferrari, but a Ferrari can only run on a racetrack. How could it weave through mountain forests? He felt a little pleased with himself. After all, arriving in this world with martial arts like these really did come with plenty of advantages.
The only hateful thing was that he might be a lecher.
Mother-meowing hell, why did he have to be a lecher?
Wang Chong privately consoled himself. After all, how could a world this old-fashioned have advanced technology like photography? How could it have a miraculous means of spreading information like the internet? This isn't modern society, where you can casually find a photograph and post it all over the web. With information so poorly circulated in ancient times, there can't be too many people in the whole world who recognize this face. With a little disguise-growing a big beard, for instance, changing my style of dress, and getting more sun to tan my skin-the face won't be hard to deal with. The only worry is being recognized by my martial arts.
Hmm, that girl in green said I was good at Ice Soul Finger.
But why don't I feel like my martial arts follow a cold, yin-oriented path?
As he raced along using his martial arts, Wang Chong dimly recalled a few things related to them.
He seemed to be proficient in six or seven martial arts. His sword technique was called the Candle-Holding Sword Technique, and his lightness skill was called Riding the Wind, Treading the Moon. He also knew several unarmed fighting arts, of which Flowing Cloud Palm and Wind-Splitting Palm were the most familiar and the ones he had worked hardest at. Not a single martial art had anything to do with "ice soul."
Wang Chong casually tried a couple of moves, then suddenly gave a cry as something came back to him. He hastily reached over to feel his left arm. Sure enough, a leather sheath lay hidden inside his sleeve. With a casual turn of his hand, he drew a folding fan from it and flicked it open.
Several lush, vivid peonies were painted on the front of the folding fan, while a short lyric was written on the back. The wording was quite crude, something about peonies being at their reddest in the third month, and fell short even of a webnovel author's doggerel.
"So I use a folding fan as a weapon!" Wang Chong turned it over a couple of times. Afraid it might expose his identity, he gave it a tug, intending to tear it apart. To his surprise, when he channeled his internal force and pulled the fan's surface taut, the folding fan snapped loudly but remained undamaged. Startled, he thought, It's actually a treasure! Clamping the folding fan between his palms, he circulated his internal power. In mere moments, the peonies and writing on the fan vanished entirely, leaving it pristine white, as good as new.
Wang Chong felt rather pleased and thought, My internal power is pretty damn good!
Lechers aren't necessarily the only people in the world who use fans as weapons. Once I paint some beauties on it and inscribe a poem by Du Fu, I should be able to pass muster.
After resting for quite a while, Wang Chong felt his weariness had completely vanished. Only then did he use his lightness skill and head straight for the official road. He had no idea where it led, so he picked a direction at random.
Though an ancient official road was not as busy as a modern highway, there were still plenty of merchants and travelers coming and going. After half an hour, he spotted a convoy of over a hundred people, an imposing procession flying a Flying Tiger escort flag.
Several men who looked like escort runners grew wary when they saw someone catching up from behind and put their hands on the weapons at their waists. Wang Chong had been using his lightness skill the whole way, traveling several times faster than an ordinary person, which naturally made his movements highly suspicious. He, too, realized he was moving too fast, but slowing down now and following behind the escort wagons would look rather like an outlaw tailing an escort convoy. With them so wary, he felt awkward about going over to greet them and could only steel himself and speed up to pass them.
Within the escort convoy, a middle-aged man with a dark, bluish complexion looked slightly puzzled and said to the man beside him, "The movement technique that young fellow is using looks a little like our school's Soaring Clouds, Treading the Wind lightness skill."
A sinister-looking man smiled. "Want to announce your name? If he really is your junior, you could get acquainted."
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Forget it. This escort assignment is far too important. Let's not grow extra branches on the bough."
With his profound internal power and keen senses, Wang Chong heard their exchange, and his interest stirred slightly. Someone actually recognizes the lightness skill I'm using? I didn't even notice what damned movement technique I was using. Should I find a chance to ask a few questions? But no sooner had the thought surfaced than he suppressed it. The escorts did not want extra branches growing on the bough, and neither did he.
After passing the escort convoy, Wang Chong increased his speed a little. Over two hours later, he saw a small town. The official road divided it into two sides, with over a hundred households between them. Right at its entrance stood a large inn, plainly catering specifically to passing travelers. He felt the silver in his pouch, and his confidence grew considerably.
After all, with money at his waist, a man felt no shame in his heart; with a bulging purse, his courage ran wild.
A lecher's silver bore no identifying marks, either, so he could spend it without a care.
As soon as he entered town, an attendant came forward and asked warmly, "Would you like to stop for a meal, sir? If you don't rest at our humble establishment, the next inn is seventy li ahead. You may have to hurry a little."
Wang Chong smiled. "Do you have a private courtyard?"
Seeing that he was a generous customer, the attendant hurriedly smiled. "Yes, yes! This way, sir."
Land and buildings were what small towns like this lacked least. The inn had built over a dozen private courtyards, though they could hardly be called luxurious. They were merely ordinary courtyards with three or four rooms, enough to house a large family.
Wang Chong chose a secluded, dry courtyard and asked the attendant, "Are there any ready-made clothing shops in town?"
The attendant hastily put on a broad smile. "There is one. Would you like to buy a new set of clothes, sir?"
"That's right," Wang Chong said. "Go and pick out a scholar's robe for me, with a cap and shoes as well. Also prepare a large tub of hot water. I want to wash off the dust. Have a table of dishes prepared, too. I'll eat after I've bathed and changed."
"Hmm, and buy some rouge and face powder as well."
He took out a small silver ingot and handed it over. "Deduct all the expenses from this."
Though this large, out-of-the-way inn stood beside the official road, it did not receive many travelers. An ordinary room cost only fifty to seventy copper coins a night, and even a private courtyard cost just a hundred and fifty. This silver ingot was enough for a stay of over two months. Recognizing a valuable customer, the attendant took the silver and immediately went off in high spirits.
An incense stick's time later, several attendants carried in a large tub and filled it with hot water. They also delivered the scholar's outfit they had bought, complete with cap and shoes, and even undergarments and brand-new, clean cloth socks. There was also a small bundle containing a full selection of rouge and scented powder, all of fine quality. In addition, they laid out a table with eight meat dishes, eight vegetable dishes, a jar of fine wine, and a plate of freshly cooked flatbreads.
Once the attendants had left, Wang Chong stripped off his clothes and jumped into the wooden tub. Feeling comfortable all over, he could not help murmuring, "So hot." He scooped water over himself and was about to scrub when he heard voices in the neighboring courtyard. Several women chattered like orioles and swallows, merrily calling one another senior sister and junior sister. One particularly talkative girl spoke in a clear voice, her words tumbling out like a string of pearls. "That lecher White Chrysanthemum is outrageously brazen. They say he even abducted Sister Nan Xinlan, the Lotus Fairy, a few days ago. Poor thing, she and Young Master Sun were such a perfect match, his talent and her beauty. It was such a fine marriage in the making-who didn't envy them? To run into such a wretched affair instead, how pitiful."
...Nan Xinlan: I don't watch Conan...
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