Nanhong Clay Figurines

The spring rain had just cleared.

A mild wind swept from the foothills of Great Heaven Mountain's snowy ranges across Jiangyun Prefecture in northern Qi Province, blowing all the way to the official road outside Wuling City.

There were quite a few travelers on the road, mostly wanderers far from home and itinerant merchants.

A youth in plain cloth lay on his back beneath a plum tree, an old book covering his face as he dozed in the gentle warmth of the spring sunshine.

A sudden gust blew past, and a plum blossom petal carrying a little dew fell from the tree, landing right in his palm.

"Hiss-"

Song Yan shivered, took the miscellaneous book off his face, and opened his eyes.

After leaving the mountain forest that day, he had asked around in a village at its foot and learned that he was in Qi Province.

He was a thousand miles from the Dongyuan Sect.

Still, Qi Province was not far from Liang Province, where Silent Valley lay. If he went to Silent Valley, he could get there in three to five days by driving his spiritual power.

Returning to Silent Valley now was far too dangerous.

Those unreasonable Xuanyuan Sect elders might well slap some fabricated charge on him and kill him on the spot...

Yet he had dispersed his cultivation and started over precisely to clear himself of suspicion. Returning to his own sect of his own accord would instead seem like a thief betraying his guilty conscience.

After turning it over repeatedly, Song Yan decided to return to his sect first.

His miserable life came first...

Song Yan now had only the cultivation of Qi Refining, First Layer...

He had hurried as best he could, yet three days had passed and he still had not entered Feng'an Prefecture.

"If I'd known it would be like this, I should have found a town and hired a carriage..."

Song Yan gazed into the distance. There was a teahouse ahead.

Having just woken from a muddled nap, he happened to be very thirsty.

Since dispersing his cultivation and starting over, his realm had fallen back to the early Qi Refining stage, and sensations such as thirst, hunger, and springtime drowsiness had grown stronger again.

Song Yan did not dislike these sensations. Quite the opposite, they gave him a long-missed sense of being "human."

The teahouse before him was quite large, with a second floor. It looked as though it offered lodging, rather like an inn.

Some drank wine, others tea, their conversations ranging from the southern mountains to the northern seas. In this world of strangers meeting like drifting duckweed, there was actually such a lively place.

"Uncle Tong, bring our guest some tea!"

"Coming!"

The tea was a little hot on the lips, but fortunately, the morning was cold, and his lips soon adjusted.

As the sweet, warm tea slid down his throat into his stomach, Song Yan immediately felt warm all over, wonderfully refreshed.

"Hey, Old Fang, you've just come back from Wuling City. Did the magistrate invite you over for a drink?"

"Ha! You little bastard, making fun of this old man, are you?"

Old Fang tapped his bowl in feigned anger, his eyes round with fury.

Song Yan drank half a bowl of tea and propped his head on his hand, listening with interest to the travelers beside him chat about everything under the sun.

Some of their tales were so fantastical that they could even rival the Complete Record of Immortal Dao Scenery.

"The magistrate was holding a banquet for his daughter. Anyone who could cross the Bai Family's threshold was some rich, high-ranking lord with power and influence. What would you have this old Fang go there for? To eat swill?"

"Hahahaha..."

The old man surnamed Fang widened his eyes and pretended to be furious, making everyone in the teahouse roar with laughter.

"Yanyan, where's Wuling?"

A little snake's head poked out of his sleeve, and Song Yan hastily pushed it back inside.

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to his chest. "A little farther east of that town we passed through two days ago."

Song Yan had passed through that area while traveling a few days earlier, but had not stayed long.

"What happy occasion is the magistrate celebrating?"

"Seems his daughter was chosen by an immortal passing through, who's going to take her to an immortal mountain to study the Immortal Method..."

"What?!"

"Old Fang, don't you go fooling us."

"Well... I only heard some rumors myself. I... I'm just a rough fellow. How would I know what's true?"

An immortal...

Song Yan paused, suddenly remembering that Jiangyun Prefecture in Qi Province was the territory of Hanging Sword Mountain, one of the Chu Kingdom's six great sects.

Frowning slightly, he sighed softly. "I'd better get moving sooner."

There was still daylight to spare. Song Yan rose, paid for his tea, and continued north.

Heading in the direction of the Dongyuan Sect, he soon left the official road.

There were no longer any travelers around on the woodland path. All sounds had fallen silent, leaving it wonderfully peaceful.

Clip-clop, clip-clop... clip-clop, clip-clop...

A burst of hoofbeats broke the silence.

"Oh? Carriages!"

Pleasantly surprised, Song Yan looked into the distance and saw three carriages traveling together. The leading carriage was enormous and moved steadily.

At the front, besides two drivers, sat an old man cradling a sword. He was presumably a martial artist of the mortal world.

The two carriages behind it were presumably carrying goods.

"Sir! Sir!"

Eager to return to his sect sooner, Song Yan could no longer worry about much else and called out repeatedly, "Could you give me a ride?"

The old man at the front frowned. They traveled a little farther before stopping.

The curtain over the carriage window lifted, revealing several tender young faces crowded together, both boys and girls.

The sword-cradling old man looked Song Yan up and down. "Where have you come from...?"

"My name is Song Yesheng. I'm originally from Feng'an Prefecture, and I'm returning home to visit my family. Would you perhaps..."

The sword-cradling old man seemed to be a martial artist of the wandering world. Simply stopping the carriage to hear Song Yan out already showed his old-fashioned kindness.

Yet although he was willing to help, he seemed to have some concerns.

After a moment's consideration, he still refused Song Yan. "Young fellow, don't blame this old man for being unkind. I have important business to attend to, and I really don't want any extra branches growing from the stem."

"Ah... no matter, no matter."

In times like these, one could never let down one's guard against others. It was only natural.

"Grandpa Xie! Grandpa Xie, let him come aboard!"

"Yes, there's plenty of room inside!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Grandpa Xie Xing, he looks like a scholar! He wouldn't be a bad person..."

The handful of children inside the carriage craned their necks and chattered away.

"..."

Xie Xing shook his head. These children were truly naïve.

For highway robbers, sending a harmless-looking scholar or a young woman as lovely as a flower to pretend they were traveling to an examination, returning home, or fleeing enemies, then slip into a convoy, was the simplest trick imaginable.

Had Xie Xing been alone, he would have helped without further thought. He was accustomed to roaming the world, upholding justice and helping those in need.

But he dared not gamble with the lives and safety of the five Xie Family children inside the carriage.

"My apologies."

Xie Xing was just about to give the order to move on when he discovered that the boy leading the children had already jumped down from the carriage and taken hold of Song Yan's sleeve.

"Come on, get in!"

"Xie Chuan! What are you doing?!"

"Grandpa Xie Xing, giving him a lift won't hurt."

The boy grinned as he told Song Yan, "Only for a little way. Once we reach Fufeng City, you'll have to go on your own."

It was unclear whether he was saying this for Song Yan or the sword-cradling old man to hear.

"Ah... get in."

"Thank you all! I have some silver for traveling expenses..."

Xie Xing waved a hand. "Since we're going the same way, we won't take your silver. Surely you don't take this old man for a highway robber?"

"Young man, when you travel the world in the future, don't reveal your valuables so readily."

From those few words, Song Yan could tell that Xie Xing was a man who upheld justice and helped others.

"Thank you for the lesson, senior."

Song Yan had wanted to chat a little with the children, but worried that the sword-cradling old man up front would suspect him of fishing for information, so he said little.

The children, however, chattered away and laid out their backgrounds and family circumstances in perfect detail themselves, making the old man at the front sigh again and again.

"We're from Nanhong City, and we're going to Jiangyun Prefecture."

Nanhong City?

Song Yan had heard of the place. It lay in southern Qiyuan Prefecture.

It produced clay figures and figurines in abundance.

He had often seen them on traveling merchants' trunks and stalls at Shiliang Town's market. They truly were lifelike.

His grandfather had even bought him one when he was little, though he had no idea where he had lost it.

"Oh? If you're going to Jiangyun Prefecture, why take this road?"

It was not that they could not, but it was a roundabout route, a little out of the way.

Perhaps worried that the children had no guard on their tongues, Xie Xing took over the conversation.

"We have some business to attend to in Fufeng City."

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