Qianma Town.
This name had a history behind it as well.
Back when the Changning Guard region had still been a wilderness of the Outer Domain, Anyuan Guard had been the very edge of human habitation. One could tell from the name Anyuan Guard itself that this was a borderland.
The area around Qianma Town had been an outpost established when humanity relied on the stronghold of Anyuan Guard and the pass of Anyuan Pass to expand into the Outer Domain.
It was said that Ancestor Huangfu Hongyu of the Huangfu Clan had been an extraordinarily gifted figure in his day. He had forcibly driven a nail into the Outer Domain by establishing Qianma Town, then joined forces with the authorities and the Lei Clan to open up Changning Guard.
Qianma, Qianma—the name naturally meant it had been the vanguard of that great expansion.
Five or six hundred years had passed, yet Qianma Town still bore thick traces of that era's history. To its north stood Anyuan Pass, leading toward Anyuan Guard; to its west stretched the vast Huangfu Ranch as far as the eye could see; and southward lay a gorge, within which stood a fortress-like pass named Qianma Fort.
Qianma Fort formed a barrier between Qianma Town and the Changning Guard region. However, Qianma Fort was under official control and fell within the authority of Qianma Town's Town Guardian.
That was only proper. Many major transport routes were directly administered by the authorities. Ping'an Town also had a Town Guardian, while Zhouxuan Pass, which Ancestor Zhouxuan had planned and built in his day, was now under the jurisdiction of Ping'an Town's Town Guardian Office as well.
The reason the Wang Clan had managed to secure jurisdiction over Dingpu Ferry was that there was already a Changning Ferry under