The Shaking Light Holy Lord, the Ji Clan Patriarch

The Old Beggar leaned on his cane, turned around, and shuffled away from the caravan with his back bent.

Gu Baishui stood there in a daze, watching the Old Beggar's sleeves hang loose as he ambled toward the gates of Luoyang City.

He seemed like an old man standing apart from the world, following the passage of time step by step. After traveling through countless years, he had finally returned to this ancient city.

The Old Beggar paid no attention to anyone queuing outside the city. His eyes held only this old city, equally aged and prosperous.

Only when he passed the old merchant waiting in line at the city gate did he turn his head slightly and offer a calm, gentle smile.

The spring breeze stirred as the Old Beggar walked into the old city, minding his own business.

A while later, Gu Baishui let out a meaningful sigh, his expression complicated as he watched... the Old Beggar, who had tried to cut in line, get tossed out of the city gate without a trace of expression by the guards.

The air of a transcendent master shattered all over the ground.

The Old Beggar grimaced and rubbed his butt, then scurried back to the end of the line outside the city and obediently queued up.

"What in the world was that?"

Gu Baishui scratched his head, both amused and exasperated. He hesitated as he looked at the Old Beggar's broken bone in his hand, but still didn't toss it by the roadside. Instead, he casually tucked it into his sleeve.

"Second Senior Brother said that old things' belongings are all good stuff."

Gu Baishui returned to his carriage and found the girl by the window still staring absentmindedly at the Big Stone beneath the Willow Tree.

"Actually, there's something I've never quite figured out," Gu Baishui said.

Luo Ziwei turned her head and asked, "What?"

"Is Li Shiyi your friend?"

"Sort of."

"Did he grow up in Luoyang?"

Luo Ziwei nodded again. "Mm."

Gu Baishui's eyes shifted slightly. He looked at the Linen-Clad Girl and asked seriously, "But you said you came to Luoyang to find your relatives. You've never been to Luoyang before, so how do you know Li Shiyi?"

Luo Ziwei thought for a moment, then gave a soft laugh. "I never said I met him in Luoyang City."

Gu Baishui paused, then asked, "Where, then?"

"Outside Luoyang City."

The Linen-Clad Girl shrugged shamelessly. Her answer was perfunctory, but she didn't seem to want to say more.

Gu Baishui didn't press her. He just felt the bone in his sleeve and shook his head helplessly.

The carriage rolled onward, soon arriving at the city gate.

The guards of Luoyang City were inspecting every traveler and caravan entering the city. According to the rules, the young man and girl in the carriage also had to get down for inspection.

Luo Ziwei hopped down from the carriage with ease, passed inspection with the old merchant, and stood inside the gates of Luoyang City.

But when the guards got to Gu Baishui, something unexpected happened.

"Name." A gate guard wearing a helmet held a small booklet and casually asked Gu Baishui.

"Li Gousheng'er." Gu Baishui casually made up a fake name.

The guard looked up at him but said nothing, then continued, "What do you do?"

"Poet." Gu Baishui kept a straight face and spoke with complete seriousness. "I'm a wandering poet. The whole world is my home."

"A wandering poet?"

The young guard at the gate paused, then laughed. "That's the first I've heard of that. Are you from beyond the borders of the Tang Kingdom?"

Gu Baishui thought for a moment, then nodded. "The Western Regions."

The young guard nodded. "No wonder."

Gu Baishui asked, "No wonder what?"

"No wonder your surname is Li," the young guard said. "In the Tang Kingdom, Li is the imperial surname. Few outsiders have it, apart from the imperial family's relatives. When you came out with that, I thought you might be some prince or duke in disguise."

Gu Baishui hadn't expected that, so he asked, "Then can I enter the city?"

The guard laughed. "Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because you're from outside the Tang Kingdom's borders. Normally, that wouldn't matter, but the whole city is under curfew right now. Without a travel permit and a guarantee from a city resident, I don't have the authority to let you in."

The guard put away his booklet, then pointed in another direction outside the city. "The curfew lasts seven days. If you don't have anything urgent to do, you can spend a few nights at an inn or estate outside the city."

Gu Baishui frowned. He hadn't expected to run into this kind of trouble.

The caravan went past him in an orderly fashion. The old merchant came over to ask about Gu Baishui's situation, but there was nothing he could do either.

The Little Beggar seemed carefree and unconcerned. He was still standing in the shadow inside the gate, tilting his head and grinning at Gu Baishui.

"Then I'll head into the city first."

Gu Baishui had no choice but to nod. He said to the Linen-Clad Girl inside the gate, "I'll think of something and see if I can find a chance to sneak in."

The Linen-Clad Girl shrugged and said, "That works."

Then she turned and left with a flourish.

The young guard beside him sighed helplessly. "You can try sneaking in, but could you at least say that behind my back? You're that brazen right in front of the gate guard?"

Gu Baishui thought for a moment, then asked seriously, "Are you on duty tomorrow, too?"

The young guard paused, then shook his head. "I'm on the late shift tomorrow."

Gu Baishui shrugged shamelessly. "Then I'll enter the city tomorrow morning."

Hearing the young man's shameless reply, the young guard laughed in exasperation. "Fine by me. Just don't go saying your surname is Li again."

And so the caravan slowly passed through the city gate, while Gu Baishui was left alone outside Luoyang City.

He and the Linen-Clad Girl parted ways there. He had no idea whether her journey to find her relatives was going smoothly.

But instead of going to the estates and inns the young guard had mentioned, Gu Baishui leaned against the Big Stone beneath the Willow Tree by the city gate. He cracked sunflower seeds and watched the rangers, scholars, and travelers walking into Luoyang City.

"So I really am the only outsider?"

Gu Baishui shook his head helplessly and tucked the bits of sunflower seed shells in his mouth into his sleeve.

At sunset,

Just as the gates of Luoyang City were about to close, one last group arrived at the gate.

There were three of them: one old, one young, and one middle-aged.

The old man wore a long robe. His face was dark, his beard white, and the wrinkles on his face were piled up like the bark of an old tree, making him look especially stern and aged.

The middle-aged man wore fine clothes and had a refined, amiable face. His bearing was also quite extraordinary. A fine yet unadorned jade token hung at his waist, with only the character "Ji" carved on it.

The last of them, the young man, was the most eye-catching and outstanding of the three. He had handsome, clean features, clear brows and eyes, and flawless teeth. A plain, ancient-looking long sword hung at his waist, and he held a folding fan in his hand.

Gu Baishui saw the three of them, then gaped and froze on the spot. He thought and thought, but still couldn't figure it out.

"The Old Holy Lord of the Shaking Light Holy Land and Ji Changsheng, patriarch of the Ji Clan of the Central Continent. Those two big shots didn't come all the way to Luoyang City just to attend a banquet, did they?"

"And who's that last guy?"

"Why does he look so... irritating?"