Chapter 30: Southern Flood Clay Doll
The spring rain had just cleared. A gentle wind swept from the foothills of the Great Heavenly Mountains’ snow range, across Jiangyun Prefecture in northern Qi Zhou, all the way to the official road of Wuling City.
There were quite a few travelers on the official road, most of them wanderers far from home and itinerant merchants.
A youth in plain clothes lay reclining beneath a plum blossom tree, using an old book to shield his face from the sun, dozing in the warmth of the spring day.
A sudden gust of wind blew past, and a petal still damp with dew drifted from the branch, landing right in his palm.
“Shh—”
Song Yan shivered, removed the book from his face, and opened his eyes.
When he had left the mountains that day and inquired at the village below, he learned that this was Qi Zhou territory.
It was a great distance from the Eastern Abyss Sect.
However, Qi Zhou was not far from Liang Zhou, where the Silent Valley was located. If he headed to the Silent Valley, driving his spiritual energy, he could arrive in three to five days.
Returning to the Silent Valley now was far too dangerous.
He might well be killed on the spot by those unreasonable elders of the Profound Abyss Sect, who would fabricate charges against him at will…
Yet, disbanding his cultivation and rebuilding was precisely to clear himself of suspicion. If he returned to the sect on his own, it might appear as though he had a guilty conscience.
After much deliberation, Song Yan decided to return to the sect first.
Keeping his life was paramount…
Song Yan now possessed only the cultivation of the first level of Qi Refining…
He hurried along as best he could, and three days passed without him even entering Feng’an Prefecture’s borders.
“If I had known earlier, I should have found a town and hired a horse-drawn carriage…”
Song Yan looked into the distance and saw a teahouse ahead.
He had just woken from a groggy nap and was quite parched.
Since disbanding his cultivation and rebuilding, his realm had dropped back to the early stage of Qi Refining. Thirst, hunger, and spring drowsiness had all returned with renewed intensity.
Song Yan did not dislike these sensations. On the contrary, they gave him a long-lost sense of being “human.”
The teahouse before him was quite large, with a second floor. From the looks of it, it also offered lodging, more like an inn.
Some drank wine, others drank tea. Conversations ranged far and wide. In this world of chance encounters, there was such a lively place.
“Tong Bo, serve the guests tea!”
“Coming right up!”
The tea was a bit scalding, but fortunately the morning air was cool, and his lips adjusted quickly.
The sweet, warm tea went down his throat and into his stomach. Song Yan immediately felt warmth spread through his body, refreshing and thorough.
“Hey, Old Fang, when you came back from Wuling City, did the county magistrate invite you for a drink?”
“Hey, you little rascal, are you making fun of this old man?”
Old Fang pretended to be angry, tapping his bowl and glaring wide-eyed.
Song Yan drank half a bowl of tea, propped his head on his hand, and listened with great interest to the travelers chatting nearby.
Some of their stories were so fantastical they could rival the Complete Records of Immortal Path Wonders.
“That county magistrate held a banquet for his daughter. The people who could step through the Bai family’s threshold were all wealthy and powerful officials. Why would he invite me, old Fang? To eat slop? Hahaha…”
“Old Fang, don’t you lie to us.”
“Well… I just heard some rumors. I’m an uneducated man, what do I know about what’s true or false.”
Immortals…
Song Yan was startled, suddenly remembering that Qi Zhou’s Jiangyun Prefecture was the territory of the Hanging Sword Mountain, one of the six great sects of the Chu Kingdom.
He furrowed his brow slightly and let out a soft sigh: “I should hurry along.”
The weather was still fair. Song Yan stood, paid for his tea, and continued north.
Following the direction of the Eastern Abyss Sect, he quickly left the official road.
On the forest path, there were no other travelers around. All was silent, quite peaceful.
Clip-clop… clip-clop…
The sound of hooves broke the stillness.
“A horse-drawn carriage!”
Song Yan was pleasantly surprised. In the distance, three carriages traveled together. The lead carriage was quite large and moved steadily. At the front of the carriage, besides two drivers, sat an elderly man cradling a sword, likely a martial artist from the mundane world.
The two carriages behind were probably for carrying goods.
“Old sir! Old sir!”
Eager to return to the sect as soon as possible, Song Yan called out repeatedly: “Could you give me a ride?”
The old man in front furrowed his brow, continued forward for a moment, then stopped.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and several youthful children’s faces clustered together, boys and girls alike.
The sword-cradling elder looked Song Yan up and down: “Where are you from…”
“This humble one is Song Yesheng, originally from Feng’an Prefecture. I am on my way home to visit relatives. Might you be willing…”
The sword-cradling elder appeared to be a martial artist of the jianghu. That he had stopped to listen to Song Yan at all showed a warm and generous heart.
Though he was willing to help, he seemed to have some reservations.
After a moment’s consideration, he still refused: “Young brother, don’t think this old man is heartless. I simply have important matters to attend to and cannot afford complications.”
“It’s… no trouble, no trouble.”
In these times, it was only natural to be cautious of strangers.
“Grandpa Xie! Grandpa Xie, let him come up!”
“Please do! There’s plenty of room in the carriage!”
“Stop causing trouble!”
“Grandpa Xie, he looks like a scholar! He wouldn’t be a bad person…”
Three or five children poked their heads out from the carriage, chattering away.
“…”
Xie Xing shook his head. These children were truly naive.
On the jianghu, bandits would send someone who looked harmless—a scholar, a beautiful young woman—pretending to be scholars heading to exams or people fleeing enemies, slipping into the caravan. It was one of the simplest tricks.
If Xie Xing were alone, he would have helped without hesitation. He was accustomed to roaming the jianghu and doing righteous deeds.
But he dared not gamble with the lives of the five Xie family children in the carriage.
“My apologies.”
Xie Xing was about to order the caravan to continue, only to find that the lead boy among the children had already jumped down from the carriage and grabbed Song Yan’s sleeve.
“Quick, get in!”
“Xie Chuan! What are you doing?!”
“Grandpa Xie, just give him a ride a little way. It won’t be any trouble.”
The boy grinned and said to Song Yan: “We’ll only take you a short distance. Once we reach Fufeng City, you’ll have to go on your own.”
It was unclear whether he was speaking to Song Yan or the sword-cradling elder.
“Sigh… come aboard.”
“Thank you all! I have some silver for traveling expenses…”
Xie Xing waved his hand: “Since we’re going the same way, I won’t take your silver. Do you take this old man for a bandit?”
“Young man, in the future when you roam the jianghu, don’t so easily reveal your wealth.”
From these few words, Song Yan could tell that Xie Xing was a man who practiced chivalry.
“This junior is grateful for the lesson.”
Song Yan had wanted to chat with the children, but worried the sword-cradling elder would suspect him of gathering information, so he remained mostly silent.
But the children chattered on their own, cheerfully revealing their family backgrounds one by one, making the elder at the front of the carriage sigh repeatedly.
“We came from Nanfeng City, heading to Jiangyun Prefecture.”
Nanfeng City?
Song Yan had heard of this place, south of Qiyuan Prefecture.
It was famous for producing clay dolls and figurines.
At the Shiliang Town market, they were often seen on the stalls and boxes of traveling merchants, truly lifelike.
When he was young, his grandfather had bought him one, but he had no idea where it had gone.
“Hm? If you’re going to Jiangyun Prefecture, why take this route?”
It was not impossible, just a detour, a bit out of the way.
Perhaps worried the children would speak without discretion, Xie Xing took over the conversation.
“We have some business to attend to in Fufeng City.”