Chapter 32: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
The sunset traveled across the sky, and escorts walked along the long street.
Zhou Yan passed through streets and alleys, arriving at the Fu’an Escort Agency.
The escort agency was bustling with people coming and going. As he passed, runners and escorts greeted him. Cui Changshun, seeing Zhou Yan, likely felt guilty and quickly turned his head, recalling conversations from earlier that day with Escort Su and Escort Lu from the Four Seas Escort Agency.
The other party had asked Zhou Yan if his martial arts had advanced by leaps and bounds in the past half month due to some fortunate encounter.
He himself had replied that he had received guidance from Zhang Wangyue, but didn’t know the specifics. As he thought this, a sudden realization struck him: when Zhou Yan had inquired about lightness skill cultivation methods at the martial field, he was later summoned by the head escort. Could it be that he was truly given some profound cultivation technique?
Cui Changshun, already burning with jealousy, had a sudden thought: Zhou Yan was on night duty. Should he search his home? If he found something, wouldn’t his own martial arts also be able to advance a thousand li?
The thought, once conceived, grew and spread like wild grass, becoming uncontrollable. His heart began to pound violently.
Zhou Yan had long known that Cui Qingshan and his nephew harbored ill will towards him. With his sharp eyes, he noticed Cui Changshun’s unusual reaction, his pupils contracting slightly. He then calmly walked out, asking familiar escorts like Huyan Lei and Wang Kui where they were. The escorts said they were with the head escort.
He headed straight for Zhang Wangyue’s place with his quiver and pack on his back.
Faint rays of sunset fell at the end of the long corridor. As Zhou Yan walked in, the head escort, Huyan Lei, and two others were gathered around a square table.
Huyan Lei saw Zhou Yan and teased, “You’ve moved your home here.”
He smiled, “I’m on night duty tonight. If I leave early, I won’t have to go back.”
“I was thinking of letting you rest more, considering the energy you expended in the two battles at the Four Seas Escort Agency,” Huyan Lei said.
Zhou Yan felt warmth in his heart but said, “I recovered that day. This trip to Jingzhou will take dozens of days to return. Shouldn’t you old brothers say goodbye to your wives?”
“You’re the most thoughtful,” Huyan Lei praised.
Wang Kui suddenly said, “I have a niece, sixteen years old, and quite pretty. How about I introduce her to Brother Zhou?”
Huyan Lei retorted, “Get lost! You call that ugly duckling pretty? Didn’t you also say you’d introduce her to my nephew, but then that little brat secretly looked at her once and didn’t dare to come home?”
Wang Kui was embarrassed, “You shouldn’t say that.”
Zhou Yan was stunned. Huyan Lei said, “With Brother Zhou’s talent, he’ll surely marry the daughter of some escort agency boss in the future.”
“Exactly, exactly,” Shi Baichuan nodded repeatedly.
Zhang Wangyue smiled slightly.
These were just casual jokes. The head escort said, “Brother Zhou, come take a look. We’re discussing the southward route.”
Zhang Wangyue referred to Zhou Yan as an escort in front of others, but called him Brother Zhou in private.
He walked over. In terms of geography, his familiarity now far surpassed that of Huyan Lei and the others. His only deficiency was in the specific road conditions.
Two routes were drawn on the sketch. Combining knowledge from two lifetimes, they were easily identifiable. One route started from Zhongdu, passed through Cangzhou and Dezhou, traveled southwest within Shandong province, crossed the Huai River, and headed directly to Jingzhou along the Great Song Dynasty’s territory.
The other route was more classic: along Baoding, Handan, Anyang, and finally entering Jin territory at Fengling Ferry. Then, it proceeded south along the Yellow River.
Fengling Ferry was one of the best ferry crossings on the Yellow River, making crossing the river most convenient.
The reason Zhou Yan called this route classic was because in the Jianghu of the Divine Condor, Guo Xiang met Yang Guo here, and the Divine Condor Hero revealed his face, leading to a lifetime of regret.
He wasn’t the type to give a diplomatic answer like “everything is up to the head escort.”
“My suggestion is to go via Fengling Ferry.”
“Why?” Zhang Wangyue asked.
“We have many mules and horses, making it easy to cross the river. Also, traveling along the southern foothills of the Taihang Mountains allows us to avoid areas with heavy Jin troop deployment. If there’s any disturbance, it’s easier to evade. Once we cross Fengling Ferry, more than half of this escort mission will be safe.”
Huyan Lei laughed heartily, “The head escort said the same thing.”
Zhou Yan looked at Zhang Wangyue, who nodded in approval.
“Then it’s settled.”
“Good,” Huyan Lei and the others nodded.
The evening breeze, carrying a hint of coolness, blew gently. Night fell. Zhou Yan and the others left the courtyard. Huyan Lei and Wang Kui bid him farewell, and they left the escort agency.
As the night deepened, the escort agency gradually became quiet.
Zhou Yan and Shi Baichuan sat on opposite sides of the courtyard filled with escort carts. Under the octagonal pavilion, he placed his quiver on the stone table and began meditating, circulating the breathing exercises taught by Wang Chuyi. In just a moment, a warm surge of internal energy rose in his dantian. The qi circulated through his meridians, then rose from beneath his little toe, diagonally traversed the sole of his foot, emerged below the Ran Gu acupoint, followed the inside of his ankle, and entered the middle of his heel…
Zhou Yan began to temper his Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian according to the “Golden Goose Skill” cultivation method.
With the internal cultivation techniques of the Quanzhen Sect, the Yue Family Scattered Hands, and the Qi Guiding Method, he officially embarked on the path of cultivating both internally and externally. The two extraordinary meridians running along his feet were already open. By tempering the Foot Shaoyang and Foot Shaoyin main meridians, yin and yang would complement each other, maximizing the avoidance of qi deviation. Focusing solely on yang or yin meridians could lead to imbalance and potential trouble, lessons learned from Yuyangzi’s cultivation path.
The distant and near lights became sparse. Zhou Yan opened his slightly closed eyes, stood up, and went to Shi Baichuan’s side. He whispered a few words, then disappeared into the night.
…
With halls of white jade and horses of gold, the luxurious residence was filled with the aroma of wine.
Ghost Gate Dragon King Sha Tongtian walked through the courtyard with its stacked rockeries and pushed open the door to the hall. He said to a short, sturdy man, “Why are you drinking without calling me?”
The short, stout man replied, “I heard from the Prince’s Manor staff that you were out, so I drank alone.”
Sha Tongtian said, “I’m looking for you, Brother Peng, because it’s related to the matter of you going out today.”
Sha Tongtian called the man Brother Peng. The other man was none other than Peng Lianhu, the “Thousand Hand Butcher,” one of the five great experts hired by the Great Jin King Wanyan Honglie.
The two were sworn brothers and often helped each other in their illicit dealings.
As Ghost Gate Dragon King spoke, the Thousand Hand Butcher asked, “What do you mean?”
“The Fu’an Escort Agency in Zhongdu is making an escort run. The cargo is hundreds of mules and horses, medicinal herbs, leather goods, and spices from the Western Regions. The escort team has already crossed the Yellow River. I’m unable to be in two places at once, so I sent my junior brother to intercept them at the Yellow River. But you know my junior brother; his mind is sometimes clear, sometimes not. Also, I’ve investigated and found that several escorts at the Fu’an Escort Agency are quite skilled. How about we join forces?”
“You want me to send men to assist Hou Tonghai?”
“Precisely. Hundreds of mules and horses, each worth dozens of taels of silver. They’ll be easy to sell.”
“Alright.”
“Our brotherhood is invincible. Let’s drink this cup.”
“Good!”
Sha Tongtian raised his wine cup. In the wine, reflecting the light, he seemed to see piles of silver.
…
The moon was high, the wind was dark, dogs barked, and people moved in secret.
Cui Changshun crept stealthily to Zhou Yan’s small courtyard. Seeing no one around, he climbed over the wall and entered.
Ever since the thought of whether Zhang Wangyue had given Zhou Yan a profound cultivation technique arose in his mind at dusk, he could no longer suppress the urge to search and steal.
Zhou Yan was on night duty, which provided the perfect opportunity.
He knew where Zhou Yan lived and sneaked in at midnight.
He acted with utter disregard, walking straight through the courtyard and pushing open the door to the room. In the pitch-black night, the three strands of hair Zhou Yan had stuck up with rice grains snapped.
Cui Changshun lit an oil lamp and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
After a while, he said impatiently, “How is it possible there’s nothing? This doesn’t make sense. Where could it be hidden?”
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind Cui Changshun, “What are you looking for?”
Cui Changshun was greatly alarmed and spun around.
What greeted him was an extremely simple fist.
There will be another update soon. Today’s monthly ticket bonus update, three chapters.
