The escort agency was originally meant to deal with all sorts of people from every walk of life. Although Chen Ping was born into a wealthy family, he was not a noble himself. His ancestors had been nobles, but the grace of a gentleman’s line is cut off by the fifth generation. By his generation they no longer inherited the family title, so his grandfather split off from the clan, and, borrowing the family’s influence, founded the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency, transplanting the name of Dragon Tiger Mountain for his own use.
Though he was not a noble, his relations with the main clan were not bad, and he held considerable sway in Jinling City.
People say that once the family branches off, they live separately; but after the branch family split, did his grandfather stop being his grandfather? Did he cease to be of the Chen Family bloodline in Jinling? Did he stop being the old Patriarch of the Chen Family’s grandson?
In truth, after nobles divide into branches, their ties are still tangled like lotus roots that won’t break cleanly; collateral lines rely on the strength of the clan to make a living. The direct main line also does not mind the collateral branches borrowing a portion of the main line’s power to grow. After all, if you trace back five generations, everyone shares the same ancestor. If the collateral line can grow strong, it is also a help to the direct line.
The direct line is the trunk of a great tree, and the countless collateral branches are its innumerable leaves and twigs. Though leaves wither, flourish, and perish without cease, they remain closely tied to the direct line; the two sides are naturally entangled.
Seeing Zhang Chen dressed in ragged coarse linen, then seeing the calm composure with which he faced him, neither servile nor overbearing, Chen Ping couldn’t help but look at him with new eyes.
To be born humble is no disgrace; to bend and stretch, unmoved by favor or humiliation, that is a true man.
Chen Ping proposed to cover all of Zhang Chen’s expenses on the journey south. Zhang Chen hesitated slightly in his heart, then chose to agree. The other party had already said as much—if he still refused, he feared they might become enemies.
Seeing Zhang Chen nod in agreement, Chen Ping was overjoyed at once. He hurriedly sent people to bring over Mrs. Zhang and the others, then cleared out two tents at the very center of the escort agency’s encampment for Zhang Chen’s family to live in.
Zhang Chen and Zhang Fei shared one tent; Mrs. Zhang shared another with Zhang Tuowei and Chengyu.
At this time the few of them were gathered inside Mrs. Zhang’s tent. Mrs. Zhang looked at Zhang Chen with a solemn expression. "Why is the escort agency treating us with such courtesy?"
She did not know that Zhang Chen had saved Chen Ping’s life. Seeing the escort agency show goodwill for no apparent reason, she felt somewhat uneasy, so she came to ask Zhang Chen.
"I have some entanglements with that Young Master Chen Ping. You just accept what’s given; I naturally have my own measure in mind." Zhang Chen spoke calmly.
Hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Mrs. Zhang relaxed.
Just then, a Porter from the escort agency brought in clean water and brand-new clothes for the family to wash and change. Zhang Chen did not refuse; instead, he carefully cleaned the grime from his body, revealing skin that was white and delicate. Then he tidied his hair meticulously and bound it with a hairpin. Looking at the silk sent over by the Chen Family, Zhang Chen shook his head, took out the coarse linen clothing he had prepared in his bundle, and put it on with care.
Beside him, Zhang Fei had also finished washing. Seeing that Zhang Chen had not put on the silk garments, he imitated him by taking out coarse linen from his own bundle and dressing himself. Then his eyes turned to Zhang Chen. "Big Brother, your skin is really too good—just like jade."
In Zhang Fei’s gaze, the skin all over Zhang Chen’s body was fine and white, and under the glow of the candle flame, it was as snowy and flawless as top-grade jade.
"Sleep." Zhang Chen flicked his finger and snuffed out the lamp, then sat cross-legged in the tent and continued cultivating. He had to strive to cross that boundless sea as soon as possible, and then seize the power of Divine Power.
Tonight, the Gambling Fox and that Mysterious man had actually pinned down his Buzhou Seal for a single instant, making him miss the perfect chance to kill the two of them. A warning bell began to ring in Zhang Chen’s heart.
The night passed. With the noisy clamor of morning, Zhang Chen’s family got up and washed. People from the escort agency brought breakfast for the family to eat.
After breakfast, the escort agency’s large group began to take down the tents and once again set out on the journey south, leaving behind only countless corpses, long buried in the yellow earth.
Watching the escort agency’s formation, Zhang Chen muttered under his breath:
"Interesting."
As the escort agency moved, it was like an army on campaign; the ranks were orderly, and some hidden pattern pulsed within.
At this moment, Zhang Chen was sitting on a donkey cart. His relatives all had covered carriages provided by the escort agency. The carriages rolled by at an unhurried pace, guarded in the center of the column.
Farther out, the main body of the column still stretched like a covering sky, whipping up clouds of dust. A single glance could not see its end.
Porters were driving the carriages. Chen Ping was sprawled on one of them; as his carriage passed by Zhang Chen’s donkey cart, he called out a greeting. "Zhang, did you rest well last night?"
"Thanks to your care, this is probably the best night’s rest I’ve had in days." Zhang Chen cupped his fists in salute. "Young Leader, you’ve troubled yourself."
"Come now, what’s the point of being polite between us? Once my wounds are healed, I’ll treat you to a drink." After chatting with Zhang Chen for a while, Chen Ping’s carriage gradually rolled away.
Not long after the Human Race band had departed, Chai Chuanxin and Zhuge Cheng appeared on the spot. Chai Chuanxin squatted down and began to perform a Secret Technique. Only a moment later, his face changed drastically as he rose to his feet, his eyes full of disbelief. "Impossible! There isn’t a single drop of blood underground!"
"Could your Secret Technique have gone wrong?" Zhuge Cheng’s expression was ugly.
"Absolutely impossible. I’ve used this Secret Technique many times; there’s no chance of a mistake. Young Master, please wait here a moment, I’ll be right back." With that, Chai Chuanxin directly used the Technique of Material Void and slipped into the ground. A moment later, he returned, his face dark. "There’s not a drop of blood beneath the ground! It’s as if last night’s great battle never happened at all."
"It must be that someone secretly used Divine Techniques to collect all that blood. Among the escort agency’s convoy, there’s someone who can absorb blood. We basically made wedding clothes for others last night." Chai Chuanxin cursed furiously, his voice full of anger.
Zhuge Cheng’s face was ugly. "That damned fellow must be closely connected to the one who struck last night. Once I catch up with that escort convoy, I’ll fight them properly and vent this rage in my heart."
Chai Chuanxin hurriedly grabbed Zhuge Cheng’s sleeve. "No! That person has too many methods, he’s not like an ordinary Bloodline Practitioner, nor an ordinary Cultivator. We must not act rashly. It was only some blood food. Right now Demon Beasts and refugees in the Northern Land are everywhere. We’ll just plot again elsewhere. At worst we lose only a month or so of time."
The two vanished into the desolate mountains, only their words drifting between the peaks: "Chai, are you really that wary of that kid?"
"When I saw that man, my heart just went cold. I kept feeling something was off, as if some power in the dark were urging me to run." Chai Chuanxin said.
...
The wheels of the carriage clattered, and the great column of men and horses stretched like a long dragon, its end nowhere in sight.
Zhang Chen sat in the carriage, basking in the sun overhead, looking at the greenery along the roadside, feeling very at ease.
It had already been a month since the last attack. The grass on the ground had sprouted anew, and the trees had come back to life, putting out lush green leaves.
Since the last ambush, the escort agency’s main convoy had suffered several more attacks along the way, all by Human Demons from outside the border, and all had been beaten back by the agency’s elites.
One had to admit the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency did have some skill; to repeatedly defeat those Human Demon bands showed their great strength.
"Young Master Zhang, our Young Leader invites you over for a drink." At this moment a Porter hurried over from afar, stopped before Zhang Chen’s donkey cart, and greeted him with a broad grin.
Zhang Chen turned his head and glanced at the Porter. This man was called Chen Daxue, an orphan adopted by the Chen Family, picked up on the day of the Great Snow festival, hence the name Daxue.
Over this past month he had already become familiar with the people of the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency. Everyone knew Zhang Chen had saved their Young Leader’s life. Especially after hearing that Zhang Chen, a mere mortal body ignorant of the Martial Dao, had, heedless of the beast tide’s danger, rushed into the tide with a torch to drive away that ferocious beast, these men who lick blood from the knife’s edge respected Zhang Chen all the more.
Men who roam the Martial World respect most those who value their word over their life. Though Zhang Chen was from a poor family, he still earned the respect of these Escort Masters.
In particular, Zhang Chen’s skin was fair and delicate, almost like that of a noble young master. Though he wore coarse hemp clothes, they could not conceal his hard-to-describe bearing, and everyone was very curious about him.
Besides, they were all people traveling the Martial World; there were no real nobles among them, all of them were lowly folk living by the blade, so there was no such thing as looking down on others.
"Tell your Young Leader I’ll be right there!" Zhang Chen replied with a smiling lilt.
Chen Ping’s injuries had already healed as well. He would come find Zhang Chen for a drink from time to time, and the two had gradually become familiar, at least enough to be called friends.
Zhang Chen found Chen Ping a very interesting person. No matter whom he met, he could always find topics to talk about with them, and every conversation left the other party feeling as if bathed in a spring breeze, relaxed in body and mind.
The key thing was that Chen Ping was a man of his word. Over this month he had taken meticulous care of Zhang Chen. For all three meals each day there was always meat and wine; it was hard for Zhang Chen not to befriend such a man.
Zhang Chen jumped down from the donkey cart and called into it, "Zhang Fei, get down and drive."
A shadow shot out of the carriage and landed on the ground. The much-slimmed-down Zhang Fei grabbed the reins, frowning bitterly. "Big Brother, my Cultivation Technique has already reached a bottleneck. Let me rest a bit."
After a month of cultivation, Zhang Fei had already stepped through the door of the Martial Dao and begun to grasp the skills of exerting force. His body had thinned a great deal, and he looked quite lanky and refined.
Zhang Chen ignored Zhang Fei’s complaint and simply strode off toward the front.
Up ahead, Chen Ping had already set up camp. The escort agency’s people were resting midway. When Zhang Chen arrived, Chen Ping was warming wine. Seeing Zhang Chen approach, he bared his teeth in a grin. "You brat, get over here. You’ve got good fortune today. I just dug up a jar of fine wine from a nearby village. It’s probably been aged for ten years. Perfect for us to have a taste."
Zhang Chen was not polite; he sat down opposite Chen Ping, looked at the roasted meat on the table, picked up a skewer and took a bite. "Where are we now on our route?"
"It’ll take about four more months to get out of Prince Pingbian’s territory. Another six months after that, and we’ll be out of the Northern Land." Chen Ping said.
The territory Prince Pingbian held was only part of the Northern Land, not the whole of it. "Just hang on for four more months and we’ll be safe."
"Four months... that’s hard to endure." Zhang Chen muttered, then asked, "How are the casualties?"
At this, Chen Ping’s expression dimmed and he let out a soft sigh. "All in all, still acceptable. You don’t need to worry. I will definitely get you back to Jinling safely!"