803: Chapter 803 Lu Xueqi and Biyao (182)

"Is that young lady doing well now?" the old woman asked.

"She's doing quite well. She was promoted to an Inner Sect Deacon last year."

"That's good then." The old woman flipped the shoe sole over and continued stitching. "You people from the Immortal Sect really aren't much different from us common folk. Those who have abilities and are willing to use them for others—they are good people."

Su Han sat on a stone stool without replying. The twilight grew thicker, the golden-red in the creek gradually turned into a dark purple, and the distant mountains were left as nothing more than a blurred black shadow.

The old woman finished the last few stitches, bit off the thread, shook the shoe sole, and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

"Young man, why don't you rest in town tonight? There's an inn around the corner ahead, and the proprietress's surname is Liu. If you mention my name, Granny Chen, she'll give you a three-wen discount."

Su Han smiled and thanked her, then stood up and walked toward the town. After walking a few steps, he heard the old woman muttering to herself behind him: "People from the Immortal Sect... they aren't all so high and mighty after all."

That night, Su Han stayed at an inn in Liuxi Town. The guest room was very small, with a wooden bed, a table, and a chair. On the table sat an oil lamp and a small plate of peanuts.

He sat at the table and copied the "Heavenly Gang Righteous Qi" manual for a while—he was still over two hundred repetitions short of the three hundred he had been punished with, and he couldn't fall behind even when traveling. When he reached the seventh repetition, he heard the sound of an infant crying from the room next door, which continued intermittently for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before finally stopping.

He put down his pen, dimmed the oil lamp, and pushed open the window to look outside. The night sky was clear, with the galaxy stretching across the sky above the town, and he could see a few particularly bright stars twinkling.

He suddenly remembered what the Sect Master had said that day—the Realm of "The Heart is the Law." He thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out what it actually meant, so he simply gave up and closed the window to sleep.

The next morning, he continued his journey. After leaving Liuxi Town and walking twenty li to the south, large swathes of wheat fields began to appear on both sides of the main road. The wheat ears had fully formed, and the lush green fields undulated like ocean waves whenever the wind blew.

On the ridge of the field, an old farmer was driving an ox to plow the land. The ox walked very slowly, and the old farmer walked even slower, humming an out-of-tune little ditty.

When Su Han walked past the field ridge, the old farmer stopped to glance at him, his gaze lingering for a moment on the cloth bundle at Su Han's waist—there wasn't actually anything valuable inside the bundle, but it was normal for travelers to carry one, so the old farmer just took a casual look and continued driving his ox.

At noon, he ate at a place called Sanchakou. The so-called Sanchakou was actually just a few sheds set up at the intersection of three roads, with vendors selling noodles, sesame cakes, and herbal tea. Su Han ordered a bowl of plain noodles and sat under the shed to eat slowly.

At the next table sat two men who worked as escorts, with two blades placed on the table, loudly discussing the recent unrest on the road.

"...You know about Fire Cloud Valley, right? A shipment went through there last month, and when they came back, I heard there was trouble there again."

"What kind of trouble?"

"It's hard to say exactly, but I heard some people surrounded the villages outside Fire Cloud Valley and stole grain and livestock. The common folk inside Fire Cloud Valley ran to the mountains to hide for several days."

"Doesn't Fire Cloud Valley have Cultivators?"

"They do, but I heard those Cultivators don't really care about anything. Otherwise, how could they be bullied right at their doorstep?"

Su Han didn't stop eating his noodles, but his ears took in every word. He didn't interject, and after finishing his noodles and paying, he continued on his way, his pace slightly faster than it had been in the morning.

Before dark, he crossed a low ridge called Wangbeipo. Standing on the ridge looking south, he could already see the terrain in the direction of Fire Cloud Valley. It was a basin surrounded by low red hills, the rocks on the hills glowing with a rust-like dark red in the setting sun, looking from afar as if the earth had been scorched by fire.

At the mouth of the valley was a town called Chitu Town, which was the only way to enter Fire Cloud Valley.

Su Han stood on the ridge for a while, watching that expanse of dark red hills slowly sink into the twilight, like a giant beast lying prone and closing its eyes. He suddenly remembered what the Sect Master had said about the former appearance of Fire Cloud Valley—three hundred years ago, this place was a vast peach forest; in the spring, the mountains and plains were a sea of pink blossoms, and when the wind blew, the petals could drift ten li away.

Later, that incident occurred, the peach forest was completely destroyed, the mountains were burned to a deep red, and even the soil bore the marks of being scorched. Later, Mortals moved in and settled down, gradually forming villages and towns, but that red color never faded, and that is how the name Fire Cloud Valley came to be.

By the time Su Han came down from the ridge, it was completely dark. He walked a few li in the dark and found an abandoned Earth God temple outside Chitu Town, where he made do for the night.

The clay statue of the Earth God enshrined in the temple was missing an arm, and most of the colored paint on its face had peeled off, making it look dusty and a bit pitiful. Su Han cupped his hands in a salute to the clay statue and said, "Pardon the intrusion for an overnight stay," then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

That night, he slept very lightly. In his half-awake, half-dreaming state, he heard the wooing sound of wind blowing through the broken doors and windows of the temple, sounding like someone crying in the distance. He turned over and continued to sleep, waking up just as the sky brightened the next day. Opening his eyes, he saw the first rays of morning light shining in through the broken window, illuminating the ruined face of the Earth God's clay statue; in the morning light, the armless clay statue actually appeared somewhat benevolent.

Su Han took a piece of dry rations from his bundle and placed it on the altar as a thank-you gift to the Earth God, then left the temple and walked toward Chitu Town.

Chitu Town was a bit larger than he had imagined, with a main street running from one end of the town to the other, lined with rice shops, cloth shops, grocery stores, and two restaurants. There were quite a few people on the street, coming and going—some carrying loads, some holding children, some leading livestock—it looked no different from other towns.

But Su Han noticed a few details—several households had doors with fresh repair marks, as if they had been smashed by some hard object and nailed back together; at the corners of the street, there were piles of burnt ash that had been swept up but not yet cleared away; some people were whispering, but stopped and cast vigilant glances when they saw a stranger approaching.

Su Han stopped at a steamed bun stall by the side of the street, bought two buns, and started chatting with the stall owner while eating. The owner was a man in his thirties with a very honest-looking face, but when Su Han asked him, "Is everything alright in town lately?" the man's face stiffened for a moment, then he forced a smile: "Good, it's good. What could be wrong?"

Su Han didn't press the issue and continued walking deeper into the town after finishing the buns. When he reached the south end of the town, he saw a two-story wooden building with a plaque hanging in front that read "Chitu Inn." He intended to stay there, but just as he reached the door, he heard a clamor coming from inside.

"...I've said it three times! That batch of grain was being transported to the back of the mountain for Old Sun and his people. What's the meaning of you blocking it here?"

"I don't care about Old Sun or Old Li. I only know that the grain depot at the east end of town was burned down last month, and now all grain is under the jurisdiction of the Town Office. You need documentation for wherever you're taking this cart of grain!" (End of Chapter)