99: This official road is really difficult to travel.

The carriage wheels rolled over the official road, emitting a monotonous rumbling sound.

This sound became the gradually fading background noise of Qingshi Town.

The carriage did not rush through the night.

As soon as dusk fell, the coachman, Old Chen, reined in the horses and drove the carriage to a sheltered, gentle slope.

Not far away was a small stream, its gurgling water sounding exceptionally clear in the night.

"Two gentlemen, we'll rest here tonight." Old Chen jumped off the carriage and quickly unharnessed the horses. "Traveling at night tires the horses and worries the people. This area is open, close to a water source, and safe."

Xu Qing emerged from the carriage and looked around.

The wilderness was silent, with only the rustling of wind through the grass.

He nodded: "Uncle Chen is experienced, we'll listen to you."

Su Ming got out of the carriage afterward. He walked to the stream, cupped a handful of water, and washed his face. The cold stream water revitalized him.

Soon, a bonfire was lit.

The orange-red flames danced, dispelling the chill of the autumn night and casting three swaying shadows on the ground.

Old Chen pulled out a hard flatbread from his Huai and bit into it heartily, washing it down with water from his waterskin.

Xu Qing, meanwhile, took out the notebook he never parted with from his blue cloth bundle, and also a piece of charcoal pencil.

He used the firelight to diligently record in the notebook.

"Daxing Qiyuan Twenty-third Year, Autumn, Third Day of the Ninth Month. Departed from Qingshi Town, traveled about forty li, stayed overnight at the foot of Xinghua Ridge. Carriage fare prepaid two hundred wen, dry provisions..."

His handwriting was neat and meticulous, as if he were transcribing a classic text.

Su Ming watched him, not disturbing him.

Lin Yu's lazy voice sounded in Su Ming's mind, "We're responsible for fighting and killing, he's responsible for managing money and accounts—a perfect match!"

Su Ming replied in his mind, "Brother Xu is a gentleman, not comparable to a mere accountant."

"Heh, a gentleman is good. A gentleman loves wealth and acquires it through the Dao; he can be trusted."

Old Chen finished half a cake, took a sip of water, and sighed.

"Are you two gentlemen going to the capital for the first time?"

Xu Qing stopped writing, looked up and said, "Yes, Uncle Chen, it seems you're very familiar with this road."

"Familiar, too familiar." Old Chen tapped the mud off his shoe sole with his pipe. "I run this route at least seven or eight times a year. However, this year's situation is quite different from previous years."

He lowered his voice and gestured south.

"It's not peaceful."

"A few days ago, when I was returning with goods, outside Luocheng, I met a group of people fleeing from Yingzhou in the south. They were dragging their families along, a truly miserable sight. They said there was a severe drought there, with no harvest in the fields, and the government's disaster relief grain was delayed, so they had no choice but to seek a way to survive."

Old Chen's face was full of wrinkles left by the elements, which appeared even deeper in the firelight.

"When people are hungry, they'll do anything. I heard that on several roads in the south, there are already bandits. We're on the official road, so it's fine during the day, but at night, we need to keep our eyes peeled."

Xu Qing's expression sharpened. He recorded Old Chen's words in his notebook, drawing a circle at the end to mark it as important.

"Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Chen. Tonight, we will take turns on watch."

Su Ming spoke.

Xu Qing took out two pieces of dried meat wrapped in oil paper from his bag, handing one to Old Chen and the other to Su Ming.

"Uncle Chen, you've worked hard, have some to fill your stomach."

Old Chen looked at the glistening dried meat, chuckled, and accepted it without ceremony.

Su Ming took the dried meat and roasted it over the fire. The fat sizzled, and a fragrant aroma filled the air.

He noticed that Xu Qing was still eating the most ordinary flatbread.

He broke off half of his warmed dried meat and handed it to Xu Qing.

"Let's eat together."

Xu Qing was momentarily stunned, wanting to decline, but met Su Ming's calm gaze.

He said no more, took it, and quietly ate small bites.

It was late at night.

Xu Qing and Old Chen were already wrapped in blankets, sleeping beside the carriage, faint snores audible.

Su Ming sat cross-legged by the bonfire, adding a piece of dry wood.

He closed his eyes and spread out his Spiritual Consciousness.

The world around him instantly became different.

The sound of the wind, the chirping of insects, the crackling of the burning fire, all became incredibly clear, as if right beside his ears.

His perception, like water, silently spread outwards.

He "heard" a night owl land on a dead branch a li away, preening its feathers.

He "heard" several small fish chasing and playing in the crevices of rocks downstream in the creek.

He could even vaguely "feel" another bonfire about two li to the southeast, and a dozen or so chaotic and noisy auras. Those auras carried hunger, fatigue, and a hint of imperceptible restlessness.

Refugees.

Old Chen's words were true.

"Not bad, there's improvement." Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of satisfaction. "The scanning radius of this human radar can already cover a small village."

"Master, I sensed them."

"Hmm, just a bunch of hungry, pitiful people. They're far from us. As long as they're not foolish, they won't provoke a carriage with government travel permits."

Su Ming opened his eyes, looking at the low-hanging starry sky above.

The starlit river was brilliant, ancient and unchanging.

Beneath this starry sky, some were studying hard in their studies, some were toiling for a living, some were sleeping soundly in warm beds, and some were enduring hunger in the cold wilderness.

Master Zhou said that the wind in the capital could kill people.

But in this world, it was not just the wind in the capital that could kill.

On the third day of their journey, the outline of a majestic city appeared at the end of the horizon.

Luocheng had arrived.

Compared to Yunshuo Prefecture, Luocheng's city walls were slightly lower, but still sturdy and thick, their surfaces covered with traces of erosion from wind and rain.

The moat was wide, and the drawbridge had long been lowered.

The city gate was bustling with people: those pushing carts, carrying burdens, driving donkeys, all mixed together, forming a long queue, waiting for the soldiers' inspection.

When it was Su Ming's carriage's turn, a soldier who looked like a Squad Leader walked over, an impatient expression on his face.

"Where are you from? Where are you going? Travel permit!"

The coachman, Old Chen, offered the travel permit with a fawning smile.

The Squad Leader took it, glanced at it casually, and was about to wave them through when his gaze stopped.

He saw that on the travel permit, besides the information of the coachman Old Chen, it clearly stated two lines: "Su Ming, Xu Qing, New Successful Provincial Candidates of the Daxing Bingchen Examination."

The Squad Leader's expression instantly changed.

The impatience on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by an almost obsequious respect.

He bent down, returning the travel permit to Old Chen with both hands, his voice three parts more polite.

"So it's the two Successful Provincial Candidates! This humble one was blind and offended you; I hope the gentlemen will forgive me!"

He turned and shouted at the several soldiers who were still slowly inspecting pedestrians.

"All of you, get out of the way! You blind fools, if you delay these two gentlemen from entering the city, I'll skin you alive!"

The previously congested city gate passage was instantly cleared.

The Squad Leader personally ran to the carriage, bowed again towards the curtain.

"Two gentlemen, please!"

Xu Qing, inside the carriage, saw all of this clearly. He had no expression on his face, but his eyes were somewhat complex.

Su Ming, however, was as calm as ever.

The carriage entered the city smoothly.

The scene inside the city was more than ten times more prosperous than Qingshi Town.

The wide and clean main street was paved with bluestone slabs, flanked by rows of shops: restaurants, tea houses, silk stores, money changers... Signage banners fluttered in the wind, and the shouts of the Waiters rose and fell.

"Brother Su, let's find an inn to stay in first, then go explore the market." Xu Qing suggested.

"Alright, I'll follow your arrangement."

Old Chen took them to an inn.

The inn was not large, but it was clean and tidy. Upon seeing their status as Successful Provincial Candidates, the innkeeper became exceptionally attentive, immediately arranging the two best upper rooms.

After settling their luggage, Xu Qing pulled Su Ming out the door.

He did not go to the seemingly bustling restaurants, but instead went straight into several crowded alleys.

This was Luocheng's rice and cloth market.

Xu Qing seemed to have a natural nose for such places.

He entered a grain store, picked up a handful of rice, weighed it in his hand, and then smelled it.

"Shopkeeper, how much for this unpolished rice?"

"This customer has good eyes! It's top-grade official field rice, thirty-five wen a dou!" the shopkeeper said, puffing out his belly.

"Qingshi Town, twenty-eight wen a dou." Xu Qing put down the rice and said lightly.

The shopkeeper's face changed slightly, and he re-examined the plainly dressed young man before him.

"Customer, you're an expert. Fine, seeing as you're a scholar, I'll give it to you for thirty-two wen, no less."

Xu Qing shook his head, said nothing more, and pulled Su Ming out of the grain store.

"The price of rice is nearly twenty percent higher than in Qingshi Town, and salt is also fifteen percent more expensive." He walked and rapidly recorded in his small notebook, "Luocheng is a major thoroughfare, so prices should be more stable. It seems the impact of the southern drought is already beginning to show."

Su Ming looked at his focused expression, filled with admiration.

Xu Qing's keen insight wasn't learned from rote memorization, but honed bit by bit in the market, amidst the daily necessities of life.

Afterward, Xu Qing led Su Ming

into a bookstore.

This bookstore was several times larger than Xu Qing's family's bookstall in Qingshi Town, with rows of bookshelves filled with various books.

Xu Qing was in his element.

He did not look at the classics of history, philosophy, and literature, but went straight to a corner where stacks of newly printed collections of contemporary essays were placed.

He picked up a book and quickly flipped through it.

"Kyoto Literary Selections includes new works by several famous Masters in the capital this year." The bookseller, a thin middle-aged man, walked over. "This Young Master has good taste."

"Shopkeeper, do you know which distinguished individuals will be the chief examiners for this year's Spring Imperial Examination?" Xu Qing asked.

"That's hard to say," the shopkeeper shook his head. "However, the most highly esteemed in the capital right now are Grand Secretary Zhang, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and Lord Wang, the Head of the Hanlin Academy. Their literary styles, one grand and robust, the other sharp and incisive, are both masterpieces."

Xu Qing asked a few more questions about the capital's major schools of thought and literary gatherings, and the shopkeeper answered them all fluently.

Finally, Xu Qing picked two of the latest selections of current essays and paid.

"Brother Xu, what are you doing...?" Su Ming was a little curious.

"Know yourself and know your enemy." Xu Qing placed the books into his satchel. "The examination hall is like a battlefield. While the essay itself is important, if one can discern the preferences of the chief examiners, one gains an extra chance of success."

Su Ming nodded.

Xu Qing's pragmatism made him feel inferior.

As the two were about to leave, Su Ming's steps suddenly halted.

"Oh?" Lin Yu's voice echoed in his mind, with a hint of surprise.

Following Lin Yu's guidance, Su Ming's gaze fell upon the entrance of a pharmacy across the street.

The pharmacy was named "Hundred Herbs Hall," and its facade was simple and ancient.

On the most prominent counter in the pharmacy, a glass-covered old mountain ginseng was displayed on a red cloth.

The ginseng was plump, with numerous fibrous roots, and a wooden sign next to it read: "Treasure of the Shop, Fifty-Year-Old Mountain Ginseng."

In Su Ming's perception, this ginseng subtly emanated a faint vitality, distinctly different from the surrounding plants.

That vitality, though less than one ten-thousandth of the ancient well in his own backyard, was undeniably real.

"Master, this ginseng..."

"Hmm, interesting," Lin Yu commented. "The Spiritual Qi is pitifully thin; at most, it's thirty years old, yet they dare to claim fifty. However, for Mortals, this thing is indeed a good life-saving item."

"It seems there are still good things among Mortals, but they are either hidden in obscure corners or treated as common treasures," Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of amusement.

After resting for a day in Luocheng, the two set off again.

The further north they traveled, the heavier the atmosphere on the official road became.

Scattered famine victims began to appear by the roadside.

They were sallow and emaciated, with vacant eyes, sitting by the road in tattered clothes, staring blankly at the passing carriages.

Some children, too hungry to bear it, would follow behind the carriages, extending their grimy little hands, silently begging.

Xu Qing took some dry rations from his satchel and distributed them to the children.

But there were too many famine victims, and his dry rations quickly ran out.

He silently returned to the carriage, not saying a word, but the frequency of his notes in the ledger increased.

It was five days later when they arrived at Xiangfan, a major town.

Xiangfan had high walls and deep moats, making it a crucial military stronghold for north-south travel.

The inspections at the city gate were several times stricter than in Luocheng.

A long queue stretched for several miles.

As they waited in line to enter the city, a few idle ruffians in worn short jackets swaggered over.

Their gazes, full of ill intent, swept over the bulging luggage on the carriage.

The leader was a one-eyed man with a ferocious scar across his face.

He walked to the carriage and gently tapped the carriage door with the short stick in his hand.

"Gentlemen, are you heading to the capital for the imperial examination?" The one-eyed man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "The road isn't easy. Our brothers here happen to be free; how about we escort you for a bit to ensure your safety?"

Old Chen, the coachman, changed color and tightened his grip on the horsewhip.

Inside the carriage, Xu Qing also nervously gripped the short self-defense stick he carried, his palms slick with sweat.

Su Ming lifted the curtain and stepped out.

He didn't look at the ruffians but first gave Old Chen and Xu Qing a reassuring glance.

Then, he turned his gaze to the one-eyed man.

He said nothing, but the moment his gaze settled, the gentle spiritual energy from the Green Wood Longevity Art - Lin Yu's Revised Edition - Basic Chapter was subtly activated in an unprecedented way.

In the one-eyed man's perception, this frail-looking young man seemed to change instantly.

A fear stemming from primal instinct seized him, as if he had become a noisy insect, baring its fangs at a sleeping giant tree, and could be silently crushed at any moment.

His intuition, honed from years of living on the edge in the Jianghu, screamed an alarm in his mind—Danger! Run!

The smile on the one-eyed man's face froze.

His throat went dry, and he instinctively took a step back.

"Damn it, bad Luck!"

He spat on the ground, as if to cover his guilt, and glared fiercely at his subordinates.

"What are you looking at! Let's go!"

With that, he led a group of equally bewildered underlings, slinking away into the crowd.

A conflict that seemed on the verge of erupting thus vanished into thin air.

Old Chen and Xu Qing were both stunned.

"Su... Brother Su, you..." Xu Qing opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Excellent, excellent, a teachable student." Lin Yu, in Su Ming's mind, praised him sincerely. "Killing Intent is a lower-tier skill. Using 'momentum' to suppress others is the mark of a true Master. Your move, 'What are you looking at? I'm looking at you, so what? Stare at anyone and they get pregnant'... no, it's 'Death Glare,' already has three-tenths of your Master's skill back in the day."

Su Ming ignored his Master's nonsense.

He just smiled at Xu Qing.

"Just a few intimidating tricks, nothing impressive. Let's go in."

After Xiangfan, they officially entered the capital region.

The official road became increasingly wide and smooth, capable of accommodating four carriages abreast.

There were also more carriages and horses on the road.

Luxuriously decorated carriages were everywhere, with various family crests painted on their sides. Alongside them were guards in splendid attire and on spirited horses, each exuding a fierce aura, clearly private soldiers of aristocratic families.

The air itself seemed to be filled with an invisible order and majesty.

Xu Qing closed his ledger, which was already more than half-filled, and spoke to Su Ming with a solemn expression.

"Brother Su, observing the livelihoods of the people along this journey, I've seen much hardship. The corruption in governance is likely far worse than what we saw in Qingshi Town. Master Zhou's words, 'It's hard to live in the capital,' truly did not deceive me. From now on, we must be extremely cautious in our words and actions."

Su Ming nodded.

"I understand."

Before nightfall, they stopped at the last post station outside the capital.

This was their final night of travel.

Su Ming did not rest immediately.

He sat cross-legged in his room, entering meditation once more.

He felt that the closer they got to the capital, the thinner and harder to capture the free-floating Spiritual Qi in the world became.

They seemed to be forcibly drawn and gathered in one direction by an invisible giant hand.

That direction was the heart of the capital.

"Master, the Spiritual Qi in this capital..."

"You feel it?" Lin Yu's voice also became serious. "This power is immense, overbearing, and brooks no resistance. It is extracting and suppressing all spiritual vitality within hundreds of miles. This must be the legendary Dragon Qi."

"Dragon Qi?"

"Yes, it's the manifestation of a Dynasty's Luck. It is both the guardian of imperial power and the shackles of cultivators," Lin Yu mused. "In such a place, ordinary breathing techniques will be greatly diminished in effectiveness. Cultivation will be extremely difficult. However..."

He chuckled.

"There are always exceptions. This Dragon Qi, which is poison to others, may not be entirely bad for those of us Cultivating the Green Wood Longevity Art."

The next morning.

The carriage traveled on a gentle ridge.

When the first ray of morning sun pierced through the clouds and shone upon the earth, the coachman Old Chen's voice was tinged with excitement.

"Gentlemen, look!"

Su Ming and Xu Qing simultaneously lifted the carriage curtains.

At the edge of the horizon, an incredibly vast complex of buildings, like a giant beast prostrate on the earth, lay silently.

The grey city walls stretched endlessly, as if without end.

Countless pavilions, towers, palaces, and high pagodas were arranged within the city walls, layer upon layer.

Bathed in the morning sun, the soaring glazed tile roofs reflected magnificent and dazzling golden light, making it difficult to open one's eyes.

That was the heart of the Great Xing Dynasty.

The center of power in the world.

The Capital.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, subconsciously straightened his attire, his eyes filled with longing and nervousness.

Su Ming's gaze, however, pierced through the golden splendor, looking further and deeper.

There lay Teacher Zhou's half-lifetime of regret, and Professor Liu's unfinished ideals.

Perhaps, it also held a faint glimmer of hope for him to pursue that other world.

"Master, we've arrived."

"Yes, we've arrived." Lin Yu's voice, uncharacteristically, lacked its usual teasing, leaving only a strange sense of emotion.