In the desolate wilderness, dense forests covered the land.
A few rays of moonlight pierced through the thick, sky-obscuring branches and leaves, illuminating a small, long-neglected path.
This small path branched off the main road and extended into the forest for about two to three hundred meters. At the end of this path stood a dilapidated mountain god temple.
Inside the temple, three people were currently warming themselves by a fire.
One of them appeared to be in his early thirties, with a handsome face and a relaxed demeanor. He was leaning casually against a overturned table, idly tossing peanuts into his mouth.
Of the remaining two, one was in his twenties, with a delicate appearance and an agile build, and was roasting cakes over the fire.
The other, appearing to be in her teens, was petite and demure, diligently sharpening a long blade on a whetstone.
These three were Li Miao, along with his trusted confidant Wang Hai and his servant boy Xiao Si, who had accepted the task from Jinyiwei Commander Zhu Zai to "eradicate the Five Mountains Sword Sect" and were on their way to the Mount Tai region.
In the agrarian era, long-distance travel was a very troublesome affair. Feeding people and horses, eating and sleeping in the open, and encountering different dialects every hundred li. Sometimes, even if they reached a village, if no one spoke the official language, they couldn't find lodging and had to sleep outdoors.
Official roads were also intermittent. There were also highway robbers, wolves, and tigers. At that time, journeys exceeding fifty li could turn into a separation of life and death.
More than a month had passed since Li Miao accepted the mission in Yanjing, and they had only just entered the Qi-Lu region.
Now, with no village ahead and no inn behind, they were resting in this dilapidated temple.
Li Miao, feeling lazy, didn't want to speak and just stared blankly at the fire.
Wang Hai and Xiao Si had a slight ambiguity between them and wanted to sit together and talk. However, with Li Miao, their elder and a third wheel, sitting there, they felt too awkward to speak.
The only sounds in the entire dilapidated temple were the crackling of the fire and Xiao Si's blade sharpening.
In this awkward silence, the voices of several people came from the small path outside the door, sounding closer and closer, clearly heading towards this small temple.
Wang Hai immediately stood up, moved to the side of the doorway, and looked out. Xiao Si, whose martial arts were slightly weaker, ran to Li Miao's side, clutching her blade.
Of course, they were only habitually on guard; there wasn't a trace of tension on their faces. With a formidable figure like Li Miao present, for anyone to pose a threat to them, at least the entire Emei Sect or similar major sect masters would have to come out in full force.
Wang Hai observed carefully: about a dozen people, men and women, old and young, were approaching. In the middle of the group, they were guarding a cart covered with cloth, on which was a banner with the words "Tiger Might" written on it.
They were escorts on a mission, and they were likely also coming to this dilapidated temple to rest.
There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, escort agencies named "Tiger Might" in the world; he didn't know which one this was.
Wang Hai waited for the group to approach, then pulled open the large door and stepped forward to greet them: "Greetings, everyone."
The leader of the Tiger Might Escort Agency, Zhao Dehua, was an experienced Jianghu veteran. He stepped forward with a smile and cupped his hands in return: "Hello, young man. Are you also resting here? Is there still room for us to rest as well?"
Zhao Dehua politely returned the greeting, and the escorts behind him also took their hands off their weapons.
Wang Hai coming out alone to greet them was a gesture of goodwill, and they couldn't appear uncooperative or overly cautious.
Actually, it wasn't surprising that they were cautious.
Since ancient times, the places where the most people died in Jianghu were: first, dilapidated temples; second, inns; and third, martial arts arenas.
Especially for those who robbed escorts, the preferred place to act was a dilapidated temple; no one knew who set this rule.
In any case, whenever escorts entered a dilapidated temple, trouble was likely to occur. It had now become an unwritten rule, and escorts would grip their weapons, ready to fight, before entering a dilapidated temple.
Seeing that Wang Hai was young, handsome, and polite, not appearing to be a malicious person, they slightly relaxed their guard.
Wang Hai replied: "This is a masterless place, so there's no objection. It's just that my family occupies the center of the room, so I'll have to trouble you all to squeeze in on the side."
"You're too kind, too kind. First come, first served. We escorts don't have so many rules," Zhao Dehua cupped his hands.
Wang Hai then ushered the group into the temple.
Several escorts carried their belongings to the corner and set them down, tidying their luggage. Zhao Dehua walked over first and bowed to Li Miao: "Thank you for allowing our group to come in and rest, Your Excellency."
Li Miao didn't even lift his head, casually cupping his hands in return.
Zhao Dehua bowed earnestly again, then turned around to start a fire and cook.
After the escorts had made their fire and were eating around it, a young woman in her early twenties quietly said to Zhao Dehua: "Father, that person lying on the ground didn't even look at you properly. Why did you have to bow to him? Doesn't that diminish our escort agency's prestige?"
This young woman was Zhao Dehua's daughter, Zhao Ying. Her martial arts training was almost complete, and this was her first time on an escort mission.
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Actually, she was a bit angry just now when she saw that Li Miao didn't take her father seriously. But she also knew that when escorts were out, everything was done according to the escort leader's instructions. Now that they had settled down, she quietly asked Zhao Dehua.
The dilapidated temple wasn't small, so they weren't afraid that Li Miao and his two companions would overhear them. Zhao Dehua smiled and said: "It's already a great show of respect that they let us in."
"They are few, and we are many. Not only did they proactively send someone to greet us and reassure us, but they also allowed us to come in and rest; they are already showing goodwill. Since we've benefited, we shouldn't concern ourselves with whether their etiquette was perfect."
"What prestige or no prestige, no one else is watching anyway."
Zhao Dehua paused, then said to his daughter: "Moreover, they are not to be trifled with."
He intended to teach his daughter about navigating Jianghu, so he guided Zhao Ying to observe Li Miao and his two companions out of the corner of her eye, without turning his head. When Zhao Ying had observed enough, he opened his mouth and asked: "What did you notice?"
Zhao Ying shook her head and said: "These three are all fair-skinned and tender-skinned, and their clothing is not bad; they look like they come from well-off families."
Zhao Dehua frowned and said: "You still need to practice."
"Look at the young man who greeted us: his breathing is long and his steps are light, so his internal cultivation must be excellent. His hands are long and strong, yet without a single callus, meaning he doesn't use weapons. The martial arts he practices with his hands must be profound, not external arts that rely on brute strength and toughening the skin."
"Now look at the younger one: from her build, she's clearly a young girl. Her steps are loose and her breathing is unstable, so she probably has little to no martial arts foundation."
Zhao Ying asked curiously: "If she has no martial arts, what's so difficult about her?"
"People without martial arts are easy to deal with, but people who dare to bring a young girl who can't fight to sleep in this desolate, dilapidated temple are definitely not to be trifled with."
"You've been practicing martial arts since childhood, and only after twenty years of practice and some minor achievements did I dare to bring you on an escort mission."
"This little girl's physique probably couldn't even beat a large chicken. Yet, they dare to let us, a group of more than a dozen people, rest with them, and they are completely unconcerned. They are probably fearless because they have something to rely on."