Chapter 18: CH 18

Departing

It was night and it was raining heavily.

There were no more traces of people on the streets. Dark clouds blocked the moon, and the earth was dark.

Wen Chan stood under the long roof. He stuffed a piece of pastry into his mouth and raised his head while chewing it slowly, and looked in one direction.

Turn south after exiting this street and then take about 475 steps westwards after crossing three streets and a small lake to reach Liang Yanbei’s residence.

Why did Wen Chan know that it was four hundred and seventy-five steps? Because he counted when he was idle and bored. Even though it wasn’t very precise, it would either be 473 or 477. But it wouldn’t be much different from that.

What Wen Chan was most afraid of was parting. Fortunately, even if he had been an emperor for decades, even if he can’t develop a steel-like body, at least he has learned to hide the most fearful things deep in his heart so that others can’t see them.

A burst of cool breeze blew and the rain tiled, causing a little bit to fall under the roof of the house and made Wen Chan’s face wet. He raised his hand to wipe it with his sleeve and at the same time, he took two steps back inside.

When all the pastries went into his throat and were swallowed, Ah Fu came in quickly with an oil-paper umbrella, and whispered to Wen Chan, “Young master, the carriage is ready. ”

He nodded slightly. He then raised his step and walked under Ah Fu’s umbrella, “But did you ask how long will the coachman take us?”

“Ah Fu had asked. However, the coachman said that he wouldn’t take long distances. It is said that there is a carriage in Hongping City which is dedicated to taking people to Wuyue Island. So let’s go to Hongping City to find it.” Ah Fu carefully held the umbrella for him, and most of his body was drenched in rain.

“How long will it take to reach Hongping City? ”

“About three days. ”

“Let the coachman speed up. We must get on the carriage to Wuyue Island in two days. ” Wen Chan’s tone was slightly serious. After thinking for a while, he added, “Give them more money if necessary.”

“Young Master, why are we in such a hurry?” Ah Fu was having doubts as he wasn’t able to understand.

Wen Chan glanced at him, “Do you think we are going out for the summer holidays? Within three days, the person at the top will find out that we are missing and at that time someone will definitely be sent to search for us. If we are caught back…”

He didn’t say anything later. But Ah Fu could already imagine it and he couldn’t help but shudder. Without asking anything, he took Wen Chan to the carriage.

Qin Qi and Shu Hua were already waiting there. When they saw Wen Chan coming, they opened the oil-paper umbrella in their hands and ushered him into the shed.

The coachman was a sturdy man with dark skin and he stood aside in burlap clothes. As soon as he saw Wen Chan, he came forward with a simple smile, “When should we set off for this journey, young master?”

“Now. ” Wen Chan shook away the water droplets from his body and lifted open the curtain to get into the carriage.

The carriage was very large. There were small candle lights in the four corners of the upper part of the carriage and it could be considered to be quite bright. There were two narrow couches and a row of soft seats inside. And a wooden table was placed in between. On the table, there was a plate of melon seeds and a plate of peanuts. Although it was not comparable to his usual carriage in which he normally used, it was still acceptable.

Wen Chan sat on the narrow couch inside. He then untied his cloak and set it aside. After a while, Ah Fu, Qin Qi, and Shu Hua also came in. The three of them squeezed together in that row of soft seats and placed the packages on the other narrow couch. The coachman yelled and the carriage started to move.

“Young Master, it’s all agreed. The coachman doesn’t want money. But he just wants us to help him drive the carriage so that he can have time to rest. ” Ah Fu said in a low voice.

Wen Chan agreed lightly and closed his eyes slightly to take a rest.

After returning to the palace a few days ago, Wen Chan had been planning to leave the palace quietly and go to Wuyue Island. Ah Fu, Qin Qi, and Shu Hua have been following Wen Chan since childhood. After learning of his plan, no one objected to him after a few words of weak persuasion by Ah Fu.

Wen Chan didn’t doubt the loyalty of Qin Qi and Shu Hua. He would be much safer with them following him closely. Wen Chan had only one purpose for going to Wuyue Island this time: It was to kill the leader of the Shengui Sect.

Of course, he didn’t plan to come back alive.

Cutting off the source of all tragedies before they could happen, was the only thing Wen Chan could think of and was the only thing that he could do.

It wasn’t because he was very powerful. But during the death battle in his last life, he searched every nooks and corner of the Shengui sect. So at least he knew where the Shengui sect was hiding. So there is always a way to deal with it.

Qin Qi felt that Ah Fu’s clothes were wet while sitting next to him. So he moved to the side without the other noticing, but this decreased the distance between him and Shu Hua. Shu Hua just glanced at him and didn’t say anything.

Shu Hua was somewhat laden with anxiety. He didn’t know whether it was right to assist Wen Chan in escaping from the capital, but he had been placed by Wen Chan’s side since he was a child. The order that was given to him was to obey Wen Chan’s orders. For guards like them, being loyal was enough.

He secretly glanced at Wen Chan again. The latter was still resting with his eyes closed. His slightly tender face was calm and serene, revealing an old-fashioned aura. Since the end of the year, Shu Hua felt like Wen Chan had become different from before. But in the end, he couldn’t say what the difference was.

The disturbance that came from his side broke off his train of thoughts. Qin Qi was still crowding in on him. Shu Hua lowered his head and glared at Qin Qi till he became well-behaved.

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage in which Wen Chen and the three subordinates were sitting drove out of the capital.

The heavy rain struck on top of the carriage with soft ”bang” sounds and the rain stopped after the middle of the night. The horse’s hooves stepped through the muddy grass and the carriage went farther and farther away from the capital.

With the help of Qin Qi and Shu Hua while driving, it didn’t even take two days to get to Hongping City. At half-past noon, Wen Chan and the others entered the city.

After collecting the money, the coachman did more meritorious deeds. He took Wen Chan and others to a carport, found his friends, and vowed to go to May Island to find someone.

If someone helps, it will naturally save a lot of trouble. Wen Chan didn’t care whether the people driving the carriage were beautiful or ugly, so he planned to go on the road after lunch in Hongping City.

Hongping was hotter than the capital. After eating, Wen Chan conveniently bought a fan with landscape paintings on it and sat on a stool next to the carriage while slowly fanning and waiting for Qin Qi to return.

When Ah Fu saw this, he also quickly went to buy a fan too to do his part for his master.

As the coachman sat in the carriage and saw Wen Chan’s luxurious outfit, he took the initiative to ask him, “Is the young master going to Wuyue Island to participate in the Meeting of the Heroes of the World?”

Wen Chan wiped away the tiny drop of sweat from the tip of his nose, and asked suspiciously, “What is the Meeting of the Heroes of the World? ”

On seeing that Wen Chen didn’t know about it, the coachman immediately understood: Oh, it turned out to be that he is a young master of a big family. He raised his hand and pointed to a line of carriages not far away, “Did the young master see that? They all are the carriages that are going to Wuyue island. The Meeting of the Heroes which happens once in five years takes place at Wuyue island in mid-June. Those who are far away like us will have to rush more than a month in advance. ”

“What will the hero’s meeting do? ” Wen Chan glanced away and quickly retracted his gaze. He speculated in his heart whether this was a rumor spread by the followers of the Shengui Clan?”

“It’s a long story. The children of the Jianghu are happy, vindictive, free, and easy. More and more heroes started to emerge. Somebody created the Hero Pavilion, and all the prestigious heroes were included in it. And the master of the Hero Pavilion has the right to order around the heroes of the world. So there are countless people who go to compete for the position of the lord of the Pavilion at the Meeting of the heroes that convene every five years.

When Wen Chan heard this, he thought that isn’t this Pavillion master the master of the martial arts alliance? Could it be that the people of Jianghu didn’t like to hear the name of the martial arts Alliance Leader, so they changed it into a stylish one?

While he was still pondering about it, it was like the driver opened up the flood water and unceasing currents flowed out, “5 years ago Lord Yao won the battle against the heroes. He then became the lord of the hero’s pavilion and suppressed the heroes under his foot. In a flash, the meeting of the heroes is here again. I wonder if Lord Yao will be able to keep his position.”

Wen Chan was far away from the palace and knew little about the Jianghu. Once he heard that this Meeting of the Heroes seemed to have little to do with the Shengui Clan, he felt that if he went to Wuyue Island, he was bound to learn something about it, so he said, “Is there someone in the Jianghu who is even more powerful than Master Lord Yao?”

“There are a lot. Leaving those in the Wuyue Island aside, we have quite a few sects in Xiliang. Such as the Tang Sect in Shudi, the family of Situ in Jinling, Song Hua of Daxing the Yungong of Fengchuan. Those are great Sect to be reckoned with.”

Among them, Wen Chan is familiar with the Situ a little bit. He knew a man surnamed Situ who also happened to live in Jinling.

“Ugh! I know this. ” An average-looking young man suddenly stepped in from the side. He moved a stool and sat by Shu Hua’s leg. And he said in high spirits, “The Tang Sect is good at poison and Situ are good at healing. It is rumored that only Situ can cure the poison of the Tang Sect. The relationship between the two factions has always been bad. At the hero’s meeting that took place five years ago, the master of the Tang Sect poisoned two disciples of the Situ family. It will be complete chaos as soon as the two families met.”

“Ai—this young man. This is a wrong statement!” The driver said in a long tone, expressing his disapproval, “A few years ago, there were indeed rumors that all the poisonous sects of the Tang Sect could be resolved by the Situ. But an exception was found in recent years.”

The young man’s eyes lit up, “What exception? ”

“I wonder if the son has ever heard of the “needles hidden in the dark sleeves”? The coachman leaned forward and lowered his voice to say in a deep voice.

“You mean… the Dark Sleeved Yama1? ” The young man asked doubtfully.

“Exactly. ”The coachman said, “The Situ Family can only partly solve the poison used by the Dark Sleeved Yama at most.”

After hearing this, Wen Chan also raised his eyebrows slightly to express his shock, “Is this Dark Sleeved Yama so powerful? ”

“Hush–” the coachman hurriedly placed his index finger to his mouth, “We can’t talk about him so loudly. Be careful of attracting the Yama. ”

The young man was a little suspicious, “Big brother, is what you said credible? ”

“Of course! In any case, I used to be a person of the Baixiao Sect as well. ” The coachman looked extremely serious as if he was insulting him by doubting the truth of his words.

“This Baixiao sect… What kind of sect is it? ” Wen Chan displayed a good character of not being ashamed to ask and learn from one’s subordinates.

“Baixiao sect of the Xi Liang. As long as the matter is within the boundary of Xi Liang, there is nothing that the members of the Baixiao sect don’t know about. As long as you give enough money, even the emperor’s…” Perhaps, he felt it to be a bit inappropriate, the coachmen stopped stiffly and said, “You can even clearly know the color of the Prince’s underpants while he goes to sleep.2”

“It’s indeed a powerful sect.” Wen Chan praised him, but his hand involuntarily touched his own thigh.

Is there such really a sect? If I had known about it earlier I should have just taken the money and went immediately to meet the master of the Baixiao Sect in the first place. And I would have directly asked about the lair of the Shengui Clan. So I wouldn’t have to spend so much effort to find it by myself.

The coachman was quite proud, “Naturally! Naturally! ”

“Isn’t the master of Baixiao Sect going to compete with Master Lord Yao this time?”

“No Baixiao Sect has never participated in the struggle of the Jianghu. So even if the members of the Baixiao Sect are going to Wuyue Island, they are just rushing to watch the excitement.” The coachman waved his hand and said proudly.

After he finished speaking, he asked Wen Chan in confusion, “I wonder, what is the young master going to do on Wuyue Island?”

“I am going to visit relatives. My aunt is there and I haven’t seen her for a few years. ” Wen Chan blurted out nonsense without thinking, and the coachman didn’t doubt it. Before he could speak, Wen Chan saw Qin Qi coming from a distance, and he said, “It’s time to go.”

Then he stood up. Unexpectedly, he found that his robe was clamped by a wooden seam on the small bench. As soon as he wanted to reach out, he saw Ah Fu quickly pulling the robe. He pulled the robe out and threw the stool aside.

Wen Chan glanced at him. Ah Fu hurriedly smiled and lifted the curtain of the carriage, “Young master, come in. ”

The coachman put a towel around his neck and replied, “Okay! If the young master got on the carriage, let’s set off now. ”

Seeing that the two of them no longer chatted, the young man’s interest decreased a little bit. So he moved the stool and shifted it to elsewhere.

Qin Qi replaced the small gadgets such as golden leaves and golden beans that Wen Chan had brought out of the palace with silver notes3 and some silver ingots for the travel expenses.

The four of them left in a hurry and Wen Chan had only asked Ah Fu to pack three sets of clothes, and Qin Qi and Shu Hua kept everything simple. They brought money and weapons, but they didn’t even bring clothes.

Although the three subordinates had a lot of money for the travel expenses, after all, Wen Chan was used to spending a lot of money. He couldn’t bear the suffering of poverty. It was always good to have more silver currencies.

The four of them got into the carriage, left Hongping City, and stepped onto the road to Wuyue Island.

Translator’s corner

“Baixiao sect of the Xi Liang. As long as the matter is within the boundary of Xi Liang, there is nothing that the members of the Baixiao sect don’t know about. As long as you give enough money, even the emperor’s…” Perhaps, he felt it to be a bit inappropriate, the coachmen stopped stiffly and said, “You can even clearly know the color of the Prince’s underpants while he goes to sleep.”

[My dumb brain]: So… Mhmmm, so … not to be rude, is that basically a gossip aunties group?

Yama, King of Hell

Do you know that you are making somebody anxious?

(in former times) banknote with a value in silve