Chapter 296: Flying Swordman

The town was called Nanda County Town. Although not large, it appeared prosperous, giving Ji Yuan a feeling similar to when he first arrived in Ning'an County.

However, upon closer comparison, this place was clearly far inferior. At the very least, the difference was evident in the expressions of the common people.

If Ji Yuan were to describe it, the distinction lay in the fact that everyone in Ning'an County could be considered to live in peace and contentment, while the faces of the people here conveyed a certain anxiety.

Soon after entering the city, they reached the market. The streets were very crowded, with people and carriages constantly moving, making it necessary to yield in some places.

Ji Yuan wore a white robe, walking neither fast nor slow. His temples were loosely styled, and a high-quality dark jade hairpin was tucked into his topknot. More importantly, he was alone.

After walking on the street for a short while, Ji Yuan realized he had been targeted by several groups of people. Judging by the gazes he felt and the whispered conversations he overheard, these individuals almost certainly harbored ill intentions, either planning theft or even contemplating harm to his life.

"The world is a cold place," he sighed inwardly. "The public order here is truly nothing to praise."

Sighing inwardly, Ji Yuan paid them no mind. He quickened his pace slightly, taking a few turns to shake off several groups.

Ji Yuan only stopped when he passed a street corner stall.

It was a dry biscuit stall, but unlike those Ji Yuan had bought before. As he happened to pass by, he saw the owner using two large iron molds to press the top and bottom of the biscuits, which contained a salty dried vegetable filling. After being pressed together, they were sprinkled with sesame seeds mixed with powder. Ji Yuan, smelling them, wanted to try one.

“Shopkeeper, how much are your biscuits?”

Not hearing any activity at the stall for a moment, Ji Yuan stopped in front of it and asked.

The old man making the biscuits looked up. He saw a gentleman who looked like a scholar, which, while not extremely rare in Nanda County, was certainly uncommon. His accent also didn't sound local.

“These biscuits are two wen each, or eight wen per jin, which is about five biscuits.”

“Oh, may I taste the dried vegetables?”

“The dried vegetables?”

The old man was slightly puzzled but hesitated for a moment before nodding. He took some dried vegetables from a ceramic jar on the stall and offered them to Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan tasted them, and a smile appeared on his face as he savored the familiar salty aroma.

“Shopkeeper, are your ancestors from Jizhou of Great Zhen?”

“Uh, not exactly…”

The old man said, then seemed to recall something and quickly added,

“It seems you're a discerning customer, sir. To be frank, these dried vegetables were indeed taught by someone from Great Zhen years ago. As for where in Great Zhen he was from, this old man doesn't know.”

Ji Yuan nodded.

“I see. Then, shopkeeper, please weigh out ten jin of biscuits for me.”

“Ten jin?”

“That's right, ten jin!”

“Oh, oh, oh, honored customer, please wait a moment. There are only a little over six jin ready. I'll make more for you right away, it'll be ready in no time!”

Ten jin of biscuits was a big order for the old man; selling it would account for more than half of his day's goods.

The old man worked quickly, chatting with Ji Yuan as he made the biscuits. Soon, all ten jin were finished.

After weighing, Ji Yuan naturally paid. He pulled out his money pouch, which looked bulging, but inside, the majority of the copper coins were stamped with 'Yuan De Tong Bao.' Since these were coins from Great Zhen, they were not circulated here. So, he had no choice but to take out a piece of silver.

“Here, shopkeeper, please weigh the silver first.”

“Oh, oh, good, the customer is paying with silver!”

The old man hadn't traveled much outside Nanda County, so he wasn't clear about other places, but in Nanda County, copper coins were often chaotic. The 'two wen per biscuit' he quoted referred to the standard type.

However, many copper coins were substandard; privately minted coins were often adulterated. Some copper coins were even exaggeratedly printed to be worth ten times their value but lacked the corresponding weight, so many people wouldn't accept them in transactions.

In this situation, gold and silver became extremely valuable, with purchasing power far exceeding that in Great Zhen, often able to exchange for copper coins worth more than their intrinsic value.

Many people would directly use silver to buy large quantities of 'solid money' (coins with actual value), then melt it down and mix in cheaper materials to mint private coins, allowing one liang of silver to be spent as if it were three or four liang.

Paying directly with silver for biscuits was rare; the old man guessed there were almost no copper coins in that money pouch.

Seeing the gleaming silver, the shopkeeper was overjoyed, his face flushed. Weighing the piece, he estimated that with this one piece of silver, he would earn at least 150 wen, far more than the forty wen profit he originally expected.

A little further away, several glances were already fixed on Ji Yuan's bulging money pouch, and they clearly saw the silver he had taken out. Whispers began in the corner behind a cart.

“That's a big fish; that money pouch is probably full of silver and gold!”

“Exactly… and that jade hairpin, I took a closer look just now as I passed by – it's priceless!”

“Shhh… let's go.”

At the biscuit stall, the silver had been weighed and change given. The old man tied the biscuits into a string with hemp rope, handed them to Ji Yuan, then looked left and right before whispering,

“Sir, you are a stranger here. From what I can see, some people are already targeting you. You must be very careful!”

Ji Yuan's speech was witty, amiable, and gentle, making him easily likable. The old man, having seen many things, naturally noticed the ill-intentioned gazes directed at this distinguished gentleman and couldn't help but warn him.

Ji Yuan smiled, cupped his hands to the old man, and then took the biscuits.

“Thank you for the warning, shopkeeper. I understand, and I will certainly be careful.”

With that, Ji Yuan, carrying the string of biscuits, turned and strode away. After walking for a while, turning several corners, the string of biscuits in his hand had disappeared when he passed the entrance to an alley.

Behind him, in the distance, several men continued to follow Ji Yuan closely, exerting themselves.

“Whew… whew… this man, he walks really fast.”

“Hah… indeed, you'd think he'd be gentle… hey, where are his biscuits? They're gone!”

“Why do you care about his biscuits? Just make sure we don't lose him!” “Come on, come on, hurry!”

“Right, right, can't lose him.”

Since the person ahead kept moving, they couldn't rest either. After catching their breath with difficulty, they accelerated and chased after him again.

Ji Yuan continued to stride ahead. Others had either been shaken off or given up, but this group behind him kept stubbornly pursuing.

He could have easily slipped away using illusionary techniques, but hearing them discuss topics like 'slaughtering a few fat sheep,' Ji Yuan decided he didn't want them to lose him.

By evening, Ji Yuan had circled his way out of the city, and the nine people following him had still not lost track, showing their strong determination.

About five li north of Nanda County Town was a pavilion, straightforwardly named 'Five Li Pavilion.' Ji Yuan stopped here, took out a biscuit, and began to eat it in the pavilion.

Because it was freshly made that day, though not soft, it was still palatable; at least it wasn't hard enough to hurt his teeth.

The nine individuals following Ji Yuan were hiding behind a distant, tree-covered hill, gasping for breath and resting to regain their strength.

By the time Ji Yuan slowly finished one biscuit, the nine men had mostly recovered. Carrying ropes and their tools, they gradually approached the Five Li Pavilion.

As the saying goes, 'looks are born from the heart.' The grim expressions on the faces of the nine men now made them seem even more vicious and cruel than mere ruffians.

“You scholar, you sure can run!”

“Heh heh, hand over all your valuables!”

The brawny leader, carrying an iron whip, approached the Five Li Pavilion with his men, threatening loudly. They had already confirmed that there was no one else around the pavilion.

Ji Yuan gathered the biscuit crumbs in his hand, put them into his mouth, then clapped his hands and stood up. He looked at the approaching men and said,

“If I give you my valuables, will you let me go?”

The nine men had surrounded the Five Li Pavilion. The leader looked Ji Yuan up and down and said,

“We don't trust you to do it yourself; we'll search you.”

Ji Yuan nodded.

“And after you search me, you'll let me go?”

“Hahahaha… letting you go would still be a bother. This area around the Five Li Pavilion is wilderness, full of wild wolves and beasts. We'll kill you and let them take care of the burial.”

Ji Yuan heard their words and looked at them, suddenly letting out a laugh. Although the men were very blurry in his sight, their malevolence was strikingly clear.

“Heh heh, no room for negotiation?”

Ji Yuan could still smile at this point, which made the men somewhat wary.

“You, could you be some kind of martial arts master?”

However, Ji Yuan didn't answer them; instead, he turned to look at the woods beside the pavilion.

In Ji Yuan's ears, the sounds of footsteps and something cutting through the air approached. Just two breaths later, a dark figure flashed out from the treetops in the woods.

“Clang!”

The sound of a long sword being unsheathed, accompanied by the cold gleam of the blade, pierced through the air with the approaching figure. The moment it appeared before the pavilion, the sound of a blade entering flesh rang out.

“Someone…”

“Thud…” “Thud…” “Thud…”

As the sword blade flashed, the iron whip-wielding man and the three around him fell to the ground, struck by the sword before they could even react. The assailant's sword momentum ceased, and they spun in the air, using a pillar of the pavilion for leverage, swinging the sword as they leapt to turn.

“Watch out…” “Quick…”

“Thud…” “Thud…” “Thud…”

Again, several more fell before they could even finish their words.

In an instant, all nine men surrounding the pavilion had fallen. The assailant stood just outside the pavilion, shook the blood from their sword, and then sheathed it.

“Excellent skill!”

Ji Yuan sincerely praised. From the perspective of a cultivator, such skill was naturally nothing extraordinary, but he himself was certainly a martial arts grandmaster. He could thoroughly discern martial arts from aspects like movement, techniques, and qi application. The assailant's movement and sword techniques were truly remarkable.

“You are still the same, Master. Your demeanor is as striking as ever after all these years! I thought I might have been mistaken just now, but it truly is you, Master, who has come here!”

Ji Yuan widened his eyes slightly, surveying the person up and down with his blurry vision.

“That voice… are you Young Hero Yan? Oh, now I should call you Great Hero Yan!”

The person in black close-fitting attire took a few steps closer to the pavilion, cupping their hands in a bow to Ji Yuan while holding their sword.

“Yan Fei greets Master Ji. I didn't expect you to still remember me!”

Yan Fei looked up at Ji Yuan. An ordinary person would hardly notice the abnormality of Ji Yuan's half-open eyes with a cursory glance, but he could see those unforgettable pale eyes.

“Heh heh heh, the voices of you young heroes are something I will never forget in this life.”

Yan Fei looked at the corpses nearby and asked with a smile,

“Master, I've killed nine men. Do you have any objections?”

Ji Yuan shook his head and smiled. He could tell something from the decisiveness of Yan Fei's sword strike.

“People die for wealth, birds die for food. What difference do objections make? If they wouldn't listen, you might not either.”