Chapter 182: Jinan Prefecture

Wang Tao touched his spear as he recalled beautiful memories.

“I remember when I was a kid, my father cherished this spear. He didn’t even let me touch it. He wiped it every evening. I always wanted to touch it and finally, one day, as he wasn’t looking, I took it secretly.”

said Wang Tao smiling. Those were happy times for him.

“I thought that my father would be infuriated and would punish me if he found out about it. But in the end, he didn’t. He stroke my hair and asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up.”

“Back then, I didn’t know. I was also very ambitious. Accordingly, I told my father that I wanted to do the same as him and become a great general.”

“When he heard me, he wasn’t happy. He sighed. Back then, I didn’t know why my father had sighed until one day. When he gave me the spear and asked me to leave, I finally understood that becoming such a heroic great general was neither easy nor fun.”

“Nowadays, rulers are incapable, the central government is evil. Vile people are in power. There is no more national strength. Westerners come with their boats and cannons and attack us. They commit every imaginable crime. And common people bury their heads in the sand. They just ignore the upcoming calamity.”

“My dad has always been loyal and devoted and some vile people killed him. He could have escaped but he preferred to die for justice, you think it was worth it?”

Wang Tao had a long monologue. His two guards remained silent, they didn’t know what to say.

“This world is going to collapse!” said Wang Tao. He suddenly looked sharp and angry.

“Young General, speak cautiously!”

shouted one of the guards hastily. Luckily, there was nobody around, and even though there was nobody, the two guards were scared.

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter.”

said Wang Tao smiling. He didn’t look worried as if he had something absolutely normal.

“Young General, we know your father died unclear of a false charge, therefore, when you go to the capital city, you’ll be able to make him regain his reputation.” said one of the guards.

“And then?” asked Wang Tao.

“And then?” repeated the guard. Wasn’t making his father regain his reputation enough?

“Alright, it’s already very late. You two should go and have a rest.” said Wang Tao standing up and leaving with his spear.

The two guards looked worried.

On the second floor, in a room, a strange expression suddenly appeared on Mu Yi’s face. He looked out of the window. It was pitch-black. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

During the two following days, the boat moved on without any trouble. After what had happened in Western Ji Hill, the region became calm. Was it the calm before the storm again?

In Shandong, the boat was attacked by surprise a few times. Each time, Mu Yi didn’t even need to intervene, Wang Tao and his two guards took care of the attackers. Once, the enemies even came onto the boat but Nian Nuer took care of them.

Therefore, Mu Yi had time to meditate peacefully during those days. His cultivation kept becoming more and more stable. He had the impression that he could already already open his third chakra but he wasn’t in a rush. He preferred focusing on the foundations, he wanted to accumulate enough knowledge.

That’s what he did until they arrived in Jinan Prefecture. When they arrived, Mu Yi had two options, the first one was to cross Jinan Prefecture until he reached Binzhou, the second one was to continue in Cangzhou’s direction.

There was no big difference between the two but Jinan Prefecture was a rich and beautiful city with many goods available because many merchants lived there. And from there, one just had to cross Dezhou and then the next city was Cangzhou.

And going through Binzhou, the trip was longer of one day.

Therefore, when they arrived in Jinan Prefecture, the manager asked Mu Yi what he wanted to do.

“Let’s get off the boat here in Jinan Prefecture.” said Mu Yi looking at Big Slave who seemed mentally exhausted.

When they got off the boat, Big Slave staggered. Staying on a boat wasn’t a good thing for him. Even when the monster had appeared, he had stayed inside the room.

Therefore, Mu Yi also preferred getting off the boat as soon as possible for Big Slave.

When Big Slave heard Mu Yi, his eyes twinkled. He was happy.

The manager didn’t know whether he was happy or sad. Before meeting Mu Yi, when Xu Le had told him he was going to travel with him, he had thought Mu Yi would be a ferocious and sanguinary murderer. He hadn’t thought everything would happen so smoothly and nicely.

Even though some people had caused trouble on the way, they had quickly gotten rid of them. Apart from the monster, everything had been perfect. They had sailed smoothly.

And now Mu Yi was going to leave which meant the manager’s task was over. He was going to go back to Luoyang. Everything would be back to normal. The old routine… But the manager wouldn’t easily forget that trip.

Especially the pretty little girl, unfortunately…

The manager shook his head and sighed…

“Master, have a rest first. I’ll get a carriage for you. They’ll bring you to Cangzhou safely.” said the manager hastily forcing himself to forget about that little girl.

Xu Le had told him he had to do all he could to help Mu Yi, even though he wasn’t going to Cangzhou with him, he had to prepare everything properly.

“No need. I’m going to walk to Cangzhou.” said Mu Yi straightforwardly shaking his head.

“On foot??” the manager looked stupefied. There were hundreds of li between Jinan Prefecture and Cangzhou. Why waste time? Besides it’d be exhausting.

But Mu Yi didn’t let him talk. He immediately called Big Slave and walked away.

Since Mu Yi had decided to get off the boat there, Wang Tao and his two guards naturally packed their stuffs and followed him.

When Mu Yi and the others disappeared in the horizon, the manager suddenly thought of something, “Where’s the little girl?!”

At that moment, the manager realized he had only seen a giant, who was called Big Slave, next to Mu Yi, nobody else!

The manager hastily went back onto the boat, he looked for the little girl everywhere on the first and second floor but didn’t see her. She had vanished without trace. The manager’s face turned deathly pale when he realized that.

“Oh my… What a monster.”

The manager shook his head. He instantly didn’t have esteem for Mu Yi anymore.

Wang Tao and his two guards had been a little bit calmer about that, but when the little girl had disappeared, they had also had doubts, they hadn’t shown it though.

Anyway, there was now a strange little group on the street.

A Taoist priest, a giant, a general and his guards.

Therefore, many people stared at them. Wang Tao didn’t understand why Mu Yi didn’t want to travel by carriage, why did he prefer to walk? Not only was it less tiring, but it would also allow to avoid trouble.

Mu Yi was now quite famous in the world of travelers. Most people knew about what had happened in Western Ji Hill. And the fact that Mu Yi had managed to travel from Luoyang to Kaifeng and then from Kaifeng to Jinan Prefecture proved that stealing his key was more complicated than one could think.

Therefore, Wang Tao had the impression that Mu Yi had decided to walk to prove to everyone that if they dared cause trouble, he was there, waiting for them.

But Wang Tao didn’t say it. He just followed Mu Yi. He had no choice, even if it meant his enemies would maybe find him and attack.

Since he was going to the capital city to do his father justice, he naturally had pieces of evidence to show his father was innocent. Before, he had to hide at Xu Le’s because his enemies were looking for him everywhere. It had been difficult to come to Jinan Prefecture, but even if it was a bit far from Luoyang, it didn’t necessarily mean that his enemies were going to give up.

Wang Tao glanced at Mu Yi and the giant and remembered he was with extremely strong people. He was sure that even if his enemies found them, they wouldn’t be able to harm him.

Wang Tao was right to think that way. When Mu Yi and Big Slave showed up in Jinan Prefecture, many people noticed them and the news that they were in town spread around quickly in the highest circles of society.

For common people who had never left their hometown, it didn’t matter much. But in the world of travelers, it was important.

Those people all knew about the keys of the Yellow River’s ancient road and the stories around it.

Many people were not even thinking about the second vice-president’s beloved son anymore. Most were obsessed with the keys of the Yellow River’s ancient road. And Mu Yi had already left Henan province, the second vice-president had no influence where Mu Yi was. It was beyond the reach of his power.

···················

“I know what you mean. Since he’s here, he won’t leave. He wouldn’t be able to escape even if given wings.”

said a man indifferently in a palace. He was talking to someone called Yang Yin. He sounded confident.

“Please be careful, there’s an evil Taoist priest with him, he’s extremely strong. Don’t underestimate him.” said the person.

“An evil Taoist priest? The one who has the key of the Yellow River’s ancient road?” asked Yang Yin.

“Indeed, I don’t know why but they’re together. I sent some people to try and fight against them but they failed.” said the person.

“Hmph! Even if that Taoist priest is famous, so what? Let’s crush them together then.” said Yang Yin straightforwardly. Saying he wasn’t interested in the key at all would have been wrong.

According to legends, the wealth equivalent to that of an entire nation was hidden in the Yellow River’s ancient road and a real dragon was supposedly buried there too. People thought that if they found the dragon, they’d obtain real dragon Qi and would become a dragon prince or princess.

The world was chaotic, everybody dreamt of power. Everybody was waiting for opportunities to progress and become more powerful.

If the Yellow River’s ancient road really had some mysterious treasures, who would be willing to give them up?

The person in front of Yang Yin wanted to warn him but Yang Yin didn’t listen. He knew how strong Mu Yi was. Even though he hadn’t seen what had happened in Western Ji Hill personally, he had gone there after what had happened and he had seen.

If he hadn’t received orders, he would have given up already.