Chapter 23: The Caravan’s Journey

After the young girl changed her clothes, everyone around her became reserved and uneasy.

When she wore coarse linen, they could still treat her like a neighbor’s little sister. But now, in her feather robe, her aura pressed down on them, unbearable. Compared to everyone else, the difference was obvious. She looked like she wasn’t from this world.

The pressure of staying by her side was immense.

Everyone stared at them for a long time. Their gazes felt like they were roasting the caravan members over a fire, making it impossible to sit still.

Ever since the girl joined, the caravan had attracted ninety percent of the attention. After returning from the Xuanjie sect, it attracted ninety-nine percent. The rest just hadn’t seen her yet.

Leaving Qinhuangdao, the caravan headed west. First, they reached a post station near Funing, then arrived at Changli.

Next, they entered the inland region, far from the sea.

They encountered more people and events along the way.

The further west they went, the more prosperous the towns became. The number of people they met increased significantly. No longer just merchants, there were also ordinary people carrying shoulder poles.

They carried baskets of fruits, vegetables, and grains, either heading to the city to sell or returning to their villages after buying supplies.

Compared to the borderlands, the inland people smiled more. They chatted and laughed with fellow travelers on the road.

Some even greeted the merchants. The merchants, in a good mood, would smile and return the greeting.

When they reached Tangshan, the caravan stayed an extra day. The city seemed special.

The caravan leader explained to the girl that Tangshan was a fork in the road. Merchants from Liaodong usually decided their direction here.

Going west led to the capital. Going south led to Jiangnan or Jiangbei.

Typically, merchants returning from Liaodong gathered news here. Each trip took months, so they were inevitably behind on information.

After chatting with an acquaintance, the caravan leader frowned for a long time. It seemed he had received bad news.

In simple terms, the Grand Secretary of the cabinet had resigned and left the capital. There were rumors he might have been arrested. The commander of the three border garrisons had also been arrested and imprisoned.

The girl didn’t understand. Seeing her curious look, the caravan leader explained simply.

In short, the Ming court was now in great turmoil. One of the military faction leaders had been arrested. One of the civil faction leaders had quit and left, and he seemed to have been arrested too.

The girl still didn’t fully understand.

At any rate, it was not a good time to go to the capital and court trouble.

While the leader was talking with his colleague, the girl wanted to go to a bookstore. The leader quickly stopped her, not daring to let her go alone.

The leader hadn’t planned to go to the capital anyway. After saying goodbye to his colleague, he took the girl to the bookstore.

She still had her mind on “Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” She bought the remaining volumes.

She wanted to buy more books, but the leader interrupted her.

In the inland, they would frequently stop at towns to rest. It would be easy to buy books. No need to rush. And the closer they got to Jiangbei, the more abundant and diverse the books became.

Hearing this, the girl restrained herself. For now, she only bought the complete set of “Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

The caravan left Tangshan and headed south toward Jiangbei.

The journey was nearing its end.

The weather gradually became warmer. Everyone stopped wearing thick clothes.

Along the way, they occasionally encountered talented scholars. Some were quite bold. Upon seeing the girl’s carriage, they would immediately recite poems and couplets.

But this didn’t provoke much reaction from the girl. She didn’t understand. And she lacked feminine self-awareness. She didn’t know why those scholars were shouting and reciting things she couldn’t grasp.

The caravan leader, however, found it amusing. Sometimes he would applaud and cheer for the passing scholars.

The girl, having heard it many times, found it no longer surprising. She continued flipping through the books in her hands. In her eyes, reading these books a second or third time was far more interesting than the outside world.

Finally, that day came. After months of travel, the caravan arrived in Tianjin.

As they approached, the leader’s spirits became low. He knew this extraordinary journey was about to end.

Tianjin was a very prosperous and strategically important city.

The caravan still stopped outside the city, not entering. This time they even camped outside to save money. In a big city, this was feasible because public order was decent.

There were refugees, but also people distributing porridge.

The local official, the Tianjin Prefect, often helped refugees and arranged work for them. Some wealthy gentry, through the Prefect’s connections, also gave out porridge to save the people.

Some might be sincere, others might not.

The refugee problem wasn’t serious yet, so public order was manageable. Camping outside the city wasn’t a big issue.

Merchants gathered there, looking out for each other.

Moreover, Tianjin had a certain martial tradition. There were many Jianghu people.

Outside the city, one could see martial artists practicing their skills. Many carried cold weapons.

Entering the city required surrendering weapons. This was unacceptable for many Jianghu people, but they didn’t dare cause trouble.

Thus, martial artists with weapons mostly gathered outside the city.

Some were waiting for work. Others were looking for work.

In this era, Jianghu people in Tianjin had an unhealthy ecosystem. They couldn’t deal with most demons and monsters. Their martial arts level was too low.

They couldn’t do scholarly work, and they didn’t want to do ordinary manual labor.

Some Jianghu people opened martial arts schools, which was more respectable. Others waited for the government or others to assign tasks.

The Tianjin government would post martial bounties just to keep them occupied, preventing them from causing trouble out of boredom.

The bandits and robbers in the nearby mountains and roads had almost been wiped out. What remained were troublesome long-distance jobs, requiring hundreds of miles to suppress bandits. Many Jianghu people were no longer willing to do that.

The caravan leader briefly explained to the girl why there were so many Jianghu people in Tianjin.

After leaving the campsite, the two headed straight for the city gate. Along the way, they once again attracted everyone’s attention.

With the contrast, the leader gained a deeper understanding of the girl’s origin.

There was a clear difference in aura between refugees and commoners, between commoners and Jianghu people, and between Jianghu people and the girl. The difference was like heaven and earth.

These types could be easily distinguished by sight.

Some Jianghu people also recognized the girl’s identity. Although cultivators from the Xuanmen had been rare in recent centuries, they hadn’t completely disappeared.

They always carried an otherworldly aura, as if they had nothing to do with the mundane world.

Originally, they thought such descriptions were just exaggerated phrases used by poets and elders. But now, seeing the girl with their own eyes, everyone in the know immediately guessed her identity. She was almost exactly as the legends described.

Martial artists stopped their movements. Those exchanging information stopped talking.

Someone discreetly pointed at the girl’s back, hinting something.

But everyone shook their heads. No one was willing to test her.

These Jianghu people had too much common sense to do something stupid like tripping her to test her identity.

If someone threw a flying knife at her and she had extraordinary abilities, she naturally wouldn’t get hurt. Once she acted, everyone would know her skill and identity.

Who would dare? To show disrespect to a cultivator, possibly be killed by her. Share intelligence? Take risks alone? What’s the point?

Some Jianghu people followed from a distance, perhaps hoping to encounter an immortal.

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