Su Que almost entered the money exchange at the very last moment before it closed, and pushed a large bag of silver taels onto the counter.

He had inquired beforehand that this was a large exchange house, and it also had a branch in Jiannan Prefecture City. The silver notes exchanged here could be used in the Prefecture City as well.

The clerk sitting at the counter, although unwilling, still weighed and counted all the silver taels, converting them into silver notes for Su Que.

Su Que accepted the silver notes, folded them neatly, placed them in his chest pocket, and after leaving the city, immediately sprinted towards Jade Water City.

His speed was so swift that the travelers on the road could only see a blur, quickly passing by and soon becoming a small black dot, disappearing from sight.

It was evening at the time, and some people thought they had seen some kind of demon or ghost.

Su Que first returned to Luo Feng Mountain, removed his disguise, and then went back home.

When he got home, his sister Su Jing was packing his clothes.

Su Jing's pair of fair and slender hands, slightly rough from much housework, were carefully folding Su Que's clothes and placing them into a scholar's attendant's chest.

This chest would carry clothes, stationery, and other items, which Su Que was about to take to the Prefecture City.

The approximate date when Su Que would head to the Prefecture City was always remembered by Su Jing. She knew that these days, Su Que was to go to the Prefecture City to attend the local examinations.

"This time when you go, don't save money. Find the largest Huaiyang Escort Agency in Jade Water City to escort you, and it'll be much safer."

Su Jing said while tidying up the clothes, noticing that Su Que had returned.

In the past, when the former Su Que went to the Prefecture City for the "child-test", he had no job and the Court provided no support, so the family relied entirely on Su Jing.

The original Su Que, sympathetic to his sister's hardworking situation, went with a not-so-strong escort team to the Prefecture City.

Fortunately, with that not-so-strong team, they took a detour and only encountered a small group of bandits on the road, which the agency could handle, making the trip risky but ultimately safe.

"Understood," replied Su Que.

Immediately after, he explained to Su Jing what he had arranged with the constable Luo Tianli.

Su Jing listened and agreed. Being a woman with no power, she felt much more at ease staying temporarily at Luo Tianli's home, enabling her to reduce many precautions.

After dinner, Su Que went out to Qingfeng Mountain to practice the "Ghost Concealment Smoke Step," a Tang Sect lightweight skill, and the "Rain of Falling Flowers," a Tang Sect hidden weapon technique.

After all, when he goes to the Prefecture City, he would have to carry a "Greedy Wolf" waist tag, pretend to be a Tang Sect Outer Disciple Assassin, and go to a Tang Sect stronghold.

He had to practice the Tang Sect's lightweight skill and hidden weapon technique to show off a bit, in case he had to perform during a mission and expose himself.

With his high enlightenment, Su Que quickly mastered the basics of these two skills.

Seeing that it was late, Su Que packed the items needed for his disguise, the "Greedy Wolf" waist tag, and some martial arts secret manuals and medicinal formulas obtained from the White Lotus Sect Members, and made them into a bundle.

After bringing the bundle back to his room, he took the clothes out of the scholar's chest, placed the bundle at the bottom, and stacked the clothes back on top.

Finally, he placed the books he studied and stationery above the clothes.

Although he would never possibly use these things, he had to make it look convincing.

Two days passed swiftly.

Following Su Jing's advice, Su Que found the largest Huaiyang Escort Agency in Jade Water City and set out with their escort team to the Prefecture City.

Joining the escort team cost Su Que five silver coins, which was nearly half a year's wages from his teaching job.

However, looking at the escorts, he felt the price was justified.

The escort team included one "Three Blood Martial Artist," two "Second-Blood Martial Artists," and four "One Blood Martial Artists."

Martial artists' cultivation is resource-intensive, so high costs are expected.

Although these people couldn't beat him in a fight,

they were more than capable of handling ordinary bandits.

Superior martial artists weren't likely to rob such a meager escort team.

Apart from Su Que, there were two other scholars in the escort team.

These two scholars were known to the original Su Que.

One was Lv Qixiu, thirty-two years old, from a prosperous family.

He wore garments made of fine brocade, with a headscarf, a small mustache on his upper lip, holding a folding fan painted with landscapes and inscribed with poetry, fanning himself with an air of pretentious elegance.

Beside him was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old scholar's attendant.

Su Que had heard that Lv Qixiu had already attempted the local examinations twice but had not achieved any ranking.

The other scholar was Bo Shang, over forty years old, with streaks of gray hair at his temples.

It was heard that Bo Shang, much like the original Su Que, had become a scholar at a young age.

Afterward, he married into a butcher's family in Jade Water City, devoting himself entirely to preparing for the exams.

However, after repeatedly failing the exams, his wife and in-laws grew increasingly displeased.

It was said that when he asked for travel money this time, his father-in-law publicly humiliated him, becoming the talk of their neighbors.

In addition to Su Que and these two scholars, there were a few merchants transporting goods from Jade Water City to sell at the Prefecture City.

Su Que shared a carriage with Lv Qixiu, his scholar's attendant, Bo Shang, and two merchants.

The road was full of potholes, making for a bumpy ride.

Shortly after boarding the carriage, Lv Qixiu leaned against it, closing his eyes to rest, while his attendant gently fanned him.

Bo Shang picked up a book, scrutinizing each word without wasting a moment.

The two merchants chatted nonstop after boarding, discussing everything under the sun, men and women alike.

Their voices were loud, frequently drawing disapproving looks from Bo Shang.

Su Que followed Lv Qixiu's example by leaning against the carriage and closing his eyes.

To others, it appeared as though he was resting his eyes.

In reality, he was circulating True Qi to expand one of his Foot Three Yang Meridians.

Since cultivating the Marriage Robe Divine Skill caused smoke from his Baihui Acupoint, he could only expand his meridians to advance his Martial Arts Realm.

The convoy traveled for over three hours, with stops along the way, until noon when the sun was high.

Sitting inside the carriage, Su Que continued expanding his meridians.

Suddenly, he heard a faint whistle in the wind from afar.

'Someone's shooting an arrow this way!'

His interest piqued, but he immediately discerned that it was only one arrow, not aimed at their convoy.

As expected, the next moment, a sharp sound everyone could hear echoed.

Soon after, with a dull thud, an arrow landed in the dirt to the right of the convoy.

"Are there... bandits?"

Awakened by the sharp sound, Lv Qixiu opened his eyes, asking with some panic.

Bandits, robbers who ambush and rob travelers, for which a whistle arrow signals their attack.

After the whistle arrow is fired, mounted bandits typically charge from the sides to steal goods and baggage.

However, after this arrow was shot, Su Que didn't hear any galloping or advancing sounds.

"Leader, what's happening outside?"

Among the carriage passengers, Lv Qixiu was the most anxious, inquiring about the situation outside to the guards and carriage hands.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.