Liangzhou, Ling’an City.
The innkeeper of a guesthouse was chatting with the teahouse owner from next door.
“Sigh, it’s really annoying. The Recruitment Assembly is almost here, and no one’s staying at the inn anymore!”
“Exactly! Even the customers coming to my teahouse have been getting fewer and fewer lately.”
“Usually, the cultivators passing through Ling’an City would stay at my place for a night before continuing their journey full of energy.”
“But now that the Recruitment Assembly is happening, those cultivators rush along the road like madmen, not planning to rest at all, wishing they could sprout wings and fly straight to Yunzhou!”
“No kidding! With the Recruitment Assembly approaching, the coachmen at the Chema Yi are all acting crazed, eager to run ten trips a day. They really don’t care if the horses drop dead from exhaustion just to make money!”
“The people selling horse feed and palanquins also made a fortune in the chaos, unlike us, stuck here staring blankly.”
The two exchanged complaints, their words filled with dissatisfaction about the Recruitment Assembly and envy toward those benefiting from it.
Just then, a black-haired girl came down the stairs from the inn, looking listless.
She overheard the conversation about the “Recruitment Assembly,” and curiosity piqued, she approached and asked,
“Excuse me, what is the Recruitment Assembly you mentioned just now?”
The innkeeper glanced at the girl, didn’t answer her question, and spoke in a slightly sarcastic tone,
“It’s you? You still haven’t paid yesterday’s lodging fee, have you? I thought it was tough for a young girl like you, so I let you stay on credit for a day. What’s your name again…”
“I’m Chi Ming.”
Chi Ming pulled out a coin pouch, stuck her entire hand in and rummaged for a while, but couldn’t find anything.
Then she turned the pouch upside down and shook it hard.
Finally, two copper coins fell out, landing in front of the innkeeper.
“I only earned this much yesterday… If it’s not enough, I can stay and work for a day instead…”
“Tch, forget it.”
The innkeeper looked Chi Ming up and down, sighed helplessly, and pocketed the two copper coins.
Although Chi Ming’s face was still delicate, her messy hair showed she had lost her spirit for quite some time.
She looked especially downcast, completely devoid of energy.
She had once led the charge in the battle against the Demoness, full of vigor.
Who would have thought that after some time, she’d become like this?
In truth, Chi Ming hadn’t gone anywhere—she’d been muddling through her days in Ling’an City all along.
Huang Doudou assumed she had left Ling’an City after parting ways with Su Cheng, which was why she hadn’t been able to find Chi Ming in the city.
A twist of fate, indeed.
“With your state of mind, if you stay to work, you’ll just be a burden! Besides, there won’t be any customers today, either. Go on, get out!”
The innkeeper waved his hand, as if unwilling to see Chi Ming any longer, wanting her gone from sight.
But Chi Ming stood her ground, showing no intention of leaving.
She spoke again,
“Excuse me, the Recruitment Assembly is…”
“Tch.”
The innkeeper was clearly impatient, even feeling the urge to drive Chi Ming away.
Seeing this, the teahouse owner stepped forward to smooth things over and explained to Chi Ming about the upcoming Recruitment Assembly in Yunzhou.
When Chi Ming heard that Yunzhou was a province where the Righteous Faction gathered and would soon summon all Scattered Cultivators, the light returned to her cloudy eyes.
She hurriedly asked,
“Is there still time for me to get to Yunzhou now?”
“You have three days left,”
the innkeeper replied gruffly.
“If you hurry, you can get there in a day.”
“Thank you!”
Chi Ming bowed in gratitude and disappeared from the inn in a flash.
“Hey, that little girl moves pretty fast. If she ran, she might reach Yunzhou in less than half a day!”
The teahouse owner sighed.
“A rookie like her, just entering the Jianghu, how would she even know the way? Really, why did you give her hope? A clueless brat like her should just go home and behave! Wandering around alone trying to be tough will only get her killed!”
The innkeeper grumbled.
“Sigh… I guess I saw my younger self in her.”
“So would you give your son a chance like that?”
“Of course not! If my boy tried to run off into the Jianghu alone like her, I’d break his legs.”
***
Chi Ming arrived at the Chema Yi in Ling’an City and found it packed with people.
Numerous coachmen were bargaining with Scattered Cultivators from all over, all of them heading to Yunzhou.
Chi Ming looked around and realized that every carriage seemed full.
She felt a bit dejected.
It was bad enough that she had no place among the Righteous Faction, but even on these tiny carriages, there wasn’t a spot for her.
Suddenly, a carriage preparing to depart stopped beside Chi Ming.
A man inside lifted the curtain and smiled at her.
“Miss, are you heading to Yunzhou as well?”
Chi Ming nodded reflexively.
“Perfect. There’s room for one more. Do you want to join us?”
He opened the door. Inside, Chi Ming saw three men, and indeed, a slender person like her could fit.
Chi Ming hesitated.
“But… I don’t have any money right now. Could I pay with something else…?”
“Of course.”
The man gave her a wicked grin, his eyes roaming over her.
“Then…”
Chi Ming undid her blade from her waist and handed it to the man inside.
“I’ll use this sword as fare!”
“Anything’s fine! Just get in already!”
The man didn’t care what Chi Ming offered—he only wanted to coax her onto the carriage.
After all, what he desired was her body, not some cold, worthless blade.
However, one of his companions suddenly exclaimed,
“This is a good sword!”
He eagerly took Chi Ming’s blade, drew it from its sheath, and admired it.
“A fine blade, a fine blade indeed…”
He then leaned close to the first man’s ear and whispered something.
The man’s eyes lit up.
No need to guess—his friend was telling him the sword was valuable.
“Alright, we’ll take this sword,”
the man said cheerfully.
“So I can get on?”
Chi Ming asked.
“Yes, of course!”
The men were ecstatic, exchanging glances as if finalizing some wicked plan.
Wealth and beauty—they wanted both.
But just as Chi Ming was about to board, someone grabbed her hand from behind and yanked her down.
A female voice shouted, loud and angry:
“You filthy bastards, get lost! Acting so brazenly in broad daylight—watch out or I’ll report you right now!”
The voice was so loud that it drew the attention of everyone nearby.
The men inside the carriage felt the weight of countless stares. Nervously, they pulled the curtain closed and urged the coachman.
“Go! Go!”
The coachman complied, snapping the reins.
The horse reared up and pulled the carriage out of the Chema Yi at a gallop.
“My sword!”
Chi Ming watched as the carriage sped away, her blood pressure skyrocketing.
She flared up, her ahoge turning bright red, and spun around to shout at the girl behind her.
“What the hell are you—”
Before she could finish, the girl scolded her even more fiercely.
“Why are you worried about a sword?! If you’d gotten on that carriage, you would’ve been done for—do you get it?!”
Her shout stunned Chi Ming into silence.
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