Chapter 102.

Zhou An revealed a mysterious smile, “Merely exposing the means of casting.”

“Old Zhao is right, revealing a little bit is able to reduce too much trouble.”

He, Zhou An, was open.

The skills would only increase in the future, so he was afraid of the hair.

Zhang Si Xian thought over what Zhou An had said and nodded.

“What he said is indeed correct.”

“By the way, how do you plan to deal with the person who kidnapped Yu Hang.”

Zhou An stood up, “He’d better pray that he doesn’t get caught by me, and when he does, he’ll be miserable.”

Zhang Si Xian fell into silence.

After a long time, he slowly said.

“Zhou An, if you need the help of the Zhen Gui Division, you can go to the Zhen Gui Division in Yunlai Prefecture, Lord Sifu is my old superior, he will help you.”

“Between you and me, we have experienced life and death, if there are any difficulties encountered, you can always talk to me.”

Zhou An nodded and agreed.

In fact, this person, Zhang Si Xian, was a particularly typical Jianghu man.

Impatient and righteous, and very emotional.

Between them, they had experienced that battle with County Magistrate Chen, and were indeed considered to have experienced life and death.

Zhou An knew that he would not go for rejection at this time.

Refusing, on the contrary, was alienating the relationship.

Sheriff Xie had been sitting by the side and waited until Zhou An had agreed, then he also opened his mouth and said.

“Master of the Falcon Sect of Yunlai Province, I once saved his son, if you need the power of the jianghu, you can also go to him, just report my name.”

Zhou An nodded, “Many thanks.”

He stopped staying and left the Zhen Gui Si, intending to head to Yunlai Mansion tomorrow after he went back and packed up.

There was nothing that needed to be done here anyway, so it would be good to go there early in case he was able to discover something.

After returning home, Zhou An continued practicing the Butcher’s Sword Technique.

The following day.

The proficiency had risen quite a bit, but Zhou An had already retreated from the state of practicing.

The luggage had been packed last night, and he would be rushing to Yunlai Mansion this morning.

The purpose of going, naturally, was to participate in the Casting Dao Competition, and then feel out clues from it to find out the one behind the curtain and finish that person off once and for all.

The streets in the morning were still as cold and clear as ever.

After Zhou An walked out of this cold and clear alleyway, he found a carriage parked on the street.

Next to the carriage were Qi Shuo and Blacksmith Zhao, as well as a large number of guards.

Zhou An frowned, wondering what they were here for.

When he got closer, he heard Blacksmith Zhao’s voice.

“Zhou An, have you decided to participate in the Casting Dao Competition?”

Zhou An nodded.

There was no need to hide this matter, since he had decided, he had to do it.

Blacksmith Zhao took out a piece of paper and handed it to Zhou An, saying, “Go to this blacksmith store in Yunlai Mansion, that’s an old friend of mine, you can stay there, and you can also ask him for some casting knowledge.”

The paper had the address written on it, and it also had Zhao Blacksmith’s commission written on it.

“There’s no way for me to take a break and leave, as it’s already reached the critical moment of breaking the realm.”

Blacksmith Zhao’s tone was slightly apologetic.

Zhou An shook his head and said, “There’s no need to say this, I understand everything, Old Zhao, just rest in peace.”

Blacksmith Zhao let out an alas.

Zhou An turned his gaze to Qi Shuo on the side again and asked, “What is Brother Qi doing here?”

Old Zhao had come over to deliver something to him, which he understood, but he didn’t know exactly what Qi Shuo was here for.

Qi Shuo’s chubby face revealed a kind smile, “Brother Zhou, I have an unfavorable request.”

“You’ve decided to go to the Casting Dao Competition, so can you participate instead of the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce, don’t worry, we definitely won’t let you participate for nothing.”

“We also have a branch in Yunlai Prefecture, so if you need us to do anything, we will help you.”

“Good.” Zhou An agreed dryly.

Being so dry in turn caused Qi Shuo to freeze.

He had thought that Zhou An would refuse, and then he himself would spend some more words, but now he had made it so that he couldn’t even say the words that followed.

In fact, it was quite normal for Zhou An to agree.

Some of the Casting Dao Competition this time also came with backgrounds.

Although the competition wasn’t about background, things like Dao Casting, to excel, required a lot of materials to be consumed during the practice stage.

These weren’t something that one person could afford to supply.

Therefore, there were forces behind them that added up.

If a person was able to take off, then the forces behind them would naturally be able to chicken out as well.

Not to mention just adding a name.

Zhou An felt that it did not matter and was able to gain more benefits, let’s say rescuing Yu Hang this time.

“You want to go to Yunlai Mansion with me?” Zhou An asked.

Qi Shuo finally reacted, although he didn’t know why Zhou An agreed so readily, but since he had agreed, he had solved one thing.

He hurriedly said that he did want to follow along.

After all, this was a major competition and the ultimate purpose of Qi Shuo’s visit, so he wanted to go and see for himself.

Zhou An was fine with it, looking at the luxurious carriage and saying, “This is the first time I’ve sat in such a large carriage.”

Qi Shuo had an eye for ah, and immediately picked up on it, “With Brother Zhou’s ability, if you want to sit in a bigger and more spacious one, there are plenty of people lining up to come.”

Zhou An just smiled.

Time was urgent, and he didn’t have the intention to stay longer, getting on the carriage with Qi Shuo.

Old Zhao followed the carriage and sent it to the door until after they left.

This was Zhou An’s first time leaving Anding County, and the road they took was also an official road.

The official road was relatively smooth and safer.

From Anding County to Yunlai Prefecture, it would be nearly a three day drive.

This was something that could not be helped, after all, a carriage was after all a carriage, it was no more luxurious, but it still needed to be pulled by a horse.

Coupled with the fact that Anding County was already remote, being able to use a three-day drive was already very good.

The Great Chu Kingdom attached great importance to the official roads, repairing them well and setting up many post stations.

Things like post stations were extremely important in this ancient-like society.

When there was no war, the post stations would be able to provide a rest for pedestrians traveling to and from the country, as well as a rest for the horses.

And once there was a battle, the post was an important place to transmit military information.

As the carriage moved forward, Zhou An lifted the curtain through the carriage’s window and looked out the window at the retreating woods.

Even the most spacious official road would take some secluded roads.

Qi Shuo and Zhou An sat in the same carriage, and it was good that the carriage was relatively large.

Qi Shuo’s obese figure was also able to sit comfortably.

“Brother Zhou, have some dry food.”

He took out two pieces of dry food from his bag and handed them to Zhou An.

Zhou An shook his head and took out a piece of cake from the pink money bag in his own bosom.

Qi Shuo was greatly surprised.

He knew that Zhou An had a pink money pouch, but seeing this kind of thing for the first time, he was indeed surprised.

A money bag like this that could store a large amount of items was difficult to obtain even for him.

“Old Qi, you usually hurry and don’t eat anything good.” Zhou An looked at the rough dried food in Qi Shuo’s hand and chatted.

“Hey, brother Zhou, is it because you think that all of our merchants from the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce are well-dressed? Actually, it’s wrong, we all go on business trips from time to time, so the more convenient the dry food in this hand is, the better.”

Qi Shuo explained, “Dry food like this, that’s well preserved and convenient.”

Zhou An nodded, it was indeed like that.

This thing called dry food, of course, convenience plus good preservation was the best.

Even if it was delicious, it wouldn’t be able to serve its purpose on a journey like this one.

“Old Qi, you are not an ordinary person either, the businessman’s trade, you should have gotten into it, right?” Zhou An asked.

Qi Shuo froze, “I hid it so well, brother Zhou, you were able to feel it.”

Zhou An shook his head, “I can’t feel it, but I can tell that the injury on your face healed fast enough, ordinary people don’t heal that fast.”

On Qi Shuo’s face, the black and blue eyes had recovered long ago, a recovery speed that ordinary people couldn’t reach.

Qi Shuo touched his eyes and didn’t hide it, mocking himself, “The weakest miscellaneous sect within the four major sects, the most inconspicuous merchant lineage among the miscellaneous sects, there’s nothing to hide.”

“Oh? What makes you think that? Right, what are the abilities of a merchant?” Zhou An came to be interested.

The journey was long, and time passed faster when they chatted for a while.

“A merchant’s ability is not to be mentioned, but it’s just some skillful speech that can make others trust themselves more and more in a conversation.”

Qi Shuo waved his hand indifferently.

“Old Qi, you just said that the Miscellaneous Sect is the weakest Sect, where did that come from?” Zhou An asked again.

A merchant’s ability was indeed related to his mouth, but what interested Zhou An more was what Qi Shuo had just said.

Qi Shuo smiled bitterly as he put down the dried food in his hands, “Brother Zhou, could it be that you don’t know this? Within our four major sects, the Miscellaneous Sect has the most variety, but it is also the weakest.”

Zhou An didn’t say anything, meaning to let Qi Shuo continue.

He was also quite curious, after all, he only had a shallow understanding of these four major sects.

Qi Shuo himself was an articulate businessman, and this opened up the conversation, narrating ……

“Inside the four major gates, the miscellaneous gates have a large number of people again, but why is it called a miscellaneous word? It is because there are too many people, and there is no backbone even now.”

“Not to mention other countries, let’s just talk about our Great Chu Country, the martial artists have the Chief Secretary as their leader, the readers have the Prime Minister, the Qi Practitioners have a hand in the Inspection Department, and there are also the two Buddhist and Taoist families.”

“The other countries also each have their own representatives, only this Miscellaneous Sect, not a single person was able to step forward.”

“Why?” Zhou An asked.

He was also really strange.

“Hey, it’s just a miscellaneous, complicated miscellaneous.”

Qi Shuo helplessly said, “Brother Zhou, think about it, is the Miscellaneous Sect a place that one can become if they are strong in martial arts? It’s impossible, there are all sorts of things in the Miscellaneous Sect, let’s just say our merchant lineage alone, being strong in martial arts is of no use whatsoever.”

“Unless you’ve convinced all the other lines, if you want to venture out here, there will always be people who will be unconvinced.”

“The merchant lineage is actually the weakest, it’s not that our merchant lineage will embrace the group, and probably I don’t have the status that I have today.”

“Think about it, just the weakest lineage won’t be convinced, let alone the others.”

Speaking here, Qi Shuo took out another water bottle and took a sip of water.

Zhou An stroked his chin, “It does seem to be the case.”

A martial artist was one who practiced martial arts, a qi practitioner was one who practiced qi, and a scholar was one who read, these were the three major disciplines.

If you were able to excel in this and be able to dominate these three disciplines, then you were a cow.

But the miscellaneous sects are different.

So what if you are strong?

So what if you can fight?

Have you ever chopped anyone, have you ever seen ……

Bah, skewering.

Let’s make a very simple analogy, you can’t match me in building skills, and you can’t match me in learning merchants, so why should I serve you?

If you have the ability, you can kill all the people in the miscellaneous sect.

So up until now, the Miscellaneous Sect is still in a state of being a group of dragons without a leader.

Zhou An laughed, “If someone could unify the Miscellaneous Sect, then the Miscellaneous Sect would be a leap forward.”

His words were a joke, and as expected, Qi Shuo shook his head when the words were spoken.

“Impossible, you need to be proficient for a lifetime to learn one thing, if you learn two things, you need to split your mind twice, if you learn three things, you need to split your mind three times, and so on and so forth, a person’s energy is always limited.”

After a slight pause, Qi Shuo continued.

“Originally, I guess, many years ago, there was a person who did display this kind of talent, and speaking of which, this person still has a bit of an affinity with Brother Zhou.”

“Oh?” Zhou An thought for a moment, he didn’t seem to recognize this person.

Qi Shuo hemmed and hawed, “The founder of the Five Elements Burial Sect, he united the five elements, using gold, wood, fire and earth as the basis for the simulation of Imperial Water, he truly amazed a generation of people.”

Zhou An heard the familiar words again and asked Qi Shuo to continue.

Qi Shuo spread his hands and said, “At that time, I guess, everyone thought that this person would be the future leader of the Miscellaneous Sect, but then it was discovered that this technique was simply detrimental to the harmony of the heavens, and then it was extinguished chant.”

He spoke softly and coquettishly, in fact, he didn’t know the details of what happened, all of this was heard from the old-timers of the Chamber of Commerce.

Zhou An was also listening patiently.

Regarding the subsequent events, Qi Shuo said that he didn’t know.

The two of them chatted a few more times, not on this heavy topic, and continued to change the subject.

The carriage was still moving forward.

The sky was already turning dark.

The guards rode their steeds and followed beside the carriage.

At this speed, it wouldn’t take long to reach the nearby post station.

After taking a rest there, the journey would continue.

Sitting in the carriage, Zhou An could feel that the speed of the carriage was gradually decreasing.

They had arrived at the post station.

Raising the curtain of the carriage, Zhou An saw that the stagecoach station was cold and quiet, with not many people.

Aside from a few oil lamps hanging outside to provide illumination, the place was dead.

Qi Shuo similarly raised the curtain of the carriage.

“Strange, on weekdays, even if the post station is cold and clear, there are still people resting their feet, not to mention that the Casting Dao Competition is being held right now, how could there be no one?”

This time is different from the past, the Casting Dao Competition is being held hotly.

It’s not normal for there to be no one at the post.

Zhou An felt equally strange.

Soon, the carriage stopped, and Zhou An and Qi Shuo walked down from the carriage.

The stagecoach station was indeed cold and clear, not a single person could be seen.

Just at this time, a gust of wind blew by and Zhou An smelled a bloody odor.

Not only did Zhou An smell it, even Qi Shuo and the surrounding guards likewise smelled it.

Accompanying the smell of blood was a cold wind.

Zhou An seemed to hear, as if someone was whispering in his ear.

“On guard!” Qi Shuo, who was at least a frequent merchant, hurriedly shouted.

The guards drew their long swords and stood on guard.

Just at this time, one of the oil lamps suddenly went out.