Qing Xia thought to herself, no wonder there were so many people here – so this was the problem. Bailang County had a unique custom here: regardless of whether the local residents were traveling north or south, and regardless of whether they believed in the Tathagata Buddha or the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, once they arrived here, they all uniformly converted to worship the Xunda Sky God. This so-called Xunda Sky God also had an origin story – he was said to be the child born from the union of the Northern White Tiger God and a human woman. Later, when great storms swept through the northern lands, he alone ran into the eye of the storm and transformed himself into a stone mountain, permanently blocking the storm and saving tens of thousands of northern people. Good deeds bring good rewards – this creature who was neither fully human nor beast ascended to heaven after death, became an immortal, and forever protected the people of his homeland. He was indeed a deity with great devotional spirit. To commemorate him, later generations erected a statue here in Bailang County, the first county beyond the pass, actually moving a massive intact mountain stone and placing it on the main road, carving a large passage through the middle for people to walk through. Qing Xia thought they probably wanted everyone to experience the feeling of using one’s body to block storms. Usually this caused no great trouble, but today this enormous carriage had stopped here, completely blocking the entire road, making it impossible to fly through even with wings.

Qing Xia impatiently frowned and looked around. Not seeing any owner nearby, she was just about to reach out and move the carriage away when suddenly a clear, melodious voice rang out, especially loud amid all the commotion.

“Old man, what you’re saying is wrong.”

A young man stood in the center of the crowd, dressed in brocade robes with a jade belt and python patterns, surrounded by the scent of incense, wearing deerskin cotton boots, a snow mink fur hat, with both hands tucked into silver fox fur hand warmers. A pair of phoenix eyes lazily gazed at the old man crouched before him crying dramatically, smiling like a fox.

“Old man, what you’re saying is wrong.” The young man stood in the center of the crowd, dressed in brocade robes with a jade belt and python patterns, surrounded by the scent of incense, wearing deerskin cotton boots and a snow mink fur hat, with both hands tucked into a silver fox fur hand warmer. A pair of phoenix eyes lazily gazed at the old man crouched before him crying dramatically, smiling like a fox. “The sage said, ‘There is no greater good than knowing one’s errors and being able to correct them.’ But this young master believes that knowing one’s errors and being able to correct them must also be done in a timely manner, otherwise it’s equally useless. Old man, your daughter sold herself to bury her father, but we had barely left when you stood right back up. Do you know where you went wrong?”

The old man hurriedly wiped his tears and said, “This humble one should not have deceived this young master. This humble one was blinded by greed. Please spare me this once, young master.”

“No, no,” the brocade-robed young master smiled and shook his head, slowly extending his hand to pull out a gold-decorated folding fan from his robes. His fingers were pale and slender, with his index finger hooked on the fan handle. He gently shook it and waved it before the old man, smiling as he said, “This young master bought your daughter because I saw she was delicate and well-behaved. I, young master, cherish beauty and pity the fragile, and didn’t want her to suffer hardship following an old fraud like you. But you absolutely should not have, should never have stood up right after I left. Isn’t this obviously slapping me in the face? Trying to tell all the travelers from south and north that I’m a fool who was thoroughly deceived by a third-rate swindler like you, blindly trusting you completely. Old man, you’re clearly not giving me face here.”

“It’s not… this master… it’s not…” The old man suddenly nervously grabbed onto the man’s calf, and fine incense fragrance emanated from the warm boots.

The brocade-robed young master grinned widely, very happily saying, “You few, help this old gentleman fulfill his wish. Doesn’t he want to play dead? Let him have his wish.”

Pig-slaughtering screams immediately echoed throughout the entire street. The brocade-robed young master shifted his foot slightly and broke free from the old man’s grasp. The large group of guards following behind rushed forward like wolves and tigers, immediately restraining the skeletal old man.

Qing Xia’s brow furrowed slightly. She crossed her arms and walked toward her horse while coldly watching this farce. Suddenly she felt a sharp gaze shoot toward her like an arrow. Qing Xia turned to look and saw that the brocade-robed young master had somehow noticed her and was cupping his hands toward her in a distant greeting.

Qing Xia grinned. Not knowing what this man’s background was, beneath his carefree exterior, the feeling he gave off was surprisingly keen. A mischievous thought suddenly arose – not out of pity for that disreputable old fraud, but simply because she didn’t want to see those smug, fox-like eyes.

She reached up to unfasten two buttons from her robe, gripped them in her hand, then smiled gracefully at the man across from her, slightly cupping her hands in what appeared to be a well-mannered return greeting.

Just then, with a whooshing sound through the air, something whistled toward the direction of the road’s archway.

The brocade-robed young master’s expression immediately changed, his body suddenly lunging toward the carriage. But before he could take a step, another black projectile came swiftly, hitting his calf with a thud. The brocade-robed young master stumbled and knelt on the ground. The next second, one of the cart horses suddenly let out a piercing whinny. The completely blocked street instantly erupted in chaos. Everyone looked sideways to see the horse acting as if it had gone mad, rearing and kicking frantically with wild neighing. With a shake of its head, it actually snapped the reins, driving the other fine horses to pull the luxurious carriage away at breakneck speed.

All along the way, people and horses tumbled, chickens flew and dogs jumped, the crowd screamed and shoved, the entire street like a pot of boiling thick porridge, thrown into complete chaos.

“Hyah!” A crisp, clear shout rang out like ice and snow amid the chaotic commotion, especially loud. Everyone looked up together to see a woman in white fox fur riding on a tall horse, wearing a fiery red fire fox fur hat, with bright brows and white teeth, skin like snow, eyes like stars, a corner of her mouth carrying a smile that could topple nations – refreshingly pleased and triumphant. Raising her riding whip, she glanced with a light smile at the brocade-robed young master kneeling on the ground in complete dishevelment, then spurred her horse wildly along the path the luxurious carriage had cleared, disappearing at the end of the long street.

“Young Master!” Several subordinates shouted loudly, desperately pushing through the surrounding crowd that had gathered, using all their strength to finally assemble around the young man, nervously calling out, “Is Young Master all right?”

“I’m fine,” the brocade-robed young master, having been played by someone, showed not the slightest trace of anger, but instead smiled as he looked toward the end of the long street, saying, “Your young master is now better than ever. Let’s go quickly, follow and take a look.”

“Young Master, that old man is gone.”

“Ah? Gone?” The brocade-robed young master was stunned, turning around to ask in confusion.

“Yes,” a subordinate in gray fur said, “He must have escaped during the chaos just now. This subordinate will go catch him and bring him back.”

“Right,” the young master nodded and said, “I promised that little girl I would teach that old thief a lesson. A promise to a beauty cannot be broken.”

“Then what about you, Young Master? You should return quickly. If you’re discovered…”

“Enough, enough, I know what I’m doing.” The brocade-robed young master impatiently waved his hand, saying to the others, “Quickly bring my Quick Snow. We’ll be too late otherwise.”

“Young Master, your Quick Snow just had his nose injured by someone. Right now Sixth and Seventh have already gone chasing.”

“Fine, I understand. You few go quickly catch that old man, don’t let him escape. The rest of you follow me to chase that woman.” Saying this, he himself took the lead in running down the street without any regard for image. More than ten personal guards closely protected his surroundings, and this group of richly dressed people ran frantically down the street with no dignity whatsoever, causing the watching common people to turn and stare.

Running wildly all the way, everyone was gasping for breath when suddenly the brocade-robed young master raised his hand, and everyone quickly stopped. They saw with a bang, the main door of a gambling house called “Yi Ru Gambling House” was kicked open with a thunderous crash.

The brocade-robed young master stood to the side in great delight, pointing at a completely black fine horse and shouting loudly, “It’s this horse, it’s this horse!”

The guards were long accustomed to their master’s periodic fits and watched helplessly as several large men stumbled up from the dusty ruins of the broken door. The men all had injuries on their heads and faces, and one person’s wrist was bent at an odd angle to the side, apparently broken by someone. Several people struggled to their feet in disarray, all vigilantly watching the inside of the gambling house. After a moment, a woman in white fox fur slowly walked out, her footsteps on the dusty ground carrying an ineffable威慑 presence.

The woman had delicate features. Though not devastatingly beautiful, the powerful confidence showing through her brows and eyes was enough to cover any facial inadequacies. She held a small child in one arm and gripped a long, large sword in the other, with the sword’s tip pressed against the fat neck of a man in his forties. Her gaze coldly surveyed the surrounding crowd, her mouth corners cold, carrying a trace of faint arrogance.

“Mu Gudai, did you remember everything I just said?”

The woman’s crisp voice suddenly rang out. The man she held restrained trembled in his legs, nearly wetting himself, stuttering, “Re… remembered…”

“That’s good.” The woman smiled faintly, suddenly raising the long sword and striking Mu Gudai hard on the neck with the blade’s back. With a thud, Mu Gudai screamed and collapsed limply, his eyes rolling back, thinking his life had truly been ended.

“Big Brother!” Many people from the gambling house rushed out from inside, crying out as they threw themselves toward Mu Gudai. The woman swept the long sword along the ground, picking up the door panel and hurling it at the crowd.

“Rumble” – a tremendous crash, followed by screams and wails echoing everywhere.

“A Mo Ye, we’re leaving!” Holding the child, Qing Xia ran toward the direction where the brocade-robed young master and others stood. Suddenly seeing him standing there surrounded by guards with a smiling expression, her face turned cold. She slightly shifted her body as if to protect the child, coldly looking at this group of uninvited guests.