94 Beast Tide North of the Mountain

Liu Fengshan was quite the talker, and he made the dull journey far more entertaining.

Qin Chuan, meanwhile, was roused to keen interest.

He had been fretting over the lack of a place to refine pills, and upon hearing that there was a sacred ground for alchemy within Jade Mat Mountain, his heart was stirred.

Silently, he resolved to pay it a proper visit and see for himself.

The group’s pace might have been slow, but only in relative terms. Before long they had passed through the mist and entered a mountain pass, where signs of human habitation appeared. Now and then, cultivators would build simple dwellings in secluded spots deep in the mountains.

When they saw the party traveling by, they greeted them warmly and offered tea.

By the time they had traveled a good distance, even Qin Chuan could not help but be surprised.

What surprised him was not the hospitality of Jade Mat Mountain, but Liu Fengshan’s background. His standing clearly was not ordinary.

Tang Xinling and the others were much the same, and even Jiang Qiang, whose talent was rather unremarkable, held no low position.

They continued onward until they reached a checkpoint, where they finally stopped.

“It is Senior Brother Liu!”

The guards seemed to know Liu Fengshan well. Before the six of them even drew near, the guards came out to meet them from afar.

The two exchanged a round of pleasantries.

Then the black-clad man, around thirty years old, turned to Qin Chuan with some confusion.

“Senior Brother, this young friend is...”

“Allow me to introduce him, Junior Brother. This is Qin Chuan, an inner sect disciple of Green Mountain.”

“Qin Chuan?” The black-clad man tasted the name in his mouth, seeming for a moment lost in thought.

Liu Fengshan had originally intended to introduce the black-clad man to Qin Chuan as well, but seeing his distracted expression, he let his raised hand fall and asked in confusion, “What is it? You know him?”

After a long while, the man finally came back to himself, waved his hand slightly, and said, “I have only heard of him.”

Then he cast Qin Chuan a look of deep, layered meaning.

Liu Fengshan found it strange that this man, who usually spoke so readily, would be so half-tongued today. Thinking no more of it, the two bade each other farewell and passed through the checkpoint to continue on their way.

Not long after, the streets gradually grew lively.

It had to be said that, purely in terms of market commerce, Jade Mat City and Yuanfeng Market were evenly matched, though they were not quite the same.

Yuanfeng Market was after all the trading hub of the Green Mountain Sect. With sect oversight, it was naturally orderly, but in terms of scale and variety of goods, it still lagged somewhat behind Jade Mat City.

All manner of spirit herbs and ores, magical treasures and medicinal pills, as well as many strange and curious items, could be found here.

There were even people gathered around a beast pen, discussing it animatedly. The monsters imprisoned there were mostly ragged of fur, missing ears, or crippled of toes.

“Please guide me, Senior Brother. I wish to obtain River-Moon Wood. Where should I go?”

As they wandered deeper into the city, crossing the market and heading toward the inner city, Qin Chuan finally asked once the surroundings were no longer so noisy.

Before he could finish, strangers nearby turned their heads and glanced his way in twos and threes, making his heart sink.

The situation did not seem promising.

“Brother, come with us first. This is not something that can be explained in a sentence or two.”

Sure enough, Liu Fengshan’s expression was not very good, as though he had recalled something unpleasant.

The group arrived at a grand and imposing pavilion, built with red wood and black tiles. Everyone inside spoke in solemn tones, and the whole place was orderly and disciplined.

It seemed to be a mission hall.

Liu Fengshan and the others were clearly very familiar with the place. Without much exchange, they handed over their waist tokens and the River-Moon Wood used to complete the task. After a servant lightly tapped the jade slip with his fingertip, he respectfully returned the tokens.

“Senior Brother, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first,” Xunye said, visibly relieved now that the mission handoff was finally complete.

“Then you may all return first. I still need to take Junior Brother Qin around and show him the sights of Jade Mat.”

Liu Fengshan swept a glance over the four in front of him, but when his eyes fell on Tang Xinling, he suddenly paused.

Her gaze had grown somewhat unfocused, as though she were hesitating.

“Xinling, do you have something else to attend to?”

At his words, Tang Xinling’s face suddenly turned red. She shook her head once, said nothing, and turned to run off.

“What is with that girl?” Liu Fengshan said, looking puzzled. Then, as if something occurred to him, his expression brightened. He glanced at Qin Chuan from the corner of his eye, but said nothing of it.

“Brother, come with me first.”

It was true that Liu Fengshan wanted to play matchmaker, but he had not expected Tang Xinling to have such feelings herself. Thinking it over, he realized this sort of thing could not be rushed.

After leaving the grand hall of the pavilion, they came to a side hall.

“Junior Brother, the Green Mountain waist token does not carry much weight within Jade Mat City. Let us first get you a Jade Mat token.”

He called over a servant and signaled for Qin Chuan to take out his Green Mountain Sect token.

The process was originally rather tedious, but once Liu Fengshan displayed his own token, the servant immediately became respectful and many of the steps were omitted.

By the time the two emerged from the side hall, less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed.

“Keep this token safe. From now on, whether for task handoffs or other matters, you will use it often.”

“Understood.”

Qin Chuan felt somewhat puzzled. He did not know why Liu Fengshan treated him with such concern, and suspicion inevitably grew in his heart.

Too much familiarity too soon makes one wary; it was just so.

Sensing the distance in Qin Chuan’s gaze, Liu Fengshan was momentarily stunned. His expression froze, and bitterness touched the corners of his mouth.

He knew that if he kept talking, the young man would likely grow frightened and run off. So he kept his words brief and to the point.

“Jade Mat Mountain has lately suffered a disturbance. River-Moon Wood was already in short supply, and this year nearly all of it is being produced and consumed within the mountain itself.”

“If you truly need it, Brother, I can use the convenience of my position to help you make arrangements.”

As he spoke, he took out a jade slip and a token, holding them in his hand.

He pressed the jade slip to his forehead. A flash of spiritual light shimmered, and then he lowered his hand and handed it over to Qin Chuan together with the token.

“You need not be so guarded toward me, Brother. Green Mountain Sect and Jade Mat Mountain have always been on good terms. Besides, from what I can see, Xinling, cough...”

“You might as well go to the Place of the Rising Dawn and see her...”

Seeing Qin Chuan’s cheeks suddenly flush, he could not help but mutter inwardly: this kid clearly has feelings for her too, doesn’t he?

The bitterness in his heart vanished at once. Thinking he might actually bring about a fine union, he could not help feeling pleased with himself.

He thought to himself that young people nowadays always dithered and hesitated, unlike people in his own time...

Just then, a woman of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight stepped out from beside them.

She had an oval face with a small dimple at the corner of her mouth. Her figure was slightly full, but just right.

When she spotted Liu Fengshan, she abruptly halted. The brisk stride she had been taking instantly turned graceful, and in a lowered voice, with the most perfect tone she could muster, she said, “I never expected to run into you here, Fengshan. Could this be fate?”

Liu Fengshan had only just finished grumbling, and upon hearing those words, his face went white. He turned around stiffly and looked at the woman.

“Y-you are Miss Yuenu...” Before he could finish, his tongue was already tied.

Qin Chuan did not dare interrupt their mood in the slightest and quietly took his leave.

After reading through the information in the jade slip, he could not help but sigh. It seemed he had wronged Liu Fengshan after all.

The details inside were so thorough that they covered nearly everything.

Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation were all marked on the simple map.

“Cloudside Inn, Pillstone Cliff, Place of the Rising Dawn...” After memorizing the information he needed, he put the jade slip into his storage pouch.

Then he spread his palm and rubbed the token carefully.

The token was white, embroidered with blue patterns, and at a glance looked like green mountains shrouded in cloud and mist. On the front was the clearly engraved character for Liu.

Beside it were a few small words:

See this token as you would see its owner—Liu Fengshan of the Liu Residence.

He had not expected that as soon as he arrived in Jade Mat Mountain, he would stir up trouble.

Qin Chuan could see it now. Liu Fengshan had assumed he had feelings for Tang Xinling, and that was why he had been so attentive.

That was convenient enough, but the more favors one received, the harder they were to repay later.

The jade slip also told him that if he truly wanted River-Moon Wood, he could use the token to accept a special mission to gather it. Then, by relying on Liu Fengshan’s connections, he could secure the wood.

However, Liu Fengshan had also warned him that the difficulty of missions these days was generally quite high.

Qin Chuan could not help falling into thought.

There was no question that River-Moon Wood was something he was determined to obtain.

As an outsider, even with Liu Fengshan’s token, the mission assigned to him would certainly not be easy.

By that logic, he needed to consider how to raise his own strength as much as possible.

At that thought, he could not help but sigh, feeling a little pain in his heart.

His Yin-Yang Thunder Orbs had been exhausted in the Blood Pill affair at Butcher’s Stronghold, and his medicinal pills had likewise been worn down to a mere fraction.

To the north of Jade Mat Mountain, large numbers of beast packs had somehow appeared. Only after many sect disciples went to resist them had the situation been brought under control. Medicinal pills, magical treasures, and herbs had all been consumed at a fierce rate.

Yet if one counted carefully, medicinal pills had risen far more in price than herbs. If he bought pills directly, the spirit stones on him would certainly not be enough.

Even if he bought herbs, the same problem remained.

Once again, he found himself short of spirit stones.

...

By the time Qin Chuan reached his destination, he summoned a servant from the inn.

“Prepare a quiet private room for me.” As he spoke, he showed his token.

“Right away, honored guest. This way, please.”

The child, perhaps around the first level of Qi Refining, was clean and fair-skinned, with clear speech and a manner that was most agreeable. He led Qin Chuan upstairs.

Below, patrons were still dining, and amid their banter and teasing, the noise grew louder and louder.

“Is the situation in the north of the mountain really that severe?”

Qin Chuan noticed that they were mostly discussing the beast tide and casually asked the boy.

“Not really all that severe...” the boy began.

Before he could finish, Qin Chuan slipped him a few spirit stones.

His tone changed at once, seamless and without the slightest trace.

“Severe? It’s a catastrophe!”

“The beasts are one thing, but profits are another.”

“The three major clans of Jade Mat Mountain have been wrangling for days without coming to any result, and that is what turned what was only a spark into the blaze we see now.”

As though a floodgate had opened, the boy poured out everything he had heard and seen.

He spent all day in the inn, so his information was the most current, though also the least reliable, since much of it was hearsay and tended toward exaggeration.

The boy went on and on until he had escorted Qin Chuan to the room door, where he finally stopped. Before leaving, he added, “If you need anything, honored guest, just call for me.”

Inside, he was already grinning from ear to ear, praising the guest for being so generous.

Qin Chuan’s understanding was finally complete after hearing this.

The north and south of Jade Mat Mountain were somewhat special. The mist there was comparatively thin, and beast hordes were rampant.

Not long ago, the number of beasts in the northern region had suddenly surged, as though they had appeared out of nowhere.

Although such incidents had occurred many times over the past century, this one was far more violent. Yet the three great powers of Liu, Guan, and Zhang, who were supposed to oversee the situation, were still squabbling as usual.

The beasts multiplied and multiplied until the present tide of beasts had become something nearly impossible to contain.