A night without words.
Yuan Ming rose early the next morning, taking his package to the city to buy articles and clothes that would alter his appearance.
Just as he stepped out of the inn, a burst of discussion came from nearby.
"One hundred gold coins!"
"Da Jin Country is indeed wealthy!"
Curiously, Yuan Ming looked over. A white paper was posted on the wall near the inn, written in both Southern Border and Jin scripts. Several early-risers from the Southern Border gathered around, pointing and discussing. He walked over and read the notice, his heart skipping a beat in shock.
There was a portrait of a Central Plains person drawn there, with several lines of text beside it—a missing person notice.
The facial features of the person in the portrait were strikingly similar to his, with the adjacent text clearly stating that they were looking for someone named Yuan Ming—it was him they were looking for!
Yuan Ming quickly scanned the content of the notice. According to the description, a member of a mission had gone missing after falling into water on the road; the mission was offering a reward of one hundred gold coins for any information on him. Informants could report to the Da Jin Mission to claim the reward.
"Could it be that Lin Junsheng suspects I didn't die and is using this method to search for me?" Yuan Ming's face turned stern as he quickly left the crowd and briskly headed south of the city.
Quite a few people in North City of Iron Tiger Town had seen him already; ordinary passersby might not remember him, but the inn's shop assistants, shopkeepers, and others surely would remember. He couldn't stay in North City a second longer.
Yuan Ming silently rejoiced that he had risen early that day. Had he slept in even a little longer, he might have been directly blockaded inside the inn.
Old Smoke Bag from the neighboring grocery was also up and cleaning the front space, just as he saw Yuan Ming hurriedly leaving.
"Why is he up so early and in such a rush? What happened?" Old Smoke Bag wondered in surprise, then noticed the crowd gathered around the missing person notice and walked over out of curiosity.
"That person above is that Central Plains lad! A big shot from the mission, offering a hundred gold coins!" Old Smoke Bag's heart jumped, his eyes gleaming and his breathing grew heavy.
He had previously pilfered quite a few valuable items from Yuan Ming, worth quite a number of gold coins, and now there was a reward of a hundred! "Hehe, lad, you really are my god of wealth. May Grandpa Yu bless me to earn another hundred gold coins," Old Smoke Bag chuckled as he turned and left.
Unaware that he had been exposed, Yuan Ming didn't pause but hurried toward the southern part of the city.
Notices seeking him were posted all around the city, drawing large crowds of Southern Border people.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming didn't dare to delay but quickened his pace.
The city gates hadn't yet opened, and many Southern Border people and carts were gathered here, waiting for them to be opened.
There was also a missing person notice posted near the city gate, which many Southern Border people stopped to gaze at. As expected, the amount of the bounty elicited exclamations again.
Yuan Ming cursed under his breath. He couldn't stay at the city gate any longer; he dodged into a nearby alley. With no one around, he swiftly changed into the tattered clothes from the previous day and stuffed his shoes into his package.
He grabbed some yellowish clay from the wall, smeared it over his palms, cheeks, and other areas, altering his skin tone. Sitting in the shadows at the mouth of the alley, he anxiously waited for the nearby city gates to open.
As time ticked by, the brilliant sunrise appeared in the eastern sky, and the massive city gates slowly opened. Crowds and carts that had been waiting for a long time began to move toward the outside of the city.
Yuan Ming briskly stepped forward, intending to blend into the crowd, when suddenly a flurry of hoofbeats approached; six fast horses galloped from a distance, four of whom were guards from the Da Jin Mission, and the other two riders were Southern Border men in Black Armor, apparently Iron Guards from the Lord Mansion.
"By the order of the Lord Mansion, close the gates! Capture the great thief!" One of the Black Armor Iron Guards, holding aloft a yellow Command Flag inscribed with the bold characters for "Lord Mansion" in Southern Border script, shouted loudly from a distance.
With a thundering crash, the thick city gate finally closed completely.
Presumably the mission had already received the news that the lord was now colluding to capture him, so he had to leave Iron Tiger Town immediately.
Yuan Ming could only turn back towards the town to see if there was a chance, some knights dashed past on the main road, shouting to capture the Central Plains giant thief, confirming his previous guess.
He wasn't very familiar with the streets of Iron Tiger Town, and with the city gates sealed, the mission and the people of Iron Tiger Town just had to order a search and he would certainly have no way to escape.
Yuan Ming's mind raced as he thought hard, suddenly a thought popped up.
"That place might just allow me to escape this catastrophe," he murmured to himself, getting up and walking forwards.
After turning several corners, a square appeared in front of him, precisely that recruitment spot.
Yuan Ming had previously enquired with Mandula specifically about this recruitment spot, the Kasi Clan implemented a policy of separating the military from the administration, and although this recruitment spot was inside Iron Tiger Town, it was not under the jurisdiction of Lord Ba Yin, but under another commander.
"Where did this beggar come from? The military camp is a place of importance, not somewhere to beg!" he walked inside and was stopped by a Southern Border Soldier.
"Brother, I'm not here to beg but to enlist in the army," said Yuan Ming.
"You, enlist? Although our army is recruiting soldiers, we don't just take anyone," the Southern Border Soldier looked Yuan Ming up and down with a disdainful expression.
"What must I do to enlist?" Yuan Ming asked.
"See that over there? As long as you can lift it over your head, you can go inside," the Southern Border Soldier pointed towards an empty space next door.
There lay about a dozen iron weights, arranged from smallest to largest, the smallest being the size of a bucket and the largest around half a person's height. The full series is hosted on My Virtual Library Empire, known as *.
Yuan Ming slightly smiled, strode over, and grabbed the smallest weight.
He gathered strength in his arms and easily lifted the weight above his head, standing firm and immovable like a proud pine tree.
"Is that sufficient?" Yuan Ming turned to the Southern Border Soldier, asking
The Southern Border Soldier was slightly surprised, even the smallest weight didn't seem easy to lift given Yuan Ming's physique, yet he lifted it with ease.
"That's enough," the Southern Border Soldier's expression softened a bit.
Just as Yuan Ming set down the weight and was about to enter the military camp, clapping sounds came from the side, and a Southern Border middle-aged man dressed in military attire approached, followed by a personal soldier.
"Met Assistant General," the Southern Border Soldier quickly bowed in salute.
Yuan Ming also hurriedly bowed his head to greet the newcomer.
"You're from the Central Plains, aren't you? Quite strong," the Assistant General scrutinized Yuan Ming, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, "You passed the test, go ahead and register. Remember to follow the military discipline in the camp," the Assistant General said with a smile, gesturing behind him.
Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked into the military camp.
"The recruitment is almost done. Send someone to inform Hu Zha, tell him I will send the men over tonight. He's urging so urgently." The military-dressed general waved his personal soldier over and instructed softly.