"What do you want to see this time?"
"That little fellow has stirred up such big news again..."
The somewhat scruffy Taoist's mouth twitched, with a little girl sitting on his shoulder. The little girl held a bright red sugar-coated hawthorn stick in one hand, with a string tied to her white wrist, the string being very thin but tied to a giant, menacing black bear.
The black bear lay on the ground on all fours, its shoulder height exceeding two meters.
If it were to stand up, it would be a terrifying beast over five, perhaps even six meters tall, with paws large enough to casually crush a tiger's head into paste, yet at this moment it was tied by a short string, behaving obediently and docilely.
The old Taoist reached out, lifting the little girl off his shoulder, then stretched his large right hand to ruffle her hair, his expression filled with kindess: "So, do you want to go find him and take a look?"
"The last time was last year, no, the year before last during the festival, do you miss him?"
Zhang Tingyun reached out her hand, trying to smooth the wrinkles on the old Taoist's forehead, only to find that those wrinkles seemed deeply etched into his face, making her give up, then she shook her head:
The old Taoist paused for a moment.
"He, we, all have plenty of time."
The little girl's voice quieted, as she tugged on the Taoist's sleeve.
Her voice was as soft and calm as the clouds in the sky.
"I want to be with you first..."
The old Taoist was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, laughing until tears came out, then lifted the little girl high before placing her back on his shoulder, exuding a great spirit. Wiping his eye corner with his sleeve, he said loudly, "Great, that's more like it! Follow Grand Preceptor, Grand Preceptor will take you traveling across the world's four seas."
"Savor the best, drink the sweetest, my child will never be worse off than others!"
Zhang Tingyun sat on the tall shoulder, her little feet kicking as she took a bite of the sugar-coated hawthorn, softly humming.
The old Taoist laughed, his heart warm, giving the black bear a light kick, he said:
"Let's go, you beast."
"You'll eat well today!"
The black bear's short tail swung dizzily.
Outside the Great Qin, Fufeng County.
A handsome man in his thirties entered the city, eyes vacant, swaying as he walked. He briefly glanced at the three characters for Fufeng County, feeling an urge to howl at the sky or to lie on his back and cry.
Gu Qinghan clenched his fists tightly, barely resisting the urge to howl at the sky thirty thousand times.
Blade Madman, why don't you act human!
Seven days, seven days to reach Great Qin.
But why didn't you mention that Fufeng County is in the north of Great Qin, north! From the Western Regions to the north, the distance was at least thirty percent longer than originally expected, thirty percent more of Great Qin's land, how many miles is that!
Nine days, traveled from the Western Regions to the north of Great Qin.
He swore, never again in the next life would he practice Qinggong...
A Fifth Rank Martial Artist like him, exhausting himself and taking elixirs day and night, finally reached Great Qin within seven days, feeling relieved, planning to relax for a few days after delivering the message, only to painfully discover that Fufeng County was in the north of Great Qin.
While he was in the west of Great Qin.
The result was, after struggling across the adverse Western Regions climate, he still had to cross half of Great Qin, and with the allotted seven days already gone, he could only grit his teeth, running wildly for two more days, covering half of Great Qin's distance.
Never before had he felt so frustrated at the vastness of a nation.
But finally, it was about to end...
Gu Qinghan looked at the distant city, coughing two times, trying to lift his spirits. After asking a few people in the city, he wandered around, finally finding his destination, a place that looked like a normal gang's base, with two beast-headed copper rings on the vermilion door.
"This is the Divine Martial Mansion?"
"Although, it seems it used to be called the Giant Whale Gang, never mind."
He took out the letter from his chest and stepped forward a few paces. Grabbing one of the copper rings, he knocked, and after a while, a person welcomed him inside, a somewhat short and stout man in his forties, seemingly surnamed Li, addressed by others as Brother Li San.
Walking inward, Gu Qinghan, exhausted from the arduous journey, subconsciously assessed the gang's base. In the front yard, there was an old man with white hair strolling with tea in hand, and as he passed through the corridors, he noticed a young person with a remarkably dull expression.
The person had a medicinal scent, appeared harmless, and probably was a doctor.
Very ordinary indeed... seemingly befitting its simple name, Giant Whale Gang.
He took everything in with a glance, having no time to gather information while on the road, Gu Qinghan couldn't help but somewhat look down on this place. Once inside, he was served tea, and after drinking down the hot tea, he felt a slight relief from fatigue.
The sound of the wind seemed to flutter around his ears, Gu Qinghan looked around, growing more curious. This update ıs available on novel⟡fire.net
The leaves in the courtyard lay silently on the ground, although it was clearly windless.
Just then, a big man emerged at the rear, none other than Gongsun Jing.
Gu Qinghan gathered his thoughts, unaware of the high-level gossip circulating among the elite of Jianghu, he relayed the situation, then produced the token. Almost at the moment he took out that token, with his sharp perception as the eleventh... no, tenth on the black list, he instantly sensed something was off.
Many gazes immediately fixed on the token.