Today's cultivation had been uneventful for Anfeng and the others, who had failed to provide any guidance. After returning as a youth, he enjoyed a comfortable sleep on the soft bed of the inn, had some breakfast the next day, and then took the Green-Maned Horse and left the city gate.
Unlike the previous two excursions, this time he was traveling alone on a much longer journey. The sights he would see were expected to surpass everything he had experienced as a youth, naturally making his emotions more susceptible to fluctuations. He found everything he saw and heard along the way extremely fresh and interesting, filled with anticipation for the days to come.
Especially for Jianghu.
Although he wasn't truly entering Jianghu, the feeling of heading towards the unknown excited the youth tremendously.
He couldn't help but think uncontrollably about what the days in Jianghu, described in tales with swift horses and hearty laughter over feuds, might be like.
Following the official road for a moment, Wang Anfeng turned into a small path, traveled for another hour, and as the people who had left the city with him took other paths, he was left with only a gaunt middle-aged man who stuck with him. Suddenly, the latter sped up his horse and called out with a laugh,
"Young lad, what a coincidence, are you also heading to Zhao Family Village? How come I don't recognize you?"
Wang Anfeng froze momentarily, assuming that Zhao Family Village was just another small mountain village like Great Liang Village. Although the middle-aged man had mistaken him, Anfeng was by nature kind to others and responded with a smile. The man was quite eloquent and generous in demeanor, and they chatted amiably as they continued.
As hours passed, they found themselves deeper into the narrow path.
The trees around were once lush, but now in winter, not a single leaf remained, lining both sides of the road like ghoulish figures with clawing hands. The wind howling through the treetops created a disconcerting noise, unsettling the heart. Wang Anfeng glanced at the sky, thinking that if it really came down to it, he might as well spend the night in Zhao Family Village.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint, well-concealed murderous intent, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Just then, an extremely sharp breaking sound whooshed through the air, and multiple afterimages shot out, accompanied by several crisp sounds as rows of arrows embedded themselves quivering in the tree trunks on both sides. Suddenly, about a dozen burly men rushed out from both sides, the leader brandishing a Decorated Large Axe weighing over a hundred pounds.
With a rough face and a bristly beard, he heavily smashed the axe onto the ground, creating a booming sound, and bellowed with a loud laugh,
"Hahaha, what a fat sheep, hahaha!"
"Clearly the sort to gain wealth through injustice. We brothers rob the rich to help the poor, just right to rid ourselves of such as he and aid those in need!"
Wang Anfeng's expression turned stern, recognizing that he had encountered robbers. He slightly lifted his wrist, ready to perform his Whip Technique, and said,
"Uncle Yang, step back, I..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly felt weak, a numb strength emerging throughout his body, his complexion changed, and he abruptly turned around to, face-to-face with the gaunt man's gently smiling visage. Realization flashed through his mind like lightning.
At noon, he had drunk the cold tea from the man's flask.
The youth gritted his teeth and said,
At this point, Wu Changqing had not yet administered the Medicinal Bath to fortify his body against all poisons. Even as Wang Anfeng gritted his teeth to gather his spirits, the potency of the Sleeping Drug administered by the other was extraordinary.
Struggling to hold on, his vision eventually blurred and he slumped over on the back of the Green-Maned Horse, which neighed sharply, initially intending to burst forth. However, suddenly a sword whistle carrying a Buddhist chant rang by his ears, leaving his body stiff, unable to move.
Wang Anfeng regained consciousness amidst the jolting.
His Inner Strength circulated, thunderously purging the remaining toxins, briefly dazed, then he completely awakened. At this moment, not only his Wooden Sword and ancient zither were gone, but even the deep robe of the Confucian Sect sewn by his master's wife had been stripped from him. In the biting wind, only his thin underclothes remained.
His body was bound by a heavy chain, and he was thrown into a wooden cage similar to a prisoner's cart. Besides him, there were many peculiar items, surrounded by about a dozen burly men, and it was approaching dusk as he could hear loud conversations nearby.
"Old Sixth, you really got something there, this kid must have some skills, that Whip Lock is quite valuable, huh."
"Exactly, I figured this kid must have learned a bit of martial arts and wanted to go out and make a name in Jianghu. The drug I used could knock out a black bear, yet it got reversed?"
"Making a name in Jianghu, making a name in Jianghu, hahaha, Jianghu is filled with blood, stabbed in the front and the back."
Amid more laughter and flattering, Wang Anfeng stiffened, feeling his dream of Jianghu utterly shattered, having been thrown into a muddy ditch, trampled on carelessly, quite annoyed. It seemed they had arrived at the destination as the pace slowed down, the carriage slowly entering a stronghold.
Wang Anfeng stole a glance, and his blood chilled in an instant.
The setting sun was blood-red, and on either side of the stronghold, two long poles stood with a rope in between, which, like hanging laundry, displayed a row of corpses, with several people cursing as they hung up a new corpse, swaying in the cold wind.
The burly man driving the cart laughed and said,
"Haha, how did this girl die too?"
"Ah, always so stubborn, played with until broken, yet still stubborn, what's the use of that?"
The man spat out, clearly disgruntled, and said,
"If she sought death, then let her die!"
The gaunt middle-aged man glanced over and sighed, "You're too cruel..."
"Oh ho, what high opinion does Sixth Master have?"
The 'Sixth Master' stroked his beard and said, "The most delightful part of that woman was her fair, delicate feet. You just had to use those red embroidered shoes, such hot, blazing iron shoes. Once she put them on, who could see..."
The man was momentarily taken aback, but then said, "Ah, they're all dead, so what does it matter? Sixth Master, you wouldn't understand, those frisky women in red embroidered shoes, they really jump vigorously. Even during the putting on, they weren't afraid."