Chapter 602 – The Legacy of Nan Sheng (I)
“Lord, the snow is so heavy that we likely can’t take a shortcut. For safety’s sake, it’s better to stick to the main road.”
Wei Ci looked at the snowy scene; the snowflakes were as large as feathers, sticking to faces and quickly melting into icy water.
Jiang Pengji could only nod helplessly. The wind and snow were too fierce, and the deep snow not only increased the difficulty of traveling but also slowed their pace.
The snow submerged half of their calves. Whether it was the horses or the carts, the path had to be carefully checked before proceeding to avoid falling into any holes. Now, they were in the middle of nowhere, with no village in sight and no place to stay behind them. If they encountered any unfortunate mishaps, it would be disastrous.
Jiang Pengji gazed out at the vast, gloomy skies and nodded in agreement.
They had been traveling outside for several days, and the audience in the live stream found it boring, engaging in daily chatter and just passing the time.
Jiang Pengji felt bored too. Feng Zhen, afraid of the cold, shrank into the carriage, and Wei Ci, wanting to come out, was sent back inside by her.
Fortunately, she had a live stream with 150,000 idle viewers to keep her entertained.
【Dinner is scary to eat】: Although ancient technology is pretty backwards, the environment is clean! If it were here, we wouldn’t know whether the stuff falling from the sky was white snow or “black snow.” Back in the day, we used to have snowball fights; now that seems out of the question.
【Eating just makes me sleepy】: I envy those upstairs who can still have snowball fights! I’m from the south, a water town, and I’ve never seen snow my entire life. Watching cartoons or romance dramas, the main characters throw snowballs and build snowmen; I’m super envious!
【Snacks are better】: Envy? How absurd! Cartoons lie, and romance dramas are all filtered and edited! Watching the male and female leads play around in the snow, laughing and being romantic, sure, it happens in dramas, but in reality, the cleaning lady would’ve cleared the snow already.
【Daily Cultivation】: The cleaning lady’s job isn’t easy either! Once they clear the snow, snowman building and snowball fights can only happen in your imagination. If they don’t clean up, do you know how dirty the ground gets when the snow melts? It turns into a muddy mess!
【Ascending Daily】: But there are no cleaning ladies here for the host! Aren’t you going to have snowball fights or build snowmen?
To this suggestion, Jiang Pengji simply replied with two words.
【Host V】: Absolutely not!
Jiang Pengji’s directness struck a chord with the audience, causing another wave of sympathy.
The heavy snow fell in silence, with only the crunching sounds of wheels and hooves trampling the snow, accompanied by the howling wind.
From time to time, Jiang Pengji would lift her hand to flick away the accumulated snow on her cloak to prevent it from melting and soaking her.
“Lord—Lord—there’s someone collapsed on the main road ahead, and they still have a pulse—”
Jiang Pengji was not in a hurry to move on. If she found someone collapsed in the snow, alive, she would certainly devise a way to rescue them.
The soldiers in front were scouting the path, both to ensure the safe passage of the cart and the horses and to possibly find any survivors.
Frowning, Jiang Pengji said, “Bring the person back and place them in the cart behind.”
The soldier showed a conflicted expression and said, “Lord, that person seems to be a member of the Red Lotus Sect…”
The Red Lotus Sect?
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow.
The Green Garment Army was causing chaos in Fengyi County and Shangyang County, while the Red Lotus Sect had its influence in Chengde County and elsewhere.
So far, she had only fought against the Green Garment Army and hadn’t interacted much with the Red Lotus Sect.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
The soldier replied, “That person has flame-patterned tattoos on their forearm; that’s one of the symbols of the Red Lotus Sect.”
Flame patterns?
She recalled the information regarding the Red Lotus Sect.
In that organization, the most common followers were the occupied common people, praying daily to the deities they worshipped; despite the heavy exploitation, their lives were just about bearable. Compared to the Green Garment Army’s violence, the Red Lotus Sect employed a form of soft violence, brainwashing their followers.
Those slightly higher in rank were minor followers, who carried tokens marked with flame symbols to prove their identity.
Even higher were the apostles of followers, who had a flame tattooed on their arm.
Although apostles weren’t small leaders, they managed around a hundred common followers each.
“Lord, do we save them or not?”
Jiang Pengji said decisively, “Save them and interrogate for details. A Red Lotus Sect apostle fainting in the icy wilderness seems quite suspicious, doesn’t it? Find out more before reporting back. Remember not to let anyone escape; send someone to keep a close watch.”
The soldier clasped his hands in acknowledgment.
Upon inspection, the man with the Red Lotus Sect symbol tattooed on his arm had simply collapsed from hunger.
If they hadn’t happened to pass by, in another hour or two, the snow would have buried him, and he would have frozen to death, unknown and unnoticed.
Hearing the commotion outside, Wei Ci asked.
Jiang Pengji turned and said, “It’s nothing; we found a guy from the Red Lotus Sect who fainted from hunger in the snow, and we saved him.”
He didn’t give it much thought, as long as it wasn’t an assassin targeting her.
Since last night, after Jiang Pengji “played the victim,” Wei Ci had meticulously gathered and analyzed the information he knew, becoming more suspicious.
He thought the beginning for Jiang Pengji was great, everything seemed to be in her favor, but hearing her “true feelings” now made him think things were likely not that simple. These changes were not all for the better and might very well relate to what Master Liaochen had said about the monsters.
At what point did history begin to differ from what he knew of the past?
He initially thought it was Liu Zhi but second-guessed himself and retracted that thought.
Annoyingly, he had left Dongqing too early in his past life and only had a rough understanding of the situation there.
Hearing that the soldiers saved another person, Wei Ci didn’t pay it much mind.
As night gradually fell, Jiang Pengji’s group had to seek a sheltered place to spend the night.
The rescued man had awakened; the soldiers, following orders, had cooked him some soft porridge. After being hungry for so long, it was unwise to eat anything too greasy or too much, so warm porridge would suit him just fine.
The soldiers tried to pry information from the man, unaware that he was extremely guarded and had not revealed a word.
Helpless, the soldiers returned to report to Jiang Pengji.
“Lord, I suspect that the person might not be an ordinary commoner.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
Jiang Pengji skewered a cold steamed bun on a stick and held it over the fire, toasting it until the outside was all sticky, before carefully biting into it.
The soldier said, “I’ve probed several times, and this person is highly vigilant. They’ve clearly been starving, but their manner of eating is very refined, and their speech and behavior… they don’t seem like an ordinary person, but rather a well-educated scholar.”
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow, feeling a flicker of interest.
“Bring that person to me; I’ll interrogate them personally.”
In truth, there was no need to put in much effort; few could keep secrets in front of Jiang Pengji.
The person who had been rescued was a man nearing thirty. His long hair was tied back with hemp rope, looking like it hadn’t been washed in days. Even in the dead of winter, he had a distinctive odor about him. His hair was clumped together with dust and grime.
His nails hadn’t been trimmed for at least a month, darkened with filth, and a thick layer of grime coated his skin.
His appearance resembled that of a beggar, but the moment Jiang Pengji laid eyes on him, she felt a sense of caution.
This man had a story.
