Chapter 144: Acting According to Circumstances

The three of them landed safely on the shore and narrowly escaped disaster, but soon faced a new problem.

Without a boat, how would they continue their journey?

Fourth Lady Mei and Feng Qianjin risked their lives taking the land route to draw away the enemies, allowing the two of them to take the water route unexpectedly so they could quickly and safely reach Jianshui City. Who would have thought the boat would sink after just a few hours! They still had nearly two hundred li to go to Jianshui City. What should they do?

Mu Feng and Jing Wushuang remained silent. Without saying more, they understood the seriousness of the situation.

Whether it was the Immortal Sword Sect or Blind Master Bi Luotian, both surely set up heavy blockades along the way. Without the wooden boat, trying to quickly reach Jianshui City by land would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, even impossible.

“Young Master Mu, you two… seem to have encountered enemies?”

Old Man Li, wise with age, observed their expressions and understood without asking that Mu Feng and Jing Wushuang were in a bad situation and had run into trouble.

“That’s right, we’ve encountered a great enemy. I made an agreement with a genius to face off on the Life-and-Death Platform in three years, but a powerful expert by his side is ruthless and couldn’t wait. He is determined to kill me before those three years are up!”

Mu Feng paused, glanced at the down-and-out Old Man Li, then took out some pieces of silver. He continued, “Old Man Li, I’m very sorry, but we can’t take you to Jianshui City. Our enemies definitely won’t let us two go, and if you stay with us, you’ll be dragged into this too. This silver isn’t much, but it’s our sincere intention. Please take it as travel expenses and go on ahead by yourself!”

“Alright, I really have nothing right now and urgently need some travel money. Young Master Mu, this old man won’t stand on ceremony!”

Old Man Li didn’t hesitate and quickly took the silver. Then his tone changed, and he sincerely said, “However, Young Master Mu, you’ve shown kindness to this old man. Saying this now and telling me to go ahead by myself is too distant. I, Old Man Li, don’t have much skill, but after years in trade, I’ve seen all kinds of people. No matter how powerful your enemy is, I don’t believe they can really block every road to Jianshui City. Heaven never seals off all exits. As long as we work together, there must be a way!”

Surprisingly, after witnessing the assassinations by the Five Ghosts of Jianshui and Dao Duanliu, Old Man Li didn’t retreat but felt duty-bound to stay. He was as talkative as an ordinary merchant, yet possessed a sincerity that most merchants lacked. He knew how to repay kindness, making others look at him with new respect!

It seemed that when they were at Maguan Inn, this old man winning the trust of so many merchants was no accident.

On one hand, it was due to his rich experience; more importantly, it was because of his character. Perhaps because of this, being too sincere and lacking the cunning and slyness of ordinary merchants, he ended up achieving nothing. After laboring outside for almost a lifetime, he still hadn’t earned much money. Now old, he was still struggling for three meals a day, reduced to his current sorry state.

“Is this old man too stubborn, or does he not understand the real danger?”

Looking at Old Man Li, who insisted on staying, Mu Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Some things, he couldn’t say too much. This Old Man Li seemed to know how to repay kindness and didn’t seem like a bad person, but people’s hearts were hidden. You could know a person’s face but not their heart. It was better to keep some secrets hidden. This was to prepare for the worst and also for the old man’s own good. Sometimes, knowing too much wasn’t a good thing!

“Brother Mu Feng, how about we wait here to see if any boats come by? Or, we could go up the mountain to cut some bamboo and make a raft to float downstream?” After a moment of silence, Jing Wushuang made a suggestion.

Although she was a landlubber, afraid of water by nature, she looked at the rushing, turbulent floodwaters with a resolute expression. Circumstances were forcing their hand, and now they could only take the risk.

Hearing this, Old Man Li quickly agreed, “Yes, making a raft to go downstream won’t be much slower than a small wooden boat. Young Master Mu, let’s decide on this. When I was young, I often traveled by water. I’ll pole the raft! I can’t say my skills are great, but going downstream to Jianshui City is absolutely no problem!”

“No!”

Jing Wushuang and Old Man Li both agreed, but this plan was flatly rejected by Mu Feng. “Making a simple raft isn’t hard, but safely floating downstream to Jianshui City is absolutely impossible. Since they sent assassins so quickly to ambush us, the enemies must already know our whereabouts. If we delay here, we’ll give them more time to prepare. No doubt, they’ve surely blocked the river and ferry ahead by now. At this point, the water route is no longer safe either!”

Mu Feng sat cross-legged on the shore, calmly deducing the enemy’s reactions and deployments.

Hearing this, the experienced Old Man Li nodded, understanding he was right. With both land and water routes blocked, Jing Wushuang, already anxious, grew even more worried. “Brother Mu Feng, then what should we do?”

“Take the land route!”

Mu Feng took out the map prepared by Fourth Lady Mei, quickly spread it open, and pointed to a small dot on the map. “Look, this is Wind Gap Gorge, and this is probably where we are now. From here, we go ashore and follow the main road for about thirty-eight li to the next ferry at Hetian Village. Another twenty li ahead is another ferry at Shigeng Bay. No doubt, the enemies have heavily guarded Hetian Village, waiting for us. We can take the land route, bypass Hetian Village and head straight for Shigeng Bay, then suddenly switch to the water route from there!”

“Good!”

Old Man Li and Jing Wushuang’s eyes lit up, and they voiced their agreement. But soon, the detail-oriented Jing Wushuang thought of the key issue. “The enemies have planned everything. Even if they move their main forces to the water route, there are still many hidden sentries on land, and they might even send people to check along the way. How do we get from here to Shigeng Bay?”

“That’s right, that’s the key!” Mu Feng’s expression turned grave.

“Young Master Mu, this old man has a suggestion!”

Old Man Li looked at Mu Feng and slowly continued, “Haste makes waste. The faster we go and the more travel-worn we look, the more attention we’ll attract. For this part of the journey, we might as well go slowly. Don’t take a carriage, and definitely don’t ride horses. Instead, use a common oxcart like villagers do, disguised as three country folk leisurely making our way there.”

Disguise?

Mu Feng and Jing Wushuang looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. The older, the wiser; Old Man Li indeed had rich experience. But the next moment, they looked at each other and couldn’t help frowning. Disguising as villagers sounded easy, but actually doing it without raising any suspicion was not that simple!

“Young Master Mu, don’t worry. Leave the disguise work to this old man.”

Old Man Li, observing their expressions, quickly understood Mu Feng and Jing Wushuang’s concerns and continued, “I’ve traveled north and south, traded for so many years. I didn’t make money, and I didn’t learn many skills. But disguising and making you two look like villagers—that’s no problem at all!”

“Good!”

Mu Feng resolutely nodded. His gaze toward Old Man Li held a touch of surprise and respect. He hadn’t expected that his momentary reluctance to refuse, letting this down-and-out old man on the boat, would end up helping him so much in return!