Chapter 59

"Hmm? Excuse me, have we met before?" Bei Qiao, who was trying to figure out the route, turned and looked at the person who was driving. It was a middle-aged woman with a plump figure and a round, rosy face. But for some reason, the woman looked at her with a slightly terrified expression.

A gust of wind blew towards him, and Bei Qiao smelled a strange odor, a bit like the scent of rotten soil mixed with incense ash. If you smelled this smell at night, most people would probably imagine a horror story of at least 3,000 words. As for Bei Qiao...

Bei Qiao: Your face is a little abnormally red. Are you having a fever or a heart attack?

"Ah, no, no, I was wrong, I was wrong!" The woman quickly lowered the hand that was pointing at Bei Qiao, trying to restrain her expression and pretend nothing happened: "The sun was too bright, I accidentally saw it wrongly."

"Okay." Bei Qiao did not remind her that her voice was inconsistent. He just looked at the familiar old carriage, then retracted his gaze and continued to look forward: Since she chose to pretend not to know him, then just pretend that he had never seen him. Anyway, they only met once and were not very familiar with each other.

The middle-aged woman, or rather Lian'er who had disguised herself, didn't know that she had been recognized. She glanced at Bei Qiao who had stopped talking, nervously adjusted her collar, and raised the whip to urge the horses pulling the cart to speed up, fearing that Bei Qiao would turn his horse around and catch up with her, asking her what she meant by the words she had accidentally said before.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I won't eat people." Listening to the sudden rapid sound of horse hooves beside him, Bei Qiao shook his head and pulled the reins in his hand: "Huihui, Honghong, there's no need to run so fast. It's enough as long as we can get into the city before dark." Now is the time to enjoy the journey, there is no need to rush.

"Ahhh!"

"Shhhhh!"

Bei Qiao's destination on this trip was the capital. In this alien world with underdeveloped transportation, she couldn't fly directly to the capital in just a few hours like in reality. She could only drive north step by step.

"First stop, Wutong County again." Bei Qiao pulled out a simple map he'd drawn. "Don't worry too much this time. I probably won't run into anything..."

"Stop right there!" An angry shout suddenly came from the front of the road, and two figures came running from a distance, one in front and one behind, chasing each other.

Bei Qiao: "..." The name "A Different World Martial Arts" is really not chosen in vain. You will run into trouble whenever you go on a long trip.

After quickly checking the sleeve arrow, Bei Qiao leaned forward slightly, ready to stand up at any time, looking straight ahead, always alert to possible situations ahead: I hope it’s not a big trouble, I really don’t want to run on the small road again, it’s too bumpy.

There was more than one carriage on the road. In order to avoid the carriages, the two men shuttled back and forth on the road, attracting bursts of curses and neighing.

The pursued swordsman wore night clothes in broad daylight, covered his face with a matching cloth, and carried a flowered bundle in his free hand. He repeatedly tried to grab a random unlucky person from a roadside carriage as a hostage, but he was always nearly kicked by the frightened horses. He looked unwise.

The young man chasing the swordsman was maskless and kept yelling at him to surrender. He held no weapons, but his fists were larger than a normal man's, likely due to his training in iron sand palms. The two men chased each other, weaving in and out of traffic along the road, and eventually, they simply stepped on the carriages to run.

"There are indeed many talented people." Seeing that the swordsman was caught up and beaten by the coachman because he stepped on the roof of someone else's carriage, Bei Qiao remained calm and pulled the reins to remind Huihui and Honghong to prepare to overtake: Who dares to travel a long distance without some skills?

"What was stolen from you?" Seeing the young man heaved a sigh of relief after snatching the bag back from the swordsman, the groom who came to help asked curiously while holding the swordsman.

The young man kicked the swordsman, looked at the groom and shook his head: "The master told me not to tell anyone, but it's very important anyway."

"Official seal, poof..." The swordsman who tried to interrupt was punched in the stomach by the young man. He vomited blood and fainted on the spot.

The groom: "..." Why are you doing this? I didn't intend to hit you with the iron sand palm, but you have to rush to ask for a beating.

After getting the official seal back, the young man dragged the swordsman away like a dead dog. Before leaving, he searched the swordsman's body from head to toe, left the evidence he found, and gave the money to the coachman, asking him to repair the carriage.

The groom thanked the young man, whipped his horse back into action, and continued on his way. There was no exchange of pleasantries, nor was there time for them. The storyline of instant acquaintance and sworn brotherhood didn't occur. In fact, their lack of mutual suspicion was a testament to the simple customs of the people.

Young man: He's not trying to steal the official seal, is he? Hurry up, hurry up, don't let him catch up!

Horseman: He doesn't think I want to steal the official seal, does he? Hurry up, hurry up, don't let him catch up!

People were hurrying along the road, but Bei Qiao was walking slowly. When he wasn't in a hurry, the scenery along the road was truly beautiful. For the first time, Bei Qiao noticed a bamboo forest growing on the roadside that he had passed many times, and there were many small animals in the bamboo forest.

"A slower pace of life is indeed much more comfortable." Bei Qiao got off the train midway, broke off a few bamboo sticks and shoved them into the carriage, planning to split a few bamboo tubes for later use. As for the remaining materials, he would figure it out later.

As the sunset filled the sky, Bei Qiao drove to the gate of Wutong County. If nothing unexpected happened, tomorrow would be a good day.

"Here I am again!" Bei Qiao drove to the door of the inn as if he was familiar with the route and parked the carriage in the backyard.

"Are you here for a quick meal or to stay overnight?" The waiter came up to greet him with a smile. Seeing the magical combination of a horse and a donkey in front of the carriage, he was stunned for a moment: did the family sell the horse because they fell into poverty, or did they finally buy a horse after becoming rich, but couldn't bear to part with the donkey?

"We'll stay at the hotel for just one night, in the ground-level room." Bei Qiao raised his hand and patted Huihui and Honghong's necks: "I'm going to eat now. You two better behave yourself. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay, sir, please come this way."

Bei Qiao walked into the inn from the back door, paid the money at the front desk and got the key. When he turned around and went upstairs, he unexpectedly ran into Wen Yu and his group who were about to go downstairs to eat.

"Hey, isn't this Miss Qiao?" Wen Yu hopped down the stairs in two steps. "Are you going out? Where are you going?"

"Wait, you said she is a girl?" The female student who gave Yu Qian textbooks last time looked surprised.

"Ah? Didn't I say that?" Wen Yu thought carefully: "Oh, I don't think I really said that... But you guys can't fail to see it, right?"

Female student: “…”

Wen Yu, feeling somewhat familiar with Bei Qiao, saw her preparing to go upstairs. She approached, grabbed her sleeve, and invited her out for a meal. Miao Xin leaned over to stand on Bei Qiao's other side and gave Wen Yu a look: "What's her temper like? Can I get my hands on her?"

Wen Yu nodded gently: "Don't worry, she has a good temper. It's just a tug on her sleeve, not physical contact, she won't be angry!" This was the experience Wen Yu summed up when the four of them went to the food street together.

Miao Xin covered her face in frustration: "Why did you say that?"

"Is it okay, Miss Qiao?" Wen Yu imitated Yu Qian's behavior and pulled Bei Qiao's sleeve and shook it.

"Sorry, I'm tired and need to rest." Bei Qiao gently pulled back his sleeves.

"Hey? You're not going? I can treat you!"

"Sorry, I'm really tired. Excuse me." Bei Qiao nodded to Ding Rui, then walked around the group of female students and went upstairs to his room: no matter how slow the pace is, the daily martial arts training task cannot be neglected.

"Why did she refuse?" Wen Yu returned to her room after dinner that night, still brooding over what had happened on the stairs: "I think I was right. She is indeed a very good-tempered person, although she is a bit greedy sometimes."

"You've got the premise wrong. She will only act good-tempered when she wants to." Ding Rui put down the book in her hand and patted Wen Yu's head.

"It's not a bad thing for me to treat her to a meal, right?"

"This isn't a question of whether it's good or bad, I'm just not interested...Okay, stop struggling and go to sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow."

"Oh..." So why? Some people refuse to be treated to a meal.

Wen Yu tossed and turned with this question in mind, unable to fall asleep. Bei Qiao, who lived on another floor, logged off on time and had a good night's sleep.

The next day, she set out from Wutong County and officially began her journey north. To conceal her whereabouts, she packed some dry food in the car, as normal people need to eat.

After the initial novelty wore off, the journey became boring again. On the way, Bei Qiao discovered the village the scholar had mentioned, but it seemed the village had offended some important figure. As the carriage passed by, all that could be seen were charred ruins.

"It's gone...it should have been gone a long time ago." Bei Qiao shook his head and urged Huihui and Honghong to keep moving forward.

On the afternoon of September 4th, which was Tuesday in the outside world, Bei Qiao arrived in Langyu City. By then, she was very close to the capital. If she had set out earlier in the morning, she could have entered the capital before the city gates closed.

"It's getting hot again..." After entering the city, Bei Qiao wiped the sweat from his face, took out a fan to fan himself, and held the reins with his other hand, ready to find someone to ask for the location of the inn.

"Excuse me, are you the young master of the Qin family?" Seeing the fan in Bei Qiao's hand, the passerby who was stopped changed his expression from impatience to respect.

Bei Qiao from the Qin family raised the fan to cover his face without changing his expression: "Do you recognize this fan?"

"Yes, I am a prospective disciple of the Canghai Sect, and I have seen something similar before." Seeing that Beiqiao did not deny it, the passerby carefully looked at the donkey tied in front of the car, and saluted Beiqiao attentively: "I wonder if this... Mr. Qin, would you like me to lead the way?" As long as he can be connected to the Qin family, who cares who he is!

Huihui: Why are you looking at me? Do you have a problem with the donkey?