Chapter 441: Erhai

Chapter 441: Erhai Lake

Li Si'an couldn't be bothered to investigate the tax silver robbery; he was indeed quite loyal to his role as a secret agent of the Demon-Suppression Bureau, but he had no intention of doing work for his colleagues in Bashu, especially with Zhao Changhe around. Given how clingy that fellow was with the First Seat, whether he wanted to investigate or not depended entirely on his interest.

Judging by Li Si'an's bandit instincts, that guy might even be an accomplice to the robbery…

He accompanied Zhao Changhe, who had resumed his disguise as Wang Daozhong, continuing southward, and said in a low voice: "Actually, the tax silver of the Southwest Pacification Commission was lost once before at the beginning of spring… The court originally intended for this batch of silver to go straight down the river to support the campaign against Maitreya in Jiangnan, but it was lost before it even reached Shu… As a result, the Shu tax silver, which was also supposed to be sent to Jiangnan, was temporarily held back and not sent…"

Zhao Changhe narrowed his eyes.

Was it all Li Shentong's doing?

Or was it that if I don't rob it, someone else will, so why not me?

"At that time, the First Seat was at Lake Tai about to fight the decisive battle with Maitreya and couldn't spare the effort to investigate the case here. The court sent other important officials to look into it, and in the end, it was blamed on bandits and dropped…" Li Si'an said. "Anyway, that time the local Demon-Suppression Bureau had clues pointing to Li Shentong and reported them to the First Seat. But of course, Li Shentong's status was extraordinary—no one could actually search the Divine Radiance Sect, so the matter was truly dropped."

Zhao Changhe nodded: "I see…"

"Oh, as for 'no investigation done,' they did do something—under the pretext of searching for bandits, they scraped the land clean. Anyone who dared to resist even slightly was labeled a tax-silver robber, and having their family destroyed was the lightest punishment." Li Si'an said. "Sima Xiao once killed a few officials over these matters out of a sense of justice, and now his so-called travels abroad—sounds nice, but it's really just lying low."

Zhao Changhe felt an extremely discordant sensation—was Sima Xiao making amends for the trouble he himself had caused?

After a moment's thought, he asked, "Does Li Shentong have reservations about Zhai Muzhi? Or is he simply wary of the court?"

"How would I know? Would Li Shentong tell me?"

"…Then is there still a Yi Province Inspector here? I haven't heard of one."

"The court's inspectors only have supervisory authority; the real regional governors are the commandery governors. But it varies… Well, does the power of the Kuaiji Commandery Governor compare to Tang Buqi's? Not to mention Qinghe or Langya."

"…Then who backs Zhai Muzhi? I haven't heard of any Cui or Wang-level aristocratic families in Bashu."

"There aren't any. If there were, it might have to be the Bashan Sword Hut… I told you before, many people in Bashu have gone to the Sword Hut to pay homage to the sword, and many from the Zhai family have gone too."

Zhao Changhe nodded, then shook his head.

A single expert might not be enough to sustain a major power, but a major power cannot lack experts. In many cases, an expert can truly decide the outcome of a major conflict; a major power without top-tier experts to support it easily declines.

The master of the Sword Hut, Shi Wuding, had risen to sixth on the Earth Ranking after Maitreya's death. There were only a dozen or so people in the world stronger than him, more than qualified to serve as a power's backing.

But Zhao Changhe still felt that Li Shentong either had distant concerns about Xia Longyuan, or if he had concerns about immediate matters, they wouldn't be about Earth Ranking level—unless Bashu or the Miao frontier they were about to reach harbored someone capable of restraining Li Shentong's fiery temper.

For instance, the sixth on the Heaven Ranking, whose identity no one knew—the Snow Listening Pavilion's master, Xue Xiao.

That was the true old sixth.

…

The Miao frontier was just a general term; actually, "the Hundred Liao" as Li Si'an and others called it was more accurate. There were many tribes, many of which were nothing like what Zhao Changhe knew from his present world—many he had never heard of.

Their customs weren't all singing, dancing, and warm hospitality either. The barbaric beliefs of primitive tribes and frequent tribal conflicts were common; it wasn't an exaggeration to say they were not fully civilized.

The region was also underdeveloped, nothing like the tourist province in Zhao Changhe's memory. Poisonous miasma, insects, wild beasts, primeval forests everywhere, and rugged, narrow roads. The tribes weren't particularly friendly to the Xia people either; highway robbery was a common occurrence.

The Xia people here could only be called "pacifiers"; there was no real governance. The tribes were mostly self-governing, and among them, there was no Heaven Ranking powerhouse to unify the four directions. There were some on the Earth, Human, and Hidden Dragon Rankings, but they didn't submit to each other, creating chaos.

Ordinary merchant caravans dared not trade here easily; only merchants like Li Si'an, who were based on high-level martial artists, dared to come and go. Yue Hongling seeking refuge here was very suitable—even Xia Longyuan found such places a headache; conquering them was one thing, but governing them afterward was impossible. How could a mere Sword Hut control this land? They could only rely on familiar forces to search slowly…

After half a month of arduous trekking, Zhao Changhe's group finally crossed various deep forests and reached flat ground. Their luck along the way was decent—they didn't encounter any highwaymen, but they ran into plenty of poisonous insects and wild beasts. Many in the convoy were bitten by mosquitoes and bugs until they looked like Buddhas.

This gave Zhao Changhe a good boost in experience using the Return Spring Art. With his current level of mastery over it, it was particularly effective against such things. Accumulating experience in treating various poisonous insect bites was quite beneficial for advancing the Return Spring Art.

They arrived at the place without incident, but the whole group felt like they had lost a layer of flesh, dirty and stinking. The dark steed was practically unrideable, and Zhao Changhe couldn't help but think of a certain female warrior's state.

All that romanticism of the martial world was a lie…

As Zhao Changhe was sniffing, a vast lake appeared on the distant horizon.

Under the sunlight, the water shimmered, clear as brocade, beautiful as a fairyland.

The lake was long and narrow, slightly constricted east to west, boundless north to south, with a thousand hectares of blue waves, almost like a sea.

To the people here, this was the sea.

Erhai Lake.

Looking from afar, the plains and pastures on both banks had herdsmen tending horses, suddenly seeming like a different world from the rugged terrain before. It felt like calling this a secret realm wouldn't be out of place.

Just circling this lake could support countless tribes. And this was only one small part of the Southwest Hundred Liao; there were even vaster regions, countless mountains, rivers, and lakes. Finding someone here could take years.

Li Si'an let out a sigh: "We've arrived. Ahead there's a town, a mixed settlement for trade among the tribes. Does it remind you of Yellow Sands Market? Oh, the grasslands before Yellow Sands Market."

Zhao Changhe was immersed in the scenery, full of admiration: "I thought we'd be crawling into various tribal strongholds here. I never expected that north and south could be so unexpectedly similar, as if the Creator split the same thing in two and placed them apart."

Li Si'an cracked his whip and laughed: "The vast sea, the boundless heavens and earth—perhaps the Divine Land is but a grain in the universe. What is north or south?"

Eh?

Zhao Changhe twitched his mouth. He was just trying to play along with ancient charm, and here he was being shown up by an ancient with a modern perspective. Of course, this wasn't modern knowledge, but the imagination of thoughtful people in this world about the cosmos—already quite impressive.

If you want to show off, who can't? "North or south is defined by me. Whoever has the power to define rules the world."

"Eh…" Li Si'an glanced at him but finally said nothing.

Zhao Changhe ignored him and thought about taking a bath.

Seeing Zhao Changhe eager to jump into the lake, Li Si'an grabbed him: "It's inconvenient out in the wild. If we run into horse bandits, are you going to fight them swinging your hammer? Let's enter the town first; you'll get your wash."

Zhao Changhe: "…"

The town was called Xizhou, but Li Si'an had tricked him—it wasn't close at all. They followed the lake shore until dusk before arriving.

Of course, being a town, it was larger than Yellow Sands Market and more beautiful.

The barren, dusty land—how could it compare to this place nestled by mountains and water, with birdsong and floral fragrance? It was less like Yellow Sands Market and more like a shadow of Suzhou or Hangzhou.

The town was extremely lively, with a dazzling array of exotic tribal costumes. Unfortunately, Zhao Changhe couldn't tell which costume belonged to which tribe; at a glance, they all looked similar… Among them, quite a few girls wore short clothes, baring their slender waists, walking down the street without a care, and passersby paid no attention, completely accustomed to it.

But when people saw Zhao Changhe and the others leading their horses into the town, the peaceful atmosphere turned somewhat strange. Many exchanged glances, whether conveying wariness or hostility toward the Xia people, making Zhao Changhe frown slightly.

"Hey, has Old Xia ever carried out massacres here or something?"

"No. But they once killed a Heaven Ranking expert who had declared himself king here, causing the newly unified tribes to scatter into seventeen or eighteen pieces." Li Si'an looked at him even more strangely: "Hey, didn't you study a lot of historical anecdotes? I heard the First Seat taught you personally—what were you doing in class?"

His teacher's mouth was busy.

Zhao Changhe was in tears. Falling asleep every time in culture and history class—was that his fault? Well, it was the teacher's fault for not teaching well. Such things should be told like vivid stories about familiar people, not as dry history that makes you want to shut your mouth. That's just how it is.

"So because they killed their revered king, the people here are unfriendly to us?"

"Killing the Black Miao King only made the Black Miao unfriendly; the other tribes gained autonomy and were overjoyed." Li Si'an lowered his voice: "Besides, that's old grudges—it shouldn't be the reason… What causes the current unfriendliness can only be the problems with the current pacification."

Zhao Changhe nodded slightly and asked, "What's the background of that Lei Ao?"

"He's something of a hero… Originally just a common tribal chieftain in his clan, his cultivation hadn't reached the Heaven or Earth Rankings, but he wasn't bad—about the eighth or ninth level of the Mystic Gate. In his early years, he dabbled in various trades in these market towns. Being generous and chivalrous, and able to socialize with tribal leaders, he gradually grew powerful in the city, becoming a local tyrant known as Lei the Tiger."

Zhao Changhe was just wondering why every local tyrant surnamed Lei was called Lei the Tiger when the convoy arrived outside a large tent. Someone lifted the tent flap and came out, his voice booming like a bell: "Ha… I figured Fourth Brother would be about due. Indeed. Uh… and this is…"

Zhao Changhe looked at the newcomer—a full beard, imposing and strong, with a momentum like a galloping horse. He did have something of a "Lei the Tiger" about him.

But with Batu in mind, Zhao Changhe dared not underestimate these seemingly rough and bold men; who knew if this one might be even more cunning than anyone else.

He put on a reserved smile, slightly cupped his hands, and replied calmly: "I am Wang Daozhong of Langya."