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Chapter 9: Travel Expenses
Chapter 9: Travel Expenses
After the command was issued, the front line began to retreat, pulling back five li.
The closer they were to the main camp, the faster the reinforcements would arrive.
This arrangement seemed to ease the minds of the disciples at the forefront.
Deep into the night, after the front line had withdrawn, everyone enjoyed a peaceful night's rest.
However, near the main camp, they discovered footprints and droppings of demonic creatures.
As soon as the sky brightened, He Chao gathered all the disciples together to take a headcount.
Only after confirming everyone's safety did he finally feel a little relieved.
But the footprints and droppings of the demons around the main camp indicated that the front-line sentries had failed. The demons had roamed right under their noses without being detected.
If the demons had attacked last night, what would they have done?
Being in the main camp, the disciples couldn't help but feel a little worried.
This time, everyone felt that something was amiss with the front-line duty. This trial was very different from the previous ones.
Some mentioned Su Chen, but were scolded into silence.
They were even accused of having ulterior motives, as if they were after Su Chen's benefits, and they were forced to defend him.
Regardless of what they thought, the situation at the Yunyang Sect's front line was becoming increasingly severe.
Without Su Chen risking his life to gather intelligence on the demons' movements, would they really fall into an ambush so easily?
Before coming here, they thought that without Su Chen competing for merits, they could earn twice as many contribution points as before.
But now, many of them were already thinking of running away.
After Chen Xia spread the word in Jiang'an City that Su Chen had been expelled from the Yunyang Sect, her mother and younger sister began to face cold stares from others.
The relatives of someone who was greedy for merits would naturally not be treated as respectfully as before.
Having family members with questionable conduct would inevitably lead to being looked down upon.
This was the simplest emotion of the common folk.
Those who were terrible would naturally be disliked and despised.
But he had been slandered by the sect.
He had never been greedy for merits, yet he still ended up with this reputation.
After resting at home for two days, Su Chen bid farewell to his mother and younger sister and set off for Tiangang City.
Yu Zhi, his senior sister, gave him a letter, saying that Tiangang City needed him and that he should return to Jiang'an to find her.
But almost a month had passed, and no one had come.
Since this was the case, he decided to take the initiative and go there himself.
In the past year, Tiangang City had suffered severely from demonic creatures.
Even if it was difficult to join Tiangang City, he could still help out and eliminate some evil demons.
Tiangang City was located in the south of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and further south was a wilderness teeming with demonic creatures.
The Yunyang Sect was situated in the eastern part of the Great Zhou Dynasty, blocking the attacks of demons from the eastern wilderness.
In the south, there were several influential forces.
Tiangang City was one of them, not as powerful as the Yunyang Sect, but still ranked among the major powers within the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Holding the letter from his senior sister, Su Chen made his way south.
After reaching the post station, he rented a horse and continued his journey on horseback.
The entire trip would take about three days, which was quite a distance.
Along the way, Su Chen encountered a dog demon.
With a knife in hand, he swiftly killed it.
Although he had only learned the basic knife techniques, his skill was not lacking, thanks to the Heaven's Mandate of the Blade Master.
Such a demon, which couldn't even walk upright, was easily dispatched with a single strike.
The fact that demons could be encountered even on the imperial highway showed the severity of the situation in the south.
If demons were nesting within the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it would be even more troublesome.
After three days of travel, Su Chen arrived at the rear of Tiangang City.
Usually, the rear of Tiangang City was relatively peaceful and stable.
With major sects and powerful forces at the forefront, there shouldn't have been any problems.
But as Su Chen entered the rear city, he found it to be in a state of disarray.
As he walked through the streets, Su Chen noticed that the faces of the common folk seemed weary and disheartened.
After sitting down to eat a bowl of noodles, Su Chen listened to the conversations around him and casually asked a few questions.
"Little brother, you might not know, but those little demons are becoming increasingly cunning these days.
Tiangang City can barely hold off the great beasts, let alone the earth demons.
But some of the smaller demons are truly hard to guard against."
Currently, the rear city of Tiangang City has already been infiltrated by the little demons.
Su Chen understood that these demonic creatures were constantly learning and adapting, employing new strategies to deal with humans.
The fact that the rear city of Tiangang City had been infiltrated by the demons indicated that there was a loophole that hadn't been discovered.
Even if the demons in the rear city were captured, there would still be new demons infiltrating.
Without lingering for too long, Su Chen headed towards Tiangang City.
After walking for another twenty li, he arrived at the border of Tiangang City's sect territory.
Although it was called a "city," Tiangang City was not a trading hub but rather a sect.
Currently, Tiangang City faced no major troubles, only minor ones.
As soon as he left the rear city, Su Chen was stopped by someone.
"Tiangang City is currently busy with affairs, and we fear we cannot properly host guests. If you have no urgent matters, please come again during the winter days."
Su Chen handed over the letter from Senior Sister Yu Zhi.
"Please inform the senior brother, I, Su, have come to find Senior Sister Yao Xiaoyu. I wish to lend a hand to Tiangang City."
Upon hearing this, the senior brother in front of him stood up.
"Thank you, junior brother, for your kind assistance. Senior Sister Xiaoyu happens to be in the tent on the west side. Just walk straight ahead and you will see her."
Everyone around was polite in their conversations.
Especially after hearing that Su Chen had come to help, they became even more friendly.
As he stepped towards the tent on the west side, Su Chen spoke with the disciple at the entrance and immediately entered the tent to deliver the message.
In a moment, a woman in a dark green robe quickly walked out, a faint smile on her face.
"After Senior Sister Yu Zhi recommended you to me, I've been thinking about when I could find the time to visit you in Jiang'an City.
I didn't expect you, Junior Brother Su, to come here yourself. Please forgive Senior Sister's neglect, as we've been truly busy lately."
Su Chen also bowed in greeting, not needing Senior Sister Xiaoyu to be polite.
However, as Su Chen looked at her smile, it seemed somewhat forced.
Following Yao Xiaoyu, the two of them walked towards the tent.
After a moment, Su Chen stood at the entrance of the tent, and Yao Xiaoyu went in to inform the other senior brothers and sisters, before entering to pay her respects.
"It's not with him, don't call him over. We'll go and ask for the disciple who was driven away by the Yunyang Sect."
Senior Sister Yao Xiaoyu probably indicated that Su Chen should wait outside the tent.
The speaking senior brother immediately chose to remain silent.
He immediately walked to the entrance and, upon seeing Su Chen, still greeted him with a smile.
"Junior Brother Su, after a long journey, please come into the tent and have a cup of hot tea first."
The speaking senior brother was named Wu Yi, probably the leader of this group.
Inviting Su Chen into the tent, a servant immediately brought over some tea and snacks.
"The situation in Tiangang City has stabilized slightly, and we have sufficient manpower now.
So this time, we trouble you, Junior Brother, to come all this way."
As they spoke, Senior Brother Wu Yi took out a silver draft and pushed it towards Su Chen.
"For your troubles on the journey, please accept this as a token of my appreciation.
If Tiangang City requires further reinforcement, I will definitely seek your assistance next time."
A single trip could earn twenty taels, and Senior Brother Wu Yi was indeed quite generous.
Although he didn't seem to care much, he gave enough face on the surface.
(End of Chapter)
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