Xuanqing Guard

Ma San was in a good mood. Although he’d received two palm strikes from Zhang Lie earlier and suffered internal injuries, at least things had gone smoothly in the end.

He stayed at Guangshun City for a full nine days before the word finally came from the Flying Dragon’s side that the goods had been prepared. Ma San hadn’t been idle either; of course there were people behind him keeping an eye on the Flying Dragon’s movements, especially their efforts at gathering supplies. Very soon news came to Ma San: "No problem."

After all, with two prior experiences, Ma San had some confidence in the Flying Dragon. He felt much less worried than before.

But as for the two people who’d come with him, their faces stayed tense the whole way here, making Ma San snicker inwardly: Really now, people who’ve lived too many peaceful days—get nervous about every little thing, it’s amusing to watch.

The two making Ma San want to laugh were Zhang De and Xu Qian.

Unlike Ma San, who was a Pseudo-Evil Cultivator, Xu Qian and Zhang De were bona fide Military men, both holding the rank of Senior Seventh Grade, attached to the Ministry of War. Traveling with Ma San was a reluctant necessity. Along the way, they didn’t interact with him at all, keeping stiff faces, looking at everyone as if they were eyeing an enemy.

They picked up the goods in the outskirts of Guangshun City—this batch had less grain than the last delivery on foot, but the quality was just the same: over a year old, but definitely edible and could be stored for another year or half with no issue.

Transporting goods with dozens of Storage Bags—every time Ma San thought about it, he couldn’t help laughing out loud. Who but lunatics would do smuggling with such extravagant means? You’d have to be allergic to money. But precisely because of that, nobody would ever imagine such a bizarre method for large-scale smuggling. Last time was a textbook success.

But as for whether this route to the South could keep going in the future, Ma San wasn’t so sure. The army’s blade was moving now, the situation changing three times a day—who knew if the Ministry of War would still help ferry goods next time.

Thinking of the Ministry of War, Ma San glanced subconsciously at the two by his side. From them, he saw how the Ministry regarded Pseudo-Evil Cultivators like him—as disposable chamber pots: useful while you need them at your feet to hold filth, but don’t count on being acknowledged once they’re done with you.

And once fighting broke out, the Ministry would definitely have other plans. They probably wouldn’t just sell them out right away, but their attitude surely would change noticeably.

It wasn’t until they reached Shuangshi Town and used the Military’s Teleportation Array to transfer to Beach Stone that Ma San finally saw the slightest hint of relief on Xu Qian’s and Zhang De’s faces. Here was real Military territory. Those relentless Xuanqing Guard couldn’t reach this far; comparatively speaking, it was a lot more secure.

But soon, Ma San and company noticed that there were a lot more "Black Skins" running around in the Border Army this time than before.

"Black Skins"—that was the Military’s slang for the Xuanqing Guard’s Inspectors. Normally, the Xuanqing Guard Inspectors holed up in their stations, hardly ever leaving to walk around, just going through the motions—complete nobodies you could utterly ignore.

But this time, as soon as they got to Beach Stone, something was off. The Xuanqing Guard Inspectors seemed a lot more active, and they were constantly stopping Garrison or Stationed Soldiers along the route. Fortunately, the Ministry of War’s Waist Token was effective—the Inspectors didn’t come over to give Ma San and his group any trouble.

"What’s with these people?" Ma San whispered to Xu Qian beside him.

After arriving here, Xu Qian was much more relaxed. His face was still stiff, but his eyes were more lively now. Upon hearing Ma San’s question, he explained, "Your Majesty ordered the Xuanqing Guard Inspectors stationed with the Southern Border Army to clean up military discipline in Hai Xia and Beach Stone. These Inspectors are finally having their moment, hmph."

"Cleaning up discipline? You guys already knew?"

"Yeah, it’s been about half a month, I guess? The Ministry of War was informed in advance—it’s not a secret." Zhang De chimed in as well.

The three of them kept riding hard the whole way. But somewhere along the route, Ma San suddenly started feeling unsettled, like a bad premonition was creeping up on him.

"Something’s not right. Why wait until now to clean up discipline, not earlier or later?"

"What could be wrong? The stationed troops in Hai Xia and Beach Stone always had issues. The Ministry of War didn’t speak up before because they let the Southern Military Commander’s Office save face. Now that the army is mobilizing, of course the inside has to be put in order first. Plus, it’s Your Majesty’s order. What are you afraid of?"

"Li Xiaochuan isn’t far now. If you’re worried, let’s double-time it, unload the goods and head back."

Xu Qian and Zhang De obviously didn’t care about Ma San’s "feelings". They came here unwillingly; if not for an order from above, they wouldn’t mix with a Pseudo-Evil Cultivator at all—they should have cut him down instead.

Ma San wasn’t tactless either; he knew the goods were on their persons, and understood that the other side looked down on him, so even though he felt something was wrong, he didn’t say more—he just urged his horse faster, growing more alert inside.

Because of Ma San’s insistence, the three nearly never stopped except for necessary rest, until they finally arrived at Xiaochuan.

"Whew. We’re ahead of schedule. Come on, let’s head in."

Earlier, the trio had already switched to a different set of Waist Tokens—not from the Magic Artifact Department, but the Mountain and River Department. As the name implied, the Mountain and River Department’s job was to survey mountains and rivers and draw up terrain maps, grading them into several levels and distributing them to different places. The Military Level maps were the highest grade.

The Mountain and River Department coming to survey terrain near the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea was a natural excuse, and would let Ma San and the other two enter Xiaochuan and reach the only current entrance to the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea, "Stone Horn," without arousing suspicion.

Ma San had been to Stone Horn before—many times, in fact. It used to be just a few grass sheds, someone selling tea and buns, sometimes robbed by the local horse bandits—about as remote a spot as you could get. But now Ma San found that the whole Stone Horn area had turned into a miniature military camp: watchtowers, chevaux-de-frise, trenches, and Soldiers on patrol with halberds.

"It’s all changed? Where’d those horse bandits go?" How long had it even been? The change was so drastic. Ma San was suddenly curious where the horse bandits, notorious for attacking and even daring to challenge the Border Army, had ended up.

"The horse bandits? Dead or scattered. You didn’t really think those bugs could arm-wrestle the Border Army, did you? Paper tigers getting hammered with iron—they can’t hold up."

Ma San curled his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, the Jingjiu Dynasty’s Military was the most formidable force he’d ever seen. Even a First-class Sect would be scratching their heads once the regular army turned out in force.

After checking their Waist Tokens and documents, Ma San and company entered this temporary military camp.

"Pass through this camp and there’s a trail—just keep going and you’ll reach our previous rendezvous point. Let’s go." After Xu Qian finished the formalities, he led his horse onward, Zhang De brought up the rear, Ma San in the middle.

But Ma San’s brow just furrowed deeper and deeper: "Move faster. I really feel something’s off here."