Chapter 49: Jiang Ting Sets Out

Before long, a robust elder with a commanding presence strode over from the direction of the docks. His right arm was wrapped in coils of iron whip—this was none other than the venerable Lord Guan Shan of the Southern Sky Escort Agency. Indeed, it was Guan Shan whom Su Yi had been waiting for. As a top-ranking master listed among the hundred greatest warriors, Guan Shan was not only formidable in strength but also of unimpeachable character, his reputation and the long history of the Southern Sky Escort Agency making him worthy of Su Yi’s trust. For someone like him, spending a little silver to hire him for the southern journey was a bargain.

Though Pang Xian had brought five hundred soldiers—enough, under most circumstances, to deter the fiends of the Yuanmo Sect—there remained a lack of true high-level martial power. Su Yi preferred to be cautious.

“Master Guan, good day.”

“You must be Young Master Su?” Guan Shan’s eyes were sharp as torches. He stepped forward and saluted with a clasped fist.

“I am,” Su Yi replied.

Guan Shan laughed heartily. “I’d already washed my hands of the escort business, but I couldn’t refuse your earnest invitation, Young Master Su. Thank you for thinking so highly of this old man, ha ha.”

His merriment was easily understood. To persuade Guan Shan, Su Yi had spent a full six thousand taels of silver. Such a handsome fee for a single escort mission was enough to make anyone grin from ear to ear.

“Master Guan, your vigor is undiminished from years past—you are more than worthy.”

Guan Shan stroked his beard, looking Su Yi up and down. At first a glimmer of doubt flickered in his eyes, then he was visibly moved. “It is said that true power is never flaunted. Young Master Su, you are truly accomplished for your years—far superior to this old man.”

Having stood at the pinnacle of his craft for many years, Guan Shan was quick to recognize another master of equal caliber. He saw at a glance the brilliance in Su Yi’s gaze and the steady force of his aura—clearly, this youth was his peer.

Su Yi was not surprised that Guan Shan could discern his level of cultivation. In recent days, he had been absorbing the immense internal energy acquired from Elder Feng Fei of the Yuanmo Sect, each aspect of his body adjusting toward its peak, preparing for a breakthrough to the innate realm. In such a state, it was impossible to suppress his own vital force.

“Master Guan flatters me,” Su Yi replied with humility.

“I do not give praise lightly,” Guan Shan sighed. “It seems we old fellows truly are past our prime. The younger generation is truly formidable.”

He could not help but lament the vast gulf between people. When he was Su Yi’s age, his own cultivation had been far less—an admission that stung his pride.

With Guan Shan’s arrival, the party was complete and ready to depart.

For this journey southward, in addition to the five hundred soldiers and three warships borrowed at great expense from the Marquis of Yuan, Su Yi had also brought along Zhou Kuian and a dozen trusted subordinates, together with a stock of divine crossbows and armor he had “acquired” from the armory with silver. Although, strictly speaking, the dozen men were superfluous with five hundred soldiers on hand, Su Yi felt more at ease with his own people. And with the divine crossbows, they might still prove useful in a crisis.

Moreover, the sailors and captains hired by Zhao Xing in Luodu were not dismissed. Not only had they been paid to travel as far as Guangyang, but Su Yi found their backgrounds unproblematic and, as a precaution, chose to keep them for any unexpected situations.

Thus, three warships and a double-decked barge departed from the southern port of Jiangting, heading for Suiyang.

Though the journey was not entirely smooth, Su Yi and his companions arrived in Suiyang on the second day.

Upon reaching Suiyang territory, it was only natural for them to pay respects to the Marquis of Yuan. Together with Lu Xiangling and her attendant, they set out for the marquis’s estate.

As a noble house that had prospered alongside the Great Xing Dynasty since its founding, the Marquis of Yuan’s manor was not built within Yuanyang city, but rather on a gentle slope between the Sui River and Suiyang. The estate was vast—more a manor than a mere residence.

Within the grounds, leafy trees provided ample shade, and pavilions and towers were too numerous to count. Led through the estate by the marquis’s attendants, Su Yi and his party could not help but marvel at the depth of the family’s heritage—a true noble house, enjoying nearly three centuries of wealth and prestige.

In truth, considering the marquis’s immense resources—half a county’s land revenue—had it not been for Su Yi’s rescue of Lu Xiangling and her attendant, and the rarity of Kunwu Jade in the Central Plains, his five artificial diamonds might not have been enough to attract the marquis’s attention.

In the main hall of the manor, Su Yi met the marquis and his wife.

The Marquis of Yuan was a man in his forties, broad-browed and heroic in bearing. His wife was a dignified and graceful lady, her features bearing some resemblance to Lu Xiangling’s. The couple appeared deeply affectionate. Su Yi had learned privately from Zhou Kuian that Lu Xiangling’s aunt had not originally been the marquis’s principal wife; the previous marchioness had passed away two years earlier, and because Lu Xiangling’s aunt had given the marquis his only three sons, she had risen above his other wives and concubines.

When Lu Xiangling and her aunt met, they were soon overcome by memories and sorrow. Wishing to maintain her composure, the marchioness took Lu Xiangling’s hand and withdrew to the inner garden.

After their departure, Su Yi and the marquis continued their conversation. The marquis was greatly interested in the Kunwu Jade Su Yi presented. Bharata was ten thousand miles from the Central Plains and rarely traded with the Great Xing; though the marquis was a man of vast experience, he had never seen Kunwu Jade so large and brilliant as Su Yi’s artificial diamonds. When asked about their origin, Su Yi claimed to have purchased them from a foreign merchant at sea.

The host and guest enjoyed a pleasant conversation. Before leaving, Su Yi asked the marquis to dismiss his attendants and inquired, “I wonder, my lord, whether you might wish to earn a military merit?”