17 Xun Zhi. (1/2)

After spending a day following the map that Liang Zhou had given him, Li Yang found a large road that was marked on the map. This road would lead directly to Cloud's End City and was frequently used by some of the tribes that wanted to transport wares to the city. Of course, the Liang tribe was far too small and poor to be able to send wares to the city.

Li Yang followed the road for half a day until he heard the faint sound of horse hooves hitting the ground coming from behind him. When he turned around, he spotted a small caravan, only two carts, heading his way. Both carts were covered by an arched tarp, shielding the inside from the sun.

Both carts were pulled by two strong horses, and the person sitting at the front of the first caravan was clad in fine clothing, so it was clear that this was a caravan either coming from a large tribe, or a caravan that had been sent by a merchant company to pick up some items from one of the tribes.

”Greetings. Would you happen to have space for one more person on your journey?”

As the caravan got closer, Li Yang greeted the man at the front with a bright smile. The man was slightly fat, small beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. He had short brown hair and a thick mustache that he seemed to care for greatly, as it was trimmed and greased. On each side of him sat a person clad in thick leather armor that even covered most of their heads, they were clearly his bodyguards.

When he spoke up, the bodyguards and the fat man looked at him with suspicious eyes. While Li Yang was slightly small and thin, he had three large scars on his face and was clad in the skin of a wolf, making him look rather ferocious. Only upon noticing that Li Yang had not even started cultivating, did the fat man put on a smile.

Of course, it only looked like Li Yang had not even started cultivating. If he was someone from a very powerful and famous family, it would not be suspicious if he had his current cultivation at his age. But he was just a small child from a backwaters place, it would look suspicious if people could see his actual cultivation, so he had hidden it using a special technique.

”Of course we have room for this little brother. You can hop onto the wagon behind us, we are heading to Cloud's End to deliver some wares that I just picked up.”

The fat man pointed at the wagon behind them, telling Li Yang that he could sit in that one. The way he saw it, Li Yang was probably some orphaned kid who probably had been kicked out of his tribe. He did not mind picking up and helping a child like that.

”Then it seems like I must thank you, as that is where I too am heading.”

Li Yang cupped his hands across his chest and thanked the fat man, before passing by his wagon and hopping onto the wagon in the back. In the second wagon, squeezed in amongst a few boxes, sat two people.

One of the two people was a youth who looked around 16, he was clad in a clean light blue robe. He had a muscular muscle and bronze skin. His hair was short shaven and he had strong and pronounced features. The youth sat with his eyes closed and his legs crossed, silently cultivating.

The other person was an old man with a pair of gentle blue eyes and whose face was slightly wrinkled. There was no hair on the old man's head, but it seemed like he had cut it off, rather than had it fall out naturally. The old man was clad in the same fine clothes as the fat man driving the caravan.

”Sit down child, it will still take a few more days before we reach Cloud's End. I am Xun Zhi.”

When the old man, Xun Zhi, spotted Li Yang, he put on a kind smile and moved around some boxes, opening a space for Li Yang to sit.

”Thank you, senior. I am Li Yang.”

Li Yang responded with a smile of his own, sitting down in the place that Xun Zhi had cleared for him. All the boxes in the wagon were completely nailed shut, so it was clear that the boxes were not supposed to be opened during the trip. Thanks to the cloth covering the wagon, it was nice and cool.

”Who is he?”

Li Yang couldn't help but point at the cultivating youth as he asked Xun Zhi. Li Yang could tell that the youth had recently opened his dantian, so he wondered why he would be following this caravan.

”He is the young master from the Shentu tribe. You do not need to mind him too much. He recently managed to open up his dantian, so he is spending all his time meditating. Once he closes his eyes, it's not strange for him to meditate silently for many days.”

Xun Zhi shook his head as he spoke. Li Yang had heard about the Shentu tribe before, it was the tribe that owned the land that the Liang tribe lived on. Every year, the Liang tribe would pay a small number of resources to the Shentu tribe, allowing them to continue living on the land.

”Why would he be following this caravan?”

Being the young master of the Shentu tribe could be considered very lucrative and glorious for people who lived in the outskirts of the Cloud Wilderness, so Li Yang was slightly interested in why he would leave the Shentu tribe.