Chapter Thirty-Three Entering the Pass

  In front of the Shuofeng Pass, while Zhang Lao Liu and the officer were talking, Gan Ping had already walked up to them. The officer raised his eyelids, glanced at Gan Ping, curled his lips, and said: "Don't mention it, this kid has some resemblance, but unfortunately you're too young, otherwise Officer would have taken you in for a reward." Zhang Lao Liu, who was standing beside him, also saw the officer teasing Gan Ping, and chimed in with a snicker: "This country bumpkin was just staring blankly at our Shuofeng Pass earlier, how could he look like a fugitive? This foolish kid is obviously inexperienced."

  The two men looked down on Gan Ping because of his young age and shabby clothes. Gan Ping's nervous heart calmed down with their words, but he was a bit puzzled, wondering if the wanted person wasn't himself. Seeing Gan Ping's dazed expression, the officer scolded him and kicked his buttocks. Gan Ping took advantage of this kick to glance at the picture in the officer's hand, then stumbled away, hearing Lao Liu's words: "He's really a foolish kid, doesn't even know when to leave."

  He didn't pay attention to what the other person was saying, but in his heart, Gan Ping was already filled with great surprise. On that wanted poster, he himself was standing on top of a high roof, unfortunately it was just a distant landscape painting, and vaguely, he seemed to be painted as having a green face and fangs. It looked like someone had seen him from afar and then drawn this image. Thinking about it, it made sense - the Second Master's estate had been completely annihilated, even his two martial brothers had been killed by the Heaven Demon Blood God Sword, not leaving behind even a wisp of their souls. Of course, there was no one left to testify, which is why only this unrecognizable portrait remained.

  Gan Ning's mood slightly improved as he thought about how easily he had passed through, and that he didn't need to hide in the city of Shuo Feng. He found a secluded corner where no one was paying attention, took out his long knife from his ring, and hung it at his waist. Then, he began searching around the city. After many days of eating plain food and sleeping under the stars, Gan Ning had grown tired of dry rations and now only wanted to eat a hot meal. When he left Ma Jia Village, the village elder Old Man Ma gave him some silver coins, which Gan Ning did not decline. Although he had a large amount of gold and silver in his possession, obtained by killing people and robbing them in the Wucheng Ring, this was a token of goodwill from Mr. Ma's family. At the time of his departure, Gan Ning had wrapped up some gold and placed it under his bed, thinking that Mr. Zhang should have discovered it by now.

  Xin Bu walked on the bustling street, this Shuo Feng City was not only a military fortress, but also a gathering place for merchants from two countries to trade. At present, Yan Rong and Feng Ling were in good relations, making the city's trade even more prosperous. Since he had put down his worries about being wanted, Gan Ping decided not to hide anymore, and instead went to have a filling meal, purchase some dry goods, buy a fast horse, and then leave the pass and head straight west.

  A slanting glance caught sight of a wine building, Gan Ping raised his head and took a look, asking the fragrance coming from the store to enter this wine building called Ba Fang Guest House. As soon as he entered, a wave of noise came over, making Gan Ping stunned. After a closer look, it turned out that all the people inside the wine building were some rough men, each with a weapon at their waist, shouting and drinking loudly. The shopkeeper saw Gan Ping coming in and hurriedly welcomed him: "Sir, how many are you?" The shopkeeper was obviously also a person who could see through words and expressions, he saw that Gan Ping was young, wearing tattered clothes, and was originally somewhat disdainful of him, but after catching sight of the long knife at Gan Ping's waist, he quickly came over.

  The rivers and lakes are not afraid of the old wolves with rich experience, but they fear Gan Ping, who is making his debut. He doesn't care about heaven or earth, and when he gets angry, no one can stop him. The shopkeeper has seen a lot, and such masters can only be catered to, not provoked. Upon hearing the shopkeeper's words, Gan Ping looked around at the nearly packed hall and sighed, "I'm alone, find me a seat." The shopkeeper hastily led Gan Ping to a table in the corner and said, "Sorry, sir, this is the only table left, please make do with it."

  Gan Ping didn't mind, and ordered a leg of lamb, two catties of beef, four small dishes, and a large bowl of noodles. The waiter responded with a "yes" but hesitated and didn't leave. Gan Ping found it strange and was about to ask him when he saw the waiter's eyes scanning his clothes and knife. Suddenly, he understood and pretended to take out a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it into the waiter's chest. It wasn't that he wanted to show off, but rather that Xuan Mingzi had left him no silver coins. The waiter hastily caught the coin and was stunned - this single gold coin weighed at least one or two liang, enough for him to eat at the inn for a month! Truly, you can't judge a person by appearance. Seeing the waiter staring blankly at the gold coin in his hand, Gan Ping urged him: "Hurry up and go! Then buy me a few sets of clothes, and the rest is yours."

  In this unfamiliar city, it's better to let the shop assistant go and buy something for himself. The shop assistant thanked him repeatedly and ran away in a hurry. Gan Ping sat in the corner, curiously sizing up the surrounding drinkers, who were mostly merchants and traders. Since Shuo Feng City was a place where merchants came and went, there were naturally many rough men with knives and blood on their hands. Some were escorts for merchant caravans, while others were thieves trying to make a fortune. As Gan Ping watched them drinking from large bowls with great interest, he suddenly felt several malicious gazes directed at him. His heart skipped a beat as he looked up to see a group of men sitting at a nearby table, their chests bare and their backs exposed, occasionally glancing over at him with unfriendly eyes. Gan Ping's eyebrows furrowed slightly before relaxing again, and he couldn't help but smile wryly to himself.

  It seems that I still don't have experience, just now throwing a gold coin to the little servant and letting these few people see it, it looks like they're staring at me. Not paying attention to those people, Gan Ping didn't put them in his heart. Before long, the little servant brought up all the dishes and also brought a package, Gan Ping took a look, inside were three sets of brand new clothes, even shoes and socks were complete, it seems that this little servant was very diligent in purchasing for himself. Sighing at the power of gold coins, Gan Ping then lowered his head and ate fiercely, he was still young and in the stage of growing up, plus having cultivated the Rongyuan Quan body refining technique, under the slightly surprised eyes of the people around him, he swept away all the food on the table.

  Satisfied, Gan Ping patted his bulging belly and picked up the bundle beside him, walking calmly towards the door. The shopkeeper looked at the few people following closely behind him, with a worried expression in his eyes. Just now, that young official was generous with his money, but unfortunately didn't know the principle of not showing off one's wealth. The few people who had just caught up were all too familiar to the shopkeeper - they were local rascals and rogues. If they encountered a wealthy and solitary traveler, they would inevitably rob him. But as just a shop assistant, there was nothing he could do about it. What a pity for that young official!

  Gan Ping walked out of the wine house, asked someone for directions, and headed towards the horse market. Along the way, he felt that those few suspicious figures were following him, but he just smiled slightly and ignored them. It was broad daylight with people coming and going, so he thought they wouldn't dare to do anything rash. At this time, Huo'er, who had been sleeping soundly in Gan Ping's arms, poked its little head out of his chest, woken up by the calls of vendors on the street. As soon as it appeared, it was attracted by the crowd and climbed onto Gan Ping's shoulders with its agile hands and feet, squatting on his shoulder and looking around with a pair of shiny black eyes. The people around couldn't help but be surprised by the cuteness of the little monkey, but when they saw it sitting obediently on the shoulder of a young boy, they thought it was just a pet raised by the child for fun, so they shifted their gaze away.

  Although he didn't mind the ruffians behind him, there were always some sinister glances scanning his back, making Gan Ping slightly uncomfortable. Just then, a series of horse hooves sounded from afar, and the crowd in front dispersed like a tide. A snow-white steed appeared, ridden by a girl in a fiery red shirt, galloping towards this direction. The pedestrians on the road hastily dodged out of the way. Gan Ping gazed at the crimson figure, and couldn't help but feel a little dazed. The same red attire, the same lovely appearance - yet Ling'er could only lie coldly within the jade coffin in his ring, causing Gan Ping's heart to ache slightly.

  He dodged to the side and avoided the galloping horse, Gan Ping stood in the crowd, still not fully awake from his memories, the people around him were discussing.

  "Whose daughter was that just now? Hey, that horse is really spirited."

  "Not just the horse is good, but the girl is also beautiful, however it seems she's quite a handful."

  "Provoking? Hehe, provoking me and I'll ride both you and your horse together."

  "Well, it seems like it should be quite tasty, hehe???"

  Two men were laughing and making lewd remarks, when an elderly man nearby hastily interrupted them, "You two young men, you can't talk like that. That's the daughter of General Shuofeng of our city. If what you just said gets out, who knows, tomorrow you might be hanged from the city gate tower! How dare you speak so recklessly?" The two men heard this and their faces immediately changed color. They hastily looked around in all directions, bowed to thank the old man, and quickly ran away.

  Gan Ping saw the crowd return to normal, just as he was about to step forward, he found himself sandwiched between two middle-aged men in gray robes. He felt a sharp object pressed against his lower back, and a low voice whispered in his ear: "If you want to live, be smart and come with us." If it were the Gan Ping from before, he might have played along with them for a bit. But now, thinking of Ling'er, he was already extremely annoyed, and these people's audacity was just too much. Without hesitation, he grabbed the hand holding the sharp knife, and with a slight effort, there was a cracking sound as he crushed it. These people were so familiar with doing such things that they must have often committed such heinous acts, so Gan Ping showed no mercy.

  A clear and crisp sound, a snow-white sharp knife fell to the ground, the man covered his wrist and squatted down, with beads of sweat the size of soybeans appearing on his face that was full of pain. Another man beside him saw this and changed color, shaking out a snow-white short knife from his sleeve and stabbing towards Gan Ping's chest without thinking. Gan Ping smiled slightly, thinking that such a person also wanted to hurt himself, he flicked his finger and the man only felt a strong force surging from the knife tip, instantly losing his grip on the handle, the short knife spinning and flying into the air, deeply embedding itself in the wooden eaves of the house.

  Seeing this scene, even a fool would know that he had kicked an iron plate. The man stopped in his tracks, helped up his companion whose wrist was broken, and the few people who were rushing over from afar also stopped in their tracks, staring at Gan Ping. Gan Ping was really uninterested and didn't bother to clash with such petty people. Seeing them being so sensible, he ignored them and walked away with a swagger.

  Since he started cultivating, Gan Ping had always looked down on the people around him from the bottom of his heart. He didn't know where it came from, perhaps the greatness of his own strength made him more indifferent to the lives of ordinary people. He let out a light sigh and gazed far into the western sky. Perhaps, on that legendary mountain of immortals, he could find people like himself, and that life of summoning the wind and rain, wielding swords in mid-air was what he truly desired. This journey wasn't just about finding a way to wake Ling'er up, but also to experience that colorful world.