Chapter 29: Outings and Travels (Part 2)

  As they walked along, Qin Yifan and Lin Qiulü simultaneously discovered that the ominous aura that had permeated this place earlier seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of its malevolent influence.

  Is it because Qin Yifan temporarily left that the old brother by the lake also has no mood to maintain such a large evil place? No one knows what the reason is, but one thing can be confirmed. If this situation continues, Zhang Chong and others will return in disappointment. And the great general far away in the capital can directly report to the emperor, the evil place has been eliminated, the country is peaceful, and the world is at peace.

  The inn was left to the care of a few villagers, who took good care of it when Qin Yifan was not around. There was no need to worry about anything. With plenty of silver, whether it was Qin Yifan or Lin Qiulü, they could be considered small rich men and would never be stranded on the road.

  The first stop after arriving was, of course, to go to the county town to pay respects to County Magistrate. Through Li Shiyeh's introduction, County Magistrate looked at Qin Yifan with a gaze that seemed like he was looking at his own superior, and that flattering expression made Qin Yifan extremely disgusted. However, on the surface, there was no sign of it, and he put down some fresh wild game he had brought along, also telling them that he would be going out on a trip.

  The county magistrate promised to take care of the inn without saying a word, letting Qin Yifan travel with peace of mind. He was also very considerate and didn't bother them much, proactively presenting a generous gift, and enthusiastically sending the two out of the city.

  Lin Qiulü was not surprised to see someone like this in the imperial court, as there were many people like him. Having someone like him around would make many things easier to handle. For this reason, she specifically advised Qin Yifan a few words. Qin Yifan was not an ungrateful person, he just didn't like to interact with people like that too much in his heart, but it wasn't to the point of disgust.

  It's almost unnecessary to ask, but it's easy to guess that when Qin Yifan stepped out of the county town, the county magistrate's report would also be sent out immediately, and Lao Yao in the capital would probably know about his trip within three days. It seems that going to the capital first is not a bad choice either.

  From the county town to the capital, it's not a short distance. This is a small border county, and even with urgent documents, the 600-mile post road would take at least three days. At this pace, they can arrive in a month, which is already quite good.

  Along the way, it was peaceful and quiet, with no unusual activity. Although it was a remote border area, everything was calm and orderly. The common people were still law-abiding and respectful of social norms, living in peace and tranquility. Under the current emperor's rule, the people's lives were still stable and prosperous, with full granaries and respect for propriety.

  They didn't intentionally look for trouble, and with his simple face and Lin Qiulü's ordinary appearance after her disguise, except for being occasionally extorted a few coins by some city guards, nothing significant had happened. Everyone thought they were siblings visiting relatives in the capital, and a cook carrying kitchen knives and utensils couldn't possibly cause any big trouble or squeeze out any benefits.

  Yinshi Qin Xiaoling has always been honest and down-to-earth, only occasionally appearing when it's just Qin Yifan and Lin Qiulü. With the instinctive hiding ability of a yinshi, few people can see through her disguise, making the journey very peaceful.

  The bead given by the old brother in the lake was an incredible thing. Although it was formed by condensing the evil aura around him, just these external evil auras condensed into a bead, could still make Qin Yifan feel the sensation of being tempered in the lake during his cultivation. Although it couldn't present that magnificent illusion, and now Qin Yifan no longer cared about that bit of evil aura, having such an effect was still quite unexpected for him.

  The pearl can only affect Qin Yifan, and Lin Qiulü also gained temporary liberation. The first thing after leaving the county town was to find a secluded place to practice for a few days with relish. These days in the guest house, every day had to deal with that kind of piercing and murderous aura, but there has never been such enjoyment before.

  Lin Qiulü was overjoyed and also somewhat understood why Zhang Chong and the others had not returned for so long. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to be frantically pouring into his body, with an efficiency that was at least twice as high as before.

  When passing through a small town, it didn't matter, but when encountering a big city, Qin Xiaoling's problem had to be considered. Any large city with a slightly larger scale is designed by specialized personnel, and almost every large city has a protective array deeply buried under the city's foundation. If Qin Xiaoling wants to pass through the city underground, she will inevitably trigger the counterattack of the city's protective array, and can only let her bypass and wait.

  As he approached the imperial capital, Qin Yifan could feel the defenses growing stronger. However, for now, these defensive forces were all hidden in the shadows, and ordinary people basically couldn't detect them.

  It was by chance that Qin Yifan and Lin Qiulu overheard the conversation between two people in a small inn while having dinner.

  "Older brother, did you know? The capital is going to be very lively soon."

  "Oh, I didn't know there was something so lively that would catch your attention, big brother?"

  "According to the news from the border, recently a group of foreign envoys came to pay homage to His Majesty, bringing with them some rare and precious treasures as tribute. However, among them were a few newly-arrived small countries that didn't understand the prestige of our Celestial Dynasty, boasting that they had brought heavy treasures to broaden the Emperor's horizons. They also said they had brought some skilled artisans to compete with those of our Celestial Dynasty, can you imagine how infuriating this is?"

  "This tiny foreign country, unaware of the heavens' height and the earth's thickness, is self-aggrandizing, what a ridiculous thing to do?"

  "Although it is said, we cannot show no expression and lose the prestige of our dynasty. If we are surpassed by those barbarians, wouldn't it seem that our dynasty is inferior to their small countries? In the end, where would the emperor's face be placed, where would the faces of you officials be placed, can the people of our dynasty still hold their heads up?"

  "How can such an arrogant person be tolerated!"

  "So, the Emperor was enraged and specially selected a batch of skilled people to compete with those foreign countries, to show off the prestige of our celestial dynasty. You say, isn't this a huge sensation?"

  ……

  Qin Yifan didn't listen to the rest, but he had already understood the general situation. He hadn't expected that his first trip to the capital would coincide with such excitement, and it seemed that the trip wasn't in vain after all.

  Lin Qiulü had not returned to the capital for almost a year, and usually either protected the emperor or cultivated himself. He had never seen such excitement before, so he was extremely excited and couldn't wait to rush to the capital immediately.

  However, what made Qin Yifan difficult was that the corpse of Qin Xiaoling actually had the intention to join in the fun. But even ordinary big cities would have a protective array, how could the capital allow Qin Xiaoling to come and go as she pleased?

  Went to the airport to pick someone up tonight, just got back, update is a bit late, sorry everyone