Zhaoyang County has four official roads in total.
The official road to the east extends only thirty miles outward, for beyond that lies Tianling County of Xuzhou in the central path.
There are three official roads on the western side: the northwest road leads directly to Yulin County, the southwest to Baiye County, and the western official road destinations at the capital of Tongling County, Tongling City.
Why do the people of the world unanimously travel the official roads instead of taking smaller paths or forging new ones through the mountains?
For ordinary people who do not practice martial arts, it may be because they fear the wolves, jackals, tigers, and leopards in the mountains that they dare not take the smaller paths or cross the mountains themselves.
But what about accomplished martial artists?
Why do they also travel the official roads?
Because the mountains hold not just wolves and leopards but also cunning demons and monsters!
Bathed constantly in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth and nurtured by the sun and moon, these demons and monsters have long become sentient, each more shrewd and deceitful than the last. Not to mention, some of them have even cultivated divine skills, able to pluck stars, manipulate moons, fly, and tunnel, their powers limitless.
Ordinary martial artists of the Body Opening Realm, encountering a group of wolves and leopards, would likely face a nine out of ten chance of dying, let alone the cunning demons and monsters which meant certain death upon encounter.
Even martial artists above the Gang Qi Realm could potentially lose their lives upon meeting them.
The official roads are different. All the current official roads across the thirteen provinces under the Great Yu Dynasty were based on the state roads built in the era of the Divine Dynasty and refurbished thereafter.
During the reign of Yu Shenzong, all tribes beneath heaven were subservient, including those demons and monsters.
In the year 2573 of the Great Yu Calendar, an imperial decree from Yu Shenzong ordered that all sentient beings of the mountains, rivers, plants, and trees register at the newly established Great Yu Monster Hunting Bureau, which was tasked with overseeing this directive.
The demons and monsters, long accustomed to wandering the mountains and foreign lands and yearning for freedom, were unwilling to submit to such restrictions and thus disregarded the imperial directive.
But with the support of Shenzong, the Monster Hunting Bureau, already filled with formidable figures, gathered numerous talented individuals and launched a demon extermination campaign. The campaign lasted over a hundred years, killing off fifty percent of the demon population worldwide, including some exceptionally powerful and unmatched demons.
The remaining demons, terrified by such a situation, submitted to the Great Yu out of their own accord before Shenzong even halted his campaign and registered themselves obediently with the local Monster Hunting Bureaus.
Afterward, Shenzong did not completely destroy these beings but instead created a Nine-Rank Divine Position System to manage them. Those who contributed to the local communities were granted divine titles, able to sculpt immortal bodies and enjoy the worship of thousands.
Of course, there were rewards as well as punishments. Those who continued to resist and committed offenses were executed by the Great Yu Monster Hunting Bureau, their existence eradicated.
From then on, the demons in various locales became absolutely compliant. To achieve a divine rank, some powerful demons with divine skills even started aiding the people by controlling the weather, purifying the world and fostering an aura of righteousness.
"It's just a pity that the great era of Shenzong has long since passed. Those demons, no longer suppressed by Shenzong, have all become bloodthirsty and brutal, rarely kind.
Today, the world's ten greatest holy powers reign, nominally divided into paths of good and evil. Yet, even among allies, the provinces guard against each other. The official roads are disrupted, and the risks to the Escort Agency business are ever increasing!"
Thirty miles northwest of Zhaoyang County's official road, a group of fifteen was escorting three horse-drawn carts, slowly making their way towards Yulin County.
Among the fifteen, thirteen displayed skin that was taut and restrained, clearly skilled practitioners of five levels of body refinement. Each cart seated five people, arranged neatly, while a pole bearing a flag depicting a soaring eagle was mounted at the front of each cart.
The two middle-aged men talking on the lead cart,
the one on the left, hearing the other sigh about the bygone era of Shenzong, sighed in response. However, his expression soon turned to one of confusion.
"But that doesn't make sense, Head Escort Wang! The era of Shenzong passed a thousand years ago. Didn't you say the demons became unruly and savage once there was no one to suppress them? So why wouldn't they dare come here?"
Head Escort Wang turned to look at him, seeming to feel a bit stiff from sitting for so long. He stood up in the cart, stretched his limbs, the robust blood and qi making the others show envious expressions.
That robust blood and qi were indicative of the Body Opening Ninth Level Blood Exchange Realm.
After several breaths, Head Escort Wang finally explained.
"In the past, when those demons didn't comply with Shenzong's edict and half were slain,
while constructing these state roads, the remains of the executed unmatched demons were mixed into the construction. Today, with no unmatched demons left, at most there are only large demons. As soon as they sense the aura on these official roads, they're too scared to move, let alone come near here!"
With the flesh of unmatched demons as material, linking the thirteen provinces of the world...
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but gasp in surprise, similarly showing a nostalgic expression like Head Escort Wang.
"So by that logic, aren't these official roads relatively safe? What's the need for us from the Escort Agency then?" someone questioned.
The others, hearing this, nodded in agreement. If even the demons dare not approach the official roads, then what need was there for them, the escorts?
Head Escort Wang scoffed, scanning over the group and spoke, "The security of these official roads may protect against demons and ghosts, but can they guard against human hearts as well?
You all are still young and don't understand.
The human heart is far more terrifying than any demon!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap...
Suddenly, the sound of clapping came from the left side of the official road, followed by twenty or more men in black capes and masks appearing on horseback on both sides.
As soon as the clapping sounded, Wang Gong's face drastically changed. He and his fourteen subordinates scattered in positions, while he contemplated his strategy.
But when he saw that over fifty masked men had emerged from both sides of the road, his heart instantly chilled. Formulating strategies worked when one had comparable strength; given the current situation, no matter how capable he was, he couldn't protect this shipment.
Just as his heart grew cold, that person who had just clapped, clearly the leader of the black-cloaked men, rode his horse forward two steps and emitted a sharp and somewhat sinister voice.
"I heard Head Escort Wang, in his early years in Wanyang County at the third-rate Fuwei Escort Agency, was a courier who had braved north and south, a man of great experience.
I had been somewhat skeptical before, but seeing for myself today, I cannot deny that human hearts can be more terrifying than demons, a sentiment with which I deeply concur!"
Upon hearing the voice of the masked leader, Wang Gong felt a familiar twinge in his heart but, after staring downwards and pondering deeply for a dozen breaths, he still couldn't recall who it was.
"I am Wang Gong, Chief Escort of the Flying Eagle Escort Agency. I implore you all to show some grace and let us pass. Here are five hundred taels of silver as road money; how about it?"
Wang Gong tossed out the five silver ingots he had been holding, speaking generously but bleeding inwardly. This delivery he was escorting belonged to the Flying Eagle Sect, comprising three carts of iron ingots totaling two thousand pieces, with an overall value of twelve thousand taels.
Ordinarily, according to the Escort Agency's rule of extracting a 11 percent commission, his profit would have been 1200 taels, but since the Flying Eagle Escort Agency was actually an enterprise of the Flying Eagle Sect, he was essentially transporting goods for his own people, thus received a discounted return of only a thousand taels. Throwing out five hundred taels just like that, one could imagine how he felt.
Regrettably, the masked leader merely drew his longsword and gently intercepted, producing five sharp clinks. The five hundred-tael silver ingots were instantly deflected back into his hands.
"For so many of us to come here, and you think five hundred taels of silver would suffice? Head Escort Wang, you must be dreaming too beautifully!"
"To speak freely, I don't wish to trouble Head Escort Wang any further. Just surrender the iron ingots in these three carts and stay with us for a few days. No blood needs to be spilled today, what do you say?"
They wanted the cargo from the three carts and also intended to capture them. Wang Gong's expression suddenly changed. He looked up at the leader of the masked men and instantly realized who he was!
In Zhaoyang County, only three groups dared to rob a convoy from the Flying Eagle Sect, and currently, there was only one group with both the capabilities and motives. Coupled with this person's sharp and chilly voice, there could be only one person!
"Head Escort, that gender-neutral voice tone, it's definitely Fourth Elder Hou, that eunuch Hou Yujie! If we report this to the County Lord, there's no way he can walk around free after robbing us on the official road!"
Just as he realized this, the middle-aged man beside Wang Gong spoke in a whisper, almost simultaneously understanding the situation. As a core disciple of the Flying Eagle Sect with a profound hatred for the Hou Clan, he began to advise Wang Gong immediately upon recognizing Hou Yujie's identity.
He thought he spoke quietly, but at this moment, with no one else around on the road except the group of men in black, everyone else was silent waiting for Wang Gong to respond, making the scene eerily quiet.
Consequently, the moment he spoke those words, the entire place fell deathly silent!
In Zhaoyang County, who didn't know that two years ago, a dramatic change in the Hou Family left Hou Yujie castrated, which drastically altered his temperament. He was extremely sensitive to anyone mentioning it in his presence.
Gender-neutral voice, Hou Yujie that eunuch, and even talking about reporting to the County Lord…
Do you not see the situation clearly, not understand your own role?!
Wang Gong wished he could slap the man to death right there and then. He wanted to beg for mercy, but upon turning around, his face instantly turned pale.
Hou Yujie, not knowing when, had already removed his black face mask and was watching Wang Gong's middle-aged companion with a sinister smile forming on his lips.
Removing the mask meant it was likely that no one would leave alive. After all, robbing an escort on the official road was indeed no small matter!
"Impressive, impressive. People of the Flying Eagle Sect really have guts, good… good…"
His voice became even sharper, and the chill in his words made everyone feel a trace of coldness, even contorting their faces.
After the two "goods," Hou Yujie suddenly leapt from the horse, the cold glint of his blade reflecting in everyone's eyes.
Disordered sword blossoms instantly bloomed on the official road, forming a beautiful painting interwoven with cold rays and blood. The thin figure in black, Hou Yujie, was the main character of this painting.
In less than a hundred breaths, aside from Wang Gong, the other fourteen were all decapitated, not even having time to scream.
"Is the Rapid Rain Sword Technique really just an unremarkable sword method? Why do I feel it's even stronger than third-rate martial arts…"
Wang Gong had been completely stunned. Those fourteen had all been martial artists of the five levels of body refinement; even if Hou Yujie was at Ten Layers of Body Openings, the fourteen of them together should not have been so utterly powerless!
Yet the scene before him completely shattered his former understanding.
"Head Escort Wang, my elder brother regards you as a talent and has a message for you. He asks if you would like to join the Hou Clan. What do you think?"
The crisp voice rang in his ears, causing Wang Gong to shiver. Having previously stayed in a third-rate force, he had never met someone with such a strong killing intent, so merciless.
"To be favored by Hou Lao Da is my good fortune. From today, I am willing to serve before and behind the saddle for the Hou Clan!"
Wang Gong immediately knelt down and respectfully bowed to Hou Yujie.
Hou Yujie's sinister expression then eased slightly as he looked at the three carts, a smile appearing on his face.
"Hou Cun, take some men and clean up this part of the official road with Head Escort Wang, then replace all the Flying Eagle emblems on the carts. After that, you can take the official road back."
"Yes, Fourth Master."