Chapter 948: Han Clan, Han Xue
Xiao Yan endured a day of extremely painful b.u.mps on the carriage before a thread of Dou Qi finally appeared in his empty body. Although this Dou Qi was still extremely weak, it still managed to support him by randomly taking things out of his Storage Ring. Additionally, an entire day of nursing enabled him to alight from the carriage and walk despite his injuries showing little improvement. He no longer needed to lie in the carriage like a corpse.
Xiao Yan gently twisted his arm after standing up from the carriage. The slight pain that was faintly transmitted from it caused him to smile bitterly. At this moment, he was currently at his weakest point in many years. Of course, despite his body being weak, anyone who had ill intention toward him would end up swallowing a bitter pill. Forget about the Earth Demon Puppet hidden within his Storage Ring. Even Xiao Yan himself was not as powerless as he appeared on the surface. After all, he was also a high tier alchemist on top of being a Dou pract.i.tioner. His Spiritual Strength was not the least bit inferior even when compared with some elite Dou Zongs.
Although he did not dare to say that he was able to contend with an elite Dou Zong with just his Spiritual Strength, an ordinary expert Dou Huang would not be able to gain much of an advantage over Xiao Yan.
With these trump cards, Xiao Yan’s confidence in his heart increased a little. He wiped his face before opening the curtain of the carriage.
After the carriage’s curtain was pulled open, numerous covered carriages appeared in his eyes. There was a dark-black bull-like Magical Beast with two horns on its head pulling the carriages at the front. The two sides of the carriages had numerous human figures on horseback. Most of these people had naked arms and wore rough skin clothes, which appeared st.u.r.dy. Behind them were weapons that contained a cold glow as they flickered glaringly under the sun…
“Oh, this little fellow has actually survived? Ha ha, Ceng Niu, you have d.a.m.n well lost to the old me this time around.”
Numerous gazes from both sides of the carriage were shot over when Xiao Yan opened the curtain. They were immediately startled. A joyous, wild laughter was also emitted from the mouth of a large man not far away.
This large man had a somewhat st.u.r.dy built. His naked arm was filled with various kinds of scars. A ghost-headed large blade, that contained some chillness, on his back had a bright-redness adhering to it.
“Dammit, I’ve seen a ghost. This little fellow is able to survive despite suffering such serious injuries, he is really lucky…” A skinny-looking man immediately shook his head helplessly after the laughter from the large man sounded. After which, he glared at the man and snappily said, “What are you howling for. The old me doesn’t care about this little bit of money. However, despite winning this little amount of money, it is still not enough for you to have more rides with the tender women in the brothels…”
“Who asked you to bother about the old me…” The large man scolded. After which, he rode his horse forward and came in front of Xiao Yan. His gaze swept over the latter before he smiled and said, “Little fellow, I am called Gui Tou (Ghost Head), people call me Old Ghost. I was the first person to discover you in that northern desert. However, you need not thank me. The money I won earlier is enough of a thank you gift. Ha ha.”
“Thank you very much big brother Gui Tou. I am Xiao Yan.” Xiao Yan smiled as he sat down with his back leaning against the carriage. Most of the people whom he had met during these years were old cunning fellows. Their strengths were so great that they were terrifying. He had not made much contact with someone at such a low level for quite a long time. This caused him to recall those mercenaries when he was helping his father manage the marketplace in Wu Tang City back then. They were similar to these people in front of him, appearing rough, and uninhibited.
With Xiao Yan’s spiritual strength, he was naturally able to tell that the strongest among these large men in front of him was at the Dou Ling cla.s.s while the weakest was merely a Da Dou s.h.i.+. This Gui Tou in front of him was only around a two star Dou Ling.
“Ha ha, on account of you calling me big brother, I will protect you along this journey. However, little fellow Xiao Yan, this body of yours really cannot make it. You should train more in the future. If you don’t possess a little strength in the Central Plains, you will be looked down upon by others…” Xiao Yan’s act of calling Gui Tuo ‘big brother’ seemed to have caused him to be extremely happy. After which, he glanced at Xiao Yan’s body, frowned, and chastised. His tone was one used when reprimanding someone from a younger generation. This caused Xiao Yan to slightly grin.
“Gui Tou, you should cease randomly grumbling around here and teaching others nonsense…” The sound of horse hooves was transmitted from the front not long after Gui Tou’s voice sounded. Immediately, Han Chong’s chiding voice rang out.
“Hee hee, it is not as though I have said anything wrong.” Gui Tou dryly laughed and replied upon seeing Han Chong.
Han Chong ignored this fellow. His gaze turned to Xiao Yan, saw his much better complexation, and he involuntarily smiled as he said, “Good. Little brother Xiao Yan, despite suffering such serious injuries, you are actually able to walk after two days.”
Xiao Yan smiled. He randomly found an excuse and smiled as he said, “I have a strong life…”
Han Chong was a simple and honest person. He did not bother too much on this matter. Looking at the sky, he loudly said, “It is becoming dark soon. Xiao-jie (young lady) has said to prepare to set up camp. Gui Tou, you will lead a couple of people and see if there is any good spots nearby. Liang Ya, you will lead some people to patrol around. Gang Bei, you will lead a couple of people…”
Clearly, Han Chong had quite a high position within this convoy, Numerous orders were emitted from his mouth with no one voicing any objections. All of them uttered ‘yes sir’ in a strange manner before leading their people away.
Han Chong also sighed in relief after the orders were issued. He smiled and asked Xiao Yan, “Can you walk?”
Xiao Yan nodded. He leaped down from the carriage. Although his footsteps staggered a little, he still managed to stabilize itself. Seeing this, Han Chong bitterly laughed as he said, “Looks like you still need to recuperate. After suffering such serious injuries, it is extremely difficult for you to recover completely. If any sequela were to remain, it is likely that your training in the future will become troublesome…”
Xiao Yan smiled and indicated for Han Chong not to be worried when he heard the concern in his voice.
Han Chong ceased saying anything more after seeing that Xiao Yan was so open-minded. He quietly sighed and turned around, preparing to gather people to set up camp.
This convoy was quite efficient. Within less than half an hour, numerous white-colored tents appeared on a small hill. There was also a fence surrounding the tents, and a medicinal powder that repealed poisonous insects was scattered outside the fence.
Xiao Yan did not do much work due to the weary state of his body. He randomly walked to a spot in the camp before sitting down. His gaze slowly swept around him.
According to what Han Chong had mentioned, this convoy should belong to the clan’s guards of some whatever Tian Bei City Han clan. The goods on the carriages should be things that they were escorting. The strength of this convoy was mostly at the Dou Ling cla.s.s, with a couple of them being at the peak of the Dou Ling cla.s.s. They were similar to Han Chong. Of course, the owner of the strongest aura would naturally not be missed by Xiao Yan…
As he thought of this, Xiao Yan’s gaze was involuntarily thrown to a carriage among the many carriages. That carriage was clearly much more luxurious compared to the others. There was even a faint serene fragrance being transmitted from it. It was clearly occupied by a lady. The thing that caused Xiao Yan to pay attention to it was that there was an aura that had reached a three star Dou w.a.n.g within the carriage. This person was the strongest person within the convoy.
“Creak..”
While Xiao Yan was focusing on it, the tightly shut carriage suddenly opened, and a long sleek leg appeared in Xiao Yan’s eyes.
Xiao Yan was startled and his gaze slowly s.h.i.+fted up. Surprise clearly flashed across his eyes. It was unexpected that the owner of the three star Dou w.a.n.g aura was actually such a young, pretty person.
The lady had willow-like eyebrows. Her skin was snow-like, and she was blessed with a tall figure. She was wearing purple clothes. Under the cover of the purple clothes was an exceptionally voluminous body with well-proportioned curves. The only lacking aspect was that her face carried a chillness. Her pretty eyes possessed a stern-feeling.
Nevertheless, Xiao Yan suddenly had a faint feeling that this lady’s face seemed a little familiar… however, he was also absolutely certain that this was the first time he saw her.
The numerous surrounding gazes had gathered on this lady the moment she appeared. There was the usual heat within these gazes. However, most of them were respectful.
This lady’s beautiful eyes slowly swept over the campsite the moment she descended the carriage. Anyone who was seen by her immediately acted as though they were working. This caused Xiao Yan to having difficulty stopping himself from laughing as he watched them.
While Xiao Yan felt that the scene was comical, the lady’s gaze suddenly paused on him. Her eyebrows were slightly vertical as she slowly walked over. A moment later, her long sleek legs appeared in front of Xiao Yan. Her somewhat icy-cold voice was emitted, “You are the person whom Han Chong had rescued during the journey, right?”
“Aye.” Xiao Yan nodded his head. He wanted to stand up out of politeness, but the weariness within his body caused him to bitterly laugh. His body shook a little before he ended up sitting back down.
The eyebrows of the lady were knit even more tightly together when she saw Xiao Yan in such a weak state. She spoke in a faint voice, “There are rules within the convoy of my Han clan. The convoy does not support any idle people who do nothing. On account of you being injured, I shall not say anything more. However, I hope that you will not sit down and do nothing even if you only have the strength to put up fences. Do you understand?”
It was the first time that Xiao Yan had met such a stern and serious woman in so many years. This caused him to be able to neither laugh nor cry. Since when had he actually become an idle person? However, he could only nod his head despite thinking this in his heart.
The lady’s face softened a little upon seeing Xiao Yan nod his head. She randomly tossed something to him and said, “I am called Han Xue, and I am currently the person managing this convoy. You can look for me if you have any issues in the future. If you perform well this time, I might be able to allow you to join the guard of the Han clan when we arrive at Tian Bei City. Although it will not allow you to gain a huge fortune, it will at least enable you to survive. This is a little healing medicine and should have some effect on your injuries. Additionally, we will be pa.s.sing through the territory of the demon snake Xia Mang. You should be careful. Hide in the carriage and don’t come out.”
After saying this, Han Xue walked past Xiao Yan. After which, she walked into a tent.
Xiao Yan smiled after receiving the jade bottle Han Xue tossed over. Although this lady was stern and appeared somewhat cold and indifferent, she seemed to be a good person. No wonder the people here had great respect for her.
However… what was the matter with that thread of familiar feeling?
Xiao Yan involuntarily frowned when he thought until this point… it was impossible for him to know her…