Chapter Five: On the Road

Huaguzi Street, also known as Changxiang Road and Willow Lane, was a famed den of pleasure in Tongqian City.

As evening approached, a stream flowed gently through the alley, carrying light boats, scarlet silk, peonies, and a flock of young maidens with bare white arms, chirping and fluttering about. Many men lingered at the mouth of the lane, stretching their necks to peer inside, whistles mixed with their murmurs.

Within the alley, the throng was considerable—most clad in sumptuous robes and finery. Some beat their chests and stamped their feet in lamentation; others, faces flushed with delight, strode about in high spirits. Drunkards sprawled along the street, babbling and making a ruckus.

Chen Yu, draped in a white robe, walked along, arching his brow at the lantern-laden courtyard walls and lofty buildings, then glanced at the crowd of beggars huddled in the street corner. His expression was inscrutable; a sigh escaped him.

He had seen much along the way. In days past, he had kept to the mountain, never hearing of such things; even when tales reached his ears, they lacked a sense of reality. Now, it was different. Though he had prepared himself, knowing this land suffered from war and famine, witnessing the world firsthand made him realize how shallow his understanding had been.

The times had not yet reached utter collapse, but the brink was near; no wonder sects like the White Lotus and the Five-Dou Dao had deceived the masses and stirred unrest.

"Chaos is looming but not yet here; and this is only within Guangyong Prefecture."

The Western Province lay in a corner of Great Liang, with four prefectures in all. Guangyong, though not prosperous, was the most peaceful among them. Save for the Taoyang bandits, it had seen little major trouble in decades.

Even so, many incidents had arisen. The number of robbers and bandits Chen Yu had heard or seen along his journey was no less than seventeen or eighteen, both large and small, most occupying hills and rivers.

The common people suffered, yet the city still brimmed with decadent revelry, which left him deeply moved.

He recalled the incident at Shengyu Village the day before and sighed, hastening his steps away.

...

Night, inside an inn.

Mist often lingered in the wilds; Chen Yu had no intention of lodging in the outskirts, so he had entered the city early and rented a room for rest.

"Today is the eighth; two days remain before the Dharma Assembly."

He carried the invitation with him—the set date was May tenth. He summoned the innkeeper for hot water and, while waiting, pondered his plans.

Tongqian City was now not far from Pingcheng; he expected to arrive in about a day. In truth, had he a fast horse, he would have made it in less than a day. But horses were expensive, and Chen Yu intended to explore the area, using the opportunity to better understand life below the mountain. Thus, he chose to travel on foot.

In retrospect, the decision was sound.

He returned his gaze and sat cross-legged on the bed, regulating his breath for a moment, practicing the still-imperfect Divine Summoning technique, slowly honing his control over spiritual power.

He had not wasted the two days since descending the mountain. While trekking the road, he tempered his mastery over spiritual strength, and his progress with the first Sound Attack technique had not stalled either.

Now, the former advanced steadily—he could project his power a foot beyond his body and sustain it for ten breaths. Yet further progress seemed bottlenecked, improvement sluggish. The latter, however, had yielded notable gains in a short time.

The day before, he had managed to stun nearly a hundred villagers in Shengyu Village, relying on this method.

He struck their bodies with internal energy and shocked their spirits with his mind. Even a seasoned martial master would be caught off guard and suffer considerable losses, let alone the villagers of Shengyu, whose vitality and spirits were already lacking.

The results were extraordinary.

His advancement in Sound Attack owed much to his mastery of soft force and recent development of spiritual power.

Moreover, after achieving proficiency in energy flow, Chen Yu found that soft force advanced rapidly in internal training—perhaps due to his organs being long nourished by spiritual liquid, making him stronger than most. So the risk of injury during tempering was far less than what was described in Cloud Crane Technique.

At worst, he still had spiritual liquid on hand; if his organs suffered wounds, a few gulps in solitude would greatly hasten healing.

All this allowed his internal training to proceed quickly; his progress in a short time was equivalent to months of hard practice for ordinary martial artists.

His strengthened organs inspired new thoughts about Sound Attack. The original vibrations of lips and tongue were limited—full-body energy could not be channeled.

He shifted his approach, seeking to have the trained organs cooperate with his mouth and tongue to better wield force.

In this way, the power of Sound Attack could reach new heights.

Chen Yu valued this technique highly—his first path-protecting method besides Cloud Crane Technique. Though comparatively crude, with the aid of spiritual power, it naturally possessed a difficult-to-defend quality, making it even more important in actual combat.

"Spiritual power must be increased further."

Otherwise, it would be mere shouting—the volume would suffice, but the stunning effect would be lost.

...

The night passed. Tongqian City had no curfew, so Huaguzi Street remained bright throughout, with many revelers coming and going arm in arm.

By the street, the number of drunken fools grew, some dragged out while others fled after being beaten, cursing back at someone inside—though whom was unclear.

As for the cause, it boiled down to two words: gambling and pleasure.

The world offered many entertainments, but none hooked the heart more than these two, draining wealth yet impossible to abandon, enticing people to indulge.

Especially here in Huaguzi Street—some gained fortunes overnight, others became debt-ridden in an instant.

Not to mention the intoxicants passed down from the former dynasty—Five-Stone Powder, opium, and the like—which added to the allure.

Scarlet women danced, strings and flutes played softly.

It was a carefree paradise, famed throughout Guangyong Prefecture.

Together with Red Street of Song City in Taiding Prefecture, it was known as a holy land of vice, its reputation echoed even in other prefectures.

Chen Yu knew a little of these matters—not in detail, nor with interest; as everyone knew, gambling, prostitution, and drugs should never be touched.

And in this small alley, all three were present.

The next morning, he rose early, washed simply, and went downstairs to buy a tray of vegetable buns for ten coins—the wrapper thin and soft, filled with tender cabbage, steaming hot.

He ate as he walked toward the city gate.

As he strode along, a figure suddenly darted out and crashed into him.

Bang! The person was sent flying.

Startled, Chen Yu saw, amid groans of pain, a half-grown child with tousled hair hanging over his forehead, clothes tidy but mismatched, giving a strange impression.

The boy seemed equally surprised.

Chen Yu, without a change in expression, pressed his money pouch—finding the string loose and several coins and bits of silver exposed.

He smiled.

Well done, trying to pick my pocket.

He knelt and gently pulled the boy up, waving off concern and warmly asking if he was hurt.

His hands moved softly, front and back.

The youth felt a tingling in his chest but knew this man was not to be trifled with, so he put on an honest face and stammered, "No... no problem, I was reckless."

They parted ways; Chen Yu glanced back and turned away with a light laugh.

No problem? Not necessarily.

Soft force could do many things hard force could not—for example, in this case.

Anyway, for the boy, tonight would surely be a night to remember.

No grave harm, but some hardship was inevitable.

May he dream well.

...

Once outside the city, his ears grew quiet—the bustle and cries faded away.

The earlier incident was but a minor episode, soon forgotten by Chen Yu as he pressed onward, striding along the main road directly toward Pingcheng.