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Chapter 185 - 185: 145: A Sycophant Meets a Bad End_2

The fortune-telling Taoist immediately put on a serious face.

“Not mocking me to my face? What do you mean by that?”

“If it’s just between us two, it’s too boring. It’s only interesting if our friends know about it.”

“Rascal, take my sword!”

Yellow Ape Master was enraged. However, the Taoist priest had already begun to flee towards the city gate in a puff of blue smoke. Yellow Ape Master pursued him swiftly with the wind.

“Young Master, do you need a break?”

Within the carriage, Feng Qing’an, who had been shaken around during the journey, heard the respectful inquiry from outside the carriage. Not yet accustomed to long journeys, Feng Qing’an naturally didn’t hesitate to respond, “Let’s stop and rest for a while!”

“Yes.”

Immediately, the group of more than a hundred people halted. As Feng Qing’an stepped down from the carriage, he saw a group of scholars either sitting or lying on the ground, massaging their legs, trying to relieve their soreness.

“Young Master!”

Before Feng Qing’an could sit down, someone had already prepared a clean place for him to sit, with clear water, dried fruits, and dried meat. Compared with the group of scholars who had been traveling on foot, the contrast was stark.

“It’s truly unfair. He’s been sitting in a carriage all the way and can have water and meat when he gets off, yet we, who have been toiling so hard, can barely drink water!”

Seeing their treatment contrasted starkly with Feng Qing’an’s, a scholar murmured discontentedly.

“If you’re willing to pay three hundred taels of silver, I can let you take my place and walk!”

Feng Qing’an, still chewing a piece of dried fruit, looked at the grumbling scholar and laughed out loud,

“Honestly, it’s not comfortable at all in the carriage. I would prefer to walk to Prefecture City!”

The scholar hadn’t expected that his complaints would be heard by Feng Qing’an himself. His face turned pale, and sweat the size of soybeans ran down his forehead. His body shuddered uncontrollably, and the scholars near him quickly distanced themselves.

“Young Master, shall we drive this ungrateful man away?

A burly bodyguard immediately approached and asked, his eyes full of undisguised disdain at the fearful scholar.

They offered to guard you till you reach your destination without charging a penny, and you still complain about unfairness. You are ungrateful and even dare to grumble.

“Let it be. It’s just a slip of the tongue,”

Feng Qing’an glanced at the scholar. This chap was done for as soon as he spoke. Word of today’s events would surely get out, and he could forget about taking the imperial examination. If he had any sense, he would go back home as soon as possible.

For scholars, their reputation is the most important. If you have a good name, you can make a living anywhere, even if you’re a nobody. If your reputation is tarnished, forget about having anything. Back from where you came is where you should go.

“My older brother started just like all of you, unknown and walking thousands of miles. He fought hard and won match after match, ultimately becoming the champion. His fame spread throughout the world.”

The young man stood up and looked at the exhausted scholars before him as he spoke of his brother. Upon hearing about this one-in-a-thousand scholar who topped the Six Dominant Scholar Exam, all the scholars were rejuvenated.

There’s no telling how many poor scholars regard him as their goal and inspiration. No one cares about a decade of hardship, but everyone knows when one becomes famous overnight.

“Captain Xu!”

Feng Qing’an called over the head of the guards. This rumored first-rate master, who was expected to reach the innate stage, didn’t dare to delay in responding to Feng Qing’an’s call,

“You’re not in a hurry, are you? Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind getting off the carriage and walking.”

“Young Master Feng, what is this?”

The captain couldn’t figure out why Feng Qing’an would abandon the carriage and choose to walk instead.

“My elder brother took every step of this journey to the Capital City when he was alive, and I want to walk the same path he did!”

Feng Qing’an genuinely found the carriage too stifling and came up with a perfectly reasonable excuse that no one could object to.

Being a possessor of the Earth God Body, he never tired from walking on the ground. He would have already traversed the mountains and headed directly to the Prefecture City, had his father not cared so much. But these inconveniences were temporary. After taking the Prefecture Exam, he planned to leave this group behind.

“This… please do as you wish!”

In the eyes of the armed escorts, the young noble was simply stirring up trouble. But those words held a different meaning for the scholars listening in.

“The Wind case master truly intends to emulate his elder brother. Is another Six Dominant Scholar going to emerge?”

“It’s too early to say, but Wind case master definitely aspires to become a noble scholar! ”

Feng Qing’an didn’t care about other people’s opinions. He simply kept walking, without showing any signs of fatigue until dusk. His energetic demeanor contrasted sharply against the scholars sprawled on the ground, too exhausted to get up.

The way the escorts looked at him changed completely. They wondered if he’d learnt some profound martial arts techniques because the captain noticed that this seemingly weak young man’s breathing never changed, demonstrating incredible stamina.

As dusk descended and it was clear there’d be no rain under the sparsely starry sky, the escorts made camp in a slightly open hollow, lit a bonfire, and kept a vigilant eye on any nocturnal animals in the woods. But their concerns were unnecessary.

With the white wolf, always staying near Feng Qing’an, the mere presence of this animal was enough to deter any creatures from venturing close.

At midnight, when the Yin Qi grew colder, the escorts on night watch, warmed by the fire, remained alert to potential dangers.

Unfortunately, no matter how vigilant they were, they were just ordinary men skilled in martial arts—they hadn’t truly stepped onto the path of a warrior. So when darkness fell, they fell into deep sleep, without the power to resist.

woof!

Out of the darkness that enveloped the entire camp, a black wolf with eyes as bright as the morning star charged out, heading straight for the smiling young man, rubbing its furry head against him.

“Alright, I know you missed me, but from now on, you’ll be with me all the way. So go, go meet your Mr. Bai!”

After vigorously rubbing the head of Black Mountain, Feng Qing’an pushed him

away without any mercy. But Black Mountain wasn’t upset. Seeing a familiar white figure, it set off without hesitation.

“Your journey is causing quite a stir. It seems you packed quite a following!”

Under Feng Qing’an’s anticipatory gaze, a seven-foot tall man named Yun appeared from the darkness. His narrow, phoenix-like eyes glanced in Feng Qing’an’s direction.

“Are you talking about the people around me? They’re probably sent by the princess who might become my sister-in-law. Let them be!”

Feng Qing’an didn’t mind. He then rubbed his hands together, looking at Yun,

“I remember you promised to give me a treasure before I take the Prefecture Exam. What is it?”

Without uttering a word, Yun extended his hand—there lay a complete set of golden scales, looking exactly like a sleeping golden dragon.

“What is this?”

Staring at the golden dragon in Yun’s hand, Feng Qing’an was startled. After studying it for a while, he realized it had no signs of life—it was entirely inanimate.

“One of my subjects was a Jiao Ghost. When it served me, I didn’t investigate it. However, it betrayed me not long ago. After I killed it, I preserved a remnant of its soul.

Using that remnant, I found its previous body, which had fallen into the netherworld. I spent the past few days quelling its remnants of Yin Qi, then peeled off its scales and bones to create this!”

Yun calmly explained the origin of the golden dragon to Feng Qing’an. It was then that he noticed that the dragon only had four toes and wasn’t a dragon but a golden Jiao.

“So, this is?”

“A set of dragon armor that can protect you for the time being until I descend..”