Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 145
>Chapter Title: Green Forest
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"Sword technique? Yes!" Zhao Qin replied resolutely.
“Though escort agencies don’t use swords much, since it’s Benefactor who’s asking, even if we didn’t have any, I’d find a way to get one for you through other channels!”
Li Huowang raised his wine cup and clinked it against the other man’s.
“Then thank you, Chief Escort Zhao.”
As the wine flowed freely, the banquet’s atmosphere warmed up. Everyone at the table was exchanging cups boisterously.
Truth be told, Li Huowang didn’t care for such gatherings. Once he saw that the others had mostly finished eating, he planned to excuse himself.
At that moment, he spotted Gouwa walking over with a cup of hot tea and setting it down in front of him.
He glanced first at Zhao Qin, who was accompanying them, then leaned in close to whisper in Li Huowang’s ear.
“Senior Brother Li, didn’t Junior Sister Bai keep saying before that we’re always spending but never earning, and that we need a steady way to make money?“
“Yeah, what about it?”
Junior Sister Bai had indeed complained about this to him more than once; his ears were practically callused from it.
Gouwa’s face lit up with excitement.
“Look, isn’t this a case of the sleepy head meeting the pillow? We could ask them to teach us how to escort shipments and become escorts ourselves!”
“We’re heading to the Liang Kingdom anyway. We can take on some shipments along the way—earn money and travel without delaying either!”
“And look at this bunch treating us to such expensive food. They must be raking it in from escorting. That kind of money? We could make it too!”
Li Huowang looked at Gouwa with some surprise. The guy was surprisingly quick on the uptake when it came to making money. And he wasn’t wrong either—Li Huowang really could do this sort of thing.
The money from escorting could serve as travel funds, and he could also send some to Abbess Jingxin.
Though she’d only mentioned that thirty thousand taels of gold offhandedly, she’d given him such a huge gift. It wouldn’t sit right with him to accept it without giving anything in return.
He didn’t want to owe anyone, especially not the one person who had truly helped him.
When Li Huowang brought this up to Zhao Qin, the man agreed immediately without hesitation.
“Alright! If Brother Li wants in, I’ll vouch for you! With my guarantee letter, you can take any escort job at any agency, no problem!”
But after making the promise, he began to advise him earnestly.
“However, Brother, escorting isn’t as easy as it seems. We escorts have a saying: ‘Three Parts for Safe Passage.’”
“‘Three Parts for Safe Passage’ means: keep three parts of a smile on your face, yield three parts of reason in every matter, and drink three parts of wine at the table.”
“Outsiders think escorts rely on superior martial prowess to guard shipments, but that’s only a small half the truth. The other big half is all about greasing palms up and down the line. It’s a real hassle.”
His face flushed red, Zhao Qin raised his cup and downed it in one gulp. Then he waved his large hand dramatically.
“Brother Li, if you’re really short on silver, just say the word. However much you need, I’ll give it!”
The man spoke with utmost resolve, but Li Huowang knew better than to take it at face value.
Everything had its worth. Yes, he had saved the man’s wife, but he hadn’t cured her completely—just improved her condition.
Asking for a sword manual or an introduction to the escort trade was fine, but demanding he bankrupt himself crossed the line.
“Chief Escort Zhao, you’re too kind. I’d rather stand on my own two feet.”
After a few rounds of refusal, Zhao Qin sighed.
“Very well, since Brother Li insists, then alright. Come to the agency tomorrow, and I’ll personally teach you the cant.”
“Cant? What’s that?”
“Cant is the jianghu secret slang. When you run into bandits or highwaymen trying to rob you, you need to match their words.”
“I see.”
Li Huowang held his wine cup, his mind stirring as something occurred to him.
“Then, Chief Escort Zhao, what does ‘brother, throw a vine’ mean?”
That was what those water bandits on the lake had said to him back then. Thinking back now, it must have been cant.
“‘Brother’ means fellow brothers. ‘Throw a vine’ means for you to give your gang’s name.”
Zhao Qin explained.
“And if it doesn’t match?”
“If the cant doesn’t match, they’re basically outsiders. Most black-flag bandits will strike right away.”
“I see…”
Li Huowang held his chopsticks, lost in thought.
At this point, Gouwa chimed in from the side.
“Chief Escort, it doesn’t really matter if the cant doesn’t match, right? Those petty thieves can’t make much trouble. Just slaughter them all, problem solved.”
“Petty thieves?”
Zhao Qin scoffed at Gouwa’s words.
“You really think all highwaymen and mountain bandits are just random thugs banding together to rob? There’s deep water in that world!”
This piqued Li Huowang’s interest.
“Chief Escort Zhao, please elaborate.”
From Clear Wind Temple until now, in these short few months, he’d already encountered two groups of road robbers.
If nothing unexpected happened, there would likely be more ahead. He needed to learn as much as he could about this.
Escorts who traveled year-round surely knew it inside out.
“I’ll admit, some roving bandits are weak. But in the greenwood, it’s not just those black-flag types—there are big and small players.”
“Not talking about the big and small rats on East Yi Mountain or Nan Batian of the Western Great Desert, but any that can call out a name are no pushovers.”
“Occupying a mountain as king isn’t just talk. Plenty have thousands of underlings.”
Zhao Qin took a sip of wine and continued.
“And crucially, there’s a saying: ‘Feed the bandits to empower yourself.’ Behind them, there might well be ties to the authorities.”
“And don’t think just because they’re bandits now, if they get recruited by imperial decree someday, they turn white from black in an instant.”
“With all these connections, can you sort them out? If you don’t play by their rules and match their cant? Good luck running escorts. Everything has rules—even the greenwood has its own.”
The misty world came into slightly clearer view for Li Huowang through Zhao Qin’s explanation.
He recalled the scene of those water bandits performing their sacrifice and spoke again after a moment’s consideration.
“Among these road robbers, are there any masters who use evil sorcery or immortal arts?”
He wasn’t afraid of plain bandits anymore, but this world was never plain.
Even a bunch of small-time water bandits in the reed marshes could use some unknown copy of the Great Thousand Record to wreak havoc on a region.
Among bigger bandit groups, there was no guarantee some wouldn’t be even more formidable.
As soon as he said this, the mood at the table chilled.
Seeing the escorts tense up, Li Huowang already knew the answer.
After hesitating for a few breaths, Zhao Qin let out a light sigh.
“That’s why everything has to follow the rules. Who knows who’s really in charge behind these mountain and water bandits.”
“Though the Imperial Forest Army has the Bureau of Monitoring the Heavens, His Majesty can’t even secure his own dragon throne right now—how’s he going to manage this?”
“Some things just aren’t for us mortals to meddle in.”
(End of Chapter)