Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 207
>Chapter Title: Jinshan Zhao
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The ox cart creaked slowly forward.
Li Huowang and the others followed alongside the ox cart, continuing onward.
Some of their luggage was loaded onto several ox carts, lightening everyone's load considerably. They no longer looked as haggard as before.
These new tools had been bought recently when they passed through a town, with Sun Baolu handling the purchase.
After all, they still had a long journey ahead, so essential tools couldn't be lacking.
Jinshan Zhao was still carrying his bamboo basket on his back, humming a tune from the corner of his mouth.
The lush green grassland around him greatly improved his mood.
Such beautiful scenery couldn't be found in the heart of Hou Shu. It looked like they were almost there.
He opened the map he'd drawn once more and recalibrated their current position.
"Hmm... A few more days, and we should reach the pass."
He folded the map away and clasped his hands together toward Li Huowang in congratulations. "Daoist, we're almost out of the pass. Congratulations!"
"Once we cross the pass and enter Qingqiu territory, we'll be completely safe."
Li Huowang, who had been reading the Deception Sutra, lifted his head to glance at him before burying it back in the book.
"Where are you planning to go? Are you thinking of following us through Qingqiu to Liang Kingdom?"
"No, this old man isn't going to Qingqiu. I'll see you all to the pass and then head back."
"Head back? Back where? Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"
Jinshan Zhao smiled confidently. "No worries. This old man has ways to protect himself."
Li Huowang sized up the man in front of him again. No matter how he looked at it, the other seemed to be bragging.
He'd been scared half to death by the brigand convict soldiers before, and now he was acting tough.
As the two chatted, a village appeared ahead.
They didn't all go in. Instead, just Jinshan Zhao and Li Huowang went to buy food.
Two people wouldn't attract too much attention, and Jinshan Zhao had a good way with words, making him suitable for dealing with wary villagers.
Li Huowang had no intention of lingering here. He planned to stock up on food along the way and hurry through Hou Shu as quickly as possible.
It would be more tiring this way, but with pursuers behind them, they couldn't afford to be picky.
Just as they entered the village, Li Huowang caught a distinctive stench.
He followed the smell and saw a pigsty—a pigsty built under a house.
Seeing what these black-haired pigs were eating made Li Huowang's voice tremble.
"Do they... feed pigs like this here too?"
The sight stirred memories. He recalled Abbess Jingxin, lying dead in the pigsty at An Ci Nunnery.
"Hmm? Why do you say that, Daoist? Don't all pigs get fed this way? That's why this old man never eats pork or dog meat—those two beasts both eat shit."
Li Huowang quickly suppressed his emotions and turned to him.
"What did you say? Everyone else feeds pigs like this?"
"Of course. It's been this way for thousands of years."
Jinshan Zhao squatted down and picked up a stone, drawing stroke by stroke in the soft soil.
He wrote a neat and proper "Household" character, beautiful even with a stone as his tool.
"Household"—that's what he wrote.
"Look, Daoist. The top part, represents the roof of a house. The bottom, represents a pig."
"Roof over pig—that's home."
"You can tell from this character that at least since ancient times, people have fed pigs with filth."
"See the meaning in the words. Think carefully, and some things are hidden right there in the characters."
Li Huowang slowly squatted down and gently traced the character with his finger.
"So that's what home is... Looks like I misunderstood Abbess before."
Remembering the past moments, moisture welled up in the corners of Li Huowang's eyes.
That had been the only place in this mad world where he could feel any warmth, but it was gone forever.
"Daoist?" Jinshan Zhao noticed something off in Li Huowang's mood and took a small step back.
After spending so much time together, he'd long sensed something strange. The man knew all sorts of divine abilities, but his mind seemed off.
Li Huowang scraped at the nearby soil with his fingers, burying the "Household" character, then stood up.
He stared straight at Jinshan Zhao again, the unremarkable-looking old man before him.
"Old sir, your background isn't ordinary, is it?"
Literate commoners were rare, let alone someone who wrote such beautiful characters with a stone.
Jinshan Zhao froze, weighing something in his mind.
"I saved your life, and you won't even tell me this? Fine, fine, if you don't want to say, forget it. Let's go find a villager and buy some food."
Just as Li Huowang turned and took a few steps, Jinshan Zhao's voice came from behind.
"Very well, it doesn't hurt to tell you, Daoist. This old man is actually a disciple of the School of Diplomacy."
"School of Diplomacy?" Li Huowang slowly turned back, eyeing him puzzledly. The term was unfamiliar to him.
Having revealed his identity, Jinshan Zhao seemed invigorated.
"The four seasons open and close to transform all things: allying the many weak against one strong is the Vertical; serving one strong to attack the many weak is the Horizontal. This is Vertical and Horizontal."
Under Jinshan Zhao's patient explanation, Li Huowang came to understand what the School of Diplomacy was.
In plain terms, it was a special profession born from an environment of many small states.
In Jinshan Zhao's own words, they were strategists, indispensable advisors to every ruler.
They helped rulers scheme and plan, forming vertical alliances or horizontal ones.
But from Li Huowang's perspective, they were clever folk hopping between small states, using their silver tongues.
"Grasping the big picture, skilled in reading intentions, masters of rhetoric, quick to adapt, possessing wisdom and courage, versed in long-term strategy, decisive in action—that's us disciples of Vertical and Horizontal."
Seeing Jinshan Zhao's tail practically wagging with pride, Li Huowang interrupted.
"You're so impressive, then why didn't you talk your way out of it with that woman earlier? Something like one tongue against a thousand troops?"
At this, a trace of embarrassment crossed Jinshan Zhao's face.
"Ai~ As the saying goes, even a scholar can't argue with a soldier, let alone Hou Shu's brigand convict soldiers."
"Heh." Li Huowang turned and walked toward the village depths, with Jinshan Zhao hurrying to catch up.
"Daoist, I know you don't quite trust this old man yet. But no matter. Once you're safely out of Hou Shu, I'll get back to my own business."
"So your position isn't leaked by me."
"Since you saved my life, I'll repay you with a gushing spring. Once I become an envoy in Hou Shu—"
"Hold on, so you don't even have a lord yet? Aren't you just a wandering vagrant right now?"
"It's imminent, imminent. Once this old man makes my comeback and becomes an official in Hou Shu, I won't forget you, Daoist."
"Alright, we'll talk then. Though I figure by then I'll already be in Liang Kingdom."
Everything had been going smoothly, but the pair's relaxed banter was cut short as Li Huowang suddenly gripped his sword hilt.
"D-Daoist?" Jinshan Zhao followed Li Huowang's gaze to the eaves, where several black earthenware jars stood, each plastered with large red upside-down fu characters.
(End of chapter)