Chapter 142: Fang Henshui’s Long Journey

Fang Henshui had imagined being chosen by unworldly masters as a disciple many times, learning ultimate techniques and becoming unparalleled.

On his way from his county to Chang’an, he thought that a handsome young man like him would have at least one romantic encounter.

If he didn’t get any of it, it would be unreasonable in his mind.

In fact, he was already 22 years old, yet he didn’t get any.

His life was calm in the first 22 years of his life. He learned martial arts at a young age, but he wasn’t that talented.

His family was resourceful in the county, and his father gave 200 silver taels to the father-in-law of the county magistrate as a gift during that old man’s birthday, getting a job for him as a police officer.

Fang Henshui was quite lucky. After two years on the job, the police chief died in a pleasure quarter. As someone who had the second-best martial arts skills in the county, Fang Henshui became the police chief.

However, no unworldly master appeared in the county for 22 years.

As to romantic encounters, there was none. Fang Henshui dressed up before leaving. He heard that the women in the Capital were all as pretty as fairies and were extremely passionate. He observed himself before his bronze mirror and was sure that he was good looking. However, he overlooked one thing.

His little county was way too far from Chang’an. There were many boats in Yangtze-South, but the magistrate’s office didn’t even have a horse. Plus, the magistrate didn’t give him too much travel allowance, so he could only be as stingy as possible on the road.

After traveling more about 100 kilometers, his brand-new police chief uniform was full of dust. He realized that he wouldn’t have any encounters with women if he didn’t go to a pleasure quarter.

However, would that be romantic encounters?

Fang Henshui was going to the Capital since a murder case occurred in a fishing village in the jurisdiction of his county about a year ago, and the people killed had unique identities; they were all monks. The county magistrate didn’t dare to waste time and wrote a letter to the Ministry of Justice in the Capital.

This case was unique, and the Ministry of Justice thought that it had to be investigated, so the county magistrate was asked to send someone to the Capital to report the details of this case. Fang Henshui was in charge of this case, so he had to travel more than 5,000 kilometers to get to Chang’an.

One command from high-ups could break subordinates’ legs.

Fang Henshui was proud that Great Sui was so big. However, after he started his journey, he realized that it wasn’t a good thing for him. This trip would exhaust him to death if he had to walk!

The good thing was that his family was well-off, and his father who had never been to Chang’an packed him some silver taels. His father told him not to bring shame to the family.

“Do you know how big the Capital is? It is at least ten times larger than the county town! Do you know how big is the Royal Palace? It is at least ten times larger than the magistrate’s office! Do you know how wealthy the rich people are in the Capital? They are at least ten times richer than our family!”

Fang Henshui’s father told him this, and he thought that his father’s imagination was wild. However, he soon found that his father lied to him. Even the smallest state city was more than 30 times larger than their county town, the smallest governor’s office was more than 30 times larger than their magistrate’s office, and the rich people in the state cities were at least 300 times, if not 3,000 times, richer than their family.

The further that Fang Henshui traveled, the more insignificant he felt.

He didn’t dare to waste money on the road, but he could no longer afford to hire a horse-drawn carriage when he reached Capital Region Circuit.

Now, he finally realized that poor people couldn’t afford to travel. The magistrate was sure that 30 silver taels were enough for him to go to the Capital and return; how ignorant was that.

Fang Henshui started to walk when he reached Capital Region Circuit, and he traveled north along the public road.

When he asked for a bowl of water in a small village by the public road, he learned that he was only about 35 kilometers away from Chang’an.

Then, he saw a broken-down temple not far away. He planned to rest there and then take out the sand in his shoes, pop the blood blisters on his feet, and eat some dried and packaged food. If the temple were clean, he would take a nap before going on the road.

The sun was too aggressive, and his neck skin that was exposed to the sun already started to peel.

When he was about to reach the temple, he suddenly fainted.

…

When he woke up, he found that he was inside a forest, and two people, one old one young, sat not far away.

“Who are you?” Fang Henshui asked and suddenly remembered that he had fainted. He quickly stood up and cupped his hands before saying, “Thank you for saving me. However, I’m too poor to show my gratitude. I can only ask for your names and set up longevity tablets for you two when I get home.”

After not hearing a response for a while, he straightened his body and looked up. He paused for a second before realizing what was happening, then he took a big jump backward.

“Monks?” He reached for his saber on his belt subconsciously, then he realized that the young monk already took his saber.

That young monk was chopping trees with his saber and quickly made a simple sedan chair that looked like a stretcher.

“Come here.” The young monk beckoned at Fang Henshui and said, “I will be in the front, and you will be in the back.”

“What do you mean?” Fang Henshui asked subconsciously.

Then, he saw the old monk sitting on the sedan chair naturally. His poise and temperament made it feel like this old monk was born as a big figure, and he should be worshiped and carried around by others.

“You mean you want me to carry this old monk with you? No, I can’t do that. Although you two saved my life, I need to work. I need to go to the Ministry of Justice to report a case. You guys can just leave me here. I won’t report you to the local government since you saved my life, but you will suffer if others see you.” While speaking, Fang Henshui didn’t know why this young monk was looking at him with such a strange stare.

“Either you lift the sedan chair with me, or you die.”

Chenya pointed at the big boulder beside Fang Henshui, and a round hole instantly appeared on it. It felt like the boulder was a chunk of butter, and someone poked it with a tube.

Fang Henshui was startled, and he looked at the hole before touching it. Then, he felt like he understood the situation and said, “Don’t try to scare me; this hole was here before!”

Chenya was surprised, and he cursed before pointing at the boulder again.

Another hole appeared on it, and Fang Henshui’s expression changed color. Then, he suddenly felt like his legs softened, and he collapsed onto the ground.

…

The old monk on the sedan chair ate Fang Henshui’s food, and the young monk in the front also ate his food. However, Fang Henshui didn’t get to eat his food.

On top of his food, Fang Henshui’s water also got taken.

As a police chief, Fang Henshui knew that he should battle criminals to death, but he didn’t have the courage yet.

Before leaving home, his father told him that if he ran into bandits, he should just surrender and hand over his money. Even if he had to become a beggar to find his way home, he should do it. As long as he was alive, he could seek revenge.

Fang Henshui thought this was the best piece of advice from his father; he thought so as well. Although he had practiced martial arts for more than ten years, and he could identify the wounds left by various weapons, his strength was too weak.

His hometown was so small that he didn’t know a single cultivation master.

Now, two cultivation masters were beside him, and they were monks.

“Where are you taking me?” Fang Henshui couldn’t help but ask. They completely avoided all public roads, and they were moving in fields and forests, getting further and further away from Chang’an.

That old monk was meditating with his eyes closed, and that young monk was silent.

“If you don’t bring me along, you will be faster.”

Fang Henshui slightly moved the carrying poles on his shoulders and felt his shoulders suffering from the pain.

“I can tell that you two are cultivators, and cultivators could fly, right? I don’t care what crimes you have committed. You can fly, so why bring me? This is so low. What if others catch up? I’m a burden to you, right?”

“Shut up!” The young monk glared at him and shouted, “Of course there is a reason why we are taking you.”

Fang Henshui didn’t dare to look at the young monk in the eyes. Judging from the young monk’s eyes, he knew that this monk had killed people before. An ordinary monk wouldn’t have such vicious eyes.

He got smart and shut his mouth, wondering how he could escape.

After failing to escape by saying things like he had to pee, he had to find food, and he had to find water and getting beat up several times, Fang Henshui finally realized that he was truly unlucky. However, he didn’t know why these two monks would bring him.

He thought, “If they committed crimes in Great Sui, why aren’t they in a hurry to escape?”

When he got bored, he would think about this question.

He was a police chief, so he was used to thinking from the perspective of criminals. After a while, he arrived at an answer that he deemed most reasonable.

He thought, “These two monks must have committed big crimes, so they are being chased. Since these two monks are extremely powerful, the people after them must be powerful as well.”

Since Fang Henshui thought that cultivators could fly, he assumed that these two monks could fly as well. In normal circumstances, these two monks should be escaping extremely fast, so the people chasing them must be also flying fast.

Since Fang Henshui could even think about this, these two monks must have thought everything through. That was why they were slowing down instead of speeding up; they were trying to get rid of those people after them.

Fang Henshui thought he was correct, and he was indeed right.

However, he still didn’t know why these two monks kidnapped him.

…

Fang Henshui vaguely understood why he was taken at night.

Since these two monks weren’t in a hurry to escape, they needed someone to find water and food for them. These two monks couldn’t show their faces, so Fang Henshui was their tool.

“Go find water.”

After stopping in a forest, the young monk ordered coldly before sitting down to rest.

Fang Henshui’s shoulders and legs were in pain, and his feet that had many blood blisters were in more pain. However, he knew that if he hesitated, that young monk would torture him more.

Therefore, he instantly turned around and tried to find water with the water bag.

“If you try to escape one more time, I will cut off a piece of flesh from your body and then help you heal with ointments. I will repeat it until you only have bones left, and I promise you that you will be alive before that,” the young monk said coldly, then he closed his eyes and rested on a boulder.

Fang Henshui cursed in a low voice and shivered when he pictured the scene. He heard that the Buddhist Sect promoted mercy and kindness, now he realized that it was all BS and lies.

“Why wait until he escapes?” At this moment, the old monk opened his eyes and said genially, “He would only not escape after you cut off a piece of his flesh. He won’t know how terrifying it is unless he experiences the pain. The people of Great Sui don’t have respect and awe toward the Buddhist Sect, so you should teach him.”

The young monk froze for a second and bowed. “I understand now.”

Fang Henshui felt his heart stopping at this moment, then he turned around to run. However, it was meaningless.