Chapter 69

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Chapter 69: Escort Agency

     

Piaomiao Manor was indeed quite far. After the carriage left the city gates and traveled east for nearly the duration of an incense stick burning, they finally reached a straight and wide avenue. The carriage came to a stop, and the three disembarked.

     

Qiu Tong pointed ahead and said: “Continue straight along this road, cross the avenue, and you’ll reach Piaomiao Manor. I can’t accompany you further from here. I live at the Huanxi Villa. If you ever have the chance, you can come visit me.”

     

Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu expressed their gratitude, and Qiu Tong boarded the carriage again. The carriage turned around slowly and began its journey back. Qiu Tong waved goodbye to the two from the carriage.

     

The Zhang brothers stood there, looking at the wide, straight avenue and the towering trees beside it, feeling a solemn atmosphere in their hearts. They took a deep breath and strode forward with determination.

     

After a short walk, they saw in the distance a tall archway. As they approached closer, they could clearly see the large character “Piao Miao” inscribed on the archway, just like on the token they carried.

     

The hearts of the brothers beat faster with anticipation as they realized that they were finally nearing their destination.

     

Below the archway stood several men with swords, and another man roaming from left to right, which should be the leader. It was now high noon, and there were only the two Zhang brothers walking on the avenue under the sun. Naturally, they had already seen them, as they watched the two of them move forward, the man stepped forth to stop them. He stared at them for a long time and said: “Hold on, you two. Ahead is a restricted area of our sect.”

     

Zhang Xiaohu stepped forward, cupping his fists in a respectful salute: “Excuse me, is this Piaomiao Manor?”

     

The guard, still suspicious, nodded slightly. “Yes, this is Piaomiao Manor.”

     

Zhang Xiaohu’s face lit up with joy. “Great! We have been looking for Piaomiao Manor.”

     

The guard took a cautious step back. “Excuse me, this friend, what brings you here?”

     

Zhang Xiaohu replied earnestly: “We’ve come to the Piaomiao Sect seek apprenticeship and learn martial arts.”

     

The guard seemed taken aback for a moment as if he had heard something amusing. He looked at Zhang Xiaohu with a bemused expression, while the other guards, who had been standing at attention, began to stare at the two with peculiar looks.

     

Zhang Xiaohua, puzzled by their reaction, added: “What? We came all the way from Lu Town to become disciples and learn martial arts.”

     

At this point, the guard couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. Clutching his stomach, he pointed at the two brothers. “Learn from a master? You two? Hahaha, hahaha~”

     

The other guards joined in, laughing so hard that some doubled over, and a few even sat down on the ground as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.

     

The Zhang brothers stood there, bewildered, waiting for the laughter to die down. When it finally did, Zhang Xiaohu cautiously asked: “What’s so funny?”

     

This question triggered another bout of laughter, but when the laughter subsided again, the lead guard spoke: “Another pair of poor souls lured in by the legends of the Jianghu.”

     

Then, they waved their hands toward them and said: “The Piaomiao Sect recruited disciples some time ago, but now they are not recruiting anymore. You should go back home.”

     

Zhang Xiaohua became anxious and said: “We came all the way from Lu Town, spent several days on the road, and used a lot of money. How can you just ask us to go back?”

     

Zhang Xiaohu was also stunned. He hadn’t thought about this before coming, thinking that they could learn martial arts once they arrived, but he didn’t know they were not accepting disciples now. What should they do?

     

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohu thought of something. He said to the leader: “This Big Brother, I know Great Hero Wen Wenhai of your noble sect. Could you take us to meet him?”

     

The leader looked at him and said: “We do have a Great Hero Wen Wenhai in our Piaomiao Sect. However, many people know his name, which doesn’t mean you actually know him.”

     

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu felt there might be a chance. He said: “Just tell him we are the Zhang brothers from Lu Town. I believe he will remember us.”

     

The leader replied: “It’s a pity. Even if you know Great Hero Wen Wenhai, I cannot take you to see him because he is not currently in the manor.”

     

Zhang Xiaohu felt disappointed. At this moment, Zhang Xiaohua interjected: “Then what about Great Hero Lu Yueming?”

     

The leader said: “Oh, you seem to know quite a bit. However, Hero Lu is also not at the manor. There’s nothing I can do. Even if you know them, they won’t accept you as disciples. You’d better go back and live a good life farming at home.”

     

The leader’s eyes were sharp, he had long seen through the two’s background as farmers.

     

The Zhang brothers wanted to say more, but the leader said: “This is the gate of Piaomiao Villa. It has always been forbidden for strangers to approach or cause a disturbance. It’s still a sensitive period now. It was already inappropriate for me to tell you so much. You should stop bothering us and leave early.”

     

The two listened, feeling very disheartened, and reluctantly walked away with their heads down.

     

At this moment, one of the guards on duty quietly spoke to the leader: “Boss, these two even mentioned the names of several of our core disciples. Could it be they really know them? Though it’s a joke to talk about becoming disciples, if those big shots find out we turned away people they know, won’t that offend them?”

     

The leader couldn’t help but ponder this, and another guard beside him said: “Isn’t Lotus Escort Agency currently recruiting? Let’s send them there to try their luck. If they fail and go home, at least our bosses will know we pointed them in the right direction. We won’t be blamed.”

     

Upon hearing this, the leader’s eyes lit up and he said: “That makes sense. You’re smart, kid.”

     

With that, he hurried to catch up with the Zhang brothers who hadn’t walked far. He called out loudly: “You two little brothers, wait a moment!”

     

Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu, feeling disheartened, immediately stopped and asked: “What is it? Are you letting us in?”

     

The leader smiled and said: “Entering is absolutely not allowed. However, if you two are here to learn from a master, I can show you a way.”

     

Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu’s eyes brightened, and they asked eagerly: “Where is it?”

     

The leader said: “There’s a Lotus Escort Agency in Pingyang City. They are currently recruiting. You can go and try. If you get hired, someone will naturally teach you martial arts.”

     

Upon hearing this, the two realized it was the place where Shangguan Yun and Yu Lun went. It seemed what Shangguan Yun and Yu Lun said was true. In the morning, they had only thought about going to Piaomiao Villa and had completely forgotten about the Lotus Escort Agency. It looked like they had to settle for their second choice today.

     

They quickly thanked the leader for his guidance, asked for detailed directions to the Lotus Escort Agency, and then bid him farewell.

     

It was now afternoon, the sun was scorching, and the food they had eaten in the morning had long been digested. Zhang Xiaohua was starving, and Zhang Xiaohu wasn’t feeling much better. Fortunately, there were scattered houses in front of Piaomiao Villa where many people were eking out a living. The brothers found a small shop and hastily ate some food.

     

They had come by carriage, so despite the distance and the boredom of the journey, at least there was conversation. On the way back, it was just the two of them, occasionally speaking a few words. It was bearable when they found shade, but enduring the scorching sun was truly tough. From Piaomiao Villa to Pingyang City, not many people walked this route. Even those who did were either riding horses or in carriages, all in a hurry, paying no attention to the two brothers walking along the road.

     

By the time the brothers approached Pingyang City, they were drenched in sweat. However, seeing the outline of the city gate immediately lifted their spirits, and their pace quickened.

     

Luckily, the Lotus Escort Agency was near the city gate and easy to inquire about. Before long, the brothers arrived at the front of a large gate.

     

It was a grand gate with statues of two lions in front, one on each side, giving it an imposing appearance. Above the gate hung a black plaque with four golden characters. Zhang Xiaohua recognized the second character “Flower(Hua)”, so it was likely “Lotus Escort Agency.”

     

At the gate, there were several people dressed in plain clothes, none of them with swords at their waists. The two brothers ascended the steps, and immediately someone approached them. Glancing at their attire, the man furrowed his brows slightly but still smiled and asked: “Excuse me, are you here to hire guards or to send out escorts?”

     

Luckily, Zhang Xiaohu, having heard about the Escort Agency from Yu Lun, didn’t embarrass himself. He clasped his hands in greeting and said: “My brother and I are here to apprentice and learn martial arts at the Lotus Escort Agency.”

     

The man looked Zhang Xiaohu up and down, nodded, and said: “Please wait a moment.”

     

He then called out behind him: “Xiao Si, come over and take these two to the side room. They’re here to learn martial arts.”

     

A clever and slender young man from behind responded promptly and hurried over to lead the Zhang brothers through the main gate.

     

Inside was a spacious courtyard with various weapons laid out on one side and some stone locks and other equipment in the corners. The sunlight was still intense, and there were not many people around, indicating those who practiced martial arts were likely resting.

     

Leading the Zhang brothers to a row of houses on the right side of the courtyard, the young man stopped at the second door. He knocked carefully and after a moment, a hoarse voice from inside asked: “Who is it? Come in.”

     

The young man pushed open the door and ushered the Zhang brothers inside. It was a study-like room with a man in his forties seated behind a desk, dressed in scholarly attire and looking groggy as if he had just woken up from a nap at his desk.

     

Naturally, being disturbed from his pleasant dreams, he wasn’t pleased. He scrutinized them and asked unhappily: “Xiao Si, what is it?”

     

The young man quickly smiled apologetically and said: “Master Wen, these two are here to apprentice and learn martial arts. Could you arrange something things for them?”

     

Master Wen listened and waved his hand, saying: “Alright, you can go.”

     

The young man smiled and said: “Thank you, Master Wen. I’ll leave now.”

     

Then, he turned to Zhang Xiaohu and said: “This is Fourth Master Wen, in charge of recruiting for our martial arts hall at Lotus Escort Agency. Listen to his arrangements.”

     

Zhang Xiaohu thanked him with a clasped fist gesture, and the young man closed the door behind him as he left.

     

Fourth Master Wen glanced at their attire, furrowed his brows slightly, but then reached for a booklet on the left side of his desk, flipped it open, and asked for their names. He noted them down with a brush, then asked: “Will you be staying at the agency or outside?”

     

Zhang Xiaohu replied: “We will stay at the agency, of course.”

     

Master Wen nodded and said: “Very well. The tuition for one year of martial arts training is fifty taels of silver, and board and lodging costs thirty taels of silver. For the two of you, it totals one hundred and sixty taels of silver. Please bring the silver notes.”

     

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Xiaohua were dumbfounded.