"Who are you, and where are you headed?"
At that point, the Falling God Peak martial artists manning the roadblock stopped the scarred man and his group and began questioning them.
"Reporting to the honored lord of the Sacred Peak, we are from the Tin Mountain Blade Sect. We have come to pay our respects at the birthday celebration of the Seven Saints Peak Master."
The scarred man bowed and scraped with considerable deference, making himself as small as possible.
At the same time, he reached into his sleeve and produced a gold ingot, which he presented respectfully to the young man questioning him.
The young man was dressed in a dark cloud-peak robe and wore a cold, indifferent expression. He took the gold without a word and tossed it into a clay jar on the table beside him.
Then he and three others with him began inspecting the carts.
"Five carts of refined tin ore in total. The offering was submitted to the birthday gift register a full month ago."
The scarred man followed along behind explaining, and the young man glanced at him with an expression suggesting he had seen through his intentions, then said with a cold smile, "Rest easy. The Peak Master's birthday gifts are not something we would covet."
"Are those others traveling with you as well?"
At that point, the young man finished inspecting the carts and suddenly shifted his gaze, narrowing his eyes toward the hemp-robed elderly man and Hu Rui'an's group.
The scarred man's expression wavered, and he was just about to speak when the young man had already started walking toward Hu Rui'an's group.
"Within the territory of Lan Province, those who disregard the rules of our Falling God Peak and do not dismount from their carriage when meeting our people receive fifty lashes for a first offense, and are killed without mercy for a second. Do we need to invite you out ourselves?"
The young man's face darkened, and he casually drew the long whip at his waist. The fierce force that erupted from the crack of the whip rang out with a sharp boom.
But before he had even drawn close to the carriage, Wu Shang, seated on horseback ahead, said nothing at all, simply raised his hand and sent a sword strike directly toward the young man's throat.
Faced with this sudden killing blow, the young man's expression changed sharply and he barked out in warning, "Just as I thought, something is wrong here!"
He immediately cracked his whip to deflect the blade and, seeming to have been somewhat prepared, flashed backward to retreat.
At the same time, the dozen or more Falling God Peak martial artists all reacted at once, drawing swords and blades in an instant and surrounding Hu Rui'an's group on all sides.
Seeing this, the scarred man was scared nearly out of his wits. He had never imagined that Hu Rui'an's group would strike at Falling God Peak's people without a single word of warning.
This was Lan Province. On Falling God Peak's own territory. How did they dare?
"It is over..."
The scarred man stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
Hu Rui'an's group had been traveling together with his own. Falling God Peak would certainly assume they were all in the same party. At this point, no matter how he tried to explain, it would likely be useless.
"Who are you people? What audacity!"
At that point, a middle-aged man with a dark, gloomy expression stepped out from behind the Falling God Peak disciples and slowly looked Hu Rui'an's group over.
"Martial Uncle, this group's origins are unclear, and they were hiding among the Tin Mountain Blade Sect to try to slip through unchecked. They must have ill intentions."
The young man who had retreated from Wu Shang's sword quickly stepped forward and bowed, while casting a coldly hostile glance back at Wu Shang and the others.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man waved a hand, saying, "In that case, subdue them first and interrogate them afterward."
With that he gave a signal, and in the next instant the Falling God Peak martial artists said nothing more and moved directly against Hu Rui'an's group.
In the territory of Lan Province, they did not need a reason to kill. The behavior of the group before them was suspicious enough as it was, making further questions or evidence entirely unnecessary.
"It seems there is no avoiding it. I was rather hoping we might travel the rest of the way in peace."
Hu Rui'an shook his head slightly, then flicked a finger, sending a thread of martial True Qi shooting forward, which in an instant split into a dozen or more streaks of light that passed through the foreheads of the Falling God Peak martial artists.
The group who had been leaping into the air with swords and blades raised had barely left the ground before in the next moment they were flung backward and crashed down on the dusty road, every one of them dead where they fell.
It happened so quickly that in an instant only the middle-aged man and the young man remained of all the Falling God Peak martial artists.
Both of them were badly shaken, and without a moment's hesitation immediately sent out a signal.
A flash of purple fire shot skyward and detonated with a crack high above the group.
Hu Rui'an watched this without moving to stop it. Instead he glanced back at Cheng Zhong with a look.
Cheng Zhong gave a slight nod, then lit a blue-gold flame of his own that rose lazily up into the sky.
With that done, Hu Rui'an turned to look at the two remaining Falling God Peak members with a mocking expression, saying, "Still sending signals? Unless the Peak Master of Falling God Peak comes in person, however many people they send will be however many people who die."
At those words the expressions of the two Falling God Peak members changed again. The middle-aged man suddenly barked out in a low voice, "Split up and run!"
With that he turned and bolted in the opposite direction without a backward glance. Seeing this, the young man's expression went sour, but he had no choice but to flee in the other direction.
But he had not even taken a single step before a cold flash of light arrived in an instant, and his head flew high into the air, blood spraying three feet in every direction.
The middle-aged man, who had fled no more than a few yards ahead, met the same fate. The cold light reached him in the blink of an eye and his body fell in two pieces.
In that instant, the dusty main road fell completely silent.
The scarred man and the Tin Mountain Blade Sect disciples all dropped to the ground clutching their heads, trembling with terror and not daring to make a sound.
The hemp-robed elderly man, who had stood to one side throughout without acting or speaking, remained standing in silence.
At that point Hu Rui'an glanced at the hemp-robed elderly man, then went to the carriage, dismounted, and said in a low voice through the curtain, "Your Highness, the signal has been sent. If Commander Fu sees it, he will know we have reached Lan Province safely."
The blue-gold flame signal was something unusual, not a standard Tianjin Guards secret signal, but one that Commander Fu Qiwen had specifically entrusted to him.
This had naturally been arranged with the Eighth Prince Li Musheng in mind. Fu Qiwen had told him to send it at an appropriate moment after entering Lan Province, which clearly indicated he had separate arrangements planned for Li Musheng.
Hu Rui'an had held back from sending the signal until now for two reasons. First, there had been no suitable opportunity. Second, he had been uncertain of Li Musheng's own intentions.
But as they drew closer and closer to Falling God Peak, unless they traveled in disguise, conflicts with Falling God Peak's people were inevitable, and this forced Hu Rui'an to make his decision.
Inside the carriage, Li Musheng's expression became thoughtful. He naturally understood what Hu Rui'an meant.
Throughout the entire journey he had never given Falling God Peak any serious consideration, and so had not formed any plans or thoughts about how to encircle and bring it down.
Even along the way, most of his time had been spent refining the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture. He had barely discussed the matter of Falling God Peak with Hu Rui'an at all.
As far as he was concerned, none of that had ever seemed particularly necessary.