The little girl in pink, steamed bun in her left hand and braised beef in her right, came back to her senses and shouted indignantly where she stood, "On what grounds?"
Li Musheng pointed at the horse he had led over, saying, "This horse of mine is worth considerably more silver than your mule. You are getting the better end of the deal and still making a fuss. For someone so young, you have no sense of gratitude whatsoever."
With that, Li Musheng paid no further attention to the fuming little girl on the ground, took the map from the horse's back, and swung himself up onto the mule.
"Grandfather, look at him!"
The little girl turned her indignant face toward the hemp-robed elderly man beside her. The two of them exchanged an almost imperceptible glance, and then the hemp-robed elderly man's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Li Musheng.
At that point Li Musheng looked down at the map in his hand, and the dense tangle of routes and markings across it immediately made him furrow his brow.
He thought for a brief moment, then looked toward the scarred man and the Tin Mountain Blade Sect disciples kneeling on the ground in trembling terror, saying, "You are heading to pay your respects to the Seven Saints Peak Master and deliver birthday gifts. As it happens, I also need to pay that place a visit. You can show me the way."
Hearing this, the scarred man raised his ashen face and cast a shaking glance at Li Musheng, then let his eyes slide toward Hu Rui'an not far away.
He had watched firsthand as Hu Rui'an casually cut down the Falling God Peak martial artists, and had a very clear idea in his mind of how terrifying that level of strength was.
With that, he stumbled to his feet from the ground, his legs still shaking uncontrollably, yet he forced down the terror in his heart and barked at the disciples on the ground in a low, stern voice, "What are you all staring at? On your feet, we are moving!"
At those words, the disciples' eyes instinctively swept across the bodies of the Falling God Peak members, and every one of them felt the color drain from their face.
None of them dared to dawdle, however, and they clambered to their feet one by one and came shuffling to the carts like the walking dead.
Without a single word between them, they got the horses moving and crossed the roadblock ahead, continuing down the main road.
The scarred man glanced back at Li Musheng sitting on the mule, then immediately swung himself into the saddle and followed the disciples.
Li Musheng gave a satisfied nod, then patted the neck of the mule beneath him, and the animal set off at a steady pace.
Seeing this, the hemp-robed elderly man suddenly turned to look at Hu Rui'an, saying, "Are you truly at ease letting your young master travel alone?"
Hearing this, Hu Rui'an glanced at him and offered no explanation whatsoever.
The hemp-robed elderly man's clouded eyes moved slightly at that, but he did not press further. He turned, lifted the little girl in pink and set her on the tall horse, then took the reins and continued forward along the main road.
Hu Rui'an, Wu Shang, and the others watched Li Musheng's figure growing smaller in the distance. Inside the carriage, Murong Xiaoya and Shen Anran lifted the curtain and watched in silence as he left.
"There is no need to worry. With His Highness's strength, even if he cannot bring down all the old ones at Falling God Peak, retreating safely should not be beyond him."
Hu Rui'an withdrew his gaze and said slowly.
Wu Shang and the others exchanged looks, and all fell into silence.
...
After that, Hu Rui'an's group waited on the spot for half a day, dealing with several waves of Falling God Peak reinforcements that arrived, before finally receiving the Tianjin Guards martial artists sent by Fu Qiwen.
"Where is the Eighth Prince?"
The newcomers, finding no sign of Li Musheng, immediately turned to Hu Rui'an with grave expressions.
But Hu Rui'an did not reveal Li Musheng's whereabouts, saying only, "I will report this matter to Commander Fu myself. What matters most right now is linking up with the Tianjin Guards. I also have an incomplete map of Falling God Peak's defenses here that may prove useful."
Hearing this, the Tianjin Guards martial artists furrowed their brows, but could not press him on the matter, and led Hu Rui'an and the others toward the Tianjin Guards's camp.
After leaving the capital, Commander Fu Qiwen had taken the waterway to Lan Province, and along the way had stopped to pay visits to several retired veterans of the Great Li Tianjin Guards.
These men had once been his superiors, and while still in the capital he had personally written to request that these former Tianjin Guards veterans come out of retirement.
For the operation against Falling God Peak, beyond the large portion of the court's forces that could not be deployed, he had exhausted every means at his disposal to gather allies to assist the Tianjin Guards.
The reliable martial world sects that maintained ties with the Tianjin Guards had also been quietly mobilized by his orders.
He had even attempted to send word to sects with grudges against Falling God Peak and bring them in, though most of these organizations preferred to protect themselves. They did not believe the Great Li Tianjin Guards could deal with Falling God Peak, one of the four great sects of the Great Li martial world, and were unwilling to throw their lives away for nothing. Only a very small number had agreed to act.
"Foolish. How could you allow His Highness to act on his own?"
Having heard from Hu Rui'an where Li Musheng had gone, Fu Qiwen's deeply lined brow furrowed further, and he was clearly somewhat angered.
Hu Rui'an looked up and saw that Fu Qiwen, whose hair and brows had been only half-white when they had last parted, had gone entirely white in the short time since leaving the capital.
At that moment the man looked at least ten years older than he had at their last meeting.
Seeing this, Hu Rui'an let out a quiet sigh in his heart, then said, "Commander, there is something you do not know. His Highness is not nearly as limited as we had believed."
At those words, Fu Qiwen looked at Hu Rui'an with a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
He knew his deputy well enough to know the man was not one for idle words.
Fu Qiwen temporarily reined in his anger and said in a low voice, "Then tell me. What ability does the Eighth Prince have that allows him to go to Falling God Peak alone?"
Hu Rui'an stood with folded hands in a bow, raised his eyes to look at Fu Qiwen for a moment, then after a brief silence said, "In truth... His Highness's martial cultivation is extremely high."
Fu Qiwen's brow furrowed, and he fixed his gaze on Hu Rui'an, his eyes narrowing slightly despite himself, "The Eighth Prince's martial cultivation is extremely high? How high? How is it I never noticed?"
Hu Rui'an considered briefly, then said with considerable earnestness, "Based on what His Highness himself said, roughly about ten or more stories high."
Fu Qiwen's expression stalled for a moment.
But before he could get a word in, Hu Rui'an suddenly looked up at him, then added, "In this subordinate's view, His Highness's strength should be at the very least on a par with yours, Commander, if not beyond it."
At those words, whatever Fu Qiwen had been about to say was instantly stopped in his throat, and he stared at Hu Rui'an before him with an expression of complete astonishment.