"Such petty thieves hardly warrant my personal attention..."

Indeed, for such run-of-the-mill bandits, not only was Ye Wen's intervention unnecessary, but the dozens of burly guards accompanying the entourage were more than capable of repelling them. Furthermore, Chief Escort Yue Hang was right there; merely uttering his name would likely cause the bandits to retreat without a fight.

And precisely that is what transpired. Yue Hang stepped forward, announced his name, exchanged pleasantries with the bandit leader—uttering meaningless drivel like, "What a misunderstanding, thinking it was one of our own," and "We didn't realize this was Chief Escort Yue's company; please forgive us"—and then the brigands cleared a path for the procession.

This outcome was, in fact, what Yue Hang most desired. He certainly did not wish to suffer any losses among the men he had hired at considerable expense before they had even left the boundaries of Shushan County, especially when such losses were entirely avoidable.

After resolving the minor interruption of the roadblock, Yue Hang specifically approached Xu Xian to reassure him that everything was normal and nothing had occurred.

Yue Hang feared that such an incident might frighten Xu Xian, the "delicate scholar," and wanted to put his mind at ease. He remained entirely unaware that Xu Xian was also a martial artist of profound skill, and in a genuine fight, Yue Hang might not even be his match. However, Xu Xian concealed his abilities too thoroughly; perhaps only Ye Wen in all of Shushan, or even all of Pingzhou, knew his true depth.

The reason Ye Wen didn't claim to know his secrets across the entire Shang Dynasty was that Ye Wen suspected the bandit leader from Dongzhou might be in league with Xu Xian, staging this entire affair. Especially the supposed female bandit leader, who very likely knew Xu Xian's background.

"But what connection do these two people truly share?"

In his idle moments, Ye Wen frequently pondered this question, yet he could never arrive at a satisfactory answer, eventually resorting to maliciously speculating that the pair might share some sort of sordid, private relationship.

"Hmph, hmph. What famous scholar of the realm? What peerless handsome man? He's just an ordinary mortal after all."

Along the road, Ye Wen passed the time through such internal grumbling. By day, he monitored Xu Xian, watching for any unusual behavior. But after several days, he noticed nothing amiss with Xu Xian; it seemed anyone would assume the young scholar was solely focused on traveling south for his studies.

At night, Xu Xian would even pull out countless scrolls to read. Even Liu Qingfeng, the Daoist Master Liu, who had volunteered to stand guard and ensure Xu Xian's safety at night, failed to detect any peculiarity.

Seeing this, Ye Wen guessed that Xu Xian planned to make his move only once they reached Dongzhou territory. After all, they were still within Pingzhou borders, far too close to his hometown; even if he intended to run away from home, it would be difficult to act here.

Understanding this, Ye Wen finally eased the tension in his nerves. He spent his days sitting beside the coachman, watching the scenery, occasionally dismounting to walk for a while as exercise. When it was time to rest at night, he would meditate to cultivate his internal energy. He dared not slacken this cultivation at all, as training internal arts was like rowing upstream—stop, and you fall back. If he skipped several days of practice, his hard-won Initial Accomplishment in internal energy might regress back to the level of just starting the Complete Heart Method.

However, the travel over these past few days had unexpectedly revealed that his internal energy cultivation had not receded; instead, there were faint signs of subtle improvement, though extremely minor.

"Strange. I originally believed my divine talent accounted for my rapid cultivation progress. Is that not the case?"

By normal standards, he had only been practicing the Complete Heart Method for a little over half a year, less than a year. Even with rapid progress, his level should, at most, be comparable to or even less than Guo Jing's immediately after leaving the great desert in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Yet, he realized his current level should be no weaker than Guo Jing at that stage in the novel. Was this due to his unusually constitution, or some other reason? It was vexing to consider, and he likely wouldn't figure it out anytime soon. Perhaps he would only have time to study it once his Shu Shan Sect influence was firmly established.

Moreover, he had another pressing matter before then: delivering the family letter entrusted to him by Aunt Zhao.

After several days of continuous travel, Xu Xian's entourage arrived at Linshan County, a necessary stop on the southbound route. The county where Aunt Zhao’s sister lived was far more prosperous than Shushan County. This was because all travelers moving north and south passed through here, allowing the town to develop much better than the unremarkable Shushan County.

After the convoy lodged at an inn and secured their quarters, Ye Wen informed Yue Hang that he intended to leave the group briefly to handle a private matter concerning Aunt Zhao's letter.

Chief Escort Yue didn't inquire deeply about his need to leave alone, only asking if he required any men to accompany him.

"Nothing major, just delivering a family letter for someone in my association."

Hearing Ye Wen's reply, Yue Hang understood it was indeed a small matter and that Ye Wen wasn't being merely polite. So, he smiled and nodded, asking no further questions, not even inquiring about his return time.

Conversely, Zhao Heng, the young apprentice of Liu Qingfeng, muttered under his breath, "My fellow apprentice and master are here to offer aid, yet they guard vigilantly day and night, while he, having taken a commission, wanders about everywhere..." He didn't finish the sentence, seemingly interrupted by his senior apprentice, Liu Mo.

Although the remark was quiet, several people heard it clearly, including Chief Escort Yue, Gongsun Mu, and Xu Xian, who was sitting nearby, drinking water to rest his feet.

Even though Ye Wen was somewhat distant, those words could not escape his ears, thanks to his internal energy cultivation. However, he genuinely did not care. Zhao Heng had looked down on him since the moment they met; did he expect any pleasantries from that man?

"Just treat it as dog barking."

After bidding farewell to Yue Hang, Ye Wen turned and left the inn, then began asking directions and searching along the path Aunt Zhao had given him.

Before long, Ye Wen arrived before a civilian residence, but the scene before him seemed slightly different from what Aunt Zhao had described. According to her description, her sister had married a man in Linshan County who ran a small business. While not wealthy, their life was quite comfortable, and they even occasionally helped the struggling Aunt Zhao.

But the house before him...

"It seems a great misfortune has befallen them. No wonder contact with Aunt Zhao has been lost for so long."

With a gentle push, the wooden plank, which looked more like decoration than a door, creaked sideways. Ye Wen frowned, wondering if applying a little more force would cause the plank to crash to the ground. He couldn't possibly knock on such a door; perhaps it would be better to step inside a few paces and call out?

Just as he was about to step in, an elderly woman passing by suddenly stopped, observing Ye Wen's intent to enter, and asked, "Young man, are you looking for Sister Zhou?"

"Zhou? Oh, right. Aunt Zhao’s sister did marry a man surnamed Zhou." But he wasn't entirely certain this was the right house, so he asked, "Auntie, does the mistress of this house have a sister in Shushan County?"

The old woman pondered for a moment, then replied, "Sister Zhou does seem to have a sister in Shushan County. Are you from Shushan County?"

"I have a family letter written by her sister and am merely passing through Linshan County, so I brought it along."

"Oh, oh, now that you mention it, I recall. Sister Zhou often wrote to her sister in Shushan County. She did mention this... However, Sister Zhou is probably unable to reply right now."

Ye Wen frowned; it seemed this family had indeed encountered trouble.

Before he could ask, the old woman launched into a lengthy, rambling account: "Alas, gambling ruins people! Ever since Brother Zhou became obsessed with gambling, their entire life has turned upside down! Not only did he lose all his business and savings, but now he owes a mountain of debt. A few months ago, when Brother Zhou realized he couldn't repay, and the creditors pressed him hard, he vanished, leaving only the wife and child behind."

"Since those creditors couldn't find him, they went after Sister Zhou for the money. But where would she get the money? What's worse, during that time, Sister Zhou worked herself ragged trying to pay off her husband's debts, but in the end, she failed to clear the debt and fell ill herself. With no money for medicine, the last time I saw her a few days ago, her condition... Ugh! It’s cursed! Why did he gamble? What's the thrill in it? To even borrow money to gamble..." The old woman seemed to either get carried away by her tale or forget Ye Wen was there, and just kept talking as she walked away, turning the corner and vanishing from sight, leaving Ye Wen somewhat stunned.

Still, he finally understood the situation. It explained why Aunt Zhao hadn't heard from her sister in so long. In previous years, she would have received a letter months ago; even with severe weather or impassable roads, it wouldn't be delayed by more than a few days. This year, the silence stretched into months.

"So, such a drastic change occurred."

Now that he knew the circumstances, Ye Wen realized calling out here wouldn't summon anyone. He might as well go in and look. He turned and stepped into the courtyard, surveying the small space now overgrown with weeds, clearly neglected for a long time.

It seemed Aunt Zhao’s sister's situation was even worse than the old woman had suggested; she didn't even have the ability to clean her own yard. And none of the neighbors seemed to offer any help.

"Perhaps they fear being implicated by those debt collectors?"

He guessed the reason in a flash. Ye Wen gently pushed the door before him—which was barely sturdier than the gate—and walked inside.

Upon entering, he saw a woman, withered like a husk and pale as gold paper, struggling to sit up, seemingly roused by the sound of his footsteps.

The moment Ye Wen saw her appearance, a phrase flashed in his mind: "Dying of a terminal illness, her time is short..."

Before he could speak, the woman glanced at him with vacant eyes and murmured casually, "Are you here again? I truly have nothing valuable left in the house..."

P.S: I'm not feeling great today. I don't know if there will be a second chapter; if not, there will be three tomorrow.