"Leader, many of our brothers are badly hurt," the fleeing bandits worried for their injured comrades.

The bandit leader, the lean man, turned back to look at the group of brothers groaning in agony, their faces pale. Though being a bandit meant licking blood from the blade's edge, seeing this scene genuinely pained him. He couldn't help but snort angrily, "A big headache means a bigger scar—stop howling and just bear it!"

The injured bandits looked toward their leader, each enduring the pain.

"Good. These are my brothers of Sun Yang!" the lean man immediately declared. "Brothers, rest assured, I will immediately go to Danyang City to invite the best physicians and purchase plenty of medicinal herbs." Although there were some among the bandits who knew a bit about medicine, this time many were severely wounded.

These were not simple cuts and bruises.

"Leader, be careful on the road," many bandits called out.

"Rest assured."

This lean man, 'Sun Yang,' immediately took some silver, mounted a camel-beast, strapped a large cleaver to his back, and hurried swiftly towards Danyang City.

** Danyang City had now appeared within the sight of Teng Qingshan and the other two.

"Truly worthy of being one of the thirty-six main cities of the Duanmu Continent," Teng Qingshan exclaimed, looking at the vast, ancient city walls stretching out east to west. The walls of Danyang City spanned dozens of li; at a glance, they resembled a terrible, prehistoric monster in slumber.

"Comparable to a commandery city," Li Jun also praised.

Teng Qingshan smiled. "Didn't Xiao Ping say it? Back in the day, the Divine Ax Heavenly God, 'Da Yu,' taught the continent's residents how to cultivate, unifying the script, language, currency, and so on. The cities built by the people taught by Emperor Yu should be similar to ours. It's not strange." Since rescuing the little female slave 'Xiao Ping' on the island.

Through Xiao Ping and the books, Teng Qingshan had learned much.

On the Duanmu Continent, there had only ever been two Heavenly Gods.

In the books of the Duanmu Continent, the Divine Ax Heavenly God, '.Da Yu,' was a figure from the ancient past who perceived heaven and earth, created the methods of cultivation, and spread them to all the common people. He was an incomparably great figure!

"No wonder the language is the same as ours in the Nine Provinces," Teng Qingshan mused internally. "It’s just the writing that is different."

"But they are all pictographic characters!"

Teng Qingshan knew this clearly.

In the history of his previous life, as time passed, writing systems constantly changed, evolving step by step from oracle bone script. Although the origins of the Nine Provinces land and the Duanmu Continent were the same—Emperor Yu unified the writing and passed the Nine Provinces script to all people on the Duanmu Continent—several thousand years had passed.

Furthermore, at that time, there was no paper, only stone tablets, iron sheets, and other items for recording. As generations passed, the writing systems of the Nine Provinces land and the Duanmu Continent naturally drifted further apart, becoming difficult to decipher.

"But learning it should be much easier. After all, they are all pictographic characters. I estimate that in another ten days to half a month, I should be able to recognize the vast majority of common characters," Teng Qingshan thought, recalling the scenes on the ship where he and Li Jun studied the Duanmu Continent script with Xiao Ping.

When it came to literacy, Xiao Ping was the teacher!

"Xiao Ping," Teng Qingshan called out.

"Uncle," Xiao Ping looked up at Teng Qingshan with her clear, large eyes.

She was fundamentally a nine-year-old girl, but because she had suffered so much hardship and eaten so poorly, she was as thin and small as a six or seven-year-old child.

"Xiao Ping, your Sister Li Jun and I have many things to do. There will likely be many setbacks! How about this: your Sister Li Jun and I will buy you a house within Danyang City. Then we'll go to the slave market and buy two obedient slaves to serve you, how about that?" Teng Qingshan asked.

"No, I don't want that," Xiao Ping immediately refused.

"Uncle, Sister Li Jun," Xiao Ping began, tears streaming down her face, "I am just a child. Even if I have a house in the city, it will be taken away from me. And... my face, my face..."

"Your face?" Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were startled.

Xiao Ping bit her lip and touched the ugly knife scar on her face. "I am a female slave! So, the mark of a slave was branded on my face. The Liu Family of Black Iron River relocated their entire clan to the island. Because they lacked women, the men of the Black Iron River Liu Family intended to marry us and have many children. So, the marks on the faces of us female slaves were all slashed off! The marks turned into scars."

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun suddenly understood.

"Slaves are not permitted to enter the city alone, nor are they permitted to leave privately!" Xiao Ping continued. "If a slave is alone, even on the road, others have the right to capture them. Even killing them is permissible."

"Like me, with the mark removed and turned into a scar."

"Although I won't be treated as a regular slave, I will still be looked down upon by many and bullied by them!" Xiao Ping gritted her teeth, her face streaked with tear tracks. "An ordinary facial cut is different from this scar made from removing a brand."

"Any scar like this—like the one the bandit leader had—suggests he was likely a slave once too. He’ll be looked down upon. He’s lucky he has martial strength. I am just a child." Xiao Ping got off the camel-beast and knelt, kowtowing and pleading, "Uncle, Sister Li Jun, please! I will just be your servant. Don't send me away. Don't send me away!"

Teng Qingshan sighed softly upon hearing this.

In the Nine Provinces Continent, there were virtually no slaves.

"Xiao Ping!" Li Jun jumped off the camel-beast and hugged Xiao Ping tightly, her eyes also turning red. "Don't worry, Sister won't abandon you, never."

"Brother Teng," Li Jun also looked at Teng Qingshan.

"Take her with us," Teng Qingshan nodded.

Teng Qingshan had actually noticed... Xiao Ping's former family must have been quite well-off.

Slaves were not qualified to learn to read!

Yet Xiao Ping had been sold three times, and long before her family was ruined, she had learned to recognize characters when she was very young. Moreover... though only nine, her thinking and speech were like those of a small adult. She was incredibly intelligent! Alas, on this continent, intelligence could not save her from the fate of being a slave.

Soon, the three of them—Teng Qingshan, Li Jun, and Xiao Ping—arrived at the South Gate of Danyang City. The entrance was not crowded, but traffic was constant. Many people riding camel-beasts, or carts pulled by camel-beasts, were constantly entering the city. Some people were leaving too. Almost everyone was wearing thick padded jackets.

"Danyang!"

Teng Qingshan looked at the two large characters on the city tower. Despite having spent some time at sea and learning some script, Teng Qingshan only recognized the character 'Dan' in 'Danyang.'

"At least I recognize a few characters," Teng Qingshan comforted himself.

"Two large coins per person," the city gate guards demanded as an entrance fee.

Fortunately, Teng Qingshan had obtained quite a few large coins from the robbers. Li Jun immediately handed over six large coins. The man, whose face was covered in sparse, needle-like stubble, glanced over Teng Qingshan and Li Jun, looked closely at Xiao Ping's face, grunted softly, and said, "Go in."

Xiao Ping could only lower her head under the scrutiny.

...

Inside Danyang City, Teng Qingshan carried the large bundles on his back, wielding the Black Flame Rod. Li Jun led the camel-beast, and Xiao Ping held Li Jun's hand. The three of them observed the bustling Danyang City.

"Interesting, very interesting," Teng Qingshan's eyes shone brightly.

The buildings and houses in Danyang City mostly had round or pointed roofs, and the windows were quite tightly sealed. This was a completely different architectural style from the Nine Provinces land. The perpetual low temperatures caused the clothing, architecture, and everything else of the Duanmu Continent people to differ entirely from the Nine Provinces. As for the island they had visited previously,

The Liu Family of Black Iron River, having just fled to the island, were only using simple wooden huts to get by. They hadn't yet managed to construct any stone structures.

Camel-beasts were visible everywhere on the streets. Tall men wearing thick cotton coats and carrying weapons were also seen everywhere.

"Brother Teng, where are we going now? I'm getting a bit hungry," Li Jun said with a smile.

"Xiao Ping must be hungry too," Teng Qingshan glanced at Xiao Ping with a smile. "Let's go eat first. We can buy a carriage and such later."

But shortly after Teng Qingshan and the other two walked a short distance...

"Kid, you stepped on my shoe and just walked away?" A loud voice came from ahead. Teng Qingshan and the other two turned to look and saw quite a few onlookers already gathered ahead.

Teng Qingshan was curious in his heart: "Didn't they say fighting is forbidden inside the city?"

When they approached, Teng Qingshan saw a tall, burly man wearing a felt hat glaring down at a leaner, dark-skinned man with a slight mustache, roaring, "I'm on my way to see an honored guest, and you soiled my shoe. What, do you think these ten lousy coins will settle it?"

The dark-skinned man with the mustache's expression darkened. "Brother, let's both take a step back."

"Who's your brother?" the tall, burly man glared.

"How much do you want?" the dark-skinned man lowered his voice.

The tall, burly man clearly felt the other party was easy to bully, so he raised an eyebrow. "One tael of silver, and we'll drop the matter."

"Clang!" The dark-skinned man drew the long saber from his back.

The tall, burly man's expression shifted slightly, and he took two steps back. The surrounding people retreated several steps further.

"My name is Chang!" The dark-skinned man stared at the tall man with eyes like swords and announced loudly, "I challenge you! Do you dare accept?"

The tall, burly man froze.

"Hahaha, that guy is scared?"

"Coward with no guts!"

The surrounding onlookers were eager for chaos. Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were a little puzzled. Xiao Ping beside them whispered, "Uncle, fighting is forbidden inside the city. If someone kills another, they will be arrested. But... if there is a formal challenge and the other party accepts the duel, killing the person is fine."

Teng Qingshan realized.

At this moment, the tall, burly man being watched by the crowd had his face flushed red from the pressure of the onlookers. He stared at the dark-skinned man and roared, "A challenge? I accept the duel. If you have the guts, I'll send you to see your ancestors!" As he spoke, he also drew the large cleaver from his back. But just as he drew it...

"Whoosh!"

The dark-skinned man immediately stepped forward and swung his saber!

A flash of cold light.

"Pfft!" Blood sprayed out of the tall man's throat like water. His eyes widened, his lips moved, seemingly filled with lingering unwillingness. Finally, he crashed to the ground with a thud, leaving a large pool of blood behind.

The dark-skinned man sneered, "Fool, you accepted the duel and still babble."

Sheathing his battle saber, the dark-skinned man walked away directly through the crowd. The onlookers muttered amongst themselves for a moment, then they all left.

"He just left like that, and no one stopped him?" Teng Qingshan was somewhat astonished.

"Uncle, disagreements escalating to drawing blades is common," Xiao Ping explained. "I’ve seen it quite a few times. Sometimes in the city, people start fighting over just a sentence or two. Soon, the forces of the Fang family, who rule Danyang City, will come to carry the body away."

Teng Qingshan nodded, musing, "A disagreement escalating to drawing blades? Truly worthy of a place where powerful families vie for supremacy; there is even more killing here than in the Nine Provinces."