Chapter 139 - 96: At the Dock, the True Dragon Maiden, Master Duan, the Disciple’s Opportunity to Break the Mercury Blood Silver Marrow... Has Arrived

Chapter 139: Chapter 96: At the Dock, the True Dragon Maiden, Master Duan, the Disciple’s Opportunity to Break the Mercury Blood Silver Marrow... Has Arrived

Anning Pier.

Fine, cold snow drifted from the sky, dusting the old wooden planks of the pier with a thin, downy layer. The planks themselves, uneven and worn by years of use, groaned and creaked as if on the verge of collapse.

Laborers bustled to and fro, panting heavily—HUFF, PUFF. Their breath plumed white as they loaded and unloaded cargo for merchants and vessels large and small, all to earn a meager wage.

Just then, a magnificent, ornately carved ship sailed slowly in from the vast, boundless East Canghai.

A Golden Threaded Red Core Flag fluttered from the mast. It was highly recognizable, bearing the four words "Post House Di Family" in ink-black characters.

The hull was lacquered red and trimmed with gold thread. A vibrant design of a dragon and phoenix, symbols of prosperity, adorned its side. Dusted with fine snow and bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, it looked all the more magnificent.

The sight of such a vessel sailing into Anning Pier in the dead of winter made the swarming laborers stop in their tracks.

"That’s the Post House Di Family! They travel far and wide, with business in every state mansion and county across the entire East Canghai. These are important people from Jiangyin Prefecture!"

"Hss... The Post House Di Family’s shipping business divides their escort vessels into four classes. A flag like that, red with gold thread... that’s second only to the top class, the one reserved for Officials and Nobles."

"So which dignitary from the prefecture could possibly be aboard this ship?"

As the crowd whispered amongst themselves, speculating, the ship docked at the pier.

First to disembark were the ordinary passengers from the "business berths," those who had simply paid the Post House in silver coins for passage. They trickled out, hiring a few laborers to unload their goods and creating a chaotic scene.

Finally, two pretty young women with curious eyes stepped out onto the deck. They took in the sights of the small, snow-dusted Anning County, one following closely behind the other.

The one who seemed to be the mistress wore a green blouse and skirt. She had a charming, round face, and her eyes were as bright as a Clam Spirit Pearl.

The moment Qingtuan set foot on the deck, she was overcome with excitement. She tugged on the slender figure beside her, stomping her feet and exclaiming:

"Young Lord... Oh, no, Bai... Xiaobai, look!"

"Is this Jiangyin Prefecture?"

The round-faced girl in green was boisterous, looking for all the world like someone who had never left home.

The young woman named Bai Shuo beside her couldn’t help but touch her forehead in exasperation, and gently reminded her:

"Miss Qingtuan, we are not at home. Be mindful of how you address me."

"Also, this ship set sail from Jiangyin Prefecture. We boarded it midway. This isn’t Jiangyin..."

The woman’s face was hidden by a veil and she was shrouded in a water-blue cloak, obscuring her expression and features. But her figure was graceful and her voice was gentle, as clear and moving as the chime of jade pendants striking one another.

The material of her clothing looked simple and plain, no different from that of a servant. But she stood a full head taller than the young lady called Qingtuan, giving her an even more mysterious and striking presence.

At the woman’s gentle reminder and the touch on her arm, Qingtuan let out a little "Ah!" Her face flushed red, and she stammered for a good while before she could correct herself. Just as she was about to agree, a sneer came from behind them:

"What kind of country bumpkins are these? Don’t they even know where they are?"

"Judging by their looks, they must be from some wealthy household in a minor county. So young, and already trying to play at being worldly travelers... Hah."

"Take two more steps into this wretched backwater, and believe it or not, you’ll be knocked unconscious and sold off."

"Get out of my way! Make some room! And you lot up front, what are you staring at?"

"A bunch of reeking peasants! Scram, scram, scram! Stare one more time, and this young master will have your legs broken!"

A young man wearing a jade-tasseled crown and draped in purple silk poked his head out of the cabin. He had yet to step onto the filthy deck, and he watched the scene before him with an expression of utter contempt.

As he emerged from the cabin, but before he set foot on the pier itself,

several people rushed out to his sides. One held a censer and fanned it vigorously before him, as if trying to purify the "foul air."

Meanwhile, several others bent down, rolled up their sleeves with grunts of effort, and furiously swept away the filthy, graying snow to clear a large open space.

They then carried a palanquin out from the cabin and set it on the cleared space. Only then did the young man clap the dust from his hands, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"If it weren’t for Mr. Xu needing to find that Jade Marrow Cold Lotus... I would never set foot in a place like this in my entire life!"

"Di! Are you getting in my Huang Family’s palanquin or not?"

He grabbed the palanquin’s handle, using a prostrated servant’s back as a stepping stool. He glanced back over his shoulder and irritably posed the question to Di Yuan of Jiangyin Prefecture’s Post House Di Family, who was watching him with a faint smile in his foxy eyes.

The latter clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head.

"You go on ahead," Di Yuan replied. "Hasn’t the new Grandmaster from Jiangyin Prefecture’s recently opened Wind and Cloud Daoist School sent his Great Robe Inheritor to protect you? To act as your servant for the whole trip?"

"I hear that Grandmaster owns half the businesses in this Anning County. Plus, he’s been dealing closely with your Medicine Shop recently. With that kind of prestige behind you, you, Seventh Young Master Huang, are treated with the utmost respect wherever you go."

"So, I won’t ride on your coattails. I’ll stay and accompany Mr. Xu."

Di Yuan, of the Direct Lineage of the Post House in Jiangyin Prefecture, watched with a placid expression as Seventh Young Master Huang stepped into the palanquin. The young master was followed by a young man in a green robe with heroic features, whose very Flesh, Bone, Skin, and Membrane seemed to pulse, faintly generating an Outer Gang.

In response, Huang Xiuwen snorted coldly:

"Fine, don’t ride with me then! Who’d want to take you, anyway?"

"As for Mr. Xu, he is the Huang Family’s No. 1 Tributor Pill Master. You spend all day buzzing around him, fawning over the old man. You think anyone is fooled by your little schemes?"