Qingzhou is in the south, with a very comfortable climate, crisscrossing rivers, fertile land, and thousands of acres of good fields. It also has many beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, and scenic spots. Many high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants have built houses and courtyards here. Historically, many notable figures have emerged from this picturesque water town, and the Qingcheng Sect, one of the five major sects in the martial world, is established here.
It is said that the founder of the Qingcheng Sect was so captivated by the beauty of this place during his travels that he decided to settle here. He took on some disciples, and as the number of disciples grew, the sect was gradually established, becoming the Qingcheng Sect, surrounded by green mountains and clear waters.
Hua Yan had long been attracted not only by Qingzhou’s beautiful scenery but also by its delicious food.
Qingzhou is affluent and full of talented people who are also very devoted to the study of food. Half of the “Eating Around the Jianghu” column in the Dongfeng Buye Tower’s Jianghu Handbook comes from Qingzhou. It is said that Qingzhou’s chefs have monthly meetings to study new dishes, inviting high-ranking officials and noblemen to taste them, and sometimes even inviting the public to watch and taste, thus attracting customers to their own restaurants.
All of this sounded like a fairy tale to Hua Yan, given that there was really nothing good near their sect. As a child, she could even eat fried insects as a snack with relish, but she felt extremely unfortunate as she grew older.
Having made up her mind, she and Lu Chengsha greeted Xie Yingxian and left.
They initially left on horseback, but after a couple of days, Lu Chengsha, feeling it was hard on her, offered to switch to a carriage. Hua Yan had gotten used to riding over the years, but… she couldn’t refuse Lu Chengsha’s consideration!
Who would have thought that back then, when she found riding exhausting and wanted to switch to a carriage, she had to discuss it with Lu Chengsha for a long time?
Now, although Lu Chengsha still seemed cold on the surface, he had become increasingly gentle and considerate.
Hua Yan, feeling quite content, nestled into the carriage with her large and small bags. After all, this trip was like returning home to visit relatives, and she had bought many interesting things along the way to give as gifts—it was never good to arrive empty-handed, and their sect’s specialties were not suitable for ordinary people. She had plenty of reasons and was quite generous in her purchases.
However, Hua Yan later realized that Lu Chengsha might have had another reason for letting her ride in the carriage… For instance, when her legs were sore, riding a horse was indeed quite tiring.
There was no other way… After all, they were newlyweds, sleeping together at night, inevitably wanting to be close. Intimacy sometimes led to unavoidable mishaps. Previously, they could restrain themselves, but now it was getting increasingly hard to control their desires, causing quite some distress. Being outside was inconvenient, and inns didn’t feel safe or private enough. They had to suppress their voices and movements, making things very troublesome.
***
The carriage jolted occasionally as it traveled along the mountain road.
Hua Yan’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She lifted the curtain to look at the scenery and occasionally sneaked a peek at Lu Chengsha, who was driving the carriage ahead.
He still wore his high ponytail, his black hair swaying in the wind, his posture straight, holding the reins, one long leg bent. From the back, his expression couldn’t be seen, but Hua Yan rested her chin in her hands, looking at him, unable to stop herself from smiling.
They were already married.
Even though she had accepted this fact for some time, she still felt a bit dazed and found it hard to believe.
Back in Night City, she used to joke about it with a heavy heart, but now, this person was truly her husband.
Husband.
Hua Yan silently repeated the word in her mind. As the word rolled off her tongue, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.
It was as if Lu Chengsha’s back of the head had a sense, feeling her gaze. He lightly pulled the reins and turned his head to look at her, and their eyes met unexpectedly.
Hua Yan burst into laughter.
Lu Chengsha’s gaze softened, and he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Hua Yan, still smiling, said, “Nothing, I just feel very happy—this is so good now. I never dared to dream of this before. It really proves that as long as you persist, good things will happen.”
Her voice was cheerful and bright, like the warm spring breeze in March.
Lu Chengsha gripped the reins tighter, his fingers tense. He wanted to kiss her, but he restrained himself, merely responding with a “Hmm.” He even felt a slight sense of frustration in his heart. He never knew he could be so demanding, but being close to her seemed never enough, even though they were already so intimate. He always wanted more, making him feel insatiable.
She was already indulging him enough.
He should exercise more restraint.
Unexpectedly, as the carriage slowed down, Hua Yan jumped out of the carriage and sat beside Lu Chengsha. She stretched her legs out of the carriage, swinging them, and smiled at him, “It’s too stuffy inside. I came out for some fresh air.”
Lu Chengsha: “…”
This was really not good.
He tried his best not to look at her and focused on driving.
But Hua Yan had come out to chat with him, and it was impossible for her not to bother him. She even reached out her hand to touch the one he was using to drive the carriage. “Is driving fun? How about letting me try?”
Lu Chengsha slightly dodged and said, “It’s not fun. I’ll do it.”
Hua Yan persisted, “Let me try.”
Her fingers, slightly pink, brushed against the back of his hand, causing his fingers to stiffen immediately. He finally had to tell her, “If you keep moving, I’ll kiss you.”
As he said this, Lu Chengsha’s gaze remained straight ahead, his expression unchanged, but the tips of his ears turned slightly red.
“Oh,” Hua Yan responded, thinking that his threat lacked any real force. But she still tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and obediently sat back down.
Mainly because, in the past few days, whenever they started kissing, it usually didn’t end well.
“This is out in the open; we can’t just stop the carriage by the roadside and…”
However, no one expected that not long after Hua Yan sat back down, a group of men exuding a bandit aura suddenly appeared on the mountain road ahead. They held various weapons such as knives, guns, swords, and halberds, each of them burly and expertly blocking the road, clearly up to no good.
The leader, a ruffian with a scruffy beard and a sinister face, looked at Hua Yan with ill intentions, eyeing her up and down with a lecherous gaze, as if trying to strip her with his eyes.
“Where are you two heading? This little lady here looks pretty good. What’s so great about that boy next to you? How about becoming my wife and living in my mountain stronghold?”
The people around him laughed and jeered in support.
Hua Yan: “…”
It had been a long time since she had encountered such suicidal villains.
Lu Chengsha had not changed back into his disciple’s robes after returning to Tingjian Manor, mainly because they both realized that traveling in plain clothes was more convenient. The Tingjian Manor uniform was too conspicuous; coupled with the blue sword tassel, no one dared to approach them, but it attracted a lot of attention wherever they went.
Not having that deterrent led to this situation.
Perhaps Lu Chengsha had indeed become more gentle recently, and being with her had made his killing intent less noticeable.
Just as Hua Yan was about to speak, Lu Chengsha calmly said, “Go back inside.”
Though calm, his voice carried a long-lost coldness.
She initially wanted to watch the scene unfold, but… never mind.
Hua Yan lifted the curtain and sat back inside. Almost simultaneously, she felt the familiar, icy killing intent that belonged to Lu Chengsha spread out, intense and terrifying. It seemed even more refined than before.
Had his martial arts skills improved, making his killing intent more controllable?
As Hua Yan pondered, she heard the sound of Lu Chengsha dismounting from the carriage. The previously aggressive bandits immediately realized they had picked the wrong target, and their tones changed instantly.
“Sorry, great hero, I didn’t recognize Mount Tai!”
“I know my mistake, I know my mistake!”
“Quick, run away!”
In no time, Lu Chengsha returned, having cleared the obstacle, his breathing still steady. He even thought for a moment and said to her, “I can… destroy their stronghold as well, but it might delay our trip a bit.”
He was mainly worried about delaying her trip to Qingzhou.
Lu Chengsha’s inquiry made Hua Yan laugh involuntarily, “You decide. I’m not in a hurry anyway.”
So they ended up delaying their journey by another two hours.
When they reached Lincheng for the night, they learned that the bandits who had blocked the road had been causing trouble for a while. Merchants traveling through the area generally hired bodyguards or at least someone to escort them. The innkeeper even complimented them, saying they were lucky to have not encountered any bandits along the way.
Hua Yan didn’t say anything, but she thought to herself, it wasn’t luck; it was just their high level of skill and bravery.
She had previously tested the waters by asking Lu Chengsha if he wanted to learn the Tiancan Sword Technique—after all, he was Xie Changyun’s son. However, Lu Chengsha politely declined. The way he practiced swordsmanship was different from her and Xie Yingxian. He didn’t focus on specific sword techniques or moves but more on honing his sword intent. He could take techniques from any sect and use them, but the power came from his own sword intent, often making them more powerful than when used by the original sect members.
As Hua Yan progressed in practicing the Tiancan Sword Technique, she also realized its drawbacks or limitations—it required a sufficiently strong and pure inner force to achieve its maximum effect. Therefore, she needed to slowly enhance her inner force, which was not something that could be achieved overnight. While the technique could be learned quickly, the plateau phase was long, so continued effort was necessary.
However, now, except when facing grandmasters who had trained for decades, neither of them had much to fear in the martial world.
Lu Chengsha showed no reaction to this. He only hesitated slightly when booking rooms, wondering whether to get one or two.
Under Hua Yan’s watchful gaze, he finally booked just one room.
The two of them inevitably ended up sleeping on the same bed. With his beloved by his side, Lu Chengsha found that enduring this was much harder than advancing in martial arts or capturing villains.
She was particularly restless in her sleep. Initially, they lay flat, but before long, she turned over and snuggled into his arms. Dressed lightly for sleep, the contact was a true test of his self-control. He couldn’t move, while she, in her sleep, changed positions multiple times, each time clinging to him.
Lu Chengsha had trained in martial arts since childhood and was used to sleeping lightly. His vigilance against enemies made his sleep very shallow. Yet, in his intermittent waking moments, he always saw her flower-like sleeping face close at hand, her long lashes covering her eyelids, her robe slightly open at the collar, her delicate arms extending from her sleeves, often draped over him. Sometimes, there was even a suspicious sparkle at the corner of her mouth. Occasionally, he heard her mumble something indistinct in her sleep, truly sleeping without any defenses.
He would kiss her cheek and wrist, and she wouldn’t react, at most mumbling and snuggling closer to him.
Lu Chengsha felt both happy and patient, yet very worried.
He had always wondered why she was so unguarded, which made him anxious.
This worry was both sweet and hard to describe.
Hua Yan, however, was blissfully unaware. She always slept well, but felt that sleeping with Lu Chengsha was even better, with each night filled with sweet, deep dreams. It was as if the scent of pine needles from snowy mountains on him had a sleep-inducing effect. Waking up to see him first thing made her even happier.
But every time, Lu Chengsha would wake up before her, making Hua Yan somewhat indignant. She never had the chance to steal a kiss, but if Lu Chengsha initiated a kiss, things often didn’t end well.
Though… it wasn’t entirely a bad thing, she thought.
Actually, keeping their voices down and avoiding making too much noise, while still being able to hear the sounds of others nearby, was quite thrilling.
Their journey continued with frequent stops, making their progress slow. Each time they entered a city, Hua Yan couldn’t resist going out to pick gifts.
Although she called it gift shopping, Lu Chengsha watched as the items in the carriage piled higher and higher, feeling a slight, tiny suspicion, but he didn’t voice any objections. Instead, he patiently accompanied Hua Yan, strolling from one end of the market to the other.
By the time they reached Qingzhou, the carriage was almost too full.
Only then did Hua Yan remember the important matter. Before her father passed away, he left a letter and a keepsake for recognition, with an address in Qingzhou, Baijiang City, Shijin Street.
Her father, after being forcefully taken in by her mother—no, after marrying into their sect—even had a child. Gradually accepting his fate, he wrote a few letters home. They maintained some contact, with the other side knowing about his poor health and not insisting on his return. They even offered to visit him, but this was politely declined. Her father’s family were all scholars, and such a trip could have been life-threatening.
When Hua Yan and Lu Chengsha got married, they considered inviting her father’s family, but ultimately decided against it, fearing that if Tingjian Manor and the Zhengyi Sect clashed, these non-martial scholars might be caught in the crossfire.
They drove straight into Baijiang City. This small city was truly a water town, surrounded by water, with numerous rivers dividing the city. Small bridges and boats were everywhere, with lush trees lining the riverbanks, and low, exquisite buildings. The large carriage was somewhat inconvenient here.
Fortunately, Lu Chengsha’s driving skills were excellent. They asked around if any scholarly family named Zhou lived on Shijin Street, and eventually, they stopped the carriage at the entrance of the Zhou residence.
Hua Yan double-checked the address, feeling both curious and nervous as she got off the carriage.
The Zhou residence wasn’t grand but appeared very proper and orderly. The gatekeeper seemed puzzled by their presence: “May I ask who you are looking for?”
Hua Yan took out the letter and keepsake, coughing lightly, “I… I am Zhou Guyi’s daughter. He should have lived here. Both my parents have passed away. I am here to…”
The gatekeeper suddenly understood, “So you are the young lady from the Third Master’s family, here to seek refuge!”
Hua Yan had intended to say she was just visiting, but the gatekeeper was overly enthusiastic, “I will report this immediately! And this gentleman is…?”
Lu Chengsha, who showed no emotion while fighting bandits, now appeared somewhat nervous.
“I am her…” Lu Chengsha said firmly and confidently, “husband.”
Hua Yan couldn’t help but cover her face in embarrassment but still responded, “Yes, that’s right…”
The gatekeeper immediately understood, showing a kind smile, “Oh, so you are the son-in-law! Very well, I understand!”
This was too considerate!
Hua Yan, wanting to show friendliness, immediately pulled out a packaged tea set from the carriage and handed it over, saying generously, “…This is for you!”