Mutated Tao

“Sword techniques? Yes, of course we do!” Zhao Qin replied decisively. “Though the Escort Office doesn’t use swords as much, since Benefactor has requested, we would have found a way to bring you some sword techniques even if we didn’t have any!”

Hearing this, Li Huowang raised his cup and gave Zhao Qin a toast. “Then, thank you, Leader Zhao.”

As the wine flowed, the atmosphere of the banquet gradually grew warmer. As the cups were refilled and the dishes were replaced, the atmosphere grew quite lively.

However, Li Huowang himself did not enjoy such settings. When he saw that the others were almost done, he planned to get up and leave.

At that moment, he saw Puppy carrying a cup of hot tea while walking toward him.

Puppy glanced at Zhao Qin behind him, then leaned toward Li Huowang and whispered, “Senior Li, didn’t Junior Bai previously say that money was only flowing out but not in? Shouldn’t we try to find a way to make money?”

“Ah, what are you trying to say?” asked Li Huowang, irritated. Bai Lingmiao had indeed complained about this issue on multiple occasions, to the point that his ears had almost fallen off.

Puppy’s brows flew up. “Look, this is a golden opportunity! We can get them to teach us how to be escorts! Since we’re going toward the Liang Kingdom anyway, we can receive escort missions on the way. It’s a win-win! And look, this bunch is capable of treating us to such expensive food. Providing escort service must bring in quite a bit of money!”

Li Huowang was rather surprised by Puppy’s quick thinking, especially when it came to handling money. It was indeed a feasible plan.

They could use the money they made by providing escort service to cover their expenses, and send the excess to Abbess Jingxin.

Though Abbess Jingxin had only brought up those 30,000 pieces of gold casually, it would be rather inexcusable if he did not send anything to repay such a huge gift.

He didn’t want to owe anything to anyone, much less the only person who had helped him ever since he arrived here.

When Li Huowang raised this issue with Zhao Qin, the latter readily agreed. “Sure! Since Brother Li wishes to join us, then I’ll be your guarantor! As long as you take my recommendation letter, you’ll be able to take missions from any escort office!”

However, after making this promise, he started to offer some advice, “But, providing escort service is not so easy. The escorts from our office have a mantra that they call ‘the three points for safety’. These so-called ‘three points for safety’ are to have a friendly demeanor, be accommodating in your dealings, and to keep your drinking at the table moderate. Outsiders often believe that escorts rely solely on their strong martial arts. However, in reality that only covers half of it. The other, more important half relies on networking and connections, which can be very troublesome.”

Zhao Qin’s face was flushed as he once again raised his cup and drained it before waving his hand. “Brother Li, if you are in need of money, just say the word. I’ll give you however much you need!”

His words were spoken with conviction, but Li Huowang knew he couldn’t take them at face value.

Any item had a value attached to it. While Li Huowang had helped his wife, he hadn’t healed her completely; she was just placed on the path to recovery.

He could accept receiving some sword techniques and being introduced into the escort trade, but to cause the other party to become destitute was definitely going way too far.

“Leader Zhao, thank you for the offer. However, I feel it’s better for me to be self-reliant.”

After going back and forth for a while, Zhao Qin sighed. “Alright, since Brother Li is so stubborn. Then, come to the escort office tomorrow. I’ll teach you the necessary code words myself.”

“Code word? What do you mean ‘code word’?” asked Li Huowang.

“Code words refers to the jargon used in the martial world. When you encounter bandits, you must be able to speak their language,” explained Zhao Qin.

“Ah, I see,” Li Huowang suddenly seemed to think of something, “Then, what does ‘shoulders together, throw me a vine’ mean?”

This was the phrase that those water bandits had said to him on the lake. Thinking back, this could have been their attempt at exchanging code words.

“‘Shoulders together’ means ‘brother’, and ‘throw me a vine’ means to report your name.” Zhao Qin explained.

“Then what if we’re unable to answer?” asked Li Huowang.

“If you are unable to answer the code word, then that means you’re an outsider. In such a situation, most that raise the black flag will directly attack,” replied Zhao Qin.

“Ah, I see…” Li Huowang’s chopsticks were raised as he seemed to think about something.

At that moment, Puppy interjected from beside him. “Escort Head, it shouldn’t really matter whether the code words are exchanged or not, right? After all, those insignificant bandits cannot cause any huge waves. Wouldn’t it be fine to just slaughter them all?”

“Insignificant bandits?” Zhao Qin chuckled. “Do you really think that all bandit groups are just a random group of evil people that come together to plunder? The waters run deep, my friend.”

This sentence piqued Li Huowang’s interest. “Leader Zhao, please elaborate.”

Ever since they had come out of Zephyr Temple, they had already encountered two bandit groups in these short few months. This meant that there could be many more encounters in future, and it was definitely beneficial to get a better understanding of this.

An escort office that undertook missions often would also understand this quite well.

“I admit that some of the wandering bandits lack strength. However, they are not the only ones in this huge green forest; among those who raise the black flag, there are many players, both big and small. Not talking about the various bandits on Dongyi Mountain, there’s the Southern Overlord of the Western Wilderness. Basically, any of them that can make a name for themselves are all capable powers. With them, ruling the mountain is not just a saying. They may have thousands of followers under them,” Zhao Qin took a gulp of wine and continued, “There is also a critical saying, which tells one to strategically keep one’s adversaries without taking any action against them. Behind the bandits may well be some official connections. Don’t be fooled by their current status as bandits. If, by any chance, one day they receive an Imperial Edict, they would quickly transition from outlaws to law-abiding citizens. Can you understand the relationships at play in all this? If you don’t follow their protocols such as exchanging code words, can you still do escort missions? Everything in this world has its rules, and this vast green forest is the same.”

Through Zhao Qin’s explanation, Li Huowang slowly began to understand a corner of this mysterious world.

Li Huowang thought back to the scene of the water bandit’s ritual. He paused for a moment, then asked, “Among these people, are there any who are skilled practitioners of dark or mystical arts?”

As he was now, he was no longer afraid of ordinary bandits. However, nothing in this world was so simple.

Even that small group of water bandits in the reed river were somehow in possession of the Profound Records and were capable of wreaking havoc. The larger groups of mountain bandits were likely to have even stronger capabilities

When he asked this question, the atmosphere of the dining table suddenly cooled down.

As he saw the nervous looks on the faces of these escorts, Li Huowang already knew the answer to his question.

Zhao Qin hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “Basically, my point still stands. Everything needs to follow rules. Who knows who is really behind these mountain or water bandits. Though the Imperial Guards have a Surveillance Bureau, the current Emperor can’t even secure his own throne, let alone manage these matters. Also, there are certain things that us ordinary folks should stay out of.”

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