**Escape the Heat Town**
A small town whose very name evokes a sense of coolness, yet at this moment, the air was thick with tension.
In truth, among the two opposing factions, the group led by Wang Yuanran didn’t appear particularly villainous at first glance. Apart from the grandson of the veteran general Yan Zhenchun, who bore the unmistakable aura of a scheming antagonist, the rest—even the towering youth who had severely injured the captain of the Jinqi cavalry—merely carried themselves with an air of arrogance, hardly resembling the kind of wicked souls steeped in malice. The four taciturn elders, likely family retainers, each exuded the dignified bearing of martial masters.
On the Beiliang side, over sixty Jinqi cavalrymen patrolled the streets of the town, clad in light armor and armed solely with their signature Liang sabers, devoid of bows or crossbows. The Jinqi captain overseeing the three towns, including Escape the Heat Town at the foot of Wudang Mountain, was a burly man with narrow eyes that nearly vanished when he squinted. He supported his bloodied subordinate, the cavalry squad leader who had been sent flying several yards by a single punch from the towering youth, clearly suffering severe internal injuries that would take months to recover from.
The Jinqi captain refrained from rashly ordering his sixty-odd men to draw their blades and charge. For one, their opponents included several hidden masters, and even with the support of the Fushui Fang spies, victory was far from assured. Secondly, the young man who had struck the blow had already revealed his identity—he was the son of the She Sheng Colonel of Liyang, a powerful military officer among the capital’s four great colonels. Though his rank was only fourth-tier, he was a strong candidate for promotion to one of the twelve great generals of Liyang.
The Jinqi captain, himself a scion of Beiliang’s military elite, was all too familiar with the underhanded dealings of the capital’s young nobles. The true instigators rarely showed their faces during such confrontations, preferring to let their lackeys do the dirty work. The fact that this young man, whose father was the She Sheng Colonel, was acting as a mere pawn suggested that the other young masters—who remained unfazed even in the face of sixty Beiliang Jinqi—held even higher statuses.
His superior, the Jiao Ying Colonel Luo Hongcai, who commanded the military affairs of three nearby counties, had issued a stern warning: the upcoming Buddhist-Daoist debate on Lotus Peak concerned Beiliang’s reputation. The visitors to Wudang Mountain were either officials or scholars, and the young ladies accompanying them were delicate noblewomen. The Jinqi were to be courteous, offering directions and assistance where needed. Any man who dared embarrass Beiliang in front of outsiders would face Luo Hongcai’s wrath.
The Jinqi captain was torn. Though a single order from him could turn Escape the Heat Town into a battlefield—and even if his sixty men couldn’t win, Luo Hongcai had over two thousand elite troops stationed nearby—he couldn’t afford to act recklessly. Beating up the son of a She Sheng Colonel was one thing, but if they accidentally maimed the offspring of a high-ranking minister or general, the consequences could escalate to the point where even the Prince of Beiliang would have to step in to clean up the mess.
Yet, the captain seethed with frustration. If these arrogant brats from the capital had been Northern Barbarians, he wouldn’t have hesitated. But today’s provocation had clearly been initiated by the capital’s privileged elite. Squad Leader Tao Niuche had already shown restraint—had it been the captain in his place, he’d have drawn his blade without a second thought. Who dared bully Beiliang’s women?
Wang Yuanran exhaled softly in relief. Fortunately, the captain was level-headed. If the two sides had truly clashed without restraint, his carefully concealed scheme would have spiraled out of control. His gaze swept subtly over his companions, noting their subtle expressions.
Yan Tongshu trembled slightly, a mix of fear and excitement at facing the legendary Beiliang warriors. The entire capital mocked him as a worthless lecher, the disgraceful heir of the famed general Yan Zhenchun. But if he returned to the capital unscathed after standing up to Beiliang’s army, who would dare call him a coward again?
Li Changliang, son of the She Sheng Colonel Li Shouguo, hailed from a family whose most illustrious member wasn’t his father but his elder brother, Li Chang’an, a rising star in the Liyang military. Though Li Changliang had fought valiantly in the southern campaigns, the disastrous defeats of the Yang family army had left him without recognition. His intervention today on behalf of the despised Yan Tongshu wasn’t out of friendship—it was a calculated move to secure a coveted position in the elite Duoyan cavalry under the Ministry of War’s Tang Tieshuang.
Song Tianbao, the fat fool ogling the tall Beiliang beauty, was no simpleton either. His father’s notorious frugality made his claims of stealing five thousand taels of gold laughable. In truth, his year in the capital, leveraging Wang Yuanran and Yan Tongshu’s names, had likely earned his father far more than that.
Wang Wanyi, daughter of the former Vice Minister of Justice, was a notorious seductress who toyed with impoverished scholars, abandoning them once she grew bored. Now, she glared at the Beiliang woman as if she were a mortal enemy.
Seeing the situation under control, Wang Yuanran grew calmer. His gaze shifted past the vigilant Jinqi to the group that had first appeared on the streets—Gao Shiqing and Yin Changgeng among them. The sight of them stirred complex emotions. Last year, his father had been on the verge of taking over the Gu Lu’s authority from Chief Minister Zhang. Even if his father hadn’t been reassigned to the war-torn Guangling Province, the scandal involving Zhao Chunyuan and Han Xingyan had forced Wang Yuanran to kneel outside the Zhao residence for half a day.
He still didn’t believe he was wrong. Zhao Chunyuan had betrayed his gentle elder brother for Yin Changgeng, all because the Yin family’s political prospects were brighter. If he could, he’d slap Zhao Chunyuan right now and expose Han Xingyan’s cowardice—too afraid to confess his love for Gao Shiqing, obediently marrying the Zhao princess instead.
His gaze finally settled on Yin Changgeng, the so-called perfect prodigy, admired by all. Wang Yuanran didn’t believe in flawless paragons. Yet, from Zhao Youling to Yuan Huo, even his own father, all the Yonghui-era ministers from Gu Lu praised Yin Changgeng endlessly.
Then, an unexpected twist.
Perhaps sensing the Jinqi’s predicament, the Beiliang swordswoman revealed her identity—she was the daughter of Song Yan, Vice Governor of Lingzhou, a high-ranking official in Beiliang.
Pointing her sword at Li Changliang, she snapped, “Comparing ranks, are we? Think your father’s measly colonel is so impressive?”
Wang Yuanran nearly laughed. Though Beiliang had downsized its military titles, Li Shouguo’s rank was indeed formidable—equal to Song Yan’s, with the potential to rise even higher. And with Li Chang’an, the “Little Chen Wang” of Liyang’s military, as his brother, this Vice Governor’s daughter was still outmatched.
As he reassessed his companions, Wang Yuanran began to understand the difficulties his father faced as an official.
If he couldn’t help his father return to the capital as a high-ranking minister, he could at least earn him some scholarly prestige.
And then—an unexpected opportunity arose.
The lecherous Yan Tongshu first let out a snicker, then burst into exaggerated laughter. It was quite a feat for this spoiled young master—even as a man, he managed to exude a coquettish, trembling charm. Holding a fan in one hand and clutching his chest with the other, he simpered, “Oh, brother, I’m scared to death!”
Finally managing to stifle his laughter, Yan Tongshu curled his lip and said, “A mere Deputy Governor of a province? Don’t even mention it. The Governor himself is barely passable.”
At this moment, the aloof and stunning woman who had remained indifferent to the farce finally spoke. Turning to the brocade-armored captain, she said softly, “My father is the Military Commissioner Li.”
The captain froze for a moment.
The woman smiled sweetly and added in a gentle voice, “Oh, and I have a younger brother named Li Hanlin. He’s currently the captain of the Liangzhou mounted archers.”
In the Northern Liang military, whether stationed within the borders or beyond the passes, the name Li Hanlin was widely known—perhaps even more influential than Li Gongde, the highest-ranking civil official in Northern Liang.
The captain first chuckled knowingly but then grew increasingly conflicted. Today’s incident wasn’t about comparing official ranks. As a mere brocade-armored captain of little consequence in Northern Liang, his hesitation wasn’t due to fear of lacking connections to order his men to beat those brats into pulp. Rather, with the fierce battle between Liang and Mang raging, he—the only son in his family—had been relentlessly pressured by his parents and elders to stay away from the frontier. His father, a former proper border commander of Youzhou, was deeply concerned with the political climate. The captain knew all too well the delicate state of relations between Northern Liang and the Liyang court. The more he knew, the less he dared to stir trouble now, lest he provoke further peril for Northern Liang, or even implicate Commander Luo or the Prince himself.
He glanced back at Tao Niuchē, his stubborn squad leader who refused to leave. Even this old comrade understood the stakes—he had removed his armor and Northern Liang blade to confront Li Changliang as a civilian. How could the captain act recklessly?
Tao Niuchē, once a squad leader of the Northern Liang mounted archers, had been an elite scout like Li Hanlin, clearing the path for the Longxiang cavalry’s northern advance. A severe injury to his left leg forced him out of the mounted archers. By Northern Liang border army custom, he could have served as a deputy commander in the local garrison, but Tao Niuchē adamantly refused, content to remain a squad leader as an aging cripple.
That slur—”Northern Liang barbarians”—was a cruel insult to a veteran like him, who had spent half his life fighting the Northern Mang savages on the frontier.
The brocade-armored captain, Fan Xiangda, lowered his head and whispered to his old comrade, returned from the Liangzhou border, “I’m sorry.”
Yan Tongshu snapped open his fan with a flourish and smirked, “How does the saying go? ‘Small temples breed big demons, shallow waters teem with turtles’? Who’d have thought that a casual stroll through this little town would bring me face-to-face with the daughter of a Military Commissioner and a Deputy Governor? What’s next? Bullying with power? Mobilizing troops to slaughter us innocent civilians?!”
Wang Wanyi couldn’t help but laugh. Hearing “bullying with power” and “innocent civilians” from the mouth of the lecherous Yan was truly something.
Wang Yuanran and Li Changliang remained composed. The more prestigious the Northern Liang figures involved, the louder the applause they’d receive back in the capital.
However, the four elite bodyguards with them grew visibly tense. Though their combined strength—two minor grandmasters and two third-rank experts—could easily handle sixty or seventy cavalrymen, even two or three hundred wouldn’t be a problem. But if they truly crossed the daughter of Northern Liang’s Military Commissioner, it would be akin to offending the prime minister’s daughter in the Liyang capital. The consequences could escalate to large-scale military intervention. Who had initiated the bloody practice of displaying severed heads in the jianghu over the past twenty years? None other than the old Liang King, Xu the Butcher! And hadn’t they heard that Xu Fengnian, who’d just clashed with Tuoba Pusa, was currently on Wudang Mountain? If things escalated, they wouldn’t just fail to protect these young nobles—they might not even save themselves.
Nearby, Gao Shiqing chuckled, “This lecher Yan isn’t completely stupid. Now, the Northern Liang cavalry either retreat in disgrace or double down on the accusation of bullying civilians with military force.”
Gao Shilian snorted, “If I were that brocade-armored captain, I wouldn’t waste words. Even if I didn’t kill anyone, I’d at least hang Yan Tongshu up and give him a thrashing.”
Yin Changge shook his head. “Northern Liang is in a dilemma. Without fully breaking protocol, they can’t deploy more than six hundred cavalry. With those martial experts guarding them, capturing Yan Tongshu and his lot is impossible.”
Gao Shilian grumbled, “If they manage to embarrass Northern Liang even once, these guys will return to the capital as battlefield heroes.”
Yin Changge smiled faintly. “Let’s go. We’ve seen enough. You’ve wasted that pot of Spring God Lake tea.”
Just then, the streets of the small town rumbled like thunder. Even Zhao Chunyuan felt a suffocating pressure.
As a troop of black-armored cavalry stormed into the town, archers swiftly dismounted and scaled rooftops, securing strategic positions.
The tiny Taoshu Town, at full capacity, held no more than four or five hundred cavalrymen and archers on its streets and roofs. Yet they formed an overwhelming force, like black clouds threatening to crush the city!
The leading officer galloped ahead, reining in beside Fan Xiangda. Seated high on his Liangzhou warhorse, he glowered and barked, “Fan! Enjoying the sun, are you?!”
Fan Xiangda, flustered, opened his mouth to speak, but Commander Luo Hongcai cut him off with a roar, “You bastard! Since when does Northern Liang cavalry face enemies without drawing blades?! If the Prince hears I’ve raised such cowards, how can I keep my rank?!”
Luo Hongcai scanned the surroundings and declared coldly, “All unrelated personnel, clear the streets immediately! Those who remain will be treated as hostiles!”
The commander, furious with Fan Xiangda but mindful of their bond, spat to the side and raised his arm sharply. “Brocade cavalry, fall back! Eaglehorn cavalry, form ranks! Draw blades!”
Luo Hongcai glared at the group, baring his teeth in a chilling grin. “Anyone who flees without cause will be shot on sight.”
The narrow streets of the town weren’t ideal for cavalry charges, but a single rider could easily gallop through—especially against an unprepared infantry formation. What was there to fear?
Commander Luo Hongcai’s forces numbered nearly three thousand, with only five hundred cavalry—his prized possession. Through begging, pulling strings, and leveraging old connections, he’d secured over eight hundred “Grade B-minus” warhorses from the Northern Liang pastures. Among local garrisons, only those guarding critical passes had such resources. Most infantry-heavy Youzhou and Lingzhou commanders could only dream of two hundred Grade B horses. Of course, Luo’s success was partly due to the Northern Liang King’s recent long-range raid from northern Ji with ten thousand Youzhou cavalry. Thanks to the Prince, the Northern Liang pastures—usually indifferent to non-border forces—had recently prioritized Youzhou, known for its infantry. As for Lingzhou commanders? Forget it. No amount of cursing would help. After all, Youzhou had Yu Luandao, who’d fought side by side with the Prince on his thousand-mile raid. Did Lingzhou have anyone like that?
Yan Tongshu was now trembling, his face pale and lips quivering. Even as the four renowned Liyang jianghu experts stepped forward to shield him, the Yan family’s eldest son couldn’t stop shaking—this time not with coquettish charm but raw fear.
Liu Chengfeng, son of the Hezhou governor, looked as if he wanted to die. “I just wanted to marry a minister’s daughter and bring glory to my ancestors. Since when does Northern Liang kill on a whim?!”
Li Changliang, tempered by battlefield experience, remained the calmest, scrutinizing the Northern Liang regulars’ every detail.
The two local Northern Liang ruffians who’d tagged along with the capital nobles suddenly turned and bolted for the inn. But the middle-aged man serving as the Li family’s guard instructor swiftly yanked them back—just as two arrows whizzed past. Without his intervention, the arrows would have pierced their backs, leaving them dead or grievously wounded.
Wang Yuanran finally lost his composure. “You Northern Liang soldiers dare kill innocents in broad daylight?!”
Commander Luo Hongcai didn’t waste words. With a wave of his hand, the cavalry charged.
The elderly Yan family retainer, a genuine second-rank minor grandmaster, struck first. Had he not suffered a near-fatal injury in his prime, leaving him with chronic pain and coughing fits in damp weather, he might have reached first-rank Diamond or even Finger Mystic realm. Rescued by Yan Zhenchun on the battlefield, he’d stayed with the Yan family out of gratitude. Known in the capital’s jianghu as “Half-Breath Crosses the River,” his moniker referred to his labored breathing during attacks—yet his energy was formidable, his toughened body honed to perfection.
As he moved to crush the skull of an oncoming Eaglehorn cavalryman’s horse, a shadowy figure darted from the side and shoved him back with a light push to his chest. The old man gasped, his wrinkled robes fluttering. The same happened to the other three experts—each intercepted mid-action. Though the eight combatants exchanged blows in the blink of an eye, the momentary delay allowed the cavalryman to reach Yan Tongshu. As rider and target passed each other, the Northern Liang blade—barely seen in motion—slashed a deep, bleeding gash across the Yan heir’s shoulder. Only Li Changliang’s quick pull saved Yan from a fatal neck wound.
Behind the first rider came hundreds more.
Li Changliang, who’d hoped to avoid deeper entanglement, had no choice but to step forward again. Dodging a slash, he rammed his shoulder into a horse’s flank, sending rider and steed flying. But before he could recover, a third rider bore down on him. Li pivoted, grabbed the attacker’s sword arm, and hurled him into the path of a fourth rider—who simply leaned aside, avoiding the collision, and slashed at Li.
Gao Shilian, glancing back from the inn, felt his heart race despite not being involved. He whispered to Yin Changge, “Are we really leaving? That Northern Liang cavalry looks ready to kill.”
Yin Changge hesitated, then stopped. Watching Li Changliang’s perilous situation, his expression darkened.
The group paused under the eaves. Gao Shiqing fumed, “These Northern Liang people are outrageous! Killing in broad daylight, with everyone watching? Is there no law?! Wang Yuanran is the son of a Military Commissioner—he hasn’t done anything heinous. Since when does Northern Liang cavalry execute at will?!”
Yin Changge said nothing. He understood that it was precisely Wang Yuanran’s sensitive status that had provoked Northern Liang’s extreme response.
Within certain unspoken rules, the court had harassed Northern Liang for years—and Northern Liang had endured it for two decades.
But Northern Liang would not be humiliated.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Yin Changge’s lips. Stepping out from the eaves, he called softly toward an inn window, “Master Qi, if you please.”
The next moment, Taoshu Town’s streets filled with sword energy—so chilling it made the town’s name, “Escape the Heat,” bitterly ironic.
But before Gao Shiqing, Zhao Wenwei, and the others could marvel at Master Qi Jiejie’s peerless swordplay, the icy aura vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
Then, as if materializing from thin air, a young man stood among them, holding a book—as if he’d rushed out mid-reading to join the excitement.
The faint breeze in Taoshu Town’s streets couldn’t turn the pages, but the observant Zhao Chunyuan and Gao Shiqing noticed the book in the young man’s hands had just flipped a page.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage