"Something's suddenly come up on my end. Could you wait for me a little longer? I'll come pick you up as soon as I've dealt with it."

"How long will that be?"

"One... to two hours, or so."

"Forget it. Just send me the address."

"..."

Lu Yuan hung up the phone, his expression unchanging.

Before the trip, Lin Zhiquin had given him a number, telling him to contact it upon arrival, and someone would pick him up.

Lu Yuan had made the call while on the high-speed train.

However, after arriving and waiting for fifteen minutes, he received news that the person couldn't make it because something had come up.

Over the phone, the person's apology sounded sincere, as if they were genuinely held up.

"Hey handsome, where are you headed? Need a horse carriage?"

A slender girl wearing a traditional conical hat and dressed in an ancient style had been watching Lu Yuan for some time. Finally, she couldn't resist running over to ask him.

Lu Yuan was waiting for the address from his contact. Glancing where the girl's wheat-colored arm pointed, he indeed saw a two-horse carriage parked in the shade nearby.

The carriage itself was wooden, like those in historical dramas, with plain curtains hanging on all four sides. When the wind blew, it evoked a certain romantic air of roaming the martial world.

"A tour around the outer city, passing by the Hundred Martial Arts Dojos, letting you dream of returning to the world of Ancient Martial Arts..."

The girl in the conical hat rattled off her spiel, one she had clearly delivered countless times.

DING-DONG.

Lu Yuan's phone chimed. He picked it up to check, hesitating for a moment, wondering if he should experience the romance of traversing the martial world by carriage.

Just then, a dark-skinned, middle-aged man holding a water bottle interjected.

"Young man, think carefully. That thing can't enter the inner ring; it can only travel on specific routes in the outer ring.

"It's slow, and it'll be hot inside. On top of that, you might end up needing a taxi anyway.

"You'd be better off taking one of our taxis..."

"Seriously? Stealing customers like that?!"

The girl in the conical hat glared at him.

The man with the water bottle looked completely unfazed. "Stealing business? I'm just offering a suggestion. It's up to the young man to decide..."

After a moment's thought, Lu Yuan decided to take the taxi.

The girl in the conical hat didn't seem annoyed. Instead, she followed Lu Yuan, shouting all the way, "Handsome, even if you don't take the carriage, you can still give me your contact info!"

「Thirty minutes later.」

Lu Yuan got out of the taxi.

Before him stood a quaint, antique-style courtyard gate and small yard.

The place was quite remote; the taxi driver had said it was already considered the suburbs.

"Linghe Pavilion."

Lu Yuan looked at the three small, gilded characters above the courtyard entrance, his eyes flickering slightly.

Many small, ancient script characters were carved on the blue-gray courtyard wall. Lu Yuan stared at them for a while and discovered it was actually a recipe.

Hm, a recipe for preparing snake stew.

Interesting...

Lu Yuan called the contact person again. This time, he was told to come straight in.

He stepped through the arched entrance into the small courtyard, and the first thing he saw was a stone screen.

Both sides of the bluestone path were lined with welcoming bamboo. A cool breeze drifted through, seemingly carrying away any trace of the summer heat.

The courtyard was much larger than Lu Yuan had anticipated.

Rock formations, fish ponds, gazebos... the entire place was filled with a tranquil, elegant charm, resembling a classical Chinese garden.

However, he walked further in for nearly three minutes without seeing a single person.

There's no one guarding the gate. Aren't they afraid of thieves? Then again, this is the headquarters of the Heaven Water Sect's Crane Sect. Probably no thief would dare to sneak in and steal things here.

I forgot to call Lin Zhiquin...

Lu Yuan remembered he hadn't messaged Lin Zhiquin since arriving and was about to take out his phone.

Suddenly, a voice sounded right beside his ear.

"Who are you? How did you get in?"

Lu Yuan was inwardly startled. With his current heightened senses, he was shocked that someone could get so close without him noticing.

He immediately turned his head toward the sound, only to find two people standing several tens of meters away.

Voice projection?

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, then replied calmly, "I'm a student of Coach Lin. I'm here for the direct disciple assessment."

"Lin Zhiquin?"

Lu Yuan had excellent eyesight. He saw the leading middle-aged man—who had slicked-back hair and a ruddy complexion—seem to smirk.

Then the man turned his head, said a few words to a young man in his early twenties behind him, and walked away.

Lu Yuan stood his ground, watching the young man who had been with the older man walk towards him.

"Here for the direct disciple assessment, right?"

The young man had short hair and average looks. There was a mark of a piercing on his left earlobe, but no earring in it.

"Come on, I'll take you in. Saves you from wandering around aimlessly."

The young man had a peculiar expression as he spoke to Lu Yuan. His eyebrows and eyes curved down slightly, as if he were smiling, but Lu Yuan couldn't tell what he was smiling about.

Lu Yuan keenly sensed a slight fluctuation in the young man's emotions.

Especially when the direct disciple assessment was mentioned.

Lu Yuan had a rough idea of the situation, so he said nothing and silently followed the young man.

The young man led him deep into the courtyard until they reached a large hall. There, they encountered a middle-aged man with a short ponytail, wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

The young man then handed Lu Yuan over to this man.

The young man said to the man with the ponytail, half-jokingly, "This is Master Lin's disciple. Make sure to treat him well; he paid a lot of money to come here..." Then he smiled at Lu Yuan and turned to leave.

"Lu Yuan, is it? My apologies, my apologies..."

As soon as the young man left, the man with the ponytail explained apologetically, his expression regretful, "When you got off the high-speed train, Tang had just arrived, so he really couldn't spare the time to pick you up."

"Tang... Is he the one who..."

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