The donkey was usually slow and easygoing, but when in a rush, it transformed into a Ferrari that even a motorcycle couldn't catch.
This was also the first time Lin Yue truly witnessed the donkey's speed. It ran fast and steadily along the mountain path; turned out she had been riding in elderly mode all this time.
The donkey slammed on the brakes right in front of Lin Yue, skidding forward several steps. Braying "hee-haw, hee-haw" at the top of its lungs, it swiped its head toward Lin Yue as if throwing a tantrum. Lin Yue stepped back to dodge, making the donkey bray even louder as it charged at her with quick, tiny steps.
Lin Yue was chased around by the donkey. After running for half a shichen, the donkey was still pursuing her; after another half a shichen, its speed remained undiminished.
Lin Yue tried reasoning with it. "Little Donkey, I didn't want to leave you behind either, but you were walking so slowly. If I kept leading you along, I wouldn't have been able to run either."
The donkey wouldn't listen, chasing Lin Yue with all its might.
"Little Donkey, I'm not that heartless. If you couldn't get away, I would have saved you. Maybe I couldn't save all of you, but bringing back a donkey leg wouldn't have been a problem..."
Lin Yue hid up in a tree, while the noisy donkey circled the trunk braying all day long, only stopping to graze when it got hungry. In between, it didn't forget to huff a snort of breath toward Lin Yue.
Lin Yue held a coarse grain cake near the donkey's mouth, but it turned its head away, refusing to eat. Lin Yue spent a long time soothing it, yet when she stuffed it into its mouth, the donkey spat it right back out.
Setting off the next day, Lin Yue flipped herself onto the donkey's back, but the donkey wouldn't budge. Lin Yue climbed down to lead it, but it still wouldn't walk. She tried pushing from behind, and the donkey shifted forward, but its legs remained firmly planted.
After a stalemate lasting a shichen, Lin Yue suddenly remembered that nursery rhyme.
"I have a little donkey, I never ride it..."
She gained enlightenment.
Helpless, Lin Yue could only set off on foot.
After walking a long way, she looked back and saw that the donkey was indeed still standing in the same spot. Ignoring it, she kept walking forward.
They were in the same age group anyway; why should she indulge it?
Lin Yue followed the mountain trail forward and went down a steep slope. The path began to widen and flatten, merging into a main road. At the intersection sat a tea stall, where an old man was pouring tea for customers. A bright fire blazed in the stove, steam curling from the teapot's spout.
Looking up at the sky, it was June and overcast, but it didn't look like rain. Lin Yue sat down at the tea stall.
"Boss, a bowl of tea!"
"Coming right up!"
The old man called out, promptly approaching with the teapot, flipping over a large bowl set on the table, and pouring in hot water.
Three or four other customers turned to glance curiously at Lin Yue before continuing to sip their tea and chat.
Lin Yue sipped slowly as batch after batch of customers around her arrived and departed.
"Young lady, are you waiting for someone?"
"No, waiting for a donkey."
The old man raised an eyebrow. A donkey?
"Sorry to bother you, Boss. I'll be leaving now."
"No need, no need! Take your seat, young lady! There are plenty of open spots here."
Lin Yue sat down, thanked the boss, and kept her eyes on the mouth of the mountain path while drinking water and eating her coarse grain cake.
"Young lady, what are you looking at?"
Hearing a youthful, deep voice, Lin Yue turned to look at the neighboring table. A young man dressed in a green robe with a smile in his eyes was looking over. Two red-lacquered three-chi swords lay on the table. Opposite him sat a woman in a yellow gown with a refined air and pretty features.
Seeing Lin Yue look over, the two cupped their hands in a classic jianghu greeting.
Lin Yue returned the gesture and replied, "Waiting for my stubborn donkey."
The green-robed man paused, then nodded. "I see. May I ask where you two are headed?"
"Young lady."
Noticing the vigilance in Lin Yue's eyes, the yellow-gowned woman took over the conversation. "We are heading to the capital to attend the Martial Arts Gathering. Passing through Wangsu Stream, this road harbors many criminals and outlaws, so we wish to gather more companions to travel together. Would you be interested, young lady?"
A Martial Arts Gathering? Lin Yue thought of a question. "Why is a Martial Arts Gathering being held in the capital?"
Seeing this, the yellow-gowned woman smiled and explained, "The Martial Arts Gathering in the capital isn't attended solely by people of the martial world; the imperial court is also involved..."
Lin Yue understood now—it was essentially a massive job fair for martial arts professionals.
The Martial Arts Gathering also involved the imperial court, prominent families, merchants, and the like. They recruited guards, escorts, shadow guards, escort masters, martial instructors, bounty hunters, and other professions. It was an official Martial Arts Gathering, making it relatively safe.
In contrast, unauthorized Martial Arts Gatherings were mostly attended by skilled experts or ruthless killers, including wanted criminals, bandits, and flower-stealing thieves. The mortality rate was too high, making them prone to government crackdowns. Every time one was held in secret, the location was changed afterward; people with martial skills like theirs would likely go in alive and come out dead.
Hearing this, Lin Yue could only marvel that the court possessed a conscience, granting timid people with low martial skills like them a chance to experience a Martial Arts Gathering. "May I ask, young hero, how far is the capital from here?"
"About a two-month journey."
"Two months..." Lin Yue murmured for a moment before saying, "Let me ask my stubborn donkey. If it's willing to go, I'll head to the capital with you two."
"May I ask when this brother of yours will arrive?" the green-robed man asked.
Lin Yue blinked, her lips curving upward. "It's here."
Just as she spoke, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from afar. Everyone turned toward the mountain trail entrance to see a brown donkey running with shadow-like speed, kicking up yellow dust beneath its hooves as it rushed over with aggressive momentum.
"The donkey's spooked!"
"Dammit, get out of the way! Why is it charging right over here..."
To prevent innocent bystanders from getting caught in the crossfire, Lin Yue kindly stepped out in front of the crowd.
"Young lady, watch out!"
As the donkey drew near, it slammed on the brakes, raising a cloud of sand and dust. It halted right in front of Lin Yue, nostrils flaring, eyes filled with aggrieved hurt, its belly heaving violently as it brayed loudly at Lin Yue, sounding just like a deeply wronged child.
Lin Yue hastily shoved away its long face and upturned nostrils, asking the boss for fodder to feed the donkey and soothe its wounded little heart.
The two nearby were stunned. Literal meaning?
As the two waited, people steadily arrived along the main road—saber-toting fighters in coarse linen clothes, merchants in carriages, white-robed swordsmen, red-whip girls, and black-clad, bamboo-hatted wanderers riding up on horseback...
The green-robed man was named Lu Chuan, and the yellow-gowned woman was named Ren Siyan. One belonged to the Xuan Sword Sect, and the other to the Huajian Faction. The two had been traveling abroad when the Martial Arts Gathering opened, so they were rushing to the capital, having met along the way and decided to travel together.
The two recruited passing jianghu wanderers—saber users, swordsmen, spearmen, dark-furred burly men, and young men and women. The tea stall instantly turned clamorous. The old man's eyes darted around anxiously, terrified that these rough folks might trash his tea stall.
After waiting through the morning, at the beginning of the Wei shichen, the dozen or so martial artists bound for the capital set out.
They walked along the dirt road, chatting about local customs and jianghu anecdotes. Though they chattered away, their pace didn't slow in the slightest. All were trained individuals who had traveled far and wide, possessing far greater endurance than ordinary folk.
Lin Yue finally mounted her donkey, riding along behind the group. Beside her was the bamboo-hatted swordsman in black riding a fine steed. Positioned side by side, the tall, majestic horse next to the tiny donkey, and the tall black-clad swordsman beside the small, slender Lin Yue, looked almost like a parent-child matching set, carrying a touch of warmth.
Lin Yue looked at the horse—its legs were sturdy, its coat glossy, and its snort clear and resonant. Even an outsider like her could tell this was a rare, high-quality horse.
"Hee-haw~"
The donkey brayed, seemingly indignantly.
Lin Yue patted its neck, telling it that the horse belonged to someone else, while the donkey was her stubborn donkey, and her stubborn donkey didn't need to compare itself with someone else's fine horse...
Only then did the donkey's anger gradually subside as its hooves went clop-clop at a faster pace.
The black-clad wanderer tilted her head to glance at the girl on the donkey. The girl was smiling, muttering away to the donkey in a quiet, serene manner, as if radiating a gentle tranquility of peaceful years.
The black-clad wanderer looked up at the sky, sinking into her own thoughts.
During the You shichen, darkness fell.
The group reached a town. Those with money spent the night in an inn, while those without found some corner to make do for the night.
Lin Yue had the waiter take the donkey to be fed, spent fifty copper coins to rent a B-grade room, and asked the waiter to prepare water so she could take a bath.
Having traveled through the mountains for half a month, she had only bathed two or three times in rivers. That was life in the jianghu—bathing daily was impossible; taking a bath once every few days was considered good, while some didn't bathe or change clothes for over a month, reeking of manly musk.
That dark-furred burly man was one such example.
Because he hadn't bathed in a long time, everyone tacitly kept their distance to avoid bothering others.
Only those who shared the same stench would put their arms around each other's shoulders.
Feeling completely comfortable after her bath, Lin Yue had just dried her hair when she heard fighting sounds outside. Opening the window and looking down, she saw that a dispute had broken out between the white-robed swordsman and the red-whip girl.
"Zhu Guangbai, you lecher! Do you really think a person like you can lust after me..."
"Sister Hong, you wrong me! I merely touched you by accident and have already apologized. Why must you keep making a scene..."
"Your grandma's making a scene with you? Bah! Look at your miserable face—even dogs would turn up their noses!"
As they argued, the red-whip woman lashed out with her whip, which the white-robed man dodged. The whip cracked loudly against the ground, and the woman chased after him, the two locking in combat, fighting from one end of the courtyard to the other.
Lin Yue looked around. Almost all the windows on the second floor were open, heads poking out, some even holding melon seeds as they stared intently at the two fighting in the courtyard, afraid of missing any detail.
Sensing a gaze upon her, Lin Yue looked toward the window directly opposite. It was the black-clad wanderer, whose face was now clearly visible without her bamboo hat. Lin Yue stared for a moment, her eyes drifting slightly downward to scan the other person's chest, a hint of astonishment appearing in her eyes.
It was actually a woman.
She appeared to be middle-aged, with wheat-colored skin roughened by years of travel. Her cheekbones were somewhat wide, her features sharp and defined—lacking a woman's gentle softness, but possessing a crisp, heroic air.
Her eyes were particularly striking, sharp as a hawk's and wrapped in an impenetrable layer of cold indifference, like the clarity and detachment forged from weathering worldly trials and witnessing life and death.
Seeing Lin Yue look over, she nodded, and the black-clad wanderer paused before nodding back in response. Then the window closed with a creak and a bang; clearly, she was used to such scenes and had lost interest.
Compared to the traveler being a man, Lin Yue preferred that she was a woman. Traveling with someone like her provided a far greater sense of security than being with pretty young ladies.
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