Bleak Winter Season 3

The Main Gate of Changqing City was only open during daylight hours, which meant that it was shut for most of the day. And given that it was Winter, that meant that the actual number of hours were very small. Not that it caused much inconvenience to the populace. After all, even when it was open, there were merely a handful of travelers, if any, who bothered to leave the place.

As for those that were waiting to come inside, there were only two of them that morning. By the time the Gate was open, it was already close to the early lunch hour. And the Guards working at the South-facing Main Gate had already spent a good period of time studying the pair.

They had appeared on the road slightly more than an hour ago; in the dim light, it was hard to see that far. But it was clear from the fact that they were approaching on foot, that they must have started their journey to Changqing City since daybreak or so.

Which made it almost unthinkable, the way that the pair was able to cover the distance.

The snow was thick on the ground, after all. At some spots on the road, it was almost the height of a man! An ordinary traveler would have sunk down in the same, up to his chest or his neck, in some stretches along that road. Yet, these two were able to walk on the snow without any problems at all!

That alone was enough to make the Guards at the Gate decide that they had to behave respectfully towards the two men, long before they arrived at the same. And for news of the pair's approach to reach the ears of the three men that the Old Marquis had thereabouts.

Who hurried to send word to the Old Marquis' Residence at once!

No one wished to take any chances, when faced with a superior martial artist, who was able to walk on the soft snow like that. And for as far as the eye could see, even in Wintertime!

And all eyes watched the pair carefully, as they approached the Gate.

By the time that they finally arrived at the South Gate of Changqing City, the Guards there had already recovered their composure, and behaved as though they were simply conducting their daily, highly routine check on the same.

But the bronze tag that the younger of the two produced was enough to make them freeze where they stood for a moment. One of them even stumbled, then quickly curse the ice on the ground for making him slip. His bright red face, however, was enough to make his Commanding Officer roll his eyes at him.

Still, it had offered the whole contingent an excuse for their unusual behavior. So he said nothing, and continued with his pretense.

Fu Lai Medicine Hall!

How could these two be associated with Fu Lai Medicine Hall? With the weather being what it was, how could there be any medicinal herbs or plants being harvested in the Forests or the Hills? And if they were there to make purchases, shouldn't they have sent word ahead?

But there were no indicators that there was anyone from the Medicine Hall present there, at the moment.

Then one of the Guards made a face, and his eyes signaled the Commander to take a look at the companion of the youth who had produced the tag:

That one was much older than the young fellow, looking as if he was somewhere around half-a-century old. And his face was somewhat familiar to the Commander, as though the latter had seen it before in some place, or read a description of his features somewhere. But he couldn't quite understand why his man would draw his attention to the fellow.

Then he remembered. And almost dropped the bronze tag that he was holding.

There were sharp sounds of inhalation from the other men with him at about the same time, which told him that he was not the only one who realized who this was; that was the old man that the Marquis was looking for! This was the one who had smacked the Royal Prince and sent his Protector away puking blood!

But wasn't he supposed to be ...

The Guard Commander managed to rein in the expressions that were trying to reveal themselves on his face, and handed back the tag, before waving for the rest of the Guards to let the pair through. He could not prevent his fingers from trembling though, as he did it. Nor was he able to stop himself from giving the boy a welcoming nod.

He was lucky that he could stop himself from bowing!

But the youth smiled as he nodded back, as though he could not be bothered with formalities. Then again, given the fact that he was a disciple of the Heaven Sword School, no one was about to point out his lack of manners. After all, regardless of his level of cultivation, that old man at his side had been recognized.

Which left everyone wondering just what sort of family did this young man come from? To have someone at the Peak of the Completion Realm as his bodyservant?

Qin Feng, on the other hand, didn't really care about the attention that he was drawing from the crowd, which he thought to be because of his Heaven Sword School uniform. He was using that to ease his way into the City, and was intending to take it off later, when he got to his new house.

And as for his puppet ... There weren't many that would recognize it, in his mind. After all, how many people had he interacted with the few times that he had been in the City?

Of course, he had not counted on the Marquis' spies that had been following it, the last two, three times that it visited Changqing City. The same spies that were anxiously rushing to forward their latest report to the Old Marquis' residence!

Wasn't Lady Xie, the Old Marquis' wife, scheduled to depart for the Heaven Sword School that very day? Perhaps she might wish to question this fellow?

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