Little Lingchuan—really not that easy to get a handle on.

Gu Qingyan marched forward with great vigor, looking proud and energetic, but his body wasn’t cooperating. After walking for a while, his legs started trembling—he wasn’t even as strong as Mama Liu.

And still, Mama Liu fussed over him lovingly and sang his praises.

“My little Yan has always been open-hearted. Since he was a child, he’s always been cheerful every day. With that kind of spirit, he’ll do well wherever he goes.”

She even wanted him to lie down on her lap so she could massage his calves, saying it would prevent cramps later.

“Mother.”

Gu Qingyan stubbornly refused. At home, maybe it would’ve been fine, but Pei Xuan was watching nearby.

Just now, he had been thinking about how to outperform Pei Xuan, but the moment they descended the mountain, he lost all his momentum.

“Going up is easy, going down is hard. You just don’t have experience. You’ll learn,” Mama Liu comforted.

Gu Qingyan thought that once they were down the mountain, they would reach Lingchuan County immediately. Who knew the mountain road would be so rough? After reaching a village at the foot of the mountain and asking around, he found out that they still had more than half a day’s walk to get to the county town.

By now it was already dark, so they had no choice but to stay overnight in the village and continue on their way the next day.

[You’ve signed in at the village at the foot of Lingchuan County and received 100 jin of dried bamboo shoots.]

Gu Qingyan casually signed in and was surprised by the reward.

Until now, the sign-in rewards from villages had all been food supplies. This time, the reward was dried bamboo shoots. He wasn’t sure if this was a special case or if Lingchuan County had its own unique system.

There was no time to think further. He collapsed onto the bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Today had completely exhausted him.

Pei Xuan came in just a few steps behind and saw that Gu Qingyan was already snoring lightly, buried under the covers.

Seeing his flushed cheeks and peaceful sleeping face, Pei Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Such a child—acting on whims and instincts.

---

As night fell, the village below the mountain grew silent. A group of men in black appeared without a sound.

Knock knock knock.

The leader gently tapped on the window with a distinctive rhythm.

The next second, Pei Xuan’s displeased face appeared at the window.

“My lord.”

Pei Xuan made a gesture to keep quiet and shut the window.

Once they were a distance away from the house, he finally spoke. “Was the journey smooth?”

“Smooth. We only lost track of you midway, and we were very worried, my lord. Thankfully you’re unharmed—if anything had happened, we wouldn’t have been able to atone for it. As soon as we got your message, we rushed to catch up, but we were delayed and only just arrived.”

Pei Xuan nodded. “And the mountain bandits?”

“They’ve been handed over to the local authorities,” Zhang Menghuai replied, though he was puzzled. Normally, his lord was ruthless—bandits like these would’ve been killed on sight. Why were they all left alive this time?

“My lord, we’ve also investigated the identities of those two traveling with you.”

Pei Xuan’s brow furrowed. “Who told you to act on your own?”

Zhang Menghuai immediately panicked and apologized. “I deserve punishment, my lord. I was only concerned for your safety. I feared they might be spies and acted on my own initiative.”

Pei Xuan shot him a cold glance.

Zhang Menghuai didn’t know whether his lord wanted to hear the information or not, so he kept silent.

After a moment, Pei Xuan asked, “He looks like a young master from a noble family. Why would he come to Lingchuan alone?”

“My lord is astute as always…”

“Speak plainly.”

“Yes. Gu Qingyan was originally surnamed Li. He’s the eldest illegitimate son of the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. Because the legitimate wife was jealous, he was raised in seclusion with his concubine mother at the family’s old residence in Qingzhou since he was a child.”

“About a month ago, that concubine discovered that the children were switched at birth when she gave birth at a Taoist temple in Qingcheng. She immediately wanted her real son back and drove this false young master out of the Li household.”

“So Li Qingyan became Gu Qingyan. The woman traveling with him is not his biological mother, but his wet nurse who raised him.”

“They likely couldn’t stay in Qingzhou any longer, so the two of them came to Lingchuan County.”

Hearing this, Pei Xuan’s frown deepened.

Zhang Menghuai continued, “This person’s background is clean. It should be a coincidence—he’s not a spy.”

Pei Xuan gave him a sidelong glance.

“If he was raised since birth, how could they bear to kick him out? And how did they suddenly learn the truth about something that happened fifteen years ago?”

Zhang Menghuai was stunned. “That… that’s a secret within the Li family. I haven’t investigated further.”

“Then send someone to find out.”

Pei Xuan snorted. “Li, a third-rank official of the imperial court, yet his household is in such chaos—how foolish.”

“My lord, are you planning to use this matter to bring down Minister Li?”

Zhang Menghuai thought he understood and added, “It is a good excuse, after all. Lady Li is jealous and intolerant of her husband’s son, and Minister Li is careless enough to mix up babies for fifteen years. Even if it’s a private matter, it can still be grounds for impeachment. If we can bring him down, there’ll be a vacancy in the Ministry of Revenue. My lord, you are truly brilliant.”

To his surprise, the more he spoke, the colder Pei Xuan’s expression became.

Zhang Menghuai fell silent, realizing he might have said the wrong thing.

“Forget it. Since he’s no longer part of the Li family, there’s no need to dwell on it,” Pei Xuan said.

Then he added, “Tomorrow, I’ll take them into the city myself. After that, we’ll go straight to Guangzhou.”

“Yes, my lord.” Zhang Menghuai was even more puzzled.

This mission was of great importance, and yet his lord was personally making time to escort Gu Qingyan to Lingchuan County—truly strange.

A thousand thoughts ran through his head, but he dared not say a word, though his eyes darted around with curiosity.

Pei Xuan saw right through him and explained, “He’s young, kind, and he saved my life.”

Zhang Menghuai nodded eagerly. “That little master has clearly never suffered, and now that he’s been cast out from the Li family with no wealth, it’s concerning. What’s more rare is his good heart—for him to save you, my lord.”

Pei Xuan fully agreed.

Zhang Menghuai then suggested, “If you’re still worried, why not take him with you?”

“Nonsense.” Pei Xuan’s face darkened.

Zhang Menghuai quickly apologized.

Pei Xuan snorted. “I told you to search for the Huai Prince’s jade seal. Have you found it?”

Zhang Menghuai stammered.

Pei Xuan sneered. “You’ve failed at your main task, yet you still have time to spout nonsense.”

Without waiting for a reply, he returned to the house.

Zhang Menghuai went back to his group, looking dejected. He began slapping each of them on the shoulder. “I told you to look for the Huai Prince’s jade seal! Why haven’t I heard anything yet?”

The men in black all hung their heads. One of the braver ones muttered, “The Huai Prince’s been dead for hundreds of years. No one even knows if the seal’s real. How are we supposed to find it?”

“You saying the Imperial Astronomer’s Office lied? If you’ve got the guts, go argue with them yourself!”

Unaware of all this, Gu Qingyan slept like a baby, completely at peace until morning.

After eating breakfast, he was eager to set off. “Mother, Brother Pei, let’s hurry up! We must get to Lingchuan County today!”

Naturally, Mama Liu followed his lead.

Pei Xuan grew increasingly silent and simply took over the task of driving the carriage.

Most of the roads in Lingchuan County were still muddy mountain paths and difficult to traverse. But after traveling for most of the day, as they approached the county town, the muddy roads gave way to gravel paths, which were much wider.

Gu Qingyan was in high spirits, not feeling tired at all. Along the way, he even had the mood to try a few sign-in points.

[You signed in at a small mountain village in Lingchuan County. Received 100 jin of dried mushrooms.]

[You signed in at Changtan Village in Lingchuan County. Received 100 jin of wild chestnuts.]

[You signed in at Tiger’s Mouth in Lingchuan County. Received one ten-year-old ginseng.]

To his surprise, he even got ginseng. Although it was only ten years old, it still proved that Lingchuan County was special.

Gu Qingyan looked in the direction of Tiger’s Mouth and decided he would come here often—who knows, maybe this mountain produced ginseng.

By noon, they could already see the city walls from afar.

Excited, Gu Qingyan climbed to the top of the carriage and looked out into the distance.

The grayish walls weren’t very tall, but they had a distinct upside-down triangle symbol on them.

[Discovered Lingchuan County Gate sign-in point. Use 1 point to sign in?]

Gu Qingyan jumped off the carriage in delight. “We’ve finally arrived!”

[Successfully signed in at the Lingchuan County gate. Received one small courtyard in the county town.]

Gu Qingyan’s heart skipped a beat—getting a house just by signing in at the city gate? Jackpot! From now on, he’d sign in at every city gate he passed.

From this day forward, he would be a minor tycoon with property in every city.

“Yan-ge’er, what are you grinning like a fool about? Let’s head into town first,” Liu Mama said with a smile.

She couldn’t figure out why the young master was so happy—he’d been smiling all the way, sometimes even bouncing around with joy.

Gu Qingyan waved a hand. “Let’s go, into the city!”

But unexpectedly, Pei Xuan got down from the carriage. “I won’t go in.”

“Brother Pei, you’re not going into town?” Gu Qingyan panicked and asked quickly, “Why not? Weren’t you coming to Lingchuan County too? It’d be great if we went together!”

“That’s right, Brother Pei, why don’t you come with us?” Liu Mama also tried to persuade him.

“Sorry,” Pei Xuan declined gently.

Then he saw Gu Qingyan’s disappointed face, his eyes turning misty like he was about to cry any second.

Gu Qingyan truly felt like crying. After surviving life-and-death situations together and forming a bond, now Pei Xuan was saying they’d part ways?

Lingchuan County was great, but he hadn’t figured out the mystery of the mobile sign-in points yet.

Seeing Gu Qingyan’s look, Pei Xuan’s heart softened. He handed over a wooden token.

“Take this. If you run into trouble, go to the magistrate’s office. I have matters to attend to and can’t accompany you.”

After a pause, Pei Xuan reminded him, “Don’t save people so recklessly in the future.”

“I wasn’t being reckless.” Gu Qingyan looked up at him—without that obvious sign-in marker, he wouldn’t be able to see it again.

Judging by Pei Xuan’s expression, it was no use trying to persuade him.

And he hadn’t signed in today yet.

Thinking of that, Gu Qingyan suddenly lunged forward, hugging him and shouting, “Brother Pei, I don’t want you to go!”

[Signed in with Pei Xuan. Received ‘Strengthening and Health-Preserving Technique’.]

Gu Qingyan was stunned.

Pei Xuan’s body stiffened, but he didn’t push him away. After some hesitation, he patted Gu Qingyan on the shoulder. “I have to go.”

Gu Qingyan wiped his tears and said, “Then once you’re done, you must come see me. I’ll be waiting for you in Lingchuan County—we made a deal, don’t break it.”

As he spoke, he even made a pinky promise on his own.

Pei Xuan let him hook his little finger and shook it slightly, helpless but indulgent.

“Go on into the city,” he said, giving him a gentle push.

Gu Qingyan had no choice but to enter, turning back with every few steps. Just before he passed through the gate, he ran back and stuffed a four-compound medicine bottle into Pei Xuan’s hand.

“This is the best medicine from Qingzhou. Take care of your health while you’re out there.”

He didn’t wait for Pei Xuan to refuse—he turned and walked into the city with Liu Mama.

Before entering, Gu Qingyan couldn’t help but call back, “We had a deal—you have to come back to see me!”

Thinking about how such a good Pei Xuan sign-in point would be gone from now on, Gu Qingyan was overwhelmed with sorrow and even shed two drops of “cat tears.”

Liu Mama was both amused and exasperated. “Yan-ge’er, do you really like that Pei boy so much?”

“Mother, you don’t understand. Brother Pei means a lot to me,” Gu Qingyan sighed.

No one but him could understand how important Pei Xuan was.

Pei Xuan saw those two tears too. His foot moved—he almost followed after them.

“Sir,” Zhang Menghuai appeared at the worst possible moment.

Pei Xuan stopped, his brow still tightly furrowed.

Zhang Menghuai said quietly, “The carriage and horses are ready. We can depart now.”

Pei Xuan glanced at him coldly, terrifying Zhang Menghuai, who had no idea what he had done wrong this time.

Mounting his horse, Pei Xuan turned back to look at the city gate, wondering how long that child would feel sad.

He stroked the medicine bottle in his robe—such a valuable item, given away so casually. What a foolish child.

Duty-bound, he didn’t linger and eventually left with his men.

Inside Lingchuan County, there was no trace of sadness on Gu Qingyan’s face. Looking at the numerous sign-in points all around him, he could barely stop himself from laughing out loud three hundred times.