Not every village had a name. There were hundreds of villages dotting the Xiao Continent’s landscape, and while some like Zahn City had been named, there were just as many that had not.

The small farming village that Wu Jian and his companions found themselves in was nestled amidst verdant rice paddies and lush greenery. It was situated near a small river, ensuring a steady supply of water for irrigation and daily needs. Simple yet functional buildings characterized by their wooden construction and thatched roofs were sprawled haphazardly around the village. There seemed to be no order to the village layout. It was as if they had decided to place buildings wherever they had need of them.

Every house was elevated on stilts to protect against flooding during the rainy season and provide shade and ventilation. Each house also had open-air verandas or porches where villagers could be seen relaxing and socializing.

The climate of this kingdom was quite humid. Unlike the Southern Tang Dynasty, which possessed a tropical climate due to its proximity to the ocean and being close to the equator, this country’s climate was caused by a phenomenon known as orographic lifting. Moist air from surrounding regions was forced to rise due to the obstruction of mountains surrounding the country. As it ascended, it cooled and condensed, leading to the formation of clouds and precipitation. The mountains also acted as a natural barrier to prevent the movement of air masses and created a microclimate within the kingdom. Consequently, this kingdom only had two seasons: rainy and dry.

Surrounding the village, neatly terraced rice paddies stretched out as far as the eye could see, divided by narrow pathways and irrigation channels. Wu Jian spotted villagers diligently working the fields, tending to rice crops and other produce such as vegetables, fruits, and herbs. This village had a large number of coconut trees. Water buffalo could also be seen plowing the fields, guided by farmers wearing straw hats.

“Come on. Keep up,” Liang Wei said. The man led them from the front. Immediately behind him was Mei Xilan, who strode forward with her head high.

Their presence drew the gaze of every villager present. Not a single person in this village wore a decent set of clothes. Loose-fitting designs that allowed ease of movement were made from linen or hemp and covered in mud. They passed one young man whose face was burnt by the sun and his clothing was a mess. Wu jian didn’t know if the tears in his outfit were a result of roughhousing or age.

“Man, we’re drawing a lot of attention,” Shuchang said.

“We are,” Wu Jian agreed.

“Must be my good looks.”

“In your dreams maybe.”

It felt sort of like they had stepped into another world, one in which cultivation didn’t exist. There were many villages like this. While most of the human population was located in cities like Imperial Shang City and Heavenly Chengshi, there were, in fact, more small villages like this than there were large cities. The further out you traveled from a major civilian population center, the more underdeveloped it became.

Even though Wu Jian had traveled a lot, he rarely visited places like this, since there was never any point in doing so.

At the heart of the village was a simple marketplace. It was early morning, so many villagers were gathered there. A vibrant array of fresh produce, handmade crafts, and household goods were being traded. Several tables had been set up and a few old men were playing a game of Liubo--a game involving a rectangular board with a grid of lines and dice. The wafting aroma of foodstalls selling a variety of rice dishes and sweet treats made from coconuts made Youmei’s mouth water. She tried wandering over to one, but Wu Jian grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her off the ground. She meowed in protest and complained loudly. However, he couldn’t let her just do as she pleased right now.

“We’ll eat after this meeting, so be patient until then.”

“Youmei wants to eat now! She’s hungry now!”

“Too bad.”

“Master is a meanie! Master is awful!”

Wu Jian took a deep breath, held it, then released it. Being with this girl felt a lot like raising a child. He was far too young to deal with this.

“Hee-hee, you look just like a harried father,” Zhou Lihua said with a giggle.

“I feel like a harried father,” Wu Jian admitted.

The place where they were traveling to was a communal pagoda that stood in the literal center of the village. Nobody was gathered there right now. It featured a tiered roof with upturned eaves, which were adorned with decorative ceramic tiles in shades of green and blue, the depiction of dragons and lotus flowers painted delicately upon their surface. Surrounding it was a courtyard lined with stone pathways, lush gardens, and manicured shrubs. Stone statues of guardian lions flanked the entrance.

As they entered the main hall, Wu Jian glanced at the sturdy wooden columns and beams being used to support the ceiling. The interior was spacious and airy, with a high ceiling and polished wooden floors. Wood carvings adorned the walls and pillars, depicting scenes he could only assume were taken from the kingdom’s history.

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A single person stood at the end of the main hall. He was a rugged and weathered man who looked to be in his late forties, though he could have been much older as his cultivation was at the upper limits of the Human Limit Realm. The hardened expression and piercing eyes seemed to drill into them as he glanced their way. He stood tall and imposing despite his older appearance, with a muscular build that spoke to a life of physical labor and combat. His face, lined with deep wrinkles, showed the evidence of numerous hardships endured.

He wore simple, practical clothing suited for life on the battlefield, a dark-colored tunic, sturdy trousers, and leather boots. The way he carried himself with an air of authority and confidence bespoke of his experiences. As he surveyed the group, Liang Wei knelt down in subservience.

“Zhǐhuīguān Rén Xuě, I have returned from my mission--and I brought you someone important. May I present to you, Mei Xilan Sui, rightful heiress to the Sui Royal Family.”

“Hooo? Sui Mei Xilan… I had heard you were traveling to the Sui Kingdom, though I had not realized you had already arrived,” Rén Xuě said. He studied her, unbothered by her beauty. The look in his eyes as he surveyed her from head to toe seemed more like a warrior trying to measure up a potential enemy.

Mei Xilan stepped forward and offered the man a martial bow. “Greetings, I am Mei Xilan Sui. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“So you’re Sui Mei Xilan…” He paused. “You are quite strong. That is good. Your strength will come in handy in our fight against the Undying Sun Sect. Perhaps you can atone for the sins your parents committed when they allowed their country to be taken over.”

“Excuse me?” asked Mei Xilan, her eyes narrowed.

“Zh-Zh-Zhǐhuīguān Rén Xuě?!” Liang Wei looked startled at the vitriol in the man’s voice.

“I only speak the truth,” Rén Xuě said with narrowed eyes of his own. “Your family made a grave error when they allowed the Undying Sun Sect to even step foot inside our kingdom’s borders. Your father should have never trusted Qiang Bao. That he did is a sin that your family will be atoning for, for many generations.”

An oppressive silence filled the hall. Wu Jian, Zhou Lihua, and Hou Jingshu remained completely silent, glancing at each other as though sharing the same thought. What was this man thinking? This was not how they expected this meeting to go.

Power was respected above all else in the cultivation world, and Mei Xilan was far more powerful than this man, which meant he should have been bowing and scraping to her. Instead, he was talking down to her as though he were the stronger of the two. It was as though he did not understand how the world worked.

“My father was a great man,” Mei Xilan said. “Thanks to his numerous actions, including the act of opening our borders, he brought prosperity to our people. That Qiang Bao abused my father’s trust was no fault of his.”

“It was very much his fault,” Rén Xuě said with a growl. “Your father was the emperor of our nation. It is his obligation to ensure our people are protected, and yet he didn’t think twice about allowing that insipid snake into our midst. Opening our borders might have brought prosperity, but it also brought about our tragedy. The one thing the Undying Sun Sect did right was strengthening the security at our borders to prevent malcontents from coming in.”

Mei Xilan had told Wu Jian a little about her father. She often said he was a kind man who wanted to bring prosperity to his people. Because theirs was an isolated country, they lacked many luxuries found in other parts of the world, and so he opened the national borders to help bring those luxury goods to his people. He brokered deals with merchants and helped commerce flourish. Thanks to him, his people had been given many more luxuries and increased the productivity of their farming industry several times over.

It was interesting to hear a fellow Sui Kingdom citizen saying that opposite, that her father should have never done what he did.

“How dare you,” Mei Xilan muttered in a low voice, her fists clenched. “You ask for my aid and spit on my father’s grave in the same sentence. What makes you think I’ll aid you at all?”

Rén Xuě crossed his arms and lifted his chin as though to look down at her. “I am not asking for your aid. You should be helping us out of obligation and the desire to atone for your family’s crimes. If anything, you should be grateful to me. But whether you help us or not changes nothing. We will still fight the Undying Sun Sect even without your help.”

“Ah… ah…” Liang Wei had his hands up as though he wanted to do something but didn’t know what. He glanced back and forth between the two, his face drawn, pale, and with sweat trickling down his scalp.

“I have never met a man more rude than you. If this is the kind of treatment I can expect from those resisting the Undying Sun Sect’s rule, then it was clearly a mistake to come here. I’d have been better off remaining in the capital,” Mei Xilan declared.

Snorting, Rén Xuě said, “If that is how you feel, then you can leave.”

“Aaaaah… Zhǐhuīguān Rén Xuě,” Liang Wei looked aghast.

“Fine. That’s exactly what I’ll be doing.” Mei Xilan did not even bow to the man as she turned around and marched out of the main hall.

Liang Wei looked back and forth between Rén Xuě and where Mei Xilan had disappeared to several times before, with great hesitation, set off after Mei Xilan. Rén Xuě watched the young man go with a snort, then turned away.

“You are all that woman’s companions, yes? Get out of this pagoda. I have nothing to discuss with a bunch of foreigners who have no business with my kingdom’s troubles.”

Wu Jian wanted to punch this man in the throat. Had he ever met such a rude, cantankerous old fart before? He paused. Yes, he had actually. Zhou Lihua’s first master had been of similar disposition before she managed to win him over. In either event, staying in this man’s presence wasn’t his idea of a good time, so after glancing at the others and nodding to each other, they all left the pagoda and headed back toward the marketplace.

“Well, that could have gone a lot better,” Hou Jingshu mumbled. “I never expected that old man to act so brazenly. Isn’t Mei Xilan supposed to be the princess of his nation? How can he behave so rudely?”

Hou Jingshu was also a princess, so she understood better than most how a person was supposed to treat royalty. Rén Xuě’s background was also clearly that of a commoner. Wu Jian had seen the calluses on his hands. While some of them were from fighting, he recognized the hands of a man who had worked the fields for most of his life. That made him wonder why such a man was the leader of the resistance.

“That man… has been through a lot,” Zhou Lihua murmured with a sigh. “His eyes tell such a sad story. I imagine he has seen much tragedy in his life.”

“…”

Hou Jingshu had nothing to say to that. A long silence filled the air between them, but it was soon broken when Youmei tugged on Wu Jian’s sleeve.

“Master, the meeting is over, right? Can we eat now?”

A powerful icebreaker indeed.