"Brother Wang, what exactly are you escorting this time that even sects are trying to snatch it?"
Inside the station, Lin Feng, Guo Qiangwei, and Wang Defa sat together, eating and chatting.
Everyone was exhausted, and Lin Feng used his privilege to bring them all to the government station for a temporary rest.
If it were anyone else asking, Wang Defa would have been on guard.
But since it was Lin Feng, he had no reservations.
"To be honest, I don't even know what's inside."
Wang Defa said seriously, "I only know that my master values it greatly and has instructed me to ensure its safe delivery without fail."
"Our master received a commission recently, asking us to transport something from outside the pass to inside. We started with fifty escorts, but by the time we met Brother Lin, only seventeen were left. We encountered several bandit attacks along the way, with many brothers dead or injured. If it weren't for Brother Lin, we might not have survived."
Wang Defa said, taking a gloomy sip of wine.
Lin Feng was surprised. For a small escort agency to attract so many bandits, and even sect disciples disguised as black-clothed people, the item must be extremely valuable.
He was curious to see what it was but didn't know how to ask.
Fortunately, Guo Qiangwei spoke up for him.
"Brother Wang, what exactly are you escorting? You don't even know yourselves. What if it gets swapped without your knowledge? I think it's better to take a look."
Guo Qiangwei's words made sense to Wang Defa.
Although escorts typically wouldn't check the cargo, given the circumstances, they might face more threats ahead.
If it really got swapped and he didn't know what it was, he'd be a fool.
After some thought, Wang Defa decided to have his men bring the box from the carriage.
Soon, the box was brought over.
Everyone looked on curiously, their curiosity piqued.
Wang Defa took out a key and opened the box, revealing only a ledger and a monk's portrait.
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"This... just a ledger and a portrait?"
Wang Defa panicked, taking the ledger and portrait aside to search the box further.
He thought the items had been swapped, as something so valuable wouldn't look like these.
Everyone else also doubted it and helped search.
Only Lin Feng picked up the ledger from the table and started reading.
The ledger recorded the dealings of an escort agency with various sects, and the agency's name caught Lin Feng's eye.
"Fuwei Escort Agency!"
To confirm his suspicion, Lin Feng picked up the portrait again.
Upon opening it, it was indeed just a portrait of an old monk, with the monk's name, Duyuan, written beside it.
There was also a poem at the bottom.
The poem seemed ordinary, but Lin Feng understood it immediately.
It was an acrostic poem, with the first, second, third, and fourth words of each line forming "Bixie Sword Manual."
The Fuwei Escort Agency in the ledger and the monk Duyuan in the portrait confirmed to Lin Feng that these were clues to the Bixie Sword Manual.
He was puzzled, though, as the Bixie Sword Manual was from "Smiling Proud Wanderer," so why were the clues in the novice map?
If an ordinary person discovered these clues, they'd be ecstatic and eager to find the manual and dominate the martial world.
But Lin Feng wasn't interested.
The Bixie Sword Manual was a derivative of the Sunflower Manual, an ancient and profound martial arts manual created by a eunuch in the imperial palace centuries ago.
It was originally circulated only in the palace, but later, Yue Su and Cai Zifeng of the Huashan Sect secretly read it. Their differing memories and interpretations led to the division of the Huashan Sword and Qi factions.
Later, the ancestor of the Fuwei Escort Agency, Lin Yuantu, originally a Shaolin monk named Duyuan, was sent to mediate the Huashan conflict due to the close relationship between Huashan and Shaolin.
During this time, Duyuan memorized part of the manual and, after leaving the monkhood, created the Bixie Sword Manual based on his understanding.
His power increased significantly, making the Fuwei Escort Agency renowned in the martial world as the top escort agency.
The Fuwei 'Express' company dominated all 'express' business in the area, surpassing even Shunfeng and Yuantong.
After Lin Yuantu's death, his son Lin Zhennan didn't inherit the manual or learn the Bixie Sword Manual, leading to the agency's decline into an ordinary escort agency.
Although "The Grand Martial World" hadn't revealed information about these manuals, Lin Feng was almost certain that the Sunflower Manual was a heavenly-grade cultivation method.
As for the Bixie Sword Manual, being a product of the Sunflower Manual, it was unlikely to be heavenly-grade, but definitely possible to be earth-grade.
Lin Feng wasn't interested because practicing either the Bixie Sword Manual or the Sunflower Manual required a man to abandon his masculinity.
Such foolishness was something he would never do.
Even if practicing in the game didn't affect reality, practicing these martial arts would gradually make one effeminate.
Anyone who had seen "Smiling Proud Wanderer" knew that the Huashan lineage, Yue Buqun's family, all became sisters.
Lin Feng wouldn't practice it. He had plenty of heavenly-grade martial arts to learn, so why focus on 'gender-changing' martial arts?
Seeing Wang Defa still anxiously searching, Lin Feng could only reassure him that perhaps these two items were important to someone else.
This calmed Wang Defa's doubts and unease, as the situation was as it was, and they needed to deliver the items back to the Dragon Gate Escort Agency first.
The next day, Lin Feng accompanied Wang Defa and his group as they set off again.
They encountered two more attacks on the way, but Lin Feng's strength easily resolved them.
Lin Feng gained a lot of experience, reaching level 24!
Two days later, they finally arrived at the Dragon Gate Escort Agency!
The Dragon Gate Escort Agency was also Tong Xiangyu's home.
Introduced by Wang Defa, Old Master Tong warmly welcomed Lin Feng and sent a gift.
Twenty taels of gold, a yellow-grade martial art, and a yellow-grade equipment!
Lin Feng accepted without hesitation and chatted with Old Master Tong about Shopkeeper Tong's recent situation.
Old Master Tong happily mentioned visiting his daughter in Seven Heroes Town in a few days.
After the small talk, Old Master Tong dismissed everyone, then seriously said to Lin Feng, "Young Hero Lin, there's something I'd like to ask you. Would you be willing?"
"Please speak, Old Master Tong."
Lin Feng remained calm, knowing this was the side quest lead mentioned in the task reward.
Old Master Tong said, "Could you deliver the escort goods that arrived today to the Fuwei Escort Agency in Fuzhou on behalf of the Dragon Gate Escort Agency?"
[Ding! Hidden side quest triggered! Escort (Part 2)! Accept?]
[Escort Task]: Help the Dragon Gate Escort Agency with the escort
[Task Content]: Escort the goods to the Fuwei Escort Agency
[Task Difficulty]: Difficult
[Task Reward]: 50 taels of gold, one yellow-grade fine horse, one side quest lead
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