The Four Seas Alliance's trade routes were already well-established. Even in a place like the State of Yang, where ferocious beasts roamed in great numbers, they maintained their own secure corridors — though a large part of that relied on the State of Yang's official roads.
To allow a massive commercial organization like the Four Seas Alliance to enter and develop within their borders, the Yang court had made considerable concessions.
The bald escort commander Chen Yong, who had fled from Green Ram Town, took the Four Seas Alliance's trade route. He left Rizhao Commandery directly and entered the State of Qi through the border city of Baichuan City.
There had been no official announcement within the Four Seas Alliance about the plague mutation.
For the Four Seas Alliance, they had invested tremendous sincerity to secure the entire disaster-relief "business" of the State of Yang. They had poured enormous manpower and resources into the State of Yang, and now that profits were rolling in, they were absolutely unwilling to cut their losses and walk away unless there was no other choice.
To that end, they would rather take certain risks with some of their people.
Steward Qian had learned of the situation through his own private channels and fled immediately, making no effort to inform anyone else.
Chen Yong — the escort commander whose head had been shaved clean in Green Ram Town — had also received the news through personal connections. He was loyal enough, bringing back the entire escort squad under his command.
Of course, if the intelligence turned out to be false, abandoning the entire situation in the Green Ram Town domain would come with consequences. But compared to the safety of his own life, those consequences were nothing.
Baichuan City's name, naturally, did not mean that there were a hundred rivers nearby. In fact, there was not a single famous river in the city's territory.
The city's name came from the idiom "the sea accepts all rivers." As for which hundred rivers it accepted — well, that was open to interpretation.
Baichuan City belonged to Dingyao Commandery. Back when Jiang Chen had traveled to the State of Yang, he had also passed through Fengxian and Dingyao on this very route before reaching Rizhao Commandery.
But back then, he had passed through unimpeded. Now, however, this escort squad from the Alliance that Chen Yong led had been stopped outside the city.
More precisely, they were halted at least three li from Baichuan City.
"Halt! We are under orders to seal the border. Take one step closer and you will be killed without mercy!" a shout rang out from a distance.
The voice came from a squad of Qi soldiers in full armor and helmets.
Cold sweat burst from Chen Yong's body in an instant.
His subordinates, who usually rode roughshod under the Four Seas Alliance's banner, were now completely silent. Every one of them stood rigidly in place, terrified that a wrong movement might cause a misunderstanding.
These were proper Qi battle soldiers! From their elite bearing, they might even... be drawn from the Nine Corps.
Chen Yong could even hear the sound of Break-Arrow Crossbows being drawn.
The Break-Arrow Crossbow — mass-produced for military use, a lethal weapon specifically designed to counter cultivators. It never circulated on the open market; buying or selling one was a capital offense.
A single volley from those crossbows, and a cultivator of his caliber would not even have the chance to resist.
"Sir! Sir!"
Chen Yong did not dare move. He called out: "We are all citizens of Qi! Honest commoners — please, don't mistake us for enemies!"
"Citizens of Qi?"
He heard a voice ask this.
Then a man who looked like a commander stepped out from the formation, still maintaining ample distance from them.
"How do you prove you are citizens of Qi?"
The entire State of Yang admired the ways of Qi. Countless people wore Qi clothing and spoke the Qi tongue, so speech alone was no longer sufficient to verify one's identity.
"We are escorts for the Four Seas Alliance. We carry identification tokens — the commander may take them and inspect for himself! We would never dare speak falsely!"
The commander said: "No one approaches. Toss the tokens over."
Chen Yong did not dare disobey and did as he was told.
The commander caught the tokens from a distance, examined them carefully for a moment, then asked: "Everyone behind you — they are all citizens of Qi?"
"We are all registered in the Four Seas Alliance's rolls. A quick check by the general will confirm it. How could it be faked?" Chen Yong said with an ingratiating tone. "Please, sir, show some leniency. They really are all Qi citizens, eager to return home. If I may boldly ask — why can we not return to the country today?"
"The border is sealed. Even Qi citizens cannot re-enter the country right now," the commander said offhandedly, then gave his orders: "Take these Four Seas Alliance people to the camp and hold them. Follow the previous precedent!"
Chen Yong trembled, not knowing what "previous precedent" referred to. But the State of Qi maintained iron discipline, and its Nine Corps were renowned throughout the world. Once a military order was given, there was no turning back.
He absolutely did not dare utter a word of protest.
Led at a distance by Qi soldiers toward the camp, Chen Yong gradually began to piece things together.
The soldiers had maintained such strict distance — perhaps they already knew about the plague mutation in the State of Yang. The border lockdown was very likely because of that.
If so, temporarily detaining those of them who had returned from the State of Yang made perfect sense.
It was just the same old quarantine protocol, cutting off the inside from the outside.
From this, he could also conclude that they were currently safe — as long as they had not contracted the plague and did not cause any trouble in the military camp.
Once he reasoned this through, Chen Yong felt considerably more at ease, and even had the spirit to joke with the anxious old brothers behind him.
"What are you afraid of? We've got the incomparable Great Qi army escorting us — when could we possibly be safer than right now?"
A younger guard sniffled: "I just don't know how long we'll be held... Come to think of it, why are we being detained at all? Are they really not letting us back into the country?"
"If you don't need to ask, then keep your mouth shut!" Chen Yong snapped at him harshly. Glancing ahead, he saw that the leading soldiers showed no reaction, so he relaxed and comforted the others: "The Alliance is the biggest trading house in all of Qi. The entire state — food, clothing, shelter, transport — what can they do without us? We haven't done anything wrong, so we won't be held long. Besides, if it really comes down to it and you're desperate to get home, we can always bleed a little more and have Steward Qian buy our way out!"
From beginning to end, the soldiers guiding them had not said a single word. Even when Chen Yong hinted at bribery, there was no response — a display of excellent discipline.
This made Chen Yong and the others behave themselves, whether consciously or not, and they followed obediently.
Chen Yong's confidence vanished the moment he laid eyes on Steward Qian.
It was the second day of his detention in the military camp.
A soldier came and called him out alone.
Throughout the walk, his heart was pounding with anxiety. He tried every kind of conversational gambit, but the other party ignored them all.
Ask too many questions, and you got a kick. So he shut his mouth.
For a while, he had assumed it was some kind of extortion and had braced himself to pay heavily. He even imagined some terrible military punishment or execution — when a person was in a helpless, disadvantaged position, the more lost they felt, the more easily they frightened themselves.
But fortunately, the other party only wanted him to identify someone.
That didn't seem much better, because the person he needed to identify was none other than Steward Qian...
He had been counting on Steward Qian to get him out early! But it turned out the man could not even save himself — and now he was the one who needed help from Chen Yong.
Chen Yong walked to the Qi army's checkpoint and spotted Steward Qian from a distance.
The man's hair had been hacked off by someone — his topknot gone. He knelt on the ground far away, completely dejected, every trace of his former dignity gone.
Hadn't Steward Qian set out a full day earlier to flee back to the State of Qi?
What had happened in between?
Why had he only arrived at Baichuan City today — one day later than Chen Yong himself?
Green Ram Town... Jiang Chen... the Four Seas Alliance... Steward Qian... the State of Yang... the Qi army...
Chen Yong's mind spun in chaos. His bald head felt cold.