At the village entrance.
It was packed with people saying their goodbyes.
Lu Changsheng found Wang Heihou, Niu Dazhuang, and Li Nangua.
Their eyes were red and swollen as they looked at their families in the distance, their faces filled with reluctance.
Li Nangua's expression was somewhat more detached; her eyes held more of a lingering terror toward the future.
Lu Changsheng knew her family situation. Her parents didn't really care much about her; almost all their attention was focused on their own son.
This time, her brother was actually much better suited to go to Heishan Prefecture, but her parents still chose her.
If it had been delayed a few more years, perhaps she wouldn't have been allowed to leave like this, but directly sold off to a wealthy household.
Not far away, Zhao Deshui looked at the scene before him with a complex gaze, a faint sense of regret stirring in his heart.
Yet at this moment, there was absolutely no turning back.
Besides, as long as this matter was handled properly, there shouldn't be too many problems—at most, it would just cost some energy and money.
"Don't blame me!"
As soon as the time came, several Zhao family young men carrying crude weapons pushed out wheelbarrows.
"Let's go!"
The leading Zhao family man gave a fierce shout, and the procession immediately headed out of the village.
"Gouzi, remember to study hard!"
"Take good care of yourself, little bug!"
"Dagou, you damn well better come back having learned a few characters!"
······
Seeing this sight, Lu Changsheng felt a slight pang of sorrow in his heart. Just as he turned his head, he suddenly saw a familiar face looking over in this direction.
"Old man?"
Zhang Cun limped over and cold-snorted, "What are you looking at? If little brats like you can go, why can't I? Don't come crying to me for help when the time comes!"
He looked at Lu Changsheng with displeasure, feeling as though a cooked duck in his hands had suddenly flown away.
"Old man, out here in the world, more friends mean more paths. We shouldn't speak so definitively, right?"
"Hmph, I've spent over twenty years making my living in Heishan Prefecture. How could I possibly compare to greenhorns like you?"
Seeing that Zhang Cun didn't want to talk to him anymore, Lu Changsheng simply ignored him.
After traveling for half a day, the procession reached Hukou Town, and several Zhao family members pushed their carts away from the group.
Hukou Town was the only small town within a radius of dozens of miles, as well as a trading post for nearby villages. However, most people coming and going here were country folk and small traveling peddlers. Furthermore, since the surrounding area produced no local specialties, naturally no influential wealthy families had ever emerged here.
Even if there had been any, they would have long since moved to Heishan Prefecture.
Those Zhao family members were simply going there to procure some grain.
The procession didn't linger too long and pressed on. After about a day, they reached the official highway leading to Heishan Prefecture.
By this point, the Zhao family carts accompanying the procession had all stopped at the villages and towns along the way.
Zhao Family Village was in a remote location. To reach Heishan Prefecture, they had to walk dozens of miles of muddy paths just to reach the official highway, and then travel another dozens of miles once on it.
Within a radius of dozens of miles, there were no particularly wealthy villages either, so bandits and highwaymen rarely frequented the area.
Just as food naturally draws rats.
If bandits and highwaymen wanted to fill their stomachs, they certainly wouldn't include such a poor, out-of-the-way place in their hunting grounds.
Otherwise, after walking dozens of miles of mountain trails just to pull off a robbery, it simply wouldn't be worth the trouble.
However, once they reached the official highway, things were different.
Sure enough, by nightfall, while the group was resting in the open wilderness, a large crowd of figures suddenly crept up.
Immediately followed by the sound of slashing and killing.
Lu Changsheng woke up with a start from his deep sleep, only to see figures moving restlessly in the dark.
It seemed two groups of people were engaged in a bloody battle.
Before he could even react, the fighting was already drawing to a close.
A voice rang out, making everyone's heart tighten.
"Boss, should we kill them?"
Immediately after, another voice sounded.
"Shut up! You blockhead, all you know is killing and fighting! These people clearly look like country folk heading to the prefectural city to find a living. How much money could they possibly have on them? Besides, we all do this because we're driven by circumstance, not for the sake of killing!"
A flash of flame lit up ahead, and a square-faced man swept his tiger-like gaze over the crowd.
"I am Li Long, the Third Chief of Black Tiger Mountain. If you brothers find yourselves unable to make a living in the future, you can come find me at Black Tiger Mountain. Although I, Li Long, don't have much ability, I dare say this: as long as I have a bowl of rice to eat, I won't let you starve!"
With that, he put out the fire and led his men away.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Once the people had walked some distance away, Zhao Deshui and the other Zhao family youths finally urged everyone to hurry on their way.
Having experienced such an ordeal, no one had any mood left to rest. Traveling through the night and for another day and a half, they finally reached their destination—Heishan Prefecture.
"Wait here for a while! I'll be right back!"
Zhao Deshui had Lu Changsheng and the others wait outside the city walls while he went into the Traveling Peddler Inn by himself.
The prefectural city of Heishan had four gates: east, south, west, and north, with a bustling flow of people coming and going. Since some people couldn't necessarily enter the prefectural city proper, they were forced to linger outside, and as time passed, the Traveling Peddler Inn came into being.
Those short on cash who arrived here mostly chose not to enter the city, resting here instead.
Before long, Zhao Deshui walked out from inside, accompanied by another person.
"This is Liang Hu. Master ordered him to arrange your affairs hereafter. Whether you can become Master's students in the future will depend entirely on this lord here!"
The burly man glanced over the group and said, "What he said isn't right!"
Zhao Deshui's expression shifted, and he instinctively reached out to pull the back of the man's garment, only to hear the man continue with a laugh, "Haha, I'm just someone who handles the odd jobs. Whether you make the cut depends on Master's students!"
Zhao Deshui let out a sigh of relief.
Next, Liang Hu took charge of arranging everything that followed.
He led the group away from the Traveling Peddler Inn. Everyone's hearts were filled with excitement, assuming they were about to enter the prefectural city; unexpectedly, at a fork in the road, they turned in a completely different direction.
They walked until dark before finally stopping in front of a courtyard.
"This is where you will study and learn characters!"
Liang Hu announced.
"But... what about Master?"
A young man couldn't help asking.
"Master? How could Master possibly come to teach you in person! Besides, this used to be the place where Master studied. Later, after Master became a scholar of the lowest rank and moved into the city, this place was left vacant! There are too many of you, so you'll just have to make do here for the time being!"
He grinned broadly as he looked at the group of people.
"Also, I'll tell you the truth: Master doesn't accept just any student. If you want to become Master's student, you need to have a bit of talent for studying, understand? Over the next few days, Master's students will test you!"
With that, he pointed to some dilapidated houses scattered around the courtyard.
"Pick yourselves a spot, one person per space!"
With those words, Liang Hu walked out of the courtyard. Having stepped half a foot outside, he seemed to remember something, turned back around, and sat down on a chair to take a nap.
"Quite crude, indeed!"
Lu Changsheng pushed the door open and stepped inside. Looking at the straw mats covering the floor, he didn't dwell on it.
With so many of them, it was impossible for everyone to become Master's students.
This time, it was likely a test at the gates of admission!