Curiosity kills the cat!
Fortunately, the Confucian School possessed the virtue of self-discipline and would never let curiosity sway them. Therefore, Yanyan had no desire to probe into the secrets of the Yin-Yang School.
Yet, as he walked past the three members of Lesser Master of Fate, he suddenly turned his head and looked toward the laundresses who had begun washing clothes by the river.
With that single glance, his gaze remained fixed.
The three Lesser Master of Fate followed Yanyan's line of sight. They saw that the laundresses were plainly dressed, looking like ordinary peasant women without anything special about them. They could not understand why such women had attracted Yanyan's attention.
Seeing Yanyan staring intently, the three of them grew somewhat confused. Yanyan could be considered a standard Confucian gentleman; normally, his gaze toward women held only appreciation without any stray thoughts, let alone the gleaming, novelty-seeking eyes he wore now.
Before they could react further, they saw Yanyan walking directly toward the laundresses. He said something to them that left the women roaring with laughter, and then he squatted down to watch them wash, making no move to leave.
"Could it be... that this is his type?" The Lesser Master of Fate in white looked at her sister in astonishment. She had heard that some men had an Oedipus complex, feeling no romantic inclination toward youthful maidens, but harboring a particular fondness for older women. The fact that Yanyan could ignore three peerless beauties and show such deep interest in a group of laundresses forced her to suspect he was just such a man.
Most crucially, even after the laundresses finished washing their laundry and departed, Yanyan did not leave. He actually followed them home!
That was the most shocking part. Had the caravan not been about to set off, Yanyan might not have returned at all!
Everyone else in the caravan felt equally uncomprehending. When Yanyan returned, they looked at him with a mixture of suspicion, teasing, and bewilderment. Instead of liking three gorgeous maidens, he had followed a group of peasant women home, looked utterly reluctant to part with them when leaving, and even spent a small fortune buying jar after jar of unknown substances from a peasant woman's household.
"I said I went to buy these things. Do you believe me?" Naturally aware of the gossip in the caravan—especially after seeing the extremely bizarre looks the three Lesser Master of Fate were giving him—Yanyan brought out a clay jar to explain.
"We believe you!" The Black and White Sisters nodded decisively, but their expressions were entirely those of pity: "You might be mentally challenged, but Mother loves you!"
"Never mind. Those who know me understand my concerns." Too lazy to explain further—lest someone discover the secret within and compete with him for the treasure—Yanyan dropped the subject.
Yet for several days running, whenever they passed a village, Yanyan would accompany the laundresses home and spend a considerable sum of money buying useless, rather foul-smelling items that nobody wanted. Within the caravan, rumors gradually spread that Yanyan had a strange preference for older laundresses.
Still, Yanyan could not be bothered to care. As long as no one fought him for the good stuff, that was all that mattered.
An accident, however, eventually arrived.
The feud between the Mohist School and the Yin-Yang School ran deep. Since the caravan had hired Mohist disciples as guards, certain Mohist disciples naturally used their unique secret codes to leave messages behind, ultimately drawing a swordsman master of the Mohist leadership level to the scene.
"The Mohist School is handling business; all bystanders withdraw!" A swordsman in black and white, draped in the signature black-and-white cloak of the Mohist School and wearing a bamboo hat, appeared at the front of the caravan. Dozens of Mohist disciples accompanied him, blocking the road ahead.
"The Mohist School's Chu faction leader, Master Xu!" With a single glance, Yanyan recognized the newcomer's identity, because the long sword in the man's hand was too distinctive—saw-toothed, the bane of famous swords, the evil sword Sharktooth!
Beside Master Xu stood a beautiful woman holding a crimson dagger, which was equally famous—the sword Rainbow's Remnant!
"Run!" Upon seeing Master Xu and his wife appear, the Black and White Sisters and Lesser Master of Fate did not make their first reaction a hard fight; they ran!
A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Master Xu was universally acknowledged as the premier swordsman of the Chu State, and the couple was also among the most renowned weapon smiths in the world. Their strength was simply not something these women could contend against.
The reason the two had appeared here, aside from the Mohist disciples' message, was that they had been invited by the King of Chu to help forge a sword to guard the nation: Tianwen!
"Can you escape?" Master Xu and the Mohist disciples seemed to act deliberately, leaving a clear path open for the three to flee.
"As expected of the Mohist School!" Yanyan sighed inwardly. You could call the Mohist School the leaders of the martial arts underworld, but you had to admit they did not take ordinary lives lightly. They could easily have surrounded and killed the Lesser Master of Fate right inside the caravan, but in order to avoid harming the innocent, they intentionally let the women escape the crowd before pursuing them.
"Hang on, you're running away, so why drag me along?" Yanyan had originally wanted nothing to do with this muddy water, yet the Black and White Sisters had grabbed him by either side and fled with him!
"You are of the direct lineage of the Yan Family. With you in our hands, the Mohist School won't dare act rashly!" the Lesser Master of Fate in black said coldly. They knew very well they were no match for Master Xu, and Yanyan was the only person in the entire caravan who could make the Mohist School hesitate. While the Mohist School and the Confucian School had academic disputes, the relationship between the Mohist Chu faction and the Confucian Yan Family was quite good. Therefore, unless forced into a desperate situation, the Chu faction would never let Yanyan, a scion of the Yan Family, come to harm!
"What kind of person did they take?" Xufuzi was naturally operating alongside his parents, though Master Xu and his wife had gone after the Lesser Master of Fate, leaving him behind to ask about the situation.
"He is of the direct lineage of the Confucian Yan Family, surnamed Yan, given name Shudong," the steward hurriedly explained. If anything happened to Yanyan, their Wu family would face the wrath of the Yan Family.
"Why would they get mixed up together?" Xufuzi had not anticipated such an unexpected turn. As a proper scion of the Yan Family, why wasn't he staying with the Yan Family caravan instead of running off to join a tiny caravan like this?
"You go on ahead, we'll stop them!"
Before Master Xu could catch up to the three Lesser Master of Fate, however, two figures blocked his path.
"The two Protectors of the Yin-Yang School, Moon God and Xinghun?" Master Xu fixed his gaze on the two masters who had appeared before them to cover the retreat of the Lesser Master of Fate.
"Keep pursuing! Leave these to me!" Without unnecessary words, Master Xu issued a simple command, drew the evil sword Sharktooth, and locked his vital aura directly onto Moon God and Xinghun.
Master Xu's self-assurance made Moon God and Xinghun feel looked down upon. They were the Left and Right Protectors of the Yin-Yang School, yet a single Mohist faction leader dared to face two of them alone to hold them back!
Master Xu's wife did not hesitate either, leading the remaining disciples in direct pursuit of the three Lesser Master of Fate and Yanyan, clearly well aware of her husband's strength.
"It's been a long time since anyone dared to look down on us like this!" said Xinghun, his face marked with purple astral patterns and his body draped in purple astral robes, speaking in a cold voice while his hands condensed a massive sword Qi that slashed toward Master Xu.
"Qi aggregation into a blade, at ninety percent power?" Master Xu looked coldly at Xinghun's movement, and then—there was no then!