Chapter 147: A False Alarm

"No, no, no, we come from the same era." The headmaster did not ignore the question.

"That's really strange..." Zhang Yu muttered as he turned around and walked out of the valley, muttering under his breath, "It seems this is indeed a product of some high-tech research institute. The state always has some high-end operations beyond the comprehension of ordinary folks like us..."

"We do indeed come from the same era, and I certainly hail from Earth... however, who says your planet is called Earth?"

This remark, which was enough to give Zhang Yu a full-body shudder, did not reach his ears.

The enhanced luxury version of the Langya Pavilion was still in its embryonic stage, but Zhang Yu was in no rush. First, worrying about it was useless, and second, his excursion today was not solely for finding a place to build it.

With guards clearing the path and stars surrounding the moon, the young man dressed in fine robes and riding a spirited horse cut a dashing figure in the prime of his youth.

"Let's move out, Wuji City!"

...

Shortly after the group departed from the valley, an immortal-looking old man with crane-like hair, jade-green eyes, and the complexion of a child staggered out from nowhere, drifting uncertainly.

"Bizarre! Peculiar!"

As if suddenly jolted awake by a basin of cold water poured over him after being drunk, he ran and skipped over to those strange objects.

With his white eyebrows tightly furrowed above a smooth forehead, he struck the standing wooden pillars with the goosefoot staff in his hand. Not only could he make neither head nor tail of them, but he was also startled when the various building materials suddenly began operating automatically.

"Immortal arts? Strange crafts?"

Narrowing his eyes, the old man swept his gaze around, then stepped toward the narrow-slit exit of the valley. With one or two strides, he seemed to detach himself from this realm of space and time, his toes touching the ground with every step as he advanced in an astonishing manner.

He traversed the vast valley—from the foundations of the Langya Pavilion to the mist-shrouded mountain pass—in merely a few steps.

This speed, which outpaced even the wind, and this ethereal, immortal-like elegance with his flowing sleeves and white hair, far surpassed Zhang Yu's handsomeness which relied purely on his face.

However, had Zhang Yu witnessed this old man's footwork, he would have been floored in utter astonishment.

Not because of his speed or posture, but because of the rhythm of his steps... it was far too similar to his own *Roaming the Absolute*.

If one had to compare them, they were a dead-even match—a fifty-fifty split.

Zhang Yu was half a catty of scrap iron, while the old man was eight liangs of pure gold.

"The dense fog of my Nanhua Garden shrouds the entire entrance, making it hard for ordinary people to catch a glimpse or find the way in, treating it as no different from ordinary mountain rocks." Though the old man felt some doubt, his expression remained as serene as the lake in the valley, betraying not the slightest ripple.

"Could it be that some fellow Daoist has come to call? Yet to enter uninvited... is somewhat impolite. I must go and demand an explanation."

...

At this moment, Zhang Yu was beaming with high spirits, completely unaware that some divine entity was planning to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.

He "led his troops" right outside the gates of Wuji City and playfully barked an order for a full-scale cavalry charge, throwing the guards on the city walls into a frantic flurry of chaos as they hurriedly nocked arrows and grabbed their weapons.

"Open the gates!" Infected by Zhang Yu's youthful exuberance, Han Long took the lead and shouted toward the ramparts.

"What petty thieves! A mere hundred men dare to attack the city!" the garrison commander roared back, casting occasional glances toward the distant woods as if suspecting this was merely an enemy vanguard.

"Attack a city? This is my young master's city!"

"Absurd... State your names at once!"

"I'm telling the truth! My name is Han Long, and I am my young master's—"

Before Han Long could finish, the commander flew into a rage: "You madman, not content with being a nameless nobody, you actually dare to steal my distinguished name! Having guarded this city for years, I, Han Long, have never seen such a shameless scoundrel. If you retreat immediately, my spear shall spare your life!"

"Pfft..." Zhang Yu, Xiahou Lan, Cao Xing, and nearly a hundred men behind them froze in unison, then turned bright red as they desperately held back their laughter.

"You're the nameless nobody! I stand by my name and sit by my surname, Han Long it is!"

"Still being insolent... Archers!"

At the command of City Gate Captain Han Long, the archers on the ramparts quite uniformly drew their bowstrings.

"Hold on!" Zhang Yu stepped forward with a smile.

"Fire!"

"What the—!" Riding forward, Zhang Yu hadn't expected the opponent to play so far outside the book, and he hurriedly whipped his horse around, scampering back into formation.

"Hhahahaha!" Han Long laughed heartily. "How could the might of Wuji's military forces be lightly provoked by the likes of you? Fall back at once!"

"Fall back your head!" Zhang Yu snapped, throwing his usual young master demeanor to the winds as he cursed aloud, "I am the Emperor's sworn brother, the Marquis of Wuji! Zhang Yu of Zhongshan! From now on, this Zhongshan is my turf! If you fellows still want to make a living, open these gates right now!"

Inside the city.

The most bustling street boasted the most affluent households.

On the plaque above the gate of one such residence was inscribed a single character: "Zhen."

It was the Zhen family.

"I alone love the lotus, which rises from the mud unstained, and is cleansed by pure ripples without being seductive..." Zhen Jiang looked at her younger sister's exceptionally neat and graceful handwriting on the paper, seeming to read through the ink prints the unmistakable sentiments of a young maiden.

She smiled faintly, looking at her younger sister who was dobbing off with her head resting on the desk. The sorrow between her own brows seemed to dissipate a little as she leaned over to tidy up the writing brush and inkstone on the table.

"...Elder sister?" The young girl raised her head, sleep still lingering in her eyes like a hazy, ink-wash landscape of Jiangnan.

"Is Luo'er awake? Did big sister disturb you?"

"No, not at all. Luo'er has slept enough." The young girl stretched lazily and picked up a bamboo scroll lying nearby.

The carved marks revealed on the bamboo slips serving as the cover were four neat, exquisite, and graceful seal-script characters: *The Collected Works of Yulang*.

Zhen Luo shook her little head, quickly shaking off the remaining sleepiness, and plunged once more into the volume she had copied out with her own hands.

The thick bamboo scroll contained every single piece of literary work written by Zhang Yu that had spread throughout the world.

From *Gouli Xing* to the recent *Ode to the Lotus*, and even the lesser-known *Returning to Farm and Garden*, along with the thousands of words of *Rhapsody on the Epang Palace* which had won extraordinarily high praise from the literary circles—they were all inside.

One could only imagine what kind of deep affection and thoughts of this beautiful young maiden were soaked into every single stroke and brush line.

Zhen Jiang cast a look of mingled envy and tender affection at her younger sister, and was about to push the door open to leave when she suddenly heard a commotion echoing through the quiet courtyard.

"What is the matter?" Zhen Jiang opened the door and asked the maidservant waiting outside.

Before the maid could reply, she saw Zhen Chou rushing headlong toward the main courtyard, shouting "Mistress," "Mistress" all the way.

"Zhen Chou!" Zhen Jiang stepped forward to stop him. "Why are you so lacking in manners today? Is the inner courtyard a place for you to shout and holler?"

"It's not... Ah, this is an emergency!"

"Well, out with it then!"

"Yulang is here!"

"Ah?!" Zhen Jiang was startled, and a flurry of chaotic noise came from inside the room. "Where is he?"

"Outside the city gates. The gate captain wants us to go identify him..."