Chapter 239

Zhang Zhu argues against sheltering the two newcomers, warning that Zhang Clan’s group is the weakest force in the caravan and cannot afford to offend another clan over two insignificant servants. Shang Xin Ci hesitates, unable to decide, until Fang Yuan proposes his own solution: let Chen Clan believe she is imprisoning him and Bai Ning Bing as punishment for offending her, since Chen Clan will not risk conflict over two mortals. Shang Xin Ci likes the idea and has Xiao Die arrange a tent for them, though the servant girl does it unwillingly. Zhang Zhu is not persuaded and privately decides to investigate the two newcomers himself. ^{ch. 239}

That night, sharing the small tent, Fang Yuan takes Bai Ning Bing’s hand and tells her everything will be fine, calling her by their assumed name. In the dark, she secretly passes a portion of her snow silver primeval essence into him through her palm. He is already rank two, his primeval sea filled with red steel primeval essence, and though he can use four flavors liquor worm, that Gu has lost its use to him now that Bai Ning Bing’s essence is available. Her snow silver essence refines his aperture and rapidly builds his accumulation, while his breath concealing Gu keeps his aura from leaking; his disguise is not likely to be broken unless he uses Gu worms outside his body. Breath concealing Gu is only rank three, this caravan has no rank four Gu Master, and no one has reason to pay Hei Tu and Bai Yun any special attention. Once the borrowed essence is spent, Fang Yuan activates crocodile strength Gu, permanently adding new strength to his body and hardening his skeleton, once white, into something like firm black iron. ^{ch. 239}

The caravan sets out again at dawn. Over the following dozen or so days Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing work by day and cultivate by night as the caravan leaves Zi You mountain behind for the Fei Hou mountain region; Fang Yuan judges that the farther they travel from Zi You mountain, the safer their disguise remains. In this time he gains half of a crocodile’s strength, though many of his bone spear Gu starve because the milk spring feeding them runs short; giving up part of it to keep the rest alive costs him Gu he could otherwise have sold, and it pains him. He means to buy a full set of Gu worms in Shang clan city, which will take a large sum of primeval stones; the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus could produce dozens of primeval stones a day, but he dares not use it inside the caravan and risk exposure. Controlling Shang Xin Ci matters even more to him now, since she will become one of Shang Clan’s young masters once they arrive, which would ease his own business there. ^{ch. 239}

The caravan moves through Fei Hou mountain’s dark, fog bound forest until visibility shrinks to ten steps, then stops when bandit monkeys block the path ahead. Fei Hou mountain was once forbidden and unpassable for merchants. Early caravans fought the bandit monkeys and killed wave after wave of them, but the monkeys kept reappearing until the caravans were either annihilated or forced into retreat, because unlike other ranges where different beasts check each other, only bandit monkeys rule here and unite against any outsider. The deadlock broke only when the rank five righteous Gu Master Sky Crown Marquis climbed to the peak and used a monkey language Gu to strike an agreement with the monkey emperor, opening a route that has since become one of Southern Border’s three most important trade roads. Caravan leader Jia Long warns everyone to follow the rules or answer to his Jia clan. ^{ch. 239}