Self-doubt was apparent on Escort Zhang’s face. As the other person had said earlier, as armed escorts, they were quite familiar when it came to roads they had traversed before. They had memorized every single landmark on the paths they traveled.
The Three Mile Hill was an example of such landmarks. It was compulsory for them to pass through here and for more than ten years, Escort Zhang had traveled Three Mile Hill’s road for at least twenty times now. He knew this place quite well. Although it wasn’t to the extent of being familiar like it was the back of his own courtyard, he could at least tell how many mountains there were.
Especially when a mountain appeared where there used to be none. It was obvious at first glance.
“Old Xu, come take a look at this!” Escort Zhang called one of the veteran escorts over. The man had been serving Escort Zhang for over ten years now so he too was familiar with this place.
“Look over there. I don’t remember a mountain being there, just a few slopes here and there,” Escort Zhang sounded hesitant as he spoke. Indeed, what he saw was quite different from what he remembered.
That mountain before him was definitely real and his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
Old Xu came over and looked just as baffled.
“That’s odd. There wasn’t supposed to be a mountain there. We’ve been here just two months ago so how could a mountain form in such a short amount of time?” Old Xu shook his head. That mountain didn’t seem real to him at all.
A few other veteran escorts came over as well. Each of them came to a consensus that there used to be no mountain there. They could confirm it because Three Mile Hill was too iconic for them to have made a mistake.
“How strange. Come. We’ll have to pass it anyway. Let’s circle over and take a closer look.” Escort Zhang and the others found it inconceivable. Out of curiosity, they decided to investigate the new hill.
Moments later, they arrived at the foot of the hill.
Upon closer observation, the hill was bald without any grass or trees as if it had only just formed. If they squinted, they could clearly see fresh soil in some places. It was like the earth had been dug up and piled together to a massive mound.
By no means was it tall, even for a hill.
“Look, there’s someone on top,” one of the escorts with keen eyes shouted as he pointed upward.
The group looked up and sure enough, there was someone sitting at the peak. Though, due to the distance and the darkness, they could only make out the silhouette of a human.
“We’re out in the wilderness and some mysterious guy is sitting up there. He’s not some weird monster or demon, is he?” someone commented, clearly spooked by the oddity.
Despite Escort Zhang’s brutish appearance, he was a good guy. And a very good guy at that.
“It’ll be terrible if that person is in some sort of trouble. This hill isn’t tall so I’ll go and take a look.” In addition to what he said, Escort Zhang was also curious as to what that person was doing up there.
The others tried persuading him against it. However, despite Escort Zhang’s age, his martial arts skills hadn’t fallen behind. Also, his pet beast was the strongest among their team.
A docked-tail mountain lion.
This mountain lion wasn’t exactly huge; it was just slightly bigger than a mongrel. However, its tail had been cut off some time ago in a fight. Its body was peppered with scars, indicating that it had a rich combat experience.
Just like Escort Zhang, this beast was a veteran of the battlefield, an experienced warrior.
Escort Zhang called for him and the mountain lion followed him quietly. There was no road up this hill but they could scale it with the help of some protruding rocks.
“The moon is rather bright tonight,” Escort Zhang mumbled to himself halfway up as he looked up at the starry sky.
He didn’t sense anything but his pet beast, the mountain lion, suddenly let out a low growl.
“What is it?” Escort Zhang asked.
He had a hand over the weapon around his waist. Having been companions with his pet beast for so long, the duo understood each other well. The mountain lion was reacting this way because it sensed danger.
Prior to this, the creature had always been accurate, but this time, the mountain lion was somewhat confused. His instincts merely told him that something was wrong with this mountain.
As if there was something scary beneath it.
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Seeing as the mountain lion didn’t follow up with anything else, Escort Zhang continued upward. From this distance, he could now see the person on top clearly. It was an unusually dressed young man with a strong aura.
He was sitting cross-legged, basking in the moonlight.
He didn’t seem to be in danger nor sickly or a person who climbed all the way up here to seek death.
Escort Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.
After learning that the man was alright, he didn’t continue climbing. The was no reason for him to either.
Out in the world, one had to be careful. But fate was concerned too. In the past, for over ten years, Escort Zhang had come across many encounters during his journeys. He met some people seeking death too. Back when he was young, he saw someone attempting suicide by jumping into a river. He was inexperienced then and thought he should mind his own business so he left that person be.
After that, they rested by the river only to see a corpse flowing down from upstream. Upon closer observation, it was that person who jumped to his death.
That person had finally chosen to jump into the river and ended up being washed downstream.
The appearance of that corpse would continue to haunt Escort Zhang’s mind after that incident in the form of continuous nightmares. Subsequently, he fell extremely ill. Having lived through that episode, Escort Zhang learned that although humans can be weak, they must be kind.
One could be vicious toward evildoers but being vicious did not equate to being evil. If the opportunity to show kindness ever arose, he would take it. Only then would one’s conscience rest easy.
It was as the saying, ‘a good conscience is a soft pillow’.
Escort Zhang was that kind of person. If ever someone needed a helping hand, he would willingly extend it. Sometimes, he would even be called a fool or an overly nice guy.
Seeing that the man was safe, he stopped in his tracks to take a breather before preparing to climb back down.
All of a sudden, the weather changed.
Escort Zhang could only feel the wind whistling beside his ears. He couldn’t open his eyes for a moment but he heard his mountain lion roaring in fear. This frightened Escort Zhang out of his wits. He didn’t know what happened but instinct led him to draw the sword around his waist.
For the next few moments, Escort Zhang couldn’t open his eyes but he heard the most terrifying noise he had ever heard in his entire life. Coupled with the whistling wind, there was a harrowing roar of a beast.
That roar sounded like a hand seizing his heart, causing Escort Zhang to almost faint as his heart rate increased.
Fortunately, this dreadful situation didn’t go on very long. It went as quickly as it came.
Escort Zhang could finally open his eyes. What puzzled him was despite the strong wind, there didn’t seem to be dust or debris flying around. All was quiet as if nothing had happened at all.
He looked up at the person on the peak only to see that the man had already stood up and opened his eyes. The man was currently staring at him.
As their eyes met, Escort Zhang could sense the intense depth behind that man’s clear gaze. Based on Escort Zhang’s years of experience and the number of people he had met, he had a feeling that this was no ordinary Joe.
Lin Jin spoke first.
“My surname is Lin. I’m just sitting on top of this mountain to enjoy the peace but I’ve ended up worrying you that it made you climb all the way up here.” Lin Jin spoke tenderly. But those who knew him well enough would know that Lin Jin’s composure was fake.
Of course, it was fake.
Although that earlier experience had been extremely risky, he finally got what he wanted so of course, he was excited. Also, the benefits he gained far exceeded only one drop of blood and a feather.
However, Lin Jin had had to pay dearly for it. He was in a severely injured state right now, not physically, but mentally.
Lin Jin’s nose suddenly wiggled as he caught the scent of something. Immediately, he jumped down and appeared among the escorts at the foot of the mountain.
However, Lin Jin wasn’t looking at the escorts. He was eyeing the goods the escort team was transporting.
“What a strong fragrance of medicine.”
Lin Jin’s nose wriggled again as he took a deep breath. His psyche was heavily damaged and the medicinal scent on this carriage actually calmed and nourished his psyche.
Lin Jin had no time to explain himself. He simply saluted the men and said, “My good men, please let me borrow your herbs.”