Chapter 68: Chapter 68

The carriage was still a two-wheeled horse carriage. The only difference was that Shi Changfeng’s two-wheeled horse carriage was more spacious than the one Yan Liqiang sat in previously. The arrangement inside the horse carriage was meticulously selected. There was even an incense lit within the horse carriage, emitting a dense fragrance which permeated the fragrance of sandalwood throughout the entire carriage. When people smelled it, their minds would be cleared in an instant.

“Ride…” The coachman sat in front of the carriage. He shook the reins and forcefully whipped the horse with the horsewhip. When they heard the loud crack from the horsewhip, the horse harnessed to the carriage broke into a faster gallop than before as they left the barracks.

At this time, Pingxi City seemed to have just woken up. The number of pedestrians on the street was few and far between while the stores hadn’t even opened yet. The horse carriage charged along the flat street in the city, without any worries of colliding into anyone.

It was uncertain as to whether it was due to the fact that he was in the carriage or they weren’t able to catch up to the carriage on foot, but Yan Liqiang did not see any Shatu people chasing the carriage.

In the midst of charging, the horse carriage rocked slightly so it wasn’t a smooth ride. This was probably a common problem with two-wheeled horse carriages. Yet Yan Liqiang had already figured what was going on the moment they left the barracks. It must be due to the fact that Commandant Su had sent personnel over to the martial arts academy and told them about him. Thus, the martial arts academy sent Shi Changfeng, whom he had met before, over at first light.

Today was originally the day he was to officially report himself to the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy. Never did Yan Liqiang expect that he would actually be picked up by others.

Once he boarded the carriage, Yan Liqiang had this feeling that Shi Changfeng’s eyes had never left his body. He appeared slightly serious. This made Yan Liqiang mutter irresolutely and secretly deep down as he attempted to make a jab at Shi Changfeng’s current state of mind, wondering whether it was the same feeling the other Head Instructors felt who had gone out all the way to pick up other students?

“I know what happened yesterday!” Shi Changfeng stared at Yan Liqiang, opening his mouth to break the silence in the horse carriage. “Not bad. You did well. No wonder you placed first in the Qinghe County Martial Arts Examination and are a worthy student of our Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy!” Once he finished, a trace of a smile finally broke out on Shi Changfeng’s solemn countenance. Yan Liqiang also finally got to see a trace of admiration in Shi Changfeng’s eyes.

Yan Liqiang was more or less comforted to receive recognition from an academy tutor from the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy. In this world, people had a natural sense of justice. “Thank you Lord Shi for your compliment. I only did what I needed to do!”

“Hahaha! From today onwards, you’re already considered a student at the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy! So you don’t need to call me Lord Shi anymore. You should change your formalities. Just call me Teacher Shi…”

“Okay! Teacher Shi!” Yan Liqiang smiled. “I heard there are many courses in the martial arts academy. May I know what courses Teacher Shi teaching?”

“I’m responsible for the martial arts academy’s courses in sword art along with literature and history. Have you ever trained in sword art before?”

“I have never trained in sword art before but I have dabbled in some spear art, as well as the art of archery…” Yan Liqiang held his words back. His cultivation in the art of archery would be exposed one day, so he chose to slightly divulge the fact that he had trained in the art of archery to avoid others from being too surprised by it in the future. The Hong Clan’s incident had already become a thing of the past. Thus, his cultivation in the art of archery naturally didn’t need to be concealed perpetually…

“Oh, that’s good!” Shi Changfeng nodded. “Spear art and the art of archery are both the way of the battlefield. It would be extremely favorable for one to have these skills in the future. But sword art is also one of the martial practitioner’s Confucian Six Arts. It mustn’t be ignored in the favor of others. Once you master it, regardless of whether you’re traveling around the pugilist world or fighting in close-quarters on the battlefield, you can subdue the enemy in one move, incisive beyond measure!”

“Yes! I will definitely ask for guidance from Teacher Shi in the future!”

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“Good!” Shi Changfeng nodded before abruptly asking a question. “Do you know that yesterday at the city gates, the moment you make a move, you are already in deep trouble? There’s a chance that the Shatu people might want to seek vengeance against you. Do you regret it?”

“I already fought them so what’s there to be regret? The only thing I regret is that if I knew firsthand that those Shatu men would be so vile, I would have struck out harder then!” Yan Liqiang replied while shaking his head. “It’s just that I don’t understand one thing and feel perturbed in my heart. I don’t know why those men were so arrogant and despotic in Pingxi City? They can ride horses into the city without paying tolls, and they can even escape the laws of committing crimes while causing disturbances in addition to hitting people? Is this Pingxi City still even our Chinese Pingxi City?”

“You’ve never heard of the Shatu Seven Tribes before?”

“I’m not afraid of Teacher Shi making fun of me. I focused all my attention in martial arts training before, and only heard of the Shatu Seven Tribes one time from my father back home. As for the details, I have no idea…” Yan Liqiang scratched his head as he replied awkwardly.

Shi Changfeng stared at Yan Liqiang for a few seconds before heaving a sigh of relief. He sighed, “No wonder you obtained first place in the Qinghe County’s martial arts examination. Turns out that you have spent all your efforts in training and paid no attention to outside matters…”

“I’m ashamed. I only realized that my knowledge is not up to par when I came out. Fortunately Teacher is here right now so it’s a good time for me to request guidance from you. May I know where the Shatu Seven Tribes come from?”

Shi Changfeng groaned for a while. “Eighty years ago, in order to vie over the Shatu Alliance’s Chanyu’s throne, a great civil war broke out between the Shatu tribes. The known Shatu Seven Tribes were the Shatu people’s tribes which consisted of the Dark Razor Tribe, the Dark Mountain Tribe, the Dark Wood Tribe, the Earthen Desert Tribe, the Coyote Tribe, the Stormy Plain Tribe, and the Stormy River Tribe. These seven tribes were defeated as well as the fortunate survivors during the Shatu Civil War. They were hunted by other victorious Shatu tribes. When they were at the end of their rope, the seven Shatu tribes brought along several million clan members to flee from calamity and they came to the border of our Great Han Empire. They expressed their willingness to submit to the Great Han Empire to become our empire’s subjects. They begged our empire to accept them. Due to this reason, the Shatu Seven Tribes existed within the borders of our Great Han Empire!”

Yan Liqiang was taken aback. He never realized that those overbearing, rude, unreasonable and tyrannical Shatu men were the descendants of the refugees who had escaped to the Great Han Empire. The contrast was too great.

“Since those Shatu men are refugees, they are no different than homeless curs. How can they still be so unbridled and are able to throw their weight about in Pingxi City?”

“This is what it meant by times have changed!” Lord Shi let out a sigh. “Back then when the Great Han Empire received the Shatu Seven Tribes, the empire permitted them to move to Mount Vast Cloud which lies in the common border between Gan Province and Feng Province as well as the Gulang Plains for settlement. The empire also offered a lot of assistance, hoping to make the Shatu people become a protective shield between us and the Black Ram tribe. Many years passed, and the Shatu Seven Tribes which only had several million men before now have a population that has expanded nearly tenfold. In addition, the man who highly supported accepting the Shatu Seven Tribes in the imperial court had already been the empire’s prime minister for a long time. That man treated the sheltered Shatu people as his own merits and achievements. A few years ago, he even issued the Writ of Grace, permitting the Shatu people within the Gan and Feng Provinces to enjoy preferential treatments such as minor offenses that would not be pursued, no tolls to enter the city, riding horses into the city, and such. As time went on, the Shatu Seven Tribes was already practicing insubordination and was dissatisfied with small gains. Thus, they began to seize the authorities and making noise, even to the extent of rebelling and vandalizing. And the upper echelons would side with the Shatu people every time during this time period. The situation in Pingxi City isn’t considered to be too serious yet. In some areas of Feng Province, the Shatu Seven Tribes territories are expanding day after day. In some rural counties, they are now completely under the rule of the Shatu people. Nobody dared to control them even when they committed a crime. The Chinese are instead being forced aside until they have nowhere else to stay. Quite a number of them have fled with their families in succession…”

“Those who are not our kin are sure to have different hearts. We are giving preferential treatment to another tribe as they suppress our own kin. With such a perverse way of doing things, enraging the people and the Heavens alike, wouldn’t great chaos brew in Feng Province and Gan Province sooner or later?” Yan Liqiang sharp inhaled a breath.

Upon hearing Yan Liqiang’s words, Shi Changfeng suddenly stared at him in astonishment as he was surprised beyond measure. “I never expected you to have such insight at a young age!”

This was also known as insight? Wasn’t it just common sense? Yan Liqiang almost blurted this out loud. However, the words that were about to left his mouth was then eventually forcefully swallowed by him back down….

It was at this moment that the horse carriage had arrived at a place, slowly coming to a stop. It was currently being interrogated at the main entrance…

“Teacher, is this the martial arts academy of Pingxi Prefecture?” Sitting inside the horse carriage, Yan Liqiang couldn’t tell from the scenery outside. In addition, it was his first time coming to Pingxi City so he was unfamiliar with the city itself. Thus, he naturally couldn’t tell where he was right now.

“This isn’t the martial arts academy. It’s the Pingxi Prefecture’s Military Governor’s Office. The military governor wishes to have an audience with you!”

Shi Changfeng’s words surprised Yan Liqiang once more…