Chapter 55: Zhao Xingyang
Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Zhao Xingyang
On the main road to the county seat.
Xie Yuan watched Qin Hai striding forward, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:
"Master Qin, what will I need to do after I join the Escort Agency?"
To be honest, having been suddenly recruited into the Longteng Escort Agency, he knew nothing about its inner workings beyond a vague impression.
"What will you do? Escort shipments, of course!"
Qin Hai said with a smile:
"Below the Chief Head and the various Heads of the Escort, not counting the accountants and other miscellaneous staff, the agency is divided into Darts Masters and guards. You’ll start as a guard.
"A guard gets a regular monthly salary of three taels of silver, with additional rewards depending on mission performance. If you do well, earning ten taels of silver a month is no problem."
Ten taels of silver?
Xie Yuan was a little surprised.
No wonder everyone said the Longteng Escort Agency was a massive enterprise with profound strength. Even the lowest-ranking guards could earn ten taels of silver a month.
He used to make a living by chopping wood, and through hard work, he could also earn that much in a month. But that was only because of his unique abilities and the fact that he’d discovered a grove of precious trees and a sales channel for them.
Earning silver would only get easier once he formed his own logging team and became the boss.
The Longteng Escort Agency had at least a hundred guards, and that was before counting all the Darts Masters and Heads of the Escort. How many taels of silver did that add up to in monthly expenses?
A business of this scale was truly astonishing.
"But silver is secondary. Inside our Escort Agency, the more valuable thing is ’merit’."
Qin Hai continued:
"You can buy basic necessities with silver, but the agency’s Martial Dao Cultivation Techniques, Treasure Medicines, and supplementary materials must be exchanged for with merit.
"As long as you complete missions, you’ll earn a corresponding amount of merit. The more numerous and difficult the missions, the more merit you’ll naturally get.
"With merit, you can exchange for most of the Martial Dao-related items within the agency. And our Escort Agency’s collection of Cultivation Techniques and various treasures is the best in Yunzhao County, rivaling that of any Sect, and we don’t have many restrictions. If you earn enough merit, your progress in the Martial Dao will naturally be lightning-fast.
"That’s why any guard or Darts Master in the agency with even a little ambition values merit more than silver and fights for it every day. The agency doesn’t block the path upward, which is why we’re all so driven."
Qin Hai patted Xie Yuan’s shoulder and said meaningfully:
"If you’re thinking of joining just to freeload off the agency, you’d better get that idea out of your head right now. The agency doesn’t support slackers, especially not under Boss Zhao."
"I’ll remember that."
Xie Yuan was not one for idle pleasures; he was also incredibly eager to grow stronger.
After hearing this, Xie Yuan couldn’t wait to get in and take on missions every day, to trade more merit for Cultivation Techniques.
With his talent, the more he learned and practiced, the faster his strength would increase.
However, he also caught a hint of something in Qin Hai’s words and asked:
"Master Qin, is Boss Zhao very strict with his men? Will I be working under him when I join?"
"Of course! Boss Zhao recruited you, so naturally, you’ll work for him. You’re a member of the Escort Agency, but more importantly, you’re one of Boss Zhao’s men. You’d better remember that."
"We’ll be brothers from now on anyway, so I’ll lay it all out for you.
"We’re all members of the Escort Agency, there’s no question about that.
"But besides the Chief Head, the agency has five great Heads of the Escort, each with their own Escort Team. You need to be clear about who you’re following.
"Wei Zhen the Head of the Escort and Chu Sheng the Head of the Escort are both Fourth Training masters. They’ve followed the Chief Head for many years and are highly respected, so we naturally defer to them. Xu Mo the Head of the Escort is at the Third Training, he’s a senior with enough experience, and we get along with him, so we respect him too.
"But that other one, Lu Zhenyu the Head of the Escort, well..."
Qin Hai rubbed his chin and chuckled:
"Head of the Escort Lu is young and promising. He just passed thirty and is already a Third Training Martial Artist. Before our Boss Zhao arrived, he was acclaimed as the successor to the Chief Head."
"Before Boss Zhao arrived..."
Xie Yuan silently mulled over the deeper meaning and asked:
"Is Boss Zhao very young?"
"Not just young. He’s twenty-four this year, younger than most of the Darts Masters and guards in the agency, but he’s already a Head of the Escort. To become a Head of the Escort, there’s one hard requirement—"
Qin Hai held up three fingers:
"Third Training. Peak of the Third Training."
Xie Yuan nodded and said with admiration:
"Boss Zhao is truly young and promising."
"Xiaoxie, you don’t seem to understand the significance of this, do you?"
Seeing that Xie Yuan wasn’t as shocked as he had expected, Qin Hai couldn’t help but add:
"Twenty-four years old! Look anywhere in Yunzhao County, and you won’t find a Third Training master this young! If nothing unexpected happens, Boss Zhao will definitely reach, or even surpass, the Chief Head’s realm!"
Xie Yuan nodded. He knew this was a young expert.
In Panlong Town, a Second Training Martial Artist could open their own school and take on disciples, becoming a dominant figure in the area. But the three school masters there were all middle-aged, at least.
This Boss Zhao was only twenty-four and already at the Third Training. In a place like Yunzhao County, he could truly be called a genius.
But Xie Yuan himself was sixteen years old this year.
After training in martial arts for three months, he was already a First Training Martial Artist.
He still had eight years until he was twenty-four.
Eight years from now, what realm would he be at?
Xie Yuan pulled his thoughts back and asked curiously:
"Master Qin, what kind of person is Boss Zhao?"
"Boss Zhao... Let’s put it this way. If one day the agency took on a life-or-death escort mission, and someone had to be the face—the decoy with a fake shipment—Boss Zhao would definitely fight for the chance to do it. He’d fight for the chance to die."
Qin Hai grinned, revealing his large, slightly yellowed teeth:
"And I, old Qin, would be willing to charge in with him."
Seeing the forthright man laugh with such a carefree expression, Xie Yuan was moved.
’What kind of young man could inspire such a stalwart man to follow him to the death?’
"If you want to know what kind of person Boss Zhao is, why don’t you just go see for yourself?"
Qin Hai laughed heartily and pointed to a large compound ahead:
"We’ve arrived at the Escort Agency."
Before they knew it, they had reached the heart of Yunzhao County.
While the land in Yunzhao County might not be worth its weight in gold, this compound, located on a street near the center, took up nearly half the block. It was like a manor, and its cost must have been astronomical.
But seeing the four large, gilded characters for "Longteng Escort Agency" on the plaque above the main gate, passersby were not surprised.
In one of the compound’s side courtyards, about a dozen sturdy men were gathered. The Escort Vehicles were ready, and both men and horses were in prime condition. It was an Escort Team about to set off.
However, in front of the orderly Escort Team, a tall young man in blue martial attire was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, glancing at the sky from time to time as if waiting for someone.
"Boss, let’s stop waiting! The kid might not even come, and even if he does, he might not make it in time."
A burly man shouted.
The blue-clad youth extended his fingers, made a few quick calculations, and nodded.
"I’ve calculated it on my fingers. He should be here within a quarter of an hour. If not, we leave."
The Escort Team burst into laughter, and someone teased:
"When did you learn fortune-telling, Boss? How about you tell me when I’ll be able to get married?"
"You, get married? You blush just talking to a decent girl, but you’re all smiles and jokes with the women at the brothels. I think you should just spend the rest of your life in a brothel!"
"Fuck you!"
The blue-clad youth smiled faintly. Just as he was about to join in, his eyes lit up and he pointed to the side gate:
"Look, isn’t he here now!"
Xie Yuan had just followed Qin Hai into the side courtyard when his vision blurred, and a young man with sword-like brows that reached his temples and eyes as bright as stars appeared before him.
The young man’s hands moved like lightning. Before Xie Yuan could react, he had squeezed and prodded his shoulders, arms, waist, legs, and muscles all over. Then, he nodded, pulled out a few manuals from his chest, glanced at them, picked one out, and tossed it to Xie Yuan:
"Broad shoulders, long arms, strong waist and back. You’re definitely suited for a wide, sweeping style. Take this Rushing Wolf Saber Skill and practice it. Hmm, giving you a saber skill when you have zero merit is a bit against the rules, but you can owe me for now. We’ll sort it out later.
"I’ll be back in seven days to check on your progress. Right now, I’m accepting you half because of you, and the other big half because of the Vajra Sect. I hope that in seven days, it will be entirely because of you."
The young man clapped Xie Yuan on the shoulder, and without waiting for a reply, he turned, mounted his horse, and waved his arm forcefully:
"Let’s move out!"
He led the way out of another side gate. The men and horses behind him passed by Xie Yuan one by one, their gazes a mixture of curiosity, friendliness, and doubt. There were also whispers that Xie Yuan couldn’t quite make out:
"I told you the Boss can’t do math. Half plus a *big* half? That’s way more than the whole thing!"
"You talk too much!"
A laughing curse came from the front. The young man turned, reached out to take the escort flag held by a guard, and unfurled it in the wind. He personally led the escort cry, his voice echoing down the entire street:
"Longteng of Yunzhou! Yunzhou’s Longteng!"
The Escort Team’s procession of men and horses was vast, following behind Zhao Xingyang like a long dragon.