"Qinghe’s Prosperity, He Wu..."

About five miles outside the city, the convoy unfurled its great banner. The vanguard cleared the path ahead, shouting loudly.

Qinghe Xinglong was the security agency’s trade name, and "He Wu" was the escort’s call, signifying a desire for harmony and peaceful coexistence.

On one hand, it boosted their morale; on the other, it served as an advance notice to any bandits or mountain thieves lying in ambush, a request for safe passage.

The convoy consisted of over sixty people. Excluding the cart drivers, attendants, and servants, at least two-thirds were capable fighters.

They were all adult men; there wasn’t a single woman among them.

The rule of not bringing women along in high-risk professions like sailors or escorts was an age-old tradition.

It wasn’t out of superstition, but rather because these professions were filled with hot-blooded young men who were easily stirred by the presence of women, especially under high-risk, high-pressure situations.

Regardless of a woman’s intentions, jealousy, fights, and brawls would frequently break out among the men. Thus, this unwritten rule came to be.

If there were any women, they were usually old and unattractive.

"Including me, there are five of us at the Qi Realm," Yuan Cheng secretly told Zhao Lin.

When one’s martial arts reached the Qi Realm, their Qi and Blood would become abundant and their power would naturally radiate outward. Unless they deliberately concealed it, Qi Realm masters could sense one another.

Zhao Lin didn’t know what goods they were escorting, nor was it his place to ask. But given such a large-scale operation, he figured the cargo must be extremely important.

’But can these men really handle the bandits on the road?’

’Never mind those farther away, Drilling Mountain Leopard alone supposedly has over two hundred men. And there are two other bandit groups outside the mountains whose strength can’t be underestimated.’

Yuan Cheng seemed to read his mind and said with a laugh, "Don’t worry. As long as we’re careful and don’t give anyone an opening, we have more than enough men."

"Isn’t that right, Mr. Li?"

He directed his last sentence to the escort leader traveling with them.

Mr. Li heard him and said, "That’s right. This must be your first time on an escort mission, brother? You don’t know the ins and outs of the business. Let me break it down for you."

"To run a successful security agency, you definitely need to be able to fight, but fighting alone isn’t enough. There are countless masters across the land. If they all decide to oppose you, it doesn’t matter how many men you have. Even if you’re made of iron, how many nails can you produce?"

"It all boils down to three ’hards’!"

Zhao Lin played along. "And what are the three ’hards’?"

"A hard backer in the government, hard connections in the underworld, and hard skills of your own."

Mr. Li pointed at the convoy and said, "In our agency, we have retired constables and disciples from martial arts schools. I wouldn’t say we have friends everywhere, but we pay our respects to the various powers, big and small, along the routes. That way, they won’t give us trouble when we’re on a mission."

"I see. That’s very enlightening."

Zhao Lin had a sudden realization. ’So it’s a business of cooperation and mutual benefit,’ he thought.

Yuan Cheng chimed in, "You have to send gifts, but you can’t be short on men for the escort, either. If the bandits think they can take you without lifting a finger, they won’t mind tossing their reputations aside to rob you."

"That makes sense."

Seeing that Zhao Lin was humble and willing to set aside his status to ask for guidance, Mr. Li took a liking to him and began explaining the inner workings of the security agency business.

Unlike what Zhao Lin had imagined, an agency’s business wasn’t just escorting goods. There were actually six main services: freight escorting, household guarding, money transfers, shop-guarding, night-watching, and protecting treasury clerks.

Freight escorting and household guarding were self-explanatory, and money transfers were also easy to understand. Shop-guarding meant having escorts stationed at a business to prevent people from maliciously causing trouble or engaging in extortion.

The agency’s shop-guarding services covered all sorts of industries, but they never accepted jobs from casinos or brothels.

The reason was that these two industries were disdained by the common people. The agencies valued their reputations and didn’t want to be associated with them, so that line of work was mostly handled by gangs.

Night-watching, also known as "pool-sitting," usually involved wealthy families hiring escorts during festivals to guard against bandits and thieves.

The last service was protecting treasury clerks. A treasury clerk was a minor official in charge of a silver vault. Though their rank was low, it was a lucrative position. With a flick of their fingers, they could skim silver from the vault, writing it off as a loss.

As a result, thieves and robbers loved to target them, specializing in robbing, kidnapping, and murdering treasury clerks.

That’s why treasury clerks were willing to pay escorts to guard the vaults and protect their lives.

"In short, for an escort to make their way in the world, they not only need outstanding skills, but they also have to understand the slang of the martial world and the rules of every trade."

Mr. Li concluded.

"I am grateful for your instruction!" Zhao Lin said sincerely.

Before he knew it, the convoy had left Qinghe County and was traveling through a vast, fertile plain. In the distance, he could see large swathes of lush green fields, the crops growing splendidly.

Zhao Lin thought to himself, ’The weather really is different every year. This might turn out to be a bountiful year after all.’

The convoy followed the main road north at a steady pace. They sent scouts ahead whenever they approached forests or mountains and didn’t stop for breaks, continuing until they found lodging in a town for the night.

Once settled in at the inn, Zhao Lin took out a Vajra Pill and swallowed it.

Before this trip, Zhu Huaishan had given him twenty Vajra Pills to use for his training on the road.

After taking the pill, Zhao Lin practiced the Six-Syllable Mantra for two hours.

He had now mastered the breathing technique and could practice without making a sound.

Yuan Cheng and Zhao Lin were sharing a room. He spoke in a half-joking, half-serious tone, "To be honest, I really admire you. You’re so talented, yet you never slack off in your training. No wonder the master favors you."

"If I had your drive, maybe I could’ve gone even further."

’I transmigrated from a stable society governed by the rule of law, so I was born with a strong sense of crisis,’ Zhao Lin thought. ’Someone native to this world would never understand that feeling.’

Practicing martial arts is like rowing a boat upstream; for most martial artists, breakthroughs are concentrated before the age of twenty-five, when their Qi and Blood are at their peak.

Twenty-five is a threshold. If one can break through to the Blood Realm, their Qi and Blood will be revitalized, and their peak period can be extended by another ten or twenty years.

Otherwise, most of their efforts thereafter would be spent merely maintaining their cultivation level, making another breakthrough nearly impossible.

For the next few days, the group traveled by day and rested at night. The cargo was guarded at all times, and they never let their guard down.

Perhaps influenced by the novels and television shows from his past life, Zhao Lin kept expecting danger on the road, but surprisingly, nothing happened.

Thinking it over, with so many people on the escort, petty thieves definitely couldn’t handle them. Even major bandits would be afraid of breaking their teeth on such a tough nut. It was much safer for them to just accept a gift of money.

The convoy only encountered a minor hiccup when passing a place called Hongyuan Mountain: another convoy of escorted carts appeared on the road ahead, coming from the opposite direction.

Everyone tensed up for a moment, but the people in the other convoy seemed even more nervous. Both sides deferred to each other for a long time, neither daring to pass first.

Finally, the chief escort, Pan Xiashou, ordered their convoy to pull off the main road and form a circle, allowing the other party to pass. That resolved the situation.

By noon on the seventh day, the convoy arrived safely in Changliu City, Taizhou Prefecture.

"What do you think of Changliu City?"

Yuan Cheng asked in a boastful tone.

Changliu City was the prefectural capital of Taizhou, its prosperity far beyond what Qinghe County could compare to. He assumed this was Zhao Lin’s first time seeing it.

"It’s quite bustling," Zhao Lin said without much conviction.

After entering the city, the convoy didn’t stop, heading straight for the recipient of the goods—the Liu Mansion.

When the master of the mansion learned that the goods had arrived, he came out personally to greet them.

"Your Excellency, the escorted goods have been delivered safely. Please inspect them."

Pan Xiashou respectfully presented the cargo manifest.

"The inspection checks out. Thank you all for your hard work."

After Master Liu finished his count, he had his men move the goods into the mansion and gave them a monetary reward in return.