One evening, a black four-wheeled carriage stopped under an old elm tree by the entrance to Xue Cao’s residence. As soon as it did, seven or eight young men dressed in archery academy’s uniforms coincidentally came out from the residence. Of course, they saw Yan Liqiang who just got off the carriage too.

The students who came out from Xue Cao’s residence were all his close friends from the archery academy. Their reddened eyes suggested that they had been crying earlier. When they saw Yan Liqiang, they immediately straightened up into a salute.

“Greetings, Protectorate General…!” The students stood as straight as spears at the entrance. When Xue Cao’s elder brother saw Yan Liqiang, he also hurriedly bowed to Yan Liqiang. This wasn’t Yan Liqiang’s first visit to Xue Cao’s home, so his family had seen him before. Every time Yan Liqiang came to visit, Xue Cao’s family would feel extremely overwhelmed.

“Guo Pingkou, Zhang Guan, are you both here to see Xue Cao too?” Yan Liqiang didn’t put on airs either. He greeted the students and was even able to name two of them. “How is Xue Cao doing today?”

“He’s doing much better today! He even managed to pick up a spoon and he finished two bowls of porridge just now!” The students looked at Yan Liqiang with excitement in their eyes as Guo Pingkou replied to Yan Liqiang loudly.

Xue Cao’s return after being missing for so many days was a miracle to everyone in the archery academy. Before this, they all were prepared to receive ill news of him.

Over the past few days, the students more or less knew why Xue Cao managed to return because news of Guang’en County’s Zhu Clan from Yin Province’s Yulin Prefecture filing a report against Yan Liqiang to the Yin Provincial Governor’s Office spread like wildfire across the northwestern region and Qiyun Prefecture. Most of the details surrounding the incident were exposed, including the mysterious expert whom Yan Liqiang had sent to the Zhu Clan. Even gossip about the Divine Sword Sect’s disciples who kidnapped Xue Cao being killed and the Zhu brothers being crippled had spread throughout the northwestern region.

As part of the archery academy, the students felt indignant after finding out Xue Cao’s misfortune. They were also extremely moved to know the Protectorate General would provoke an influential clan like the Zhu Clan and the Divine Sword Sect, one of the four major sects in the Great Han Empire, for the sake of rescuing an ordinary student from the archery academy like Xue Cao. Hence, the students were overwhelmed with excitement when they saw Yan Liqiang again.

“Have you applied for leave from Master Shi to visit Xue Cao?”

“Yes, we did!”

“Alright, don’t return too late and make Master Shi worry!” Yan Liqiang nodded to them. “Take care of yourselves!”

“We will!”

After a short exchange with the students, Yan Liqiang followed Xue Cao’s brother into the courtyard. The students who came to visit Xue Cao watched Yan Liqiang disappear into Xue Cao’s home, then they exchanged glances with each other before they left.

After walking about forty to fifty meters out of Xue Cao’s residence in silence, one of the students finally broke the silence. “Do you think… the Divine Sword Sect will find trouble with Lord Yan? I heard the expert whom Lord Yan sent did a lot of damage to the sect and even killed two of their disciples, one being one of the seven heroes in their sect. The rest pretty much had their cultivation crippled…”

“Damn, that’s a huge loss to the Divine Sword Sect. I’m sure they’d come to find trouble with Lord Yan…”

“We should return and train hard. If we were powerful enough and had enough people to form huge armies in Qiyun Prefecture, they wouldn’t even have to come find trouble because we would go and take out those trash from the Divine Sword Sect and the Zhu Clan ourselves. We wouldn’t have to sit here and wait for them to make their moves…” Guo Pingkuo wiped his eyes and hissed.

“Right, we should train well when we return. If they dare use force against Lord Yan, we’ll f*ck them up. So what if they have experts? We’ll outnumber them…!”

……

Since Xue Cao’s family had met Yan Liqiang before, they were no longer flustered when the Protectorate General came to visit. After respectfully leading Yan Liqiang to where Xue Cao was resting, they left the room.

Xue Cao’s room was located on the east side of the courtyard. It was neat and filled with the strong scent of medicinal herbs…

“My lord…” When Xue Cao saw Yan Liqiang enter his room, he struggled to get up from his bed despite being wrapped up like a mummy.

“Lie down, lie down, don’t move around…” Yan Liqiang hurriedly pressed Xue Cao on his shoulder to keep him down. “I saw Guo Pingkuo and the rest when I arrived. They told me you were able to pick up a spoon today…”

“Yes, I’m recovering very fast. Physician Liu is the best physician in Qiyun Prefecture. He comes to dress my wounds and take my pulse every day. Thank you, my lord. Yesterday, my mother said that if it wasn’t for you this time, I probably wouldn’t have made it back alive…” Xue Cao’s eyes turned red while speaking.

“I’m just doing what I should be doing. There’s no need to thank me!”

“My lord, Physician Liu told me… even if my hands fully recover… I might not be able to draw a bow again… W-Will… Will I still be allowed back to the archery academy again…?” Xue Cao looked at Yan Liqiang apprehensively. Although Xue Cao’s injuries were given medical attention in time, there was no way to remove the effects brought about by them. His toes were so damaged that there was no choice but to amputate two of them. At the same time, his right thumb and index finger were pretty much crippled. Without a working thumb and index finger, it would be difficult to draw a bow. This was Xue Cao’s main concern…

“There’s no need for you to return to the archery academy again…” Xue Cao was instantly crestfallen at Yan Liqiang’s answer. However, Yan Liqiang wasn’t done speaking.

“By the time you recover, come work for me. I’m still in need of a commander. The position shall be yours. You may not be able to draw a bow with your right hand, but you can still use your left hand to kill enemies. Do not undervalue yourself. This is a gift from me — you can start cultivating it after you fully recover…” While speaking, Yan Liqiang took out a book from his chest pocket and handed it to Xue Cao.

As soon as Xue Cao laid eyes on the book, he was taken aback. It was a secret manual for a martial technique called the ‘Roaming Celestial Dragon Sword technique’…

“This Roaming Celestial Dragon Sword technique is most suitable to train on the left hand…”

“My lord…!” Xue Cao’s lips trembled as hot tears came streaming down his face.

“We still have a long journey ahead of us and I have many tasks waiting for you. Don’t start overthinking now. Focus on getting better and come work for me soon…” Yan Liqiang gave Xue Cao a pat on his shoulder. Xue Cao nodded gratefully to him as his eyes were once again filled with hope…

……

The sky was dark by the time Yan Liqiang left Xue Cao’s residence. After bidding farewell to Xue Cao’s family, Yan Liqiang climbed into the carriage and let out a long sigh.

As the saying went, ‘Through distant journeys, one knows the horses’ endurance.’ Through the kidnapping incident, Yan Liqiang saw Xue Cao in a new light. He was definitely someone worth nurturing and assigning an important position. The ‘Roaming Celestial Dragon Sword technique’ was one of the secret manuals Yan Liqiang had seen in his previous life that he had practiced before. The technique was to be trained with the left hand and had nine Heavenly Layers. It was suitable for Xue Cao’s future training.

The Zhu Clan incident was being handled between the Yin and Gan Provincial Governor’s Offices, but Yan Liqiang wasn’t concerned at all. The only thing that truly bothered him was how the Divine Sword Sect would react after knowing about this incident.

They got what they deserved for their misconduct, but it was hard to tell how the elders in the sect would handle this situation. Even so, Yan Liqiang wasn’t too worried because he feared no one in Gan Province. Whatever the Divine Sword Sect did, he’d take it at face value. It had always been a taboo for sects to make enemies with bureaucracies. Hence, Yan Liqiang just wouldn’t believe that the Divine Sword Sect would really dare to wage a war against him in Gan Province just because their two rubbish disciples were being unreasonable in the first place.

It was already late at night by the time Yan Liqiang returned to the Protectorate General’s Office. Liang Yijie’s personal bodyguard was awaiting his return. As soon as Yan Liqiang came back, Liang Yijie’s personal bodyguard immediately submitted a private letter that Liang Yijie had written to him.

When Yan Liqiang finished reading the private letter, he was stunned. The Emperor had summoned him for an audience at the Imperial Capital…