Sanfeng Village, located in the eastern part of the Calamity Realm, is a very inconspicuous small mountain village nad after the three connected peaks behind it.
Today, Sanfeng Village, which rarely receives any visitors, welcod a remarkable young guest.
This guest was tall, handso, and brave-looking. He wore a blue outfit, carried a sharp long knife at his waist, and rode on an exceptionally handso chestnut-red horse, capturing the attention of everyone in Sanfeng Village, regardless of age or gender.
"Young man, this old man hasn’t a clue about the old man from the Demon Realm you’re asking about. I’ve never been outside a hundred-mile radius in my life, so how would I know what you’re talking about..."
At this mont, Wang Zhifan, sitting on the Red Deer Horse, listened to the white-bearded old man at the door of a house a yard away answer his question, and imdiately realized that this elderly man, who seed to have a wealth of life experience, was rely pretending.
"Sorry to bother you, old sir."
Failing to gather the needed information, Wang Zhifan could only respond politely before urging his Red Deer Horse to continue on its way.
In fact, the old man just now was not the first person he had asked in this village, but the situation with others was similar. They were unfamiliar with the concept of the Demon Realm, and so didn’t even know that this world was called the Calamity Realm, making him realize that this seemingly affluent village was just a remote wilderness.
"I better ask in a bustling large city."
Without much hesitation, he decided to ride his Red Deer Horse across the stone bridge in front of Sanfeng Village and head to a populated city. As for the city’s location, he had just inquired about it, and it was about sixty miles away.
Clip-clop~
The Red Deer Horse trotted steadily, like an ordinary horse, its hooves creating a rhythmic sound on the hard stone slabs of the bridge that was pleasing to the ear.
Wang Zhifan sat leisurely on the back of his horse, surveying the surrounding villages, rivers, stone bridges, and fields, feeling as if he had beco a wandering knight from ancient tis. He couldn’t help but feel a bit interested and took out a flask of fine wine from the Wuji Sect World from his personal space, taking a swig.
"Tsk tsk~ Good wine needs to be enjoyed in such an environnt to taste its best."
He marveled aloud, and then saw two children with pigtail braids bouncing towards him on the stone bridge ahead, both intensely curious about his mount, the Red Deer Horse, as it was evidently their first ti seeing such a majestic steed.
"Ah! Such a tall and handso horse! I’m going to ask my dad to buy one too!"
"Silly Peach! Only nobles from the big city can afford this! Besides, do you even know how to ride a horse?"
"Hmph! I can learn it! Even if my dad doesn’t buy one, I’ll buy one when I grow up and get into the Confucian Academy and beco a high-ranking official!"
"Pfft! With your brains, you think you can get into the Confucian Academy? Sha on you!"
...
The two half-grown children argued and soon passed by Wang Zhifan, who took another sip of his wine and then urged the Red Deer Horse to speed up towards his next destination.
In the vicinity of Sanfeng Village, he remained relatively low-key and only let the Red Deer Horse show its capabilities as a fast-running ground steed. But once they got a little further away, he let the Red Deer Horse soar into the air, revealing its celestial horse’s posture, greatly quickening his journey.
Before long, with the Red Deer Horse soaring through the bright blue sky and descending among soft and clean white clouds, Wang Zhifan reached the first target location he had inquired about from Sanfeng Village, the Calamity Realm city known as "Shuqiu."
According to the villagers of Sanfeng Village, Shuqiu City was the largest city they knew of in the region, but Wang Zhifan felt it might not be a true large city of the Calamity Realm.
Because from his observations while flying, he noticed this city wasn’t particularly large or bustling, especially since its buildings appeared relatively new, suggesting it hadn’t been established for many years and lacked the historical depth a large city should have.
But Wang Zhifan wasn’t that picky at the mont. He soon descended from the sky and rode his Red Deer Horse towards the direction of the city gate.
The city gate of Shuqiu City wasn’t particularly wide, but fortunately, there was no one specially guarding it, allowing people to co and go freely, so he didn’t encounter any issues like being extorted by gatekeepers.
Upon entering the city, he was greeted by rows of ancient houses and streets, along with well-dressed residents coming and going, all in all quite clean and orderly, giving a good initial impression.
Notably, Wang Zhifan found that there were many scholars in high crowned broad-sleeved Confucian robes in his line of sight. As he rode his Red Deer Horse past certain courtyards, he even heard the sound of reading, although he couldn’t quite understand the passages they were reciting.
When he noticed a young man on the street dressed in a loose silver-white Confucian robe, wearing a black scholarly hat, looking at him curiously, Wang Zhifan seized the opportunity to greet him:
"Young master, I’ve just arrived here and have a few questions I need to ask, may I trouble you?"
"No need for such formalities, just ask away!"
Upon hearing this, the Confucian scholar imdiately cupped his hands in a courteous gesture, his deanor solemn.
Thus, Wang Zhifan dismounted and began conversing with this coincidentally encountered native Confucian scholar, learning about various matters he wanted to know.
Of course, he didn’t start by asking more sharp questions, but rather began with the basics of the local situation. After the conversation beca amiable, he gradually deepened the topics.
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