The merchant caravan traveled through the mountains, reaching the vicinity of a mountain city named Zhenba on the second day, definitively entering Dai Mengwei's territory.

For the future world's number one, Ning Ji, this was his first time leaving the Huaxia Army's territory. During the journey, he had imagined many encounters, such as the Jianghu described in storybooks, fights, bandits, his identity being exposed, bloody escapes, and various stunning landscapes... But at least in the initial days of the journey, everything was at odds with his imagined scenes.

The scenery was not beautiful. The difficult terrain was no different from the Liangshan and Jianshan mountains in the Southwest. Desolate mountain villages, dirty and chaotic markets, inns filled with the smell of horse manure, and unpalatable food were sparsely distributed along the road after leaving the Huaxia Army. Moreover, they did not encounter bandits or highwaymen. Even on the previously rugged mountain road, there were no bandits guarding it to stage murders or collect tolls. However, on the small road entering Zhenba, soldiers under Dai Mengwei set up checkpoints to collect fees and inspect documents, but they did not make things difficult for Ning Ji, Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and others from the Southwest.

It was really different from the Jianghu he had imagined.

"...Cao Silong specifically rebelled and then acted as an intermediary to transport supplies from the Southwest. Therefore, this small path from Cao to Dai is jointly protected by both sides. Even if there were bandits setting up strongholds along the way, they would have been wiped out long ago. In this world, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp. There's no such thing as upholding justice for Heaven..."

Lu Wenke and others explained Ning Ji's confusion.

There was no romantic Swordsman-like wanderings. What surrounded him was mostly the reality of muddling through. For example, adjusting his original food intake was a long-term problem that plagued the Long family's younger brother throughout the journey. It wasn't that he couldn't endure it. The food he ate every day ensured that there would be no problem during the journey, but the change in habit made him constantly crave food. Such Jianghu experience could only be buried in his stomach in the future, and he couldn't tell anyone. Even if someone wrote it down in the future, probably no one would like to read it.

Apart from craving food, he had also been mentally vigilant about entering enemy territory, always prepared for combat, bloody battles, and desperate escapes. Of course, it was also this preparation that made him feel increasingly bored, especially since Dai Mengwei's gatekeeper soldiers didn't even make trouble, provoke him, or bully him, which made him feel a sense of frustration with nowhere to vent his abilities.

His imagination of the Jianghu initially fell through, but in reality, it was not without gains. For example, in the daily chatter of the "Five Confucians," Ning Ji roughly understood the "details" of Dai Mengwei's territory. According to these people's speculation, Old Dog Dai appeared dignified on the surface but secretly sold the people under his rule to the Southwest, and even colluded with the local gentry and the army to make a profit, which was really hateful and abominable.

But this reality was much more complicated than the quick revenge of the "Jianghu." According to the rules of the "Jianghu" in storybooks, those who trafficked people were naturally bad guys, those who were trafficked were of course innocent, and the righteous heroes who killed the bad guys who trafficked people would then be grateful to the innocent. But in fact, according to Fan Heng and others, these innocent people were actually willing to be sold. They couldn't afford to eat, so they voluntarily signed contracts for twenty or thirty years. If anyone killed the traffickers, it would cut off the livelihood of these people being sold.

The trafficked were willing, the traffickers were doing good deeds, and even the Southwest, calling itself Huaxia, was still buying up people in large numbers—also doing good deeds. As for the possible big villain, Dai Gong...

"It is said that Dai Gong once issued a proclamation prohibiting anyone from selling the people under his rule to the Southwest as slaves. Those who violate the order will be punished..."

Thus, in the first month after leaving the Huaxia Army's territory, Ning Ji deeply felt the truth of "traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books."

The world in storybooks was simply wrong. Sure enough, he had to go out and walk around to see these things clearly.

The team moved forward, each with their own purpose. By this time, Ning Ji had also realized that if someone had initially identified with Dai Mengwei's Confucian scholars, after coming out of the Southwest, they would mostly take the most convenient road in Hanzhong, following the Han River to Ankang and other large cities to seek official positions. Dai was now the leading figure among the Confucian scholars of the world, and he mostly treated famous and capable Confucian scholars with courtesy and arranged official positions for them.

As for Fan Heng, Lu Wenke, Chen Junsheng, and other members of the "Five Confucians," although they respected Dai Mengwei in words, they still had doubts in their hearts. After discussing it in the Southwest, they decided to explore the rear of Dai Mengwei's territory. With this experience, they would have more insight into the world than others. The merchant caravan might be going to buy people on Dai Gong's territory. They didn't say much on the surface, but they were all secretly concerned about this matter.

Zhenba County was still a mountain city. There were not many people gathered here, but compared to the mountain roads they had previously passed, they could already see several newly built villages. These villages were located in the gaps between the mountains, and many of the villages were surrounded by newly built walls and fences. Some blank-looking people from those villages cast their eyes on the pedestrians on the road.

"Look at those newly built fences." Lu Wenke pointed at the scene and explained the reasoning to Ning Ji. "This shows that although there has been a famine, the officials and elders assigned here have still done things to direct the villagers, which is actually very difficult. This shows that even if there are insufficient supplies, this area is still orderly from top to bottom."

"So what if it's orderly from top to bottom?" Ning Ji asked.

"This is the essence of governance." Fan Heng leaned over from the side. "After the Jurchens came, all the order in this area was disrupted. Zhenba was originally inhabited by many mountain people, who were fierce in character. The Western Route Army killed their way over and directed those Han troops to fight a battle, and many people died. The city was burned. After Dai Gong took over, he redistributed the population, divided them into areas, and selected officials and respected elders to take charge. Little Long, what is the biggest problem they face at this time? It's actually that there's not enough to eat, and what will happen if there's not enough to eat?"

Fan Heng looked at Ning Ji. Ning Ji thought for a moment, "Rebellion?"

"That's right, everyone knows that not enough to eat will force people to rebel." Fan Heng smiled. "However, how does this rebellion specifically occur? Think about it, in a place, in a village, if too many people starve to death, the officials have no prestige and no way to manage it, this village will collapse, and the remaining people will become starving people, wandering everywhere. And if more and more villages are in this situation, then a large-scale refugee crisis will occur, and the order will be completely gone. But thinking back, if only a few people die in each village, will it still be out of control?"

"..." Ning Ji stared wide-eyed.

"Dai Gong saved millions of people from the hands of the Jurchens. In the early stages, he still had prestige. He used this prestige to divide his people into layers, dividing out hundreds or thousands of areas. After these village areas were divided, the people inside were not allowed to move around at will. Each village area must have a local worthy or elder sitting in charge. Above several village areas, there are also officials, and above the officials, there is the army. Responsibilities are assigned layer by layer in an orderly manner. It is also because of this that although there has been a famine here from last year to this year, there has been no major chaos."

Fan Heng was quite absorbed when discussing this matter. Lu Wenke added from the side:

"Little Brother Long, this kind of layer-by-layer assignment sounds simple, and it seems that the government in the past also did the same, but often the officials at all levels are uneven in quality, and when something happens, it will be out of control. But this time, the layer-by-layer assignment under Dai Gong's rule is quite like governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Everything is orderly, each is in his place, and each performs his duties. It is also because of this that the scholars in the Southwest have recently said that Dai Gong has the image of an ancient sage. He uses the 'ancient method' to resist the rebellious 'modern method' of the Southwest, which is quite interesting."

Ning Ji frowned: "Each is in his place and each performs his duties, so the position of those common people is to die quietly and not add trouble?" The Huaxia Army's internal human rights thinking has had a preliminary awakening. Although Ning Ji was a bit of a slacker in his studies, he could still find some key points for these things.

Lu Wenke waved his hand: "Little Brother Long, don't be so extreme. It's just saying that there is such a principle in it. Dai Gong took over these people when it was already quite difficult. Being able to stabilize the situation with this method is also a matter of ability. It would be difficult for someone else to do this. If Dai Gong hadn't used this method well, if there was a riot, more people would have died here, just like the chaos of the hungry ghosts back then, which was out of control."

"But people still starved to death."

"People will naturally die in times of chaos. Dai Gong decided who would die, which is cruel to say, but even the Southwest back then didn't experience such a famine. Since he has the ability to reduce the number of deaths in times of chaos, when the world is at peace, he will naturally be able to make everyone live better. Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants each perform their duties, and widowers, widows, orphans, and the disabled each have their own support... This is the idea of ancient sages..."

"The Huaxia Army fought against the Jin dogs in the Northwest and only starved after migrating to the Southwest. Has this Dai guy fought against the Jin dogs? How can you say it's the same? The Jin dogs died more than us in the Northwest back then!"

Ning Ji retorted unhappily, and Fan Heng next to him waved his hand with a smile.

"Hey, hey, alright, alright, Little Long is from the Southwest after all. Seeing the situation on Dai Mengwei's side, he looks down on it, which is normal. There's nothing to argue about. Little Long, just remember this matter. Although Dai Mengwei has problems, he also has his own abilities when doing things. Many people see his abilities in this way. Some people agree, and many people disagree. We are all here to see what's going on. There's no need for us to quarrel. Come, eat candy, eat candy..."

Fan Heng smoothed things over, and Lu Wenke also smiled and stopped talking. As traveling companions, Ning Ji was not that old after all, and coupled with his pleasing appearance and literacy, the Five Confucians mostly treated him as a son or nephew, so naturally they would not be angry about this.

Ning Ji took the candy. Considering that he was behind enemy lines, he couldn't over-express his "pro-Huaxia" tendencies, so he suppressed his temper. Anyway, as long as he didn't regard Dai Mengwei as a good person and understood him as a "capable bad guy," everything would still be extremely smooth.

That day, the team entered Zhenba and discovered that the originally remote mountain city was now gathering many merchants, and several of the inns in the county town were newly built. It was evening when they checked into an inn. At this time, everyone in the team had their own thoughts. For example, members of the merchant caravan might be contacting people to meet for a "big business" deal here. Several Confucian scholars wanted to find out about the situation of human trafficking here and were also quietly inquiring with members of the merchant caravan. When eating at the inn at night, Fan Heng and others chatted with another group of travelers, and as a result, they inquired about a lot of news from the outside world. One of them made Ning Ji, who had been bored for more than a month, perk up.

"...It is said that this September, the Fairness Party will invite heroes from all over the world to Jiangning to hold a Hero Conference to elect a martial arts alliance leader. This hero invitation has been sent out all over the world!"

During the inquiries at the inn, one of the travelers mentioned this matter, which immediately attracted the exclamations and vibrations of the surrounding people. Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and others who came from Chengdu looked at each other, chewing on the meaning of this news. Ning Ji opened his mouth wide. After a moment of excitement, he heard someone say, "Isn't that the same time as the Southwest Martial Arts Tournament?"

Someone hesitated and replied, "...Isn't the Fairness Party and the Huaxia Army one and the same?"

At this time, two words flashed through Ning Ji's mind: despicable.

Last year, after the Huaxia Army defeated the Jurchens in the Southwest, the Fairness Party in the east of the world also rapidly expanded its influence at an unspeakable speed. It has currently put Tie Yan and Wu Qimei's territory in Lin'an in a position where they can barely breathe. In this expansion, neither of the parties involved had publicly stated or stated the relationship between the Huaxia Army and the Fairness Party, but for the "Confucian scholars" who had been to the Southwest, because they had read a lot of newspapers, they naturally had a certain understanding.

And for Ning Ji, who was in the core family circle of the Huaxia Army, of course he understood even more that He Wen and the Huaxia Army might not become good friends in the future. There was currently no collusion between the two sides in any channel.

"The Huaxia Army held the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament last year, attracted people over, reviewed the troops, killed people, and held the founding meeting of the People's Government, gathering popularity from all over the world." Chen Junsheng, with a calm face, said while picking up food.

"This time it seems that the Fairness Party wants to imitate and rush up by taking advantage of the popularity of the Huaxia Army. Moreover, the Huaxia Army's martial arts tournament is scheduled for August and September. It is obvious that it will be held again this year. The Fairness Party also deliberately scheduled the time for September and let people think that the two are one and the same. This is to dismantle the Huaxia Army while taking advantage of the Huaxia Army's reputation to achieve success. When the people in the west go to the Southwest and the heroes of the east go to Jiangning, He Wen has great courage. Isn't he afraid of really offending Mr. Ning of the Southwest?"

Fan Heng ate his meal and calmly pointed out the situation of the world. "After all, the world is so big, and there are more than just heroes in the Southwest. Now that the world is in turmoil, these prominent figures will emerge one after another."

Lu Wenke said, "Speaking of which, Little Brother Long is going to Jiangning this time. It's a coincidence that you can meet this grand event."

"Yes, I'm going." Ning Ji replied in a muffled voice, then looked sullen and buried himself in eating desperately.

Once a Confucian scholar mentioned the topic of "heroes of the world," they began to talk about other parties, such as the upcoming war between Dai Mengwei, Liu Guangshi, and Zou Xu, and the possible actions of the little emperor in the farthest southeast coast. There were some new things, and there were also many old clichés.

Ning Ji listened quietly. That night, he had some trouble sleeping.

Having heard so many Jianghu stories in the Huaxia Army for so many years and having seen so many Hero Conference scenes, he had been somewhat looking forward to these things after leaving the Southwest. Who knew that this news would appear suddenly, and the middle contained such disgusting thoughts. That traitor, He Wen, learned from his father's experience and was even scheming to dismantle the Huaxia Army and steal their popularity!

If the Fairness Party before was just his own initiative under the helplessness of the situation, and he didn't listen to the orders from the Southwest or come here to cause trouble, it could be said that you take your Yangguan Road and I cross my single-plank bridge. But now, deliberately holding this Hero Conference in September is really disgusting. He Wen stayed in the Southwest for so long and even dated Sister Jingmei, and even after that, they let him go. This backstab is even more hateful than Zou Xu!

It's really infuriating!

Moreover, this so-called Hero Conference is actually being held in Jiangning! It is clear that he knows that Jiangning is his father's hometown, and he wants to imply to others that his Fairness Party is related to the Huaxia Army, so as to take advantage of more benefits. Shameful!

After going to Jiangning, he simply doesn't need to care about Sister Jingmei's face, and just kill him with one knife!

That night, he thought about He Wen's affairs, and his face turned into a bun with anger. He was not so concerned about the matter of Dai Mengwei selling a few people. He only went to bed in the early hours of this day. Not long after he fell asleep, he heard movement outside the inn, and then it came into the inn. When he got up, it was still dim. He opened the window and saw the army surrounding the inn from all directions.

More than a month after running away from home, danger finally came. Although he didn't know what had happened, Ning Ji still grabbed his baggage and sneaked onto the roof under the cover of night, then jumped to another nearby roof before the army's encirclement was complete.

The army entered the inn and then knocked on the doors one by one to arrest people. Under such circumstances, no one resisted. Ning Ji watched as the members of the accompanying merchant caravan were taken out of the inn one by one, including the merchant caravan leader, Lu, and then Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and other members of the "Five Confucians," as well as Wang Jiang, his daughter Wang Xiuniang. It seemed that they were checking the headcount according to the check-in list. Those who were arrested were really the group of merchants that he had been following all the way.

Ning Ji looked confused on the nearby rooftop. Why? Was he exposed? But after they arrested the others, they didn't seem to over-investigate the fact that there was one less teenager. But why arrest this merchant caravan that he was in? The "Five Confucians" were arrested, but they didn't do anything bad...

After the sun rose that day, he stood in the morning light, completely puzzled.

The members of the accompanying merchant caravan were arrested for unknown reasons. His identity was important, so he had to be cautious. In theory, it would be the most secure response to think of a way to disguise himself, leave the city, and stay far away from here. But after thinking about it, the atmosphere on Dai Mengwei's side was serious, and a fifteen-year-old young man walking on the road would probably attract more attention. And he had to admit that after traveling with them all the way, he had developed some feelings for the fools among the Five Confucians, Lu Wenke, etc. Thinking of the severe torture they would suffer after entering prison, he really couldn't bear it.

The defense and sentries of this mountain city didn't seem very tight. Would he think of a way at night to sneak into the prison and take a peek? He had done a lot of training in the Huaxia Army targeting spies and infiltration, so in theory, it wouldn't be too difficult to face these country bumpkins.

After thinking about it for a long time, after confirming that there was no special large-scale search in the city, he bought a bag of biscuits and steamed buns and ate them while scouting around the county government office in the city. In the afternoon, when it was past noon, he was sitting on the side of the road eating steamed buns carefree, when suddenly a group of people came out of the county government office not far from the road.

These people were the ones who had been arrested that morning, including Wang Jiang, Wang Xiuniang, the "Five Confucians," and some other travelers who had come with the merchant caravan. At this time, it seemed that they had been released by the people in the government office. A young official who was shaking his head and swaggering came out from behind, spoke to them, and bid them farewell with cupped hands. It seemed that the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Ning Ji ran all the way and waited for a while at the corner of the street. When the group got closer, he approached from the side and heard Fan Heng and others exclaiming, "A true upright official..."

"Dai Gong's family learning has deep roots..."

He ran a few steps: "What's going on? Why were you arrested? What happened?"

When Fan Heng and others saw him, they were greatly surprised: "Little Long! You're okay!"

"That's great. We thought something happened to you..."

Everyone gathered around, chattering. They had been arrested with the entire merchant caravan. Seeing that Ning Ji was not there, they thought that something special had happened to him, a child, and they had specifically asked the county magistrate about it when they came out. Ning Ji then explained to them that he had gone to the toilet in the middle of the night, and then there was a commotion. He hid, and after seeing that everyone had been arrested, he was relieved that everyone was okay. It could be regarded as a happy ending.

"...What happened? Why were we arrested?"

Ning Ji inquired, and Fan Heng and others looked at each other, then sighed and shook their heads: "Leader Lu and the rest of the merchant caravan are going to be in trouble this time."

Lu Wenke said, "Leader Lu was greedy and secretly agreed with someone to come here to buy and sell a large number of people, thinking that these things were all tacitly approved by Dai Gong, and he had connections, so it would definitely be successful. Who knew... this little County Magistrate Dai is a true upright official. After the matter was investigated, he arrested all the people. Leader Lu was sentenced to be executed, and the rest of the people were all punished."

"Ah? Really arrested..." Ning Ji was a little surprised.

"You see this array, it's naturally true. Recently, Dai Gong's side has been cracking down on the evil of selling people. Leader Lu will be severely punished according to the law. It is said that he will be publicly executed tomorrow. We will stay here for one more day, and we will know... Alas, only now do we understand that the saying that Dai Gong is selling people is really a false accusation by others, a baseless rumor. Even if there are unscrupulous merchants who really commit this evil, it has nothing to do with Dai Gong."

"Alas, it is true that we were arbitrary. Careless words have tarnished the reputation of a sage. We should take this as a warning..."

The group stayed in the county town for another night. The next day, the weather was gloomy, and it looked like it was going to rain. The group gathered at the vegetable market in the county town and saw the young County Magistrate Dai from yesterday escorting Leader Lu and others out. Leader Lu knelt in front of the stone platform, and County Magistrate Dai was loudly criticizing the evil of these people buying and selling people, as well as Dai Gong's determination and will to crack down on it.

This little County Magistrate Dai was named Dai Zhen, and he was a clan nephew of Dai Mengwei. When Fan Heng and others talked about it, they greatly praised Dai Mengwei for managing his family and teaching his descendants well.

Under the gloomy sky, in the crowd of onlookers, the executioner raised his broadsword and cut off the head of the weeping Leader Lu with one stroke. The people who had been rescued were also watching nearby. They had received the promise of "proper settlement" from County Magistrate Dai. At this time, they knelt on the ground, shouting for an upright official and constantly kowtowing.

Ning Ji looked at this scene and scratched his head in confusion.

More than a month after leaving home, he suddenly felt that he couldn't understand anything.

This Dai Mengwei... could he really be a good person?