Chen Ping'an took a glance at the green bamboo scabbard strapped to the waist of the self-proclaimed swordsman, and he feigned a puzzled expression as he asked, "Are you really a swordsman?"

The man was holding his conical bamboo hat in one hand, and he patted the hilt of his saber with his other hand as he explained with a smile, "At the moment, I can't find anyone worthy of facing my sword, so I'm using this as a substitute to mock all those who use sabers."

Chen Ping'an was quite relieved to hear this familiar boastful tone, and he felt like this man would really get along well with Liu Baqiao.

Behind Chen Ping'an and Li Baoping, Zhu Lu and her father were slowly walking forward side by side. Zhu Lu was unconvinced by the man's boastful claims, and she jeered, "I've never seen anyone this arrogant before! Do you think he has a screw loose up there, Father?"

Zhu He could see that there was a silver wine gourd strapped to the other side of the man's waist. The gourd was roughly the same size as a human hand, and it was clearly a very old gourd, as evidenced by the fact that it had been polished to a mirror-like gleam. 

He lowered his voice as he cautioned, "I can't sense anything remarkable about him aside from the fact that his aura is slightly more pronounced than that of the average person, but we still have to be careful. 

“I've never gone anywhere far in my life, but I've heard many stories about the outside world from our patriarch. He says that when out traveling, it's important to look out for Daoist nuns, old monks, children, and drunkards. Aside from that, the more harmless and innocuous someone appears, the more we have to be wary of them."

Zhu Lu nodded in response, and she was feeling both anxious and excited. Deep down, she was hoping that this man was an assassin so she would be able to have her first true battle after stepping out into the world.

"Are you looking for me?" Chen Ping'an asked.

The man smiled as he replied, "I'll take you to the border of Great Sui Nation. We'll travel together on the way there so we can look out for each other."

"Do you know the blacksmith, Master Ruan?" Chen Ping'an asked.

"Of course," the man replied with a nod, and Chen Ping'an heaved another internal sigh of relief.

Prior to leaving the town, one of the terms of the agreement that he had made with Master Ruan was that prior to reaching the border of the Great Li Empire, Ruan Qiong was going to ensure Chen Ping'an's safety.

Chen Ping'an was confident that Ruan Qiong would keep his promise, and the fact that this man had appeared so early on their journey,...