The southern Divine Land. Jianyang Prefecture.

It was no great place, but it was the first city of any real size on the road from Hongze to the imperial capital of the Divine Dynasty.

Ziyang had pulled more strings along the way than he could count, and by the time they arrived safely, their travel pass was stamped full of seals.

Without the connections the East Dragon King had left behind, the two of them would probably have been held by the local Earth God the moment they set foot inside the Divine Land, while he looked into their background.

Anyone else would have had nothing to fear. A man who walks straight needn't fear a crooked shadow; he could just state his business.

But for now, Ziyang didn't want to reveal that the two of them had come from Hongze. Whatever could be played down, he would play down, to keep trouble from cropping up.

“We're here.”

Ziyang lifted the curtain and cupped his hands to the pony, thanking it for carrying them all this way.

Then he turned to look at the young man who sat with his eyes closed, as if dozing.

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes. There was a dark chill in them.

The pony had been idly swishing its tail, but the instant it met those eyes, it went still. Its gaze flicked back and forth between Ziyang and Shen Yi and finally settled on the man in black.

The young man had been quiet and mild the whole way. Now, the moment he reached Jianyang, he was giving off killing intent this cold.

It was hard not to wonder whether he had come here specifically to make trouble.

Fortunately, Shen Yi noticed it quickly and reined in his expression.

The pony was silent for a moment, then went back to swishing its tail.

Whatever he had in mind, it would be hard for someone at his level to stir up much of anything in Jianyang.

Once the two of them were down from the cart, it ambled off, pulling the cart back the…