Chapter 9: The Journey
"Silly boy, what do I disagree with? If you want to go, you can go with confidence, you don't have to worry about us, if you are tired of staying outside, you can come back at any time if you want to go home, this will always be your home" Saying that, Aunt Li's eyes were also a little red, she had already regarded Zhang Bairen as her son.
"Hmm!" Zhang Bairen smiled, and the unhappiness of this time was instantly swept away, he was finally about to take this step, but no one noticed that Xiao Tao had been burying his head at this time and did not speak.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Bairen simply brought some change of clothes, and planned to say goodbye to Aunt Li and them, only to find that Aunt Li and Xiao Tao had been waiting in the living room for a long time.
"Auntie... How... It's so early," Zhang Bairen still felt a little awkward.
"Bairen, this is the cake I baked for you in the morning, you take it with you to eat on the road" Aunt Li said directly.
"Hmmm, thank you!"
"Silly boy, remember, if you encounter any difficulties outside, hurry home," Aunt Li admonished with slightly red eyes.
"I know, auntie, I'm just going out to have a look, I'll be back when I'm free, don't worry," Zhang Bairen scratched the back of his head and said innocently.
"Okay, okay, let's go, we'll send you," Aunt Li said.
Along the way, Aunt Li kept telling all kinds of things, and Zhang Bairen kept nodding in response.
"Auntie, you can send it here, it's cold in the morning, your body is important, don't catch a cold, go back quickly" At this time, he had arrived at the entrance of Xiangtang Village, Zhang Bairen opened his mouth and said, only then did he suddenly realize that Xiao Tao, who usually talks a lot, has not said anything today.
He touched Xiao Tao's head and said, "Little Tao, I'm leaving."
"Hmm~" Xiao Tao still buried her head and whispered.
After Zhang Bairen smiled, he turned around and strode away, waving goodbye to Aunt Li and them while walking, just about a hundred meters after Zhang Bairen walked out, Xiao Tao finally raised his head, chased forward quickly with tears in his eyes, and then shouted, "Brother... !”
Zhang Bairen immediately turned around, "What are you doing?" At this time, his eyes were already moist, but he had been holding back just now, and he had been trying to make his voice sound normal when he spoke.
"I'll wait for you to come back..."
"Okay! I'll be back!" Zhang Bairen said with a smile
"Marry me!"
Zhang Bairen's waving arm was suddenly stunned in the air, which made him a little overwhelmed, and he didn't know what kind of feelings he had for Xiao Tao, he stood in place for a long time, looking at Xiao Tao not far away and was silent for a long time.
"Okay!" Finally, Zhang Bairen spoke, he tried to wave at Xiao Tao and said, "Go back quickly!
"Hmm!" Momo nodded hard and replied loudly.
Zhang Bairen turned around and left, slowly disappearing from Xiao Tao's field of vision, during which he never looked back, because he was afraid that he would not be able to control himself and turn back.
After five years, when Zhang Bairen returned to Jinhu Town again, the street was still as lively as it was back then, he came to a tea stall with a good business, and after finding a table casually, he asked for a pot of tea, and then took out the flatbread that Aunt Li baked for him, and ate it in a big gulp, listening to the people around him talk about something new.
"You say, this national teacher will really agree to any of the conditions put forward by those who find things?"
"Nonsense, of course it's true, the whole country has issued notices, will there be any fake?"
Listening to the conversation between the two, Zhang Bairen immediately became interested, and immediately stepped forward to ask, "Two big brothers, what did you just say? What conditions did the national teacher agree?"
The two saw that a strange man suddenly came over to ask, and after looking Zhang Bairen up and down, they didn't care, and said, "You don't know this?"
"Big brother, I just came out of the village, I really don't know these things, can you tell me about it?" Zhang Bairen asked humbly.
"Oh... No wonder, let me tell you, the national teacher has issued a notice across the country, and is recruiting experts across the country to go to Panlong Mountain to find a medicine guide, if you can find this thing, the national teacher promises to meet any of the conditions that can find the medicine guide!" one of them said.
"Yes, think about it, as long as you can find what the national teacher wants, then the days after that will not be smooth and prosperous," the other echoed and said.
"Oh... I see, thank you two big brothers!" Zhang Bairen understood and quickly thanked him.
"How... Are you interested?" asked one of them.
"Uh... I want to try it," Zhang Bairen said with a smile.
"Hey... There are really people who are not afraid of death~!Little brother, I see that you are not bad, don't blame me for not telling you, that Panlong Mountain is not a place where ordinary people can go!" The man began to speak.
"Ah, what's going on?" said Zhang Bairen in surprise. He didn't know what the two men meant, and wondered if there was another mystery.
"Just remember what I said, don't ask anything else, let's go, let's go" After the man finished speaking, he urged his companion, and after speaking, the two left together, leaving Zhang Bairen full of doubts.
"It's so mysterious, I'll just go to the Imperial City" Zhang Bairen said to himself, the so-called artist is bold, now he is very confident in his skills, even the birds he can catch up, and the wild boar can be easily knocked down by him with one punch, where else can I go!
After more than half a month of day and night, Zhang Bairen finally came to the imperial city of the Xixia Kingdom at this time, when he just arrived at the city gate, he immediately saw a lot of people, who were surrounding a notice board on the right side of the city wall to discuss, so he also walked over, after some listening, I learned that after signing up to go to Panlong Mountain, there will be a special person to come and bring the people who signed up into the imperial city.
He didn't hesitate much, so he went to register, after a simple screening, he successfully passed the screening, and then after waiting for an hour or so, there were a few people in the palace with dust in their hands, and brought the people who signed up into the imperial city.
After entering the imperial city, he realized that this palace was really not ordinarily big, and he finally arrived at his destination after going around and around many times.
"You all listen to me, before this mission departs, you all stay in this "Lingering Palace" honestly, and you are not allowed to wander anywhere! Violators will be killed! Hmph!" said the man with a dusty yin and yang aura in one hand at this time.
"And when are we leaving?" asked one of the men.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, shut up what you shouldn't say!Hmph~!Talk!" The man who was still yin and yang squinted his eyes slightly and reprimanded.
Zhang Bairen didn't care, anyway, there was food and accommodation here, and it didn't matter if he stayed for a few more days, but during the period, there were people who couldn't hold their breath, and they left angrily after yelling, but everyone never saw him come back.
Seven days passed in a blink of an eye, and there were more and more people staying in the palace, and they were about to be unable to stay, and the next morning, the man with the dust came here again, and took the group of people to other places.
After a while, a group of people, including Zhang Bairen, were taken to a square, only to see that the surrounding of this square was densely packed with soldiers, and on the high platform, there was a large group of people dressed in luxury and luxury, and a middle-aged man wearing a golden dragon robe and sitting on a large dragon chair was surrounded in the middle, and that person was the current king of Western Xia, Zhang Youde.
At this time, the sharp-eyed Zhang Bairen found that the middle-aged man in the dragon robe actually looked sluggish, and his eyes were a little dull.
Without waiting for him to think about it, at this time another man on the high platform walked to the front and shouted to the people below, "I believe you all already know the purpose of this trip, today's saint occasionally feels the wind and cold, and urgently needs a medicine, this time I let you go to find it, whoever finds it, the national teacher can fulfill his wish, and I will send you the drawings of this thing later" As soon as the man finished speaking, he waved his hand and sent someone to distribute the drawings to the hundreds of people who responded to the call below.
"It turns out that this is the national teacher," many people whispered.
After a while, the drawings were passed to Zhang Bairen, he took the drawings and looked at them, and felt that the things in the painting were a little familiar, and there was a line of text written on the left side of the drawings, "This thing is called Baiyanzhu, the whole is as white as jade, you can't eat it rashly, it is highly poisonous."
Zhang Bairen looked at the picture for a long time, and the more he looked at it, the more it looked like the stone he picked up in the cave.
"Hey, you've been watching it for so long, have you finished reading it? After reading it, it will be passed down, so many people are still waiting to see it!" Zhang Bairen was thinking when a voice interrupted him.
"I'm sorry after reading it..." Zhang Bairen said with some embarrassment.