The earthy yellow stone building, as if covered with a thick layer of wind and sand, but with delicate ornamentation, a series of windows, most of the window sills are placed with potted plants, planted with green plants, lush even crawling all over the round arches at the bottom, or hanging down to the ground, some of them are blooming at this time, some are not taken care of, and they are about to die.

There are people at the gate of the city who are blowing and blowing, and the tune of the instrument is different from that of Dayan, which sounds quite strange.

Others were dancing to the music, men and women, old men with gray beards and children of several years old, who were tired and walked to the side to rest, and others joined in.

There is no Western Regions dancer with a graceful figure and only a few pieces of light yarn in Song You's imagination, everyone dances very casually, and no one throws money, obviously it is not a professional performance here, but just an entertainment that people spontaneously gather, because of this, there is a different kind of natural feeling.

It's probably the local culture.

This is the first impressive scene that Song You saw when he came here.

It took a long time for him to withdraw his gaze and look behind him.

The streets of Yucheng are not spacious, and some state cities and county towns in Dayan, which are far worse than Changjing, and far less than the momentum of the heavenly street that is dozens of zhang wide between the east and west cities of Changjing, and due to the improper management of the city streets, the shops on both sides occupy the width of the street, and there are many Hu merchants leading camels to and fro in the middle, which makes the street particularly crowded.

Across from her stood a girl who was shopping with money.

The girl was incomparably petite compared to the caravans, and her distinctly oriental face and extraordinarily delicate countenance were a bit out of place here.

Bursts of smoke came with the smell of meat.

"Two skewers of roast lamb!

"Roast lamb!

"Roast! Sheep! Meat!

"That's it! The one skewered with wood!

"Two!

"Two! Piece!

"How much?

"Many! Few! Money? ”

The vendor clearly did not understand the girl's words, and the girl looked serious, repeating and slowing down her speech, as if she thought she could understand it if she spoke more slowly.

The vendor's expression became more and more stunned.

Girls are becoming more and more serious.

Luckily, the gestures were generic, and both were very patient.

The Dayan currency is also commonly used here, and is the most important currency in circulation in the Western Regions.

A moment later—

The little girl and the Taoist sat on a stone on the side of the street, the long stone, just enough to put down the buttocks of the two of them, and one of them held a skewer of barbecue meat in his hand, and the red willow branches were skewered, a large skewer.

"People here can't understand anything." The little girl said as she ate a meat skewer.

"They have their language."

"It's time for them all to say one thing, and all say what Sanhua Niangniang would say."

"Maybe it will be like this in the future."

“……”

The little girl stroked the meat from the branch.

It is fresh lamb, freshly cut, large pieces, skewered with wooden branches and roasted, sprinkled with simple spices and salt, which is delicious and cheap.

Sanhua Niangniang ate and ate, not forgetting the swallow, so she reached out and tore a small piece from the wooden branch and fed it to the swallow.

When the swallow had finished eating, she took a lump of meat with her hand, and made a gesture to hand it to the horse, but her hand was stretched out, and when she thought that it was wrong, she withdrew her hand again, and stuffed it back into her mouth, and muttered at the same time:

"Forget you can't eat this, it's mutton, sheep are horses that haven't grown."

"A sheep is a sheep, and a horse is a horse." Song You corrected beside him, "Sanhua Niangniang should not be confused. ”

"Sanhua Niangniang knows, Sanhua Niangniang deceived the horse."

"The horses are still listening."

"yes......"

The girl looked at the horse, but her mouth did not stop.

The two of them sat on the side of the street, eating meat skewers while looking up at the business travelers in front of them, and also watching the dancing in the open space opposite, experiencing the prosperity and customs of the first city in the Western Regions - although they arrived in a completely unfamiliar place, and even the language was not understood, even Sanhua Niangniang did not have any uncomfortable place, just like this is just an ordinary mountain roadside, just any other state, county and county they have walked through for so many years, neither panicking where to settle down tonight, nor rushing forward, Only a normal and indifferent heart comes to see this world.

If the heart is normal, the vision is different.

The customs of the Western Regions are presented to them in every detail as they see them, including the music floating in at the moment, the whirling dance of men, women and children in front of them, the smell of roast mutton wafting in the air, the pointed shoes raised by pedestrians on the side of the road and the tattoos on the corners of their clothes, and even the stronger body odor of pedestrians, the chaotic streets, and the slimmer and slender earth-colored cats on the side of the street.

"Let's ...... it"

Sanhua Niangniang finally finished the skewers in her hand, leaving only a wooden branch, holding it in her hand, smashing her mouth and tasting the aftertaste in her mouth, while staring at the wooden branch carefully.

"Why do people here grill meat on skewers like this? The same is true of that place in Changjing. ”

"Because there are red willow trees growing everywhere here, it is more convenient to use local materials, and roasting them with red willow branches can also add a little fragrance of red willow." Song You also ate the last bite, "The barbecue in Changjing West Market is learned from here, selling an exotic style." ”

"Fragrance?"

Sanhua Niangniang said suspiciously, approached the wooden branch, smelled it twice, and then thought about it, it seemed that she did eat a little wood fragrance just now.

"Brush ......"

The Taoist threw away the wooden branch and got up to leave.

“！”

Without hesitation, the girl rushed out at once, catching the branch before it hit the ground.

"Sanhua Niangniang, this is ......"

"Keep it! Don't lose it! ”

"Why are you keeping it?"

"This awesome is okay, it hasn't burned yet, Sanhua Niangniang can still be used to bake it tonight!" Sanhua Niangniang took two wooden branches, looked up, and picked two leaves from the tree above her head, and wiped the scorched black on her willow branch and the minced meat on Song You's willow branch, "I also taste the fragrance!" ”

“……”

Song You thought she loved the cleanliness of the streets.

After all, she was overestimated.

The Taoist shook his head, took a step, and walked into the crowd.

The red horse and the girl hurriedly followed.

"Where are we going?"

"Find a place to stay."

"How do you find it? No one here understands what we are saying, and Sanhua Niangniang almost didn't buy a mutton. ”

"Sanhua Niangniang, be careful."

"Sanhua Niangniang is very careful!"

"Then please Sanhua Niangniang carefully observe and think carefully."

"Sanhua Niangniang is very careful!"

"Although this is the Western Regions, it is the country of jasper, and it is also one of the territories of Dayan." Song You said as he walked, and at the same time turned his head to look at her, very patient, "Since Sanhua Niangniang said that she was very careful, I don't know if Sanhua Niangniang noticed it?" Many of the merchants walking on the road were Dayan people. ”

"Hmm!"

It seems that Sanhua Niangniang didn't notice.

"Looks like Sanhua Niangniang has noticed." Song You smiled slightly, "Then Sanhua Niangniang, think about it, where do they live at night?" ”

"Got it!"

"Sanhua Niangniang is really careful."

"We follow them, where they live, the people who sell the store will definitely say what we say, even if the people who sell the store can't say it, they can help us say it!"

"Sanhua Niangniang is not only careful, but also very smart."

"This person looks like a Da Yan person!"

Holding a red willow branch in her hand, Sanhua Niangniang raised her head to stare at the few merchants walking in front of her.

"Yes."

Regardless of their faces or clothes, these people are obviously Dayan people, and when they heard Sanhua Niangniang's words, they also turned their heads and looked at the Taoist party, but they seemed to have just arrived in Yucheng, and they still retained the habit of not speaking on the way to business, but they showed doubts and did not ask.

"We follow them!"

Sanhua Niangniang took the lead and followed.

"I'll follow Sanhua Niangniang."

Song You spoke respectfully and followed behind her.

Several of the merchants turned their heads back to look at them.

Fortunately, the combination of the Taoist and the girl naturally gives people a sense of closeness, and it is not easy for people to feel threatened, plus they are far away in the Western Regions, and the girl speaks Da Yan dialect, and the eyes of several merchants are more novelty - it seems that it is rare to see people wearing Taoist robes in this place.

Finally, someone couldn't help but ask:

"Where are you going?"

The accent sounds like the accent around Changjing.

It was said by looking at the Taoist.

However, when the Taoist heard this, he only smiled slightly, and then cast his eyes at the girl.

The group of businessmen couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

It was as if it was the girl who made the decision.

Including Sanhua Niangniang herself was stunned for a moment, turned her head to look at the group of merchants, and then looked back at her own Taoist priest, met the eyes of both sides, and was stunned for a moment, before she opened her mouth to explain:

"We just arrived here, the people here don't understand what we say, we don't understand what they say, we don't know where to live, we see that you are Dayan people, you must find a place to live, we said follow you, we will definitely find a place to live."

The merchant smiled when he heard this, but still cherished the words like gold.

Although Yucheng is the largest city in the Western Regions, it is actually not very big, it is not as big as Yidu, and it is not as good as Changjing, and the group followed them through the city and soon arrived at their destination.

It is a carriage and horse shop on the west side of the Jade City.

It is still the architectural style of Yucheng, with yellow stone buildings, but there is a large courtyard in front, and there is a grape trellis in the courtyard, the grapes grow very well and are almost ripe, and there is a large open space near the Yucheng River behind the store, which can park cars and horses, and there is a special warehouse for merchants to store goods.

This is a hotel for merchants.

The shopkeeper is a man from the Western Regions with a big waist and a round waist, and his accent is similar to that of those from the Western Regions that Song You met in Changjing West Market or Xicheng Teahouse, and he is very bold and likes to have physical contact with people.

Song You followed behind this group of merchants, watching them talk to the shopkeeper and ask for a room, obviously he had known each other before, and when they were settled, he hurriedly stepped forward.

"I wonder if there are any vacancies?"

"You ......"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he couldn't help but look at him, especially at the bulging bag on horseback behind him, and the girl beside him: "You are also here to do business?" ”

"We're here to find a place to stay."

"We're only here for merchants."

"Why?"

Song You couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

At this moment, the Dayan merchant who had just walked back stopped in the middle of the aisle, turned around and said: "This is our Dayan Taoist, a master of cultivation, who has real skills and mana, don't worry about it, just let him stay with you for a few days, maybe you can ask the gods to bless you with a better business." ”

After hearing this, the shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

arranged the innermost room for Song You, which was a little inconvenient for the merchants to enter and exit, but it was very quiet for the Taoists, and the price was still the same as these merchants, but it was not counting the money for renting the warehouse, which was much cheaper than Song You and Sanhua Niangniang expected.

However, this shop is mainly short-term rental, and in any case, the owner is only willing to let Song You stay here for five days.

So he put the horse in the backyard, told the innkeeper that it would not run around or hurt anyone, gave it fodder every day, and went to his room with his bag.

The room was very empty, only a bed and a very low long wooden table, a cloth blanket was placed next to the table, for people to sit on, and there was nothing else, plus it was a stone building, and the windows were very high, which inexplicably gave people a somewhat deserted feeling, which was colder than the wooden building.

Song You stayed here.

When I went out for a walk in the evening, I met the group of merchants again.

The merchant who had spoken for him earlier was surnamed Xie, and after talking to him, he learned that this carriage and horse shop was specialized in the business of merchants, and even transactions were often carried out in the store.

"Although the money minted by Dayan is also used here, and the gold and silver are also universal, we usually don't need goods to exchange money here, and we can't bring back the money after changing it, and we have to buy spices, which is very troublesome. All we had to do was bring silk and porcelain, and when we got here, of course, a local merchant would come up to us and exchange spices or other exotic things for us, and we would bring them back to the east, and that would be money. ”

The merchant surnamed Xie paused as he spoke: "Didn't Mr. find out?" It is much cheaper to stay here than in other places, because whenever there is a Hu merchant who makes a deal here, he has to give him money, so he tries his best to get more Dayan merchants to live here. ”

"I see."

Song You couldn't help but salute after hearing this: "The foot first spoke for us, and now he is solving our doubts, so that we have gained knowledge, I should really thank the step." ”

"The Taoist is polite."

After the group of merchants settled down, they washed their faces and drank water, and they seemed to talk a lot.

Song You wandered around the courtyard with them, walking under the grape trellises, chatting about the Western Regions and the Jade City, and also listening to them talk about the sandbar and the area bordering the sandbar where the drought has improved, as well as the miraculous dripping spring under Huayan Mountain, and the strange things around the Jade City.

"Sir, it's late at night, the Western Regions are not as good as Changjing, there is a curfew here, and there are often some strange things at night, you have to sleep well in the room, let's go back to our rooms."

"What's weird?"

"There are too many, I can't talk about them, some of them are about the same as the demons and ghosts we talk about, and some of them are even weirder, in short, just stay in the room, close the doors and windows, and it's fine. If you hear any movement at night, don't just open the door. The merchant surnamed Xie said for a moment and grinned, "Of course, if Mr. is really capable, he can not listen to him." ”

"Thank you."

"Please."

"Please."

The two slowly walked back to the room.

(End of chapter)