After breakfast, the businessman surnamed Xie invited Song You out for a stroll as promised, and several other businessmen accompanied him.

This is their destination.

Merchants surnamed Xie came once a year, starting with his grandfather, who walked on this Silk Road and also on the golden trade route.

Starting from Changjing and arriving here, nine thousand miles away, without stopping in the middle, even with their foot strength, they have to walk for three or four months, and a round trip is seven or eight months.

Avoid the coldest and hottest times of the year and make a round trip just once a year.

The businessman surnamed Xie has been gone for half his life.

The year before last was the most difficult, last year there was a dripping spring in the desert out of thin air, and it was slightly better than the year before, and this year the drought was a little slower, and it was better to walk again.

It was they who supported the prosperity of the Silk Road, and they also built a bridge between Eastern and Western civilizations, not to mention anything else, that is, the watermelon eaten on the Song You Road, which they brought all the way from a very distant place to bring water. Maybe in this era, they are just an extremely inconspicuous businessman, but in the history books, they are destined to be a grain of star sand in a brilliant galaxy.

At the same time, they also know Yucheng very well.

"Since Mr. has traveled all over the world, when he arrives in Jade City, he will definitely go to the gate of the East City, which is the largest gate of Jade City, and it is very magnificent." The merchant surnamed Xie said to him, "Every time the imperial court envoy or the general in the military town arrives in Yucheng, the monarch of Yucheng welcomes him here. Every morning here is very lively, there are selling anything, after half of the afternoon, there are hundreds of people singing and dancing here, the favorite thing of Yucheng people is to dance, so many people together, but also have a unique flavor. ”

"I've made a note below."

At dusk, in the earthy yellow city of the Western Regions, music floated in the air, and hundreds of people danced together, Song You seemed to have imagined such a picture.

"If the Taoist people are interested, they can also go dancing together, they are very enthusiastic."

"I'm not good at it."

"Hahaha......"

The merchant surnamed Xie smiled, and then said: "If you want to say that there is anything good about Yucheng, we can't say, it is actually not as prosperous as Changjing, and it does not have many tricks to play in Changjing." When we get here, we do what we need to do, which is to eat for a few days, rest for a few days, look for it, hehe, have fun, and go back. But it's strange to say, when I arrived here, I was homesick and longed for Changjing, and when I left here, I missed this place inexplicably. ”

Another businessman next to him said with a smile: "Maybe we were born to run on this road!" ”

All the merchants burst into laughter.

There is also a strange kind of open-mindedness and boldness for a while.

Thousands of miles away, in a foreign land, with many mountains and rivers, countless crises, and lonely and boring, it takes great courage to walk on this road.

From ancient times to the present, the people living in this land have shown their great courage many times, but in these moments that show the ultimate courage of human beings, there must be such a fragment, which belongs to the pathfinder who set foot alone in the Western Regions and walked thousands of miles.

Countless caravans followed, all of whom were his followers.

These merchants, all surnamed Xie, were originally close neighbors, considered relatives or fellow villagers, and such relationships were very common in caravans on this road.

When a person has captured the great wealth on this road, he will naturally attract those closest to him, and when they need help from people, the first consideration on this long and dangerous road is naturally their own relatives or fellow villagers, and this natural social bond will naturally bring them together, and in the long run, they will form a fixed caravan.

It's just that I don't know if the new dynasty will be able to include the Western Regions in its territory after Dayan.

"If Mr. wants to ask what scenery is outside this Jade City, we don't know, except for the way we came, we have never been to other places in Jade City over the years. But if Mr. asks what are the good places to eat, drink and play in Jade City, we will know some. The businessman surnamed Xie said and looked at the girl beside Song You, "It's just that there are some places where it may be inconvenient for Mr. to go." ”

"Then forget it."

"That gentleman missed it." The merchant surnamed Xie couldn't help but laugh and said, "The beauty of the dancing girl in the Western Regions is completely different from that of the Central Plains woman. ”

“……”

Song You smiled and said nothing.

But the girl next to her looked confused, and couldn't help asking, "What beauty?" Sanhua Niangniang also go to check it out! ”

"Haha......"

The merchant couldn't help laughing, but didn't say much, but took them to continue wandering around the jade city

Someone took it, while walking around and explaining to him, what it is, why it is so, and taking him into the local customs is undoubtedly a completely different experience from walking alone and watching alone.

The sun rises gradually.

"It's almost noon, it's better for me to wait for the east today, and ask Mr. to taste the mutton soup and roasted dumplings in Yucheng." The merchant surnamed Xie pointed to a shop in front of him and made a gesture of please, "The dumplings here are different from those in Changjing, the dumplings in Changjing are fried, and the dumplings in Changjing are baked in the stove, which has a unique flavor." ”

"I only received a few favors yesterday, and I haven't paid it back, and today I have been invited by a few people to lead the way, so I can see the customs of Yucheng, how can I let a few more break the bank? Let's invite a few people to dinner. ”

"How can anyone ask a Taoist to pay for a meal?"

A few people laughed and took Song You into the store.

It was still a stone building, with a façade, a somewhat dirty cloth blanket on the floor, covered with straw futons, and many low tables, in which some people sit.

The guest surnamed Xie used the local dialect to talk to the shopkeeper, but Song You only said, "I eat whatever I eat, my children will eat", and did not interject.

It didn't take long for the food to arrive.

The mutton soup is boiled in a small pottery cup, like a tea cup, one cup per person, and there is a big lump of mutton and shallots in the soup, except for salt and water, there is nothing to put in it, and the mutton soup with oil flowers and the big lump of mutton stewed to whitish look very appetizing.

As soon as he brought it up, the merchant beckoned him to move.

Song You blew it cool and tasted it first.

The quality of the lamb alone is already supporting its deliciousness.

The roasted dumplings are very similar to roasted buns, square in shape, the shell is grilled to a crisp, and the lamb and shallots are locked in and cooked, and the soup is rich and the meat is rich.

Song You learned from them, first carefully bite a corner, eat this layer of skin on the outside, this layer of skin is also interesting, the outside is roasted crispy and hard, the inside is in contact with the broth, but it is soft, and it is full of oil, water and soup, and the fragrance of the face is mixed with the aroma of meat, which is intoxicating.

Sanhua Niangniang learned Song You again.

There was a constant sound of talking from the side, and it was the locals talking in their own language, and they looked very surprised, and it seemed that the story was also interesting, which attracted many customers to listen attentively.

Even a few businessmen at the same table with Song You couldn't help but glance at them frequently, but some listened attentively, and some occasionally showed doubts, Song You guessed that even if they were, not everyone was highly accomplished in the local dialect.

"These people are talking about strange things in the mountains outside the city." The businessman surnamed Xie said to Song You, "I don't know if Mr. has heard the story of 40,000 troops frozen by monsters on the mountain outside the city more than a hundred years ago, I don't know what happened two days ago, there are locals at the bottom of the mountain who noticed that a lot of water flowed down the mountain, and took advantage of the day to go up the mountain to check only to find that the mountain should have been full of frozen soldiers and horses, but now not only the frozen soldiers and horses are gone, but also all covered by mud and rocks, and even the lake in the mountain is gone, I don't know what happened." ”

"I've heard of it, too."

Song You replied truthfully.

The girl sat next to him, nibbled on the mutton in the clay cup, as if she didn't hear what they said, and tore out a small piece of fleshy fiber, turned around and stretched out the outside of the store, wanting to feed it to the swallows.

However, there were too many people in the shop, and the swallows were reluctant to come.

"I heard that the army went to the country of Weilan back then and looted countless gold, silver, pearls, jade, and rare treasures, and I don't know if those treasures are still there, if we pick them up, we will be rich." A businessman pinched the roasted dumplings and couldn't help but think.

"How can there be such a good thing!"

"Beware of being eaten by youkai."

Song You just listened with a smile and shared their ease.

"There are more and more strange things in this Jade City, especially in the past few years." The businessman surnamed Xie was chatting during the banquet, "The owner of this shop was still saying just now that they were eating at home two days ago, and they had made a roast chicken and were about to eat it, but as soon as it was brought to the table, the roast chicken disappeared, and there was not even a plate left, do you think it's strange?" ”

“！”

The little girl gnawed on the meat, raised her head, and stared at the merchant surnamed Xie in a daze.

The merchant could see the extraordinaryness of this Taoist and this girl, especially when he was talking about strange things that children would be interested in, but this girl didn't seem to hear it, and he couldn't help but put his eyes on her a little more, but at this time he was a little inexplicable by her sudden glance.

After a while, the little girl returned to normal, and continued to lower her head, holding the mutton and nibbling on it.

The merchant found that the girl ate meat and did not chew it—

She tore off a little bit of the meat with her mouth, put it on the side of her teeth and swallowed it after biting it twice, without a single action of grinding the food.

"Does the shopkeeper know what kind of monster took the roast chicken?"

The voice of the Taoist interrupted his conjecture.

The merchant hurriedly came back to his senses: "How can this be known?" ”

"Is this the first time this has happened?"

"I heard that there have been many cases in Yucheng where things have disappeared inexplicably, and some even disappeared in front of people, but in the past, there were mostly rare treasures, and there were few roast chickens." The merchant surnamed Xie couldn't help but smile and said to him, "But even if this kind of thing happens a lot, it is impossible to know what monster did it, otherwise it would have come to the door a long time ago." ”

"Isn't that lost in vain?"

"What else else?" The merchant surnamed Xie said, "There are so many rare treasures in the city, not to mention a roast chicken." ”

"Reasonable."

Song You nodded, and forked the mutton from his pottery cup into Sanhua Niangniang's bowl.

"The second brother's Yucheng dialect is just very good." A younger businessman next to him quipped.

"Sir doesn't know, the person in front of you, a few years ago, he married a dancing girl from Yucheng as a concubine, I'm afraid I talk sweetly to her every day, you and I can talk so smoothly."

"It's so enviable......"

There was a burst of hearty laughter.

Two or three roasted dumplings per person, plus a cup of mutton soup, it doesn't seem to be much, but it's actually very solid, between chatting and joking, everyone picked up the pottery cup and drank the last mouthful of soup, and by the way, through this soup, the last bite of the roasted dumplings in their hands were also sent into the stomach.

"Sir, are you still used to eating?"

"Eat habitually, eat habitually."

"It's good to get used to eating, eating here, most of the time it's either naan or meat, I'm afraid that Mr. won't be used to eating it."

The businessman surnamed Xie said while taking out the money.

"Please let us please."

Song You immediately said, his tone sincere.

At the same time, the girl also hurriedly took out the money.

After several excuses, Song You refused to let in.

The merchant surnamed Xie had no choice but to give up, call the shopkeeper, and act as an interpreter for him.

I don't know if the price of meat here is cheaper, or the purchasing power of the money cast by Dayan is higher here, after eating a meal, these people, mainly meat, are actually less than three hundred yuan.

Song You took the money bag from Sanhua Niangniang's hand, picked out a piece of broken silver from it, about four coins, and asked the merchant surnamed Xie before handing it to the shopkeeper.

"No need to look for it."

A businessman surnamed Xie also translated this sentence.

The shopkeeper was respectful, and immediately a little more joyful, and left with a smile.

"Sir's shot is too generous."

"It's just a fate with him."

"Oh? What is the fate? ”

"It's hard to say."

"Ha ......"

The merchant smiled and didn't ask.

Go out to the right, and in front of a courtyard, it is still a courtyard with a strong Western Regions style, there is no signboard and it is not closed, I don't know what it is doing, but several merchants seem to have been looking forward to it for a long time.

"Sir, I'll accompany Mr. here, if Sir, if you want to go back, just go straight ahead, less than a mile, is the carriage and horse shop where we stayed. Mr. only looked at the courtyard and knew that it was on the same road as the carriage and horse shop, both of which were compounds, and they were all backed by the river. The merchant surnamed Xie laughed and said, "We won't go back tonight, lest we smell the smell of barbecue again in the early morning of the night, and I don't know whether it is mutton, horse meat or human meat, and I don't dare to go out to see it, it's scary." ”

"It's fine."

Song You also bowed his hand to them: "Thank you for the invitation, and I wish you a few people to have fun." ”

"Hahaha......"

Several people immediately showed tacit expressions.

However, Sanhua Niangniang was very curious, her heart was like a cat scratching, she stretched her neck, and probed her brain to look inside, but because her Taoist priest was by her side, she didn't rush in.

"Farewell."

"See you tomorrow."

The men went into the courtyard.

The Taoist held the hand of Sanhua Niangniang, who frequently turned back, and also walked out of here.

"In the middle of summer, it is the time when the melon is ripe, just eating the gluttony and mutton is a little dry after all, and the mouth is full of mutton taste, let's buy a honeydew melon, find a roadside shade to sit down and eat, isn't it beautiful?"

Song You tried to divert her attention.

(End of chapter)