The Orions did not break their promise. Early in the morning of the third day, they really brought the siblings to the county.

When he was young, the bearded man also traveled from south to north and was quite knowledgeable. Along the way, he made up a lot of common sense about the "county" to his sister and brother: this county is famous as "Shixiu", which is an old county town with a history of 500 years. Among the three counties that intersect here, Shixiu County is the largest in scale; among them, the main urban area of Shixiu County is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the water transportation is convenient, and it is the place where merchants from the north and south meet.

As a result, when the sisters and brothers saw the city gate of Shixiu County, they were still deeply moved.

The city gate of Shixiu County is made of large bluestone, which looks simple and heavy in the sun. At the beginning of the opening of the city gate, entering and leaving the city, the two roads converged, and it was very lively, which was not comparable to the market in the town that Shen Jiumei had seen. When she came back to her senses, she was afraid that she would not pay attention and lose Shen Qiubao, so she nervously grabbed one of the latter's hands and followed the beard step by step.

In such a county town, can Qiu Bao and I really take root? Can Qiu Bao really find a martial arts hall to learn art? Seeing the crowd of people coming and going, she was full of confidence and suddenly lost her bottom.

But Shen Qiubao only felt that his two eyes were completely too busy at the moment. Pursing his lips, he kept exclaiming in his heart: Wow, there are so many people!

"In the county, there are many shops, and there are many people coming and going from the south to the north. Both of you sisters and brothers are clever people, and they have endured hardships and are willing to work hard, so that they will not worry about the day when they will not be able to get ahead. Seeing the uneasiness and panic in Shen Jiumei's heart, the bearded man stood in front of the city gate and comforted.

"Thank you, Uncle Hong. Shen Jiumei secretly took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

Uncle Hong is a bearded man. After three days of getting along, the hunters completely unloaded their defenses and took care of the sisters and brothers as their own sons and nephews. So, the siblings learned a lot about them. For example, they are all from Xiaoxi Village, and Xiaoxi Village is a mixed surname village. The bearded man's surname is Hong, and he is a well-known old hunter in the village. Two of the remaining four hunters are a pair of cousins with the surname Fu, and the remaining two have the surnames Liu and Wang.

The Xianfu of Shixiu County has very strict control over the mountain people, stipulating: All mountain people entering and leaving the city gate, regardless of men, women and children, must collect a tax of five big yuan per person, which is called: city gate tax.

For the mountain people who are eager to break a large sum of money in half to use it, the gate tax of five large coins is not a small amount. Therefore, they usually find a random vacant lot outside the city gate and sell mountain goods. As long as the Immortal Mansion has no intention of entering the city, they have always turned a blind eye to this. Over time, a small market called "Morning Market" was formed outside the gate of Shixiu County.

Uncle Hong, they came to the "morning market" to sell the prey.

"Ninth sister, Yunwa, it's still early. Wait until we sell the mountain goods, and then send you into the city. "Uncle Hong is very embarrassed. Last night, the five of them took out the money bags on their backs. As a result, the five of them combined could not make up the ten large dollars of city gate tax. If you want to send the sister and brother into the city, you have to sell the mountain goods at hand first.

"My uncle left some money enough for our brother and sister to pay taxes and go to the city. "How could Shen Jiu Mei let them break the bank? Uncle Hong and the others were able to take them to the county seat, and they took good care of them along the way, which was already a great kindness. She pulled Shen Qiubao and said very gratefully, "Uncle Hong, uncles and uncles, your great kindness, our brothers and sisters can't repay it, so we can only kowtow to you." With that, the siblings knelt down in unison.

"Oh, I can't help it!" Uncle Hong and the others hurriedly reached out to help.

"Uncle Hong, this head must be knocked. Shen Qiubao raised his head and said resolutely, "Dad said that we people in the mountains are favored by others, and we should repay them when the spring gushes." Yunwa is still young now, and she can't do anything else, so she can only kowtow to the engongs first. Yunwa will firmly remember the great kindness of the engongs. When Yunsheng grows up and learns his skills, he will definitely go to Xiaoxi Village to find the benefactors, and then repay today's great kindness. ”

"This doll ......" the little man said this, and it would be hypocritical to block it. Uncle Hong and the others had some red circles under their eyes.

The sister and brother immediately took it seriously and gave them a knock.

"Get up!" the hunters helped them up.

Hong Jiumei took the opportunity to resign: "Uncle Hong, you can send us here." When I enter the county, I will try to find a job and take good care of my younger brother. ”

Among the five people, Uncle Hong has advanced to Shixiu County for more than ten years. The other four stopped in front of the city gate again and again. What was going on inside the city gates, they were also dark-eyed. Therefore, even if they took their sister and brother into the city, they would only pay the city gate tax for five more people, and they would not be able to give substantial help.

"That's fine. Uncle Hong didn't insist anymore, and reached out to touch Qiu Bao's head, "Yunwa, the man in our mountain, like a mountain, walks right, sits upright, and stands up to the sky." Uncle is waiting for you in Xiaoxi Village, waiting for you to become a well-known man. Uncle doesn't have any other hobbies, so he just drinks a little wine. When you get ahead, don't forget to bring the jar of good wine to the uncle. ”

"Hmm. Shen Qiubao nodded solemnly, "Yun Wa remembered." ”

"Good doll!" Uncle Hong touched his beard and laughed.

"Okay, we'll wait for your sister and brother to bring you some wine!" the other four laughed and agreed.

The city gate of Shixiu County recognizes money but does not recognize people. As long as the mountain people paid the gate tax, the guards guarding the city would release them without saying a word. Under the watchful eyes of Uncle Hong and others, the sister and brother handed over ten big money to one of the guards.

The latter took the money and buzzed: "Next." ”

So, Hong Jiumei hurriedly pulled Shen Qiubao along the crowd entering the city.

After walking a dozen steps, they passed through the Bluestone City Tower. The eyes suddenly opened up, and the noise came to the face.

"Ninth sister, there are so many houses!" Shen Qiubao sighed in surprise, "Much more than in the town!"

"There are a lot of people. Shen Jiumei only felt that her mouth was very dry, and her hands were even harder, holding Shen Qiubao tightly, "You must follow me closely, don't get lost." ”

"Hmm!" Looking at the bustling streets, after being amazed, Shen Qiubao couldn't help but worry, "Ninth sister, where are we going?"

"Of course, I'm going to find the martial arts hall!" Shen Jiumei replied very affirmatively.

"But, what does the martial arts hall look like?" There are so many houses on both sides of the street, and they look so bad...... Qiu Bao only felt dazzled.

Shen Jiumei didn't know the bottom of her heart, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. In a hurry, she remembered the scene when she went to the town with her father to catch the market - at that time, how did her father do it?

Ha, got it!

Her eyes lit up, and she shook a handful of beads of sweat: "Let's walk along the street first and look around." ”

So, the sister and brother walked along the bluestone paved streets, looking for them one by one.

"Ninth sister, what is that?"

"Oh, it's rice candy. ”

"What about that?"

"Candied fruit. ”

......

The market was not very long, and after about a quarter of an hour, the siblings walked from the street to the end of the street. The bluestone pavement comes to an end, replaced by a narrow and crowded yellow dirt road that extends in all directions. On both sides of the road were low, dilapidated houses. They are crowded and dense, like the scales of a large herring.

And the street outside seems to be two worlds. The noisy crowd suddenly disappeared. There are no bright signboards or colored flags, and the eyes are full of blue-gray and earthy yellow. There were only a few people scattered on the road. They slowly walked with their heads bowed, as if each of them was carrying a heavy mountain on their backs.

I didn't find the imaginary martial arts hall. Shen Jiumei looked at the unfamiliar realm, and her heart was stunned.

"Ninth Sister, do we still have to go further?" Shen Qiubao came back to his senses and asked in a low voice. He never dreamed that the bustling streets would change to a completely opposite face.

"I ......" Shen Jiumei groaned slightly, and was about to answer. At this moment, a black shadow flashed in front of him.

Shen Jiumei only felt a lightness on her back, and immediately exclaimed: "My bag ......"

Without paying attention, someone snatched a small package from her back!

In the past two years, she and her father have not gone into the mountains to shoot mosquitoes! Instantly reacting, she shouted: "Qiu Bao, keep up!" Before the voice fell, the person had already let go of Qiu Bao's hand and chased after him like an arrow off the string.

Qiu Bao was not ambiguous, and immediately pulled up the two short legs of the radish and followed closely.

Seeing this, the black shadow was straight in his heart. I thought it was two rural monkeys who had never seen the world, but I didn't want to be a hard idea. He pressed the small package in his hand neatly. It's light and soft, and it looks like there's only clothes or something in it.

What good can the monkey's clothes be? I'm afraid I can't even change a mixed noodle steamed bun!" he frowned.

Seeing that he was about to be caught up by the big one, he decisively threw the small package into the alley on the left: "Give it back to you, stinky girl!"

"Qiu Bao!" Shen Jiumei was still in hot pursuit. You want to run away after robbing my things? Hmph, there's no door!

The sister and brother depend on each other and have a tacit understanding. Shen Qiubao heard the command, turned and rushed into the small opening, picking up the small package.

In just a short moment, the figure of the eldest sister had disappeared at the entrance of the alley on the right front.

Without hesitation, he rushed over as fast as he could.

"Run, see where you're going!"

As soon as he passed, he heard the voice of the ninth sister coming from inside. Although he was panting, he was full of breath.

When I looked closely, I saw that in the alley, seven or eight steps away, a guy in tattered clothes who couldn't see the background of his clothes was lying on the ground like a dead fish, while his eldest sister was crossing her waist and stepping on this guy's chest with one foot majestically.

The ninth sister is mighty! Shen Qiubao stopped with confidence. He stood at the entrance of the alley with all his strength, holding the small package tightly in his arms with one hand, holding the wall of the house with the other, half-bending over, panting uncontrollably.