Chapter 34: Returning Home
In the early morning of the next day, the city gate was opened on time, and a group of guards moved out of the rejection horses, arranged them on the left and right, and began to check the people who were preparing to enter the customs. The business travelers who spontaneously gathered outside the wall, in order to pass the customs as soon as possible, were busy packing their bags, and the people came and went very chaotically, with cursing, roaring, and shouting endlessly, and there was a hectic and nervous eagerness in the air.
Due to the large number of people, the convoy of the Great Chamber of Commerce was sorted out for at least half an hour, but it was a group of merchants and adventurers who passed the customs at the fastest speed, after all, the boat was small and good to turn around.
Ye Zhiqiu and his fellow Taoist friend, Chen Lun, who had known each other for a long time, that is, Chen Lun, a disciple of the third generation of the Sect, cherished each other, and then waved goodbye freely and passed the test alone.
Walking through the three-zhang long city gate passage, the morning light has not yet reached here, it looks a little dark, Ye Zhiqiu looked at the border soldiers on the left and right, his face was full of traces of wind and frost, and he couldn't help but admire in his heart.
"Originally, I thought that there would be extraneous branches, but I didn't expect that the secret attack of the remnants of the wolf clan would be suppressed, could there be another hidden story. ”
Ye Zhiqiu shook his head slightly, didn't take this matter to heart, led the horse on foot, and walked through the city pass with the flow of people.
It feels so good to return to China, Ye Zhiqiu took a deep breath, the cold air filled his body, and he couldn't help but feel a spirit, he looked around left and right, maybe it was because of the late autumn season, the dead grass in the corner of the wall was stained with a little white frost, and the cold winter suddenly hit his face, so he turned over and got on the horse familiarly.
Without his own signal, the spirited steed immediately walked out of the crowd with broken steps, and only began to jog when there were not many people left and right.
There are bazaars spontaneously formed by soldiers attached to the border army nearby, and even small villages and towns, all of which are fortress-like structures, and it is not known how many people live there.
However, it was still very early, and Ye Zhiqiu didn't see a few people who got up, it is estimated that none of them woke up, so they didn't want to disturb other people's dreams, so they gently held the reins, and the horse immediately realized and immediately slowed down.
When passing through a two-zhang wide main road, Ye Zhiqiu smelled the warm pot gas, mixed with the salty and fragrant soybean sauce, couldn't help but drool, and his stomach made a rumbling sound in a very timely manner, so he grabbed his sleeve with his left hand, and hurriedly wiped the corner of his mouth, and with a slight clamp between his legs, the horse came to his senses and walked towards the store that had opened early.
There was a waist-high bolted horse stone at the door of the small shop, and after Ye Zhiqiu turned over and dismounted, he led his mount forward, simply tied a slipknot, and then asked the store for a piece of wheat rice and soup, and sat down at the square table at the entrance of the store.
After a while, the yellow and clear wheat rice was held in both hands and placed in front of Ye Zhiqiu, and the thick soup was also served later, rising with the heat, exuding a spicy smell of ginger.
This kind of small shop must have been opened by the family members of the border soldiers, and the portion was full of ten, but the price was a bit high, and the forage for the mounts to feed was ten big dollars.
Ye Zhiqiu is not a rich man with a lot of money, nor is he a shy and poor family, after giving all the money for the meal, he is a foodie after all, and he can't help but be a little greedy, so he can give advice to others.
Fish skin jelly, braised pork, called flower chicken, poached eggs, are all simple and easy-to-use dishes, and the eyes of the local store lit up on the spot, and he was obviously also a connoisseur.
Ye Zhiqiu saw him swallowing his saliva, and he actually aroused the gluttonous worms in his stomach, but after taking care of the fox, his face was a little uncalm, and he hurriedly put them into the magic sword to warm up.
Thanks to Zhang Qian's trip to the Western Regions, he brought back cucumbers, garlic, coriander, alfalfa, pomegranates, grapes, walnuts and other vegetables and fruits, plus the alchemy of the warlocks under Liu An, the king of Huainan, to develop tofu with gypsum and bean juice, no longer have to worry about soybean belly, and the food materials can be said to be greatly enriched.
However, limited to the poverty of cooking means, especially the scarcity of oil, the daily food of the common people is mainly boiled and boiled, and the diet of the aristocratic and wealthy families is not known for the time being because they have not been in contact with it.
Ye Zhiqiu's move can be regarded as a small test, that is, whether it will cause backlash and restrictions under the existing conditions, especially in a semi-closed and semi-open circle like the border army.
Later, the shopkeeper who got the secret recipe for the delicacy from the mouth of the visiting scholar not only returned the rice money for the wheat rice and soup, but also untied two pieces of bacon that had been smoked on the hanging beam above the stove for a long time as a thank-you gift.
Ye Zhiqiu knew that the people were simple, but he never expected that the shopkeeper, who was not wealthy, would give away the most valuable bacon and meat, and he didn't dare to refuse to refuse, and after accepting it, he used it as a dry food reserve, worried that the other party would give him everything he had to thank him, so he hurriedly waved goodbye.
After turning over and getting on the horse, Ye Zhiqiu looked straight ahead, gently vibrated the reins, and the spiritual horse immediately raised its hooves and headed south, kicking off a fine puff of smoke and dust, which was immediately blown away by the autumn wind.
After about a quarter of an hour, he ran out of ten miles in one breath, and Ye Zhiqiu couldn't feel his gaze sweeping behind him, so he gently pulled the reins and signaled the mount to slow down.
Looking back, Ye Zhiqiu saw the winding Great Wall, undulating between the mountains, the mountain stream and valley in the distance, and at the foot of the city wall, a large number of uneven houses formed a group of villages and towns, and the peeping eyes came from here.
"The secret attack of the remnants of the wolf clan is related to the resurgence of the wolf clan, I am involved in it, and I have a lot to do with it, but I got out of it by luck and was not embarrassed, I am afraid that the situation is turbulent, and the generals of the border army do not want to have many things, I estimate that this is the end. ”
Ye Zhiqiu pondered for a moment, and said secretly in his heart: "It's okay to end! No matter how powerful the wolf clan is, it is impossible for them to cross the wall and go south to assassinate me again." From then on, I was able to sit back and relax. ”
Thinking of this, Ye Zhiqiu took a deep breath and rode south again, vowing to catch up with the team of the Zhang Su Chamber of Commerce. It's just an extra day of travel in advance, and the carriage that returns with a full load will not be too fast, so it will definitely be able to catch up.
At the same time, the lookout on the wall of the Great Wall, several shiny military candidates, looking at a wisp of smoke and dust, had to withdraw their gaze.
"This matter is over! This person is obviously a scholar of You, but in essence, he is indeed a Qi Refiner of the Essence Channel Technique, and he is also a scattered stream who does not understand the rules. To tell the truth, this kind of person often has no care, and it is not impossible to force him to stay, but if you hurt him to your face, it will inevitably give rise to suspicion, so why bother? More is better than less, right?"
The others secretly pondered, all of them had the same idea, so they nodded their heads one after another, and the sound rang out in harmony. After all, the qi refiners who entered the customs and went south were their own people with unfathomable strength with one enemy and three, killing three elite warriors of the wolf clan.
The army's magic sacrificial wine dissected three corpses, and noticed that one of them had traces of the possession of the wolf god, and was even defeated by this person, which shows how terrifying this scattered qi refiner is.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't know his status in the minds of the border army generals, and after galloping wildly for half a day, he finally found the team of the Zhang Su Chamber of Commerce along the same path at noon.
Regarding the return of the heroes who had made outstanding contributions to this trip, the caravan was enthusiastically stretched out their hands to greet them, and the leader of the guards, Tie Feng, didn't say a word, and stepped forward to be a bear hug, which made Ye Zhiqiu almost out of breath, and it seemed that he couldn't bear it.
Later, Tie Feng took the green donkey and the iron-eating beast and handed them directly to Ye Zhiqiu, which could be regarded as returning the thing to its original owner, and lived up to the entrustment of the two of them when they parted with the grassland.
After a small wave, the caravan continued southward, encountering more than a dozen rebels on the way, all of whom were dealt with by well-trained caravan guards. Even if there were bandits among them who had the fur of the Yellow Turban Army, they were all cleaned up by Ye Zhiqiu, who was happy to hunt, and he didn't take into account the Yellow Turban Qu's poisonous incense at all.
It's a pity that these talismans trained by mistake are just one-time consumables that temporarily stimulate the potential of the human body and enhance muscle hardness, and they have no value at all.
The only benefit is the experience value of the character panel, which is still a little bit full, but the prestige of the Zhang Su Chamber of Commerce has also spread, and for a few days after that, no one who has not opened his eyes dared to come to brush the tiger's beard, but it made Ye Zhiqiu sigh for a long time.
After the caravan returned to Qing'an County, Zhuo County, a large number of high-quality furs, as well as sturdy horses, were recognized by the senior management of the Chamber of Commerce, and Ye Zhiqiu's reputation was also widely known with the spread of everyone's ears, and he was recommended by Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, the two presidents of the Chamber of Commerce, to the current county magistrate Liu Bei of Qing'an County.
Liu Xianling, who was eager for talent, of course summoned him immediately for such a great talent under his rule, but the staff were full of Confucian scholars, and he instinctively resisted the qi refiners who were proficient in Taoism, so he deliberately delayed for a few days under the pretext that he was ready to go to Luo to recognize his ancestors and return to his ancestors, and obtain the name of the clan.
After all, Ye Zhiqiu is a human being in two lives, and he is very clear about the thoughts of Confucianism, in addition to the daily affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, he is pondering his meridians in his residence, and wants to light up a few more acupoints to prepare for the future war.
Seeing him so calm, he didn't say anything, but he still admired it very much, and finally reached Liu Bei's ears, so he ignored the opinions of his subordinates and recruited Ye Zhiqiu into Shangluo's team before leaving.