A trail hidden in the dense forest appeared in front of Wang Chen.
He had discovered this road while hunting not long ago, and there were fresh traces of people or hunters trampling on it.
Wang Chen Just go along this road.
After more than ten miles, the trail turned into a real mountain road - the road was paved with thick stone slabs.
The surface of each stone slab is densely covered with the vicissitudes of time, and it is unknown how many people have stepped on it, leaving deep marks.
After walking for another mile, there were two forks ahead.
To the left or to the right?
Wang Chen hesitated for a moment and did not make a choice immediately. Instead, he sat down on the stone under the big tree next to him.
This stone was obviously used as a place for pedestrians to rest, as it had patina on it.
Wang Chen took off the water bag hanging on his waist and took a sip of cool spring water.
He planned to wait here to see if any pedestrians would come over to ask for directions, so as not to run around like a headless fly.
Facts have proved that Wang Chen's decision was correct.
He waited there for almost half an hour when he heard a sound in the distance.
Soon a caravan of mules and horses arrived at Sanchakou.
This caravan is not large in scale, with four or five mules and horses, and about ten people. Each mule and horse is carrying a heavy load, and all the people in the caravan are armed with swords and bows, and they are obviously Martial Artist.
The leader was Old Foreman with gray temples. He glanced at Wang Chen with his dim eyes and hesitated but did not stop.
Until I came to Wang Chen.
Wang Chen stood up, saluted, and asked, "Old man, I lost my way in the mountains. Which way should I take to get to the nearest county?"
"The nearest county?"
Old Foreman's eyes are a little strange.
Wang Chen was dressed like a hunter, but he said he had lost his way in the mountains and was sitting at a fork in the road not knowing which way to go.
Is this reasonable?
It's not reasonable at all!
But Old Foreman has lived for such a long time and has seen a lot of strange things and people. He can live peacefully until now and has his own set of rules for dealing with things.
No matter how strange he felt, he still replied with a smile on the surface, "The nearest county here is Yan City. Our caravan is going to Yan City. If you don't mind, little brother, you can go with our caravan."
His eyes were venomous, and he did not see Wang Chen as a villain or a bandit spy, so he was willing to form a good relationship with Wang Chen.
Wang Chen is grateful. "Thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
Old Foreman turned around with a smile and shouted, "Everyone, let's have a rest here and set off again after noon."
So the caravan stopped to rest on the roadside, eating, drinking, and tending to the mules and horses' fodder.
Old Foreman put away the whip in his hand, sat down on the stone next to Wang Chen, and asked curiously, "Little brother, where did you come from?"
Wang Chen did not answer directly, but took off the tiger skin tied to his back. "Old man, do you accept leather goods?"
"Let me see."
Old Foreman glanced deeply at Wang Chen, and then took the tiger skin.
"We accept both mountain goods and leather goods."
He opened the folded tiger skin, carefully inspected it inside and out, and said, "Your tiger skin is good, very complete, but the tanning technique is a bit lacking."
Wang Chen rubbed his nose. "You can estimate the price, and we'll make the decision if it suits you."
His skills in tanning animal hides were indeed average, mainly because he had not put much effort into this aspect.
"If you want me to accept it..."
Old Foreman raised a finger. "I can only give you one hundred taels of silver at most, but if you give it to Yan City and sell it, if you meet a suitable buyer, you can get two to three hundred taels!"
He emphasized. "I'm not cheating people. This is the rule of our industry. I don't have to make money, but I can't break the rules."
"So if you want to sell it at a high price, you'd better bring it to Yan City!"
With that said, he was about to return the tiger skin to Wang Chen.
Wang Chen didn't answer, waved his hand and said, "Then one hundred taels."
He, or Ling Zhiyuan, doesn't have much concept of money in his memory. Wang Chen is not very clear about the purchasing power of these one hundred taels of silver.
It's just that the other party was very candid and spoke clearly, so Wang Chen didn't bother.
Old Foreman was stunned.
Two to three hundred taels of silver is not a small amount.
You must know that for an ordinary family of five, a dozen or twenty taels is enough for a year's living expenses.
You can buy a nice house in Yan City with only three hundred taels of silver!
As a result, Wang Chen didn't care about the price difference at all and was actually willing to give it to him at a low price.
But that's not the point.
The point is that Wang Chen's indifference is not an act. He gives Old Foreman the impression that he is like the kind of kid from a wealthy family who has been luxurious for generations, and his words and deeds reveal the temperament of a superior.
This made Old Foreman, who was accustomed to the world, a little uneasy. He put away the tiger skin, gritted his teeth, took out two banknotes from his arms and handed them to Wang Chen: "Thank you very much."
Wang Chen took the banknotes and saw that they were all in denominations of one hundred.
He was very familiar with banknotes. He could tell they were not fake as soon as he touched them, and the bank number that issued the banknotes was also a well-known big bank.
Ling Zhiyuan spent a lot.
Wang Chen handed one back to the other party. "If you say a hundred, it's a hundred."
As a result, Old Foreman refused to accept the offer with a smile on his face - he would rather earn less than offend someone who couldn't figure out the details.
Wang Chen was too lazy to argue with this old gangster, so he simply collected the banknotes and then threw a bag to the other party.
It contained four severed tiger claws.
"That's it!"
Old Foreman didn't even see clearly where Wang Chen got the bag from. He was secretly wondering, but he didn't dare to dwell on it any longer.
He took out the wine from the bag of the mule and horse and invited Wang Chen to drink it together.
As a result, Wang Chen only took one sip and then stopped drinking it - sour.
And this also strengthened Old Foreman's idea and became more polite to him.
After noon, everyone had had enough rest, and the caravan got back on the road.
This caravan came from the left road and went to the right road. Old Foreman was leading the way and chatting with Wang Chen. No one else had any opinions.
This Old Foreman has a lot of experience and is also very shrewd. He talks about all kinds of allusions and anecdotes in a clear and logical manner, which makes Wang Chen listen with relish and does not feel that the journey is boring at all.
Just like this, we followed the caravan for twenty miles, and it was almost evening.
Old Foreman said, "Little brother, there is an inn three miles ahead. We will stay there at night."
Wang Chen nodded and said nothing.
Old Foreman called a group of caravan guys to speed up and saw the mountain inn with lanterns hanging before it got completely dark.
The size of this inn seems to be quite small. There are many mules and horses parked outside. It is obvious that merchants have settled here for a long time.
With the light from the lanterns hanging under the eaves, Wang Chen could clearly see the inn's signboard.
Tongfu Inn!
——
The second update is sent.