The road to Xiaocheng was far from smooth.
Never mind the jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards, poisonous insects, and ferocious beasts. The bandits who'd taken to the hills and robbed travelers on the road were frightening enough on their own. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shen Tang and Qi Shan tried their best not to spend the night outdoors.
For now, though, the most pressing matter was to get Young Master Shen two new outfits. Qi Shan was nearly out of clothes himself.
He came out of the cloth shop with a bundle in his hands.
There wasn't time to have anything custom-made, so he could only pick out two sets of men's clothes close to Young Master Shen's height from the ready-made garments.
There were both inner and outer garments, and with the set he'd lent Young Master Shen, three outfits should be enough to rotate through.
"Young Master Shen, we should get going..."
Qi Shan was about to call Shen Tang over so they could reach the next village before nightfall, but Shen Tang, who should have been waiting by the entrance, was nowhere to be seen.
Where had she gone?
She didn't know the area at all. How could she just wander off?
He was about to go look for Shen Tang when, before he could take a step, he caught a familiar flash of pure white out of the corner of his eye across the street. The tall, snow-white mule was obediently crouched on the ground. Even with passersby gathered around it in a circle, its wildly swishing tail still stuck out.
Qi Shan: "..."
"Come on over, folks, have a look! Freshly picked green plums, three coins a pound, while supplies last..."
As soon as he approached the crowd, he heard a familiar hawker's cry.
There was the Young Master Shen he knew, sitting cross-legged on the ground without a shred of decorum, her hair hastily tied up with a grass cord into a bun. A piece of cloth spread out before her, piled with green plums like a little hill. Beside her stood a large basket, also full of green plums.
She didn't seem the least bit embarrassed as she enthusiastically hawked her wares.
Whenever someone came to buy, she greeted them with gusto, calling them young master or young lady, brother or sister, and showering them with honeyed words.
She even made sure to advertise the green plums.
She claimed they were excellent quality at a bargain price, with thin skins and plump flesh; eating them would quench thirst, beat the heat, and even beautify the skin. They were truly an essential fruit for midsummer.
Qi Shan watched from the crowd for a while and noticed that most of the buyers were women, each buying three or five pounds. The green plums were ridiculously cheap, so it was already a bargain to buy them. And besides, getting this handsome young lad to call them "big sister" or "young lady" wasn't a bad deal either.
If Young Master Shen weren't so young, and if she weren't so warm and friendly, with such pretty looks and clear, innocent eyes free of any improper thoughts, the men on this street would probably have dragged her into an alley and beaten her up. Why go around flirting with other people's wives and young ladies?
Calling everyone "young lady" and "big sister" was downright frivolous.
Before long, Shen Tang had sold all her green plums. She tucked several dozen copper coins into her purse, then stood and dusted off her backside, as if she'd known all along that Qi Shan was nearby.
She smiled and asked, "Yuan Liang, are you done?"
Qi Shan held back the urge to roll his eyes, thoroughly exasperated.
"I'm done. What are you doing?"
Other people sold wine from behind a counter. Young Master Shen was selling green plums in the street?
Shen Tang shook the purse, making its coins jingle.
"I'm broke, obviously. What kind of question is that, Yuan Liang..."
Didn't he know how poor she was?
She couldn't exactly hold out her hand and ask Qi Shan for money, could she?
They weren't related; they were just tools for each other. Neither owed the other anything. Shen Tang couldn't shamelessly treat him like an ATM machine.
Under Qi Shan's complicated gaze, Shen Tang returned the basket to another vendor and redeemed the Literary Heart Sigil she'd pawned there. She fastened it back at her waist, then used her newly earned money to buy some salt, wine, and other pickled side dishes.
"Since you know your purse is empty, why did you give your money to Master Tian and the others?" As Qi Shan spoke, he tossed the bundle into the cloth bag strapped to the Motorcycle. Ever since he'd discovered Shen Tang could conjure the Motorcycle for twelve hours a day without getting tired, it had been given a new job.
They'd loaded both their packs onto it to save themselves the effort.
Two days earlier, when they'd parted ways with Tian Zhong and his group, Shen Tang had taken a few pieces of silver from her clothes and given them to the others, along with more than a dozen flatbreads.
"First, that silver wasn't money I earned myself." She'd found it on the first official they killed; she didn't feel bad about spending someone else's legacy. "Second, Tian Zhong and the others were injured and penniless. Even if they had somewhere to go, they had nothing on them. Who knows if they'd even survive the journey?"
Even without money, she wouldn't starve.
After thinking it over, she'd given away the few pieces of silver.
Shen Tang had grown up in peacetime as a shut-in artist. She simply couldn't stand seeing people in dire straits. If she could lend a hand, why not?
Qi Shan seemed unconvinced and asked again, "That's the only reason?"
Shen Tang tilted her head, puzzled.
"If it wasn't that, what else could it be? What, are people going to accuse me of having ulterior motives for doing a good deed these days?"
Qi Shan: "..."
Shen Tang's expression didn't look false. He seemed to be imagining something in his head; his expression shifted unpredictably, leaving her completely baffled.
Not knowing what was going on, Shen Tang could only ask cautiously, "Yuan Liang?"
Qi Shan looked at her deeply and sighed. "It's nothing."
But with one misstep, he was already three zhang away.
Shen Tang, left behind where she stood: "...Damn it!"
If it was nothing, why the hell did he use Word Spirit to run off?
He was just picking on her because she couldn't ride the Motorcycle with Chase the Wind and Tread the Scenery!
Since she was so broke she could hear the coins rattling in her empty purse, Shen Tang had no choice but to walk along selling the flatbreads, green plums, and malt candy she made herself.
The prices of the green plums and malt candy fluctuated based on how well-dressed the local people were. Those who were neat and well-dressed paid a few more coins; those covered in patches and with unkempt hair paid a few less. The flatbreads, meanwhile, were priced according to the local vendors. Since this was a business that cost her nothing, she did her best not to disrupt the market.
Qi Shan had no comment on her considerations.
Of course, Shen Tang had no idea what he was thinking to himself.
Young Master Shen was the most wretched Literary Heart strategist Qi Shan had ever met. Even when Qi Shan himself had been at his lowest, he'd never been in such a state.
But she seemed to enjoy herself, so he didn't feel it was his place to say much.
After hurrying along, the two of them finally reached the borders of Sibao Prefecture.
Judging by how long they'd spent on the road, they were probably even slower than the second group of convicts the Gong Clan had exiled.
"Yuan Liang, I heard people at the market say a little while ago that Sibao Prefecture had four great treasures and that its people lived in abundance... But why is it...?"
Shen Tang led the Motorcycle along behind Qi Shan, looking around.
The streets were deserted, and everywhere she looked, she saw ruin. The few passersby they encountered were gaunt, like a pile of bones draped in a torn hemp sack, swaying as if the slightest gust might knock them over.
They were especially timid, too. If their gazes accidentally met those of Shen Tang and Qi Shan, two unfamiliar faces, they'd hunch their shoulders like startled rabbits and hurry away, vanishing in a flash.
Qi Shan sighed. "Sibao Prefecture was one of the first commanderies and counties conquered by Geng Country. Of the six neighboring prefectures, three were completely plundered, and Sibao Prefecture was hit particularly hard. Restoring its former prosperity will be difficult..."
White mourning cloth hung from every household; funerals were held everywhere, and wailing and sobbing never seemed to stop.
Qi Shan wasn't surprised by such a scene of desolation.
What could be done, when the battlefield of the war between the two countries had been Xin Country?
The people of this land were doomed to suffer.
But when the two finally arrived in Xiaocheng after a thousand hardships, they found that inside and outside the city were two entirely different worlds.
Outside the city, corpses littered the ground, and barren wasteland stretched for a thousand li. The night wind howled as if countless lonely ghosts were gathered by their ears, weeping in sorrow.
Inside the city—
Crowds surged, and singing and dancing filled the streets.
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