"Are you still fighting?"
Hearing Mo Yun's words, Wang Daniu came to his senses, put the copper hammer on the ground, hugged Mo Yun's legs with a plop, raised his head and said loudly, "Brother Mo! You will be my brother from now on!"
Mo Yun:"???"
Onlookers: "???"
"Brother Mo, you are so awesome! I am convinced! I am convinced! I want to make you my big brother!"
Wang Daniu shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice so loud that even half of Martial Training Ground could hear it.
Mo Yun's face was a little dark, and he quickly pulled him up. "Don't be like this, it's so embarrassing."
Wang Daniu stood up with a silly smile and patted the dust on his knees, not feeling embarrassed at all.
He scratched his head and suddenly thought of something. He rummaged through his pocket and took out a package of things wrapped in oil paper and handed it to Mo Yun.
"Brother Mo, this is the jerky made by my mother. It's delicious. Here it is for you to eat!"
Mo Yun looked at the package of good-looking dried meat, twitched the corner of his mouth, and finally reached out to take it.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, you're welcome! You are my brother! I will take care of you every day from now on!" Wang Daniu smiled happily.
The Manor Guard people who were watching looked at each other in astonishment, their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
This is Third-Class Guard Manor Guard. You just recognized Fourth-Class Guard Manor Guard as your brother?
However, when they saw Mo Yun casually put the bag of dried meat into his arms and patted Wang Daniu on the shoulder with a calm look, they felt vaguely that there was nothing wrong.
Although this guy is just Fourth-Class Guard Manor Guard, his strength is there. Even Wang Daniu is no match for him. It won't take long for him to be promoted to Third-Class Guard Manor Guard.
Such a person is destined not to stay in the Fourth-Class Guard Manor Guard position for too long.
At the end of the morning exercise, Qin Hu stopped Mo Yun and Zhao Gang again.
"Something went wrong at Blackstone Stronghold yesterday, and the rents of two families were confiscated." Qin Hu patted the booklet in his hand, "Today you will make another trip to collect the rents of Zhang Family Village and Little Creek Village."
Zhao Gang heard this, and his face suddenly turned bitter.
He is different from Mo Yun. Yesterday, he was manipulated by Corpse Charm to fight Commander Li with swords in the mine. This incident is still lingering in his mind.
Although no real harm was caused, the feeling of losing consciousness and being unable to control yourself was really terrifying.
"I hope I won't meet Demon again... No, never meet Demon!" Zhao Gang prayed silently in his heart, his rough and dark face full of sadness.
Mo Yun actually has a peaceful mind.
Blackstone Stronghold Although the trip was thrilling, the rewards were real. Two Black Point were enough for him to save for half a month.
If he encounters a First-Rank Demon, he may not be able to handle it alone.
Of course, the premise is that Demon is not very strong. If another second-level one comes, he will turn around and run away without saying anything. He will definitely not be successful.
At this time, Liu Zhuang came over with a sad face. This guy was particularly listless today, and his eyes were even red, as if he had been greatly wronged.
"Brother Mo, today is another day when I can't work with you. I will miss you."
"Get out of here." Mo Yun didn't wait for him to finish speaking and gave him a kick directly, "Is this how nostalgia is used? Can you speak?"
Liu Zhuang grinned and rubbed his butt and ran away. As he ran, he turned back and shouted, "Brother Mo, come back early! It would be fun to be with you Patrol Duty!"
Mo Yun waved his hand towards him and walked towards Martial Training Ground with Zhao Gang and Wang Daniu.
Still at the same position as yesterday, South Gate.
When the three of them arrived, Zhou Tieshan and Sun Yi had not come yet.
Wang Daniu leaned against the stone lion, took out another pack of dried meat from his arms, chewed it with relish, and gave a piece to each of Mo Yun and Zhao Gang.
Not long after, Zhou Tieshan and Sun Yi arrived.
Zhou Tieshan changed into a clean blue outfit today, and the unusually thick beard on his face seemed to have been trimmed, making him look much more energetic.
Sun Yi is still wearing the well-tailored dark blue outfit, with an elegant and easy-going temperament.
"Brother Mo, have you been waiting for a long time?" Zhou Tieshan raised his hand towards Mo Yun from a distance, with an apology on his face.
After what happened yesterday, the bearded man's attitude toward Mo Yun has changed from politeness to intimacy, and his tone of voice has become much warmer.
"No, we just arrived." Mo Yun smiled.
"Then let's set off." Zhou Tieshan waved his hand, "There are two places today, Zhang Family Village and Little Creek Village. The roads are quite far and it takes more than an hour to walk."
The group of people left South Gate and walked down the mountain road.
The autumn air is crisp, the sky is high and the clouds are clear. The trees on both sides of the mountain road have been dyed golden red. When the mountain wind blows, the fallen leaves are flying like a golden rain.
Wang Daniu was chewing dried meat as he walked, his cheeks bulging, and humming an unknown tune all the way. He seemed to be always so happy.
Zhou Tieshan walked at the front and led the way, walking steadily, occasionally turning back to chat and laugh with a few people.
The atmosphere was much more relaxed than when we set off yesterday.
Climbing mountains and ridges, trekking through mountains and rivers.
After walking for almost an hour, the group arrived at Zhang Family Village.
Before entering the village, Mo Yun felt something different.
The rows of trees at the entrance of the village looked a bit abrupt. As I got closer, I realized that the bark of the trees had been stripped cleanly, revealing the pale white trunks.
A few villagers in ragged clothes were squatting under the tree, digging wild vegetables, but the ground had been turned over countless times, and even the grass roots could not be dug out.
The dirt roads in the village are full of potholes, and most of the houses on both sides are made of yellow mud and thatch. There are cracks everywhere on the walls, and when the wind blows, water flows into them.
Several sallow-looking children squatted under the wall, playing feebly with mud.
One of the children, who was three or four years old, had a very bulging belly but his limbs were as thin as a stick. Mo Yun knew that it was caused by eating Guanyin Clay.
I was so hungry that I knew I would die if I ate it, so I could only stuff it into my mouth, because at least it could temporarily stop the hunger that was burning my stomach.
There was smoke from the kitchen, but it was sparse, and all that rose was the smell of a thin soup mixed with bran and wild vegetable roots.
In the woods behind, the bark at the roots of the trees has been peeled off, revealing the dry and white wood inside.
When they saw outsiders entering the village, several children huddled in fear and looked at them timidly. Their eyes were so big and scary, but their eye sockets were deeply sunken.
An old man walked out of the mud house next to him. He was wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket that was completely patched and the original color could no longer be seen. His hair was white and sparse, his back was severely hunched, and he walked tremblingly.
"Yes, are you all from the Crouching Tiger Manor?"
The old man raised his head, a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy old eyes, and he hurriedly came forward tremblingly.
"The old man Zhang Youtian is the village chief of Zhang Family Village. Sir, you have worked hard all the way. Please come quickly."
As he spoke, he shouted into the house, "Old lady, boil the water quickly!"
Zhou Tieshan quickly waved his hand. "Don't be polite, old man, we are just here to collect the rent. We will leave after collecting the rent."
"Hey, okay, okay." Zhang Youtian nodded repeatedly, and tremblingly took out a washed white cloth bag from his arms, opened it layer by layer, revealing a small pile of broken silver and copper coins inside.
"This is our village's rent this year, and it's all here."
He respectfully held the money in front of Zhou Tieshan, with a hint of joy in his old voice:
"Fortunately, there were no disasters this year. Although the harvest was not good, the rent was still collected. Although life is a bit tight, I can still get by if I tighten my belt."
Sun Yi stepped forward, opened the account book, and counted it carefully. After a while, he nodded to Zhou Tieshan: "The number is correct."
Zhou Tieshan looked at Zhang Youtian and hesitated. "Old man, actually this year's rent..."
He wanted to say that if it was really difficult, it could be postponed for one month.
But before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the old man.
"It should, it should." Zhang Youtian said quickly, "If Crouching Tiger Manor hadn't protected this area, our life would have been even more miserable. We should pay this rent."
He paused, and a hint of gratitude flashed through his old, cloudy eyes. "Li Family Village next door, because there is no protection from the Mountain Manor, has been robbed by bandits and horse thieves all year round, and many people starve to death every year, alas..."
After saying that, he walked tremblingly in front of Mo Yun and the others, and said sincerely:
"The adults have traveled all the way, and they must not have eaten yet. I still have some food at home, so I can at least stay for a meal. They are all grown in my own land, so they are not worth much."
"Yes, yes, let's stay for a meal."
"Thank you for your hard work, adults. We are a poor village and we don't have much to offer, but we can still scrape together a simple meal."
Several villagers also asked to stay, their faces full of simple enthusiasm.
Mo Yun could tell that they were not being polite, but sincerely wanted to keep them for dinner.
But he took a look at the faces of the villagers. They were sallow and thin, and their cheeks were sunken.
Looking at the children huddled against the wall, there is a little girl looking here longingly with chapped lips.
Even if the rations can be saved in this village, there won't be much.
Zhou Tieshan shook his head and said with a smile, "My father-in-law is kind enough to accept it. We still have somewhere to go, so I won't bother you."
Zhang Youtian Seeing that they were determined to leave, it was hard to persuade them to stay, so they just nodded:
"Then next time, next time you must stay for a meal. Although we Zhang Family Village are poor, we know how to repay our kindness and cannot let our benefactors leave hungry."
Mo Yun Looking at the sincere smile on his wrinkled face, there was an inexplicable sourness in his heart.
A few people took the rent, said goodbye to the villagers of Zhang Family Village, and continued walking along the mountain road.
After walking far away, Mo Yun looked back.
Zhang Youtian was still standing under the big stripped willow tree at the entrance of the village, his rickety figure looking particularly bleak in the autumn wind.
Zhao Gang sighed heavily. He, who was always taciturn, rarely spoke up, "Oh, this world is so difficult."
His voice was low, with a bit of indescribable heaviness.
Mo Yun did not answer the call and just walked silently on the mountain road.
He suddenly remembered the Corpse Charm he met in the Blackstone Stronghold mine yesterday.
Commander Li said that Demon-Slaying Office and Heavenwatch Office have become useless, and those Demon hidden in the deep mountains and old forests have begun to appear one after another.
Life would have been like this without encountering Demon. How would you survive if you encountered Demon again?
After leaving Zhang Family Village, the group walked for half an hour and finally arrived at Little Creek Village.
The situation of Little Creek Village is exactly the same as that of Zhang Family Village, with dilapidated mud houses, sallow-looking villagers, hollowed-out wild vegetable fields, and bare tree bark.
But when the old village chief held up the rent, the smile on his face was sincere and grateful. He also wanted to stay with a few people for dinner, but was also declined by Zhou Tieshan.
After collecting the rent, the group set out on the road back to the Mountain Manor.
Along the way, everyone was silent. Even Wang Daniu, who was always laughing and joking, became quiet and stopped chewing the dried meat in his hand. He lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking.
Mo Yun was walking in the middle of the team, looking at the distant skyline. The setting sun had begun to set, dyeing the entire mountain forest orange.
Somehow, Mo Yun suddenly thought of his sister, who had lived a similarly miserable life in order to take care of him for the past two years.
How's the business going at your sister's shop?
Sky Wolf Gang Did you keep your promise?
Will she be bullied by others if she is alone?
"When the promotion assessment is over, it will almost be time to rest again. Then I will go back to see my sister. This time I will stay for two more days."
Mo Yun thought silently in his heart, and couldn't help but speed up his steps.