Jiang Fa came out of Xing Lieshan's room and walked down the wooden ladder of the inn.
There were only a few breakfast guests sitting in the lobby downstairs. The waiter was wiping the counter with a rag. When he saw him coming down, he shouted attentively, "Good morning, sir! Would you like a bowl of hot porridge?"
Jiang Fa waved his hand and walked straight to the door of the inn.
The bowl of some noodles last night is still undigested in my stomach, so I don't have much appetite now.
As soon as I walked to the door, I bumped into two people.
Xu Feng and Zhao Chuan were coming in from the outside. Xu Feng was holding an oil paper bag in his hand. There were a few dark yellow oil stains on the oil paper, and a sweet aroma of sesame seeds mixed with syrup penetrated his nose.
Zhao Chuan The bandage on his arm has been changed, and the snow-white gauze is dazzling in the morning light.
"Jiang Fa!"
Xu Feng grinned as soon as he saw him, raised the oil paper bag in his hand and shook it vigorously. "Freshly baked sesame sugar biscuits, Lin County's specialty, I brought you two!"
Jiang Fa paused in his steps.
"What are you..."
Zhao Chuan took over the conversation and reached out to pat Xu Feng on the shoulder. "This fat man dragged me out of bed early in the morning and wanted to drag you along for a walk."
Xu Feng chuckled and stuffed the oil paper bag into Jiang Fa's hand, "It's hard to come here Lin County, you can't stay in the inn and be bored, right? Let's go and find a place to sit."
Jiang Fa looked down at the still warm sesame-tang sesame biscuits in his hand, and then at Xu Feng's smiling face. He was silent for a moment and nodded.
The three of them did not stay at the inn for long and walked north along the bluestone road in front of the inn.
The street of Lin County is narrower than Qingshan County, but more lively than Qingshan County.
Both sides of the street were crowded with shops of various sizes, selling cloth, grain, blacksmiths, and medicine, and shouts came and went.
Xu Feng looked around as he walked, and if he saw anything rare, he would go up and take a look.
When passing by a blacksmith shop, he stared at the row of kitchen knives hanging at the door for a long time.
Passing by a dim sum shop, I stared at the steaming sweet-scented osmanthus cake in the steamer and swallowed my saliva.
In the end, Zhao Chuan dragged him away by his collar.
The three of them turned two alleys and found a tea shop at the corner.
The tea shop is not big, with only four or five low tables set up. There is a copper pot on the stove, which is simmering tea soup. The whole room is filled with the unique mellow aroma of aged tea bricks.
The shopkeeper was a lame old man. When he saw the three people coming in, he limped up to greet them and wiped the table with a rag, "You three gentlemen, what kind of tea do you want to drink?"
"A pot of Fu tea." Zhao Chuan took out a few copper coins from his waist and put them on the table. "A dish of salted peanuts."
The old man responded, turned around and went to the stove to pick up the copper kettle.
The three of them sat down around the low table.
Jiang Fa put the ghost head knife on the table, opened the oil paper package, picked up a sesame sugar sesame cake and took a bite.
The pastry crumbles in your mouth, and the burnt aroma of sesame seeds is mixed with the sweetness and glutinousness of maltose. It is indeed more delicious than Qingshan County's sesame biscuits.
"How is it?" Xu Feng looked at him eagerly. "Is it delicious?"
"Yeah." Jiang Fa nodded.
Xu Feng immediately beamed and reached out to pick up another one, only to be slapped on the back of his hand by Zhao Chuan.
"You've already eaten three. This one is reserved for Jiang Fa."
"How could I eat three! It was only two!"
"Two is still less?"
Jiang Fa watched the two bickering, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, but did not interrupt.
The tea soup in the copper pot was boiling, and the lame shopkeeper came over with the pot and poured a bowl for each of them.
The tea soup is deep in color, slightly bitter in the mouth, but has a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.
Xu Feng drank half a bowl of tea, put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and the playful smile on his face suddenly subsided a bit.
"Jiang Fa." He said, his tone more serious than usual. "Yesterday... Thank you very much."
Jiang Fa's hand holding the tea bowl paused slightly.
"Thank you for what." He put down the tea bowl. "We are all fellow disciples, so we should."
Xu Feng opened his mouth,
He picked up the tea bowl and took another sip, as if to embolden himself.
"That Tu Lie knocked away the nine-ring sword on the head of Xing Biao with one palm. To be honest, my legs were weak at the time."
He put down the tea bowl and unconsciously rubbed the edge of the bowl with his fingers. "But you fought him dozens of times, and I thought... if you fell at that time, Zhao Chuan and I would definitely not survive."
Zhao Chuan sat next to him and said nothing.
He looked down at his bandaged left arm and was silent for a while before speaking in a low voice.
"Xu Feng is right."
His voice was lower than usual. "I think the three of us entered the inner courtyard together at the beginning. Fatty Xu and I are only Middle Stage of Ming Jin now, and you..."
He smiled bitterly, "But now you are able to challenge Black Wind Stronghold village master head-on. To be honest, no one expected you to get to this point..."
Xu Feng Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull, he waved his hand quickly. "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Anyway, we can come back alive this time, and the three of us are not dead. What is this? This is called surviving a catastrophe, and you will be blessed later!"
He changed the subject, with a bit of curiosity on his face. "Jiang Fa, who is that girl in black? She can actually defeat the Third Tier ferocious beast Earth-Shaking Demonic Ape, dear, look at her appearance, she seems not much older than us..."
Zhao Chuan nodded in agreement. "Indeed, she is too strong!"
Jiang Fa shook his head. "I don't know where she came from. Judging from her appearance, she shouldn't be one of us Qingshan County."
Xu Feng thought for a while and guessed:
"Could they be geniuses from Fucheng? I heard that the disciples from the big sects in Fucheng are all extremely talented, which is not what a small place like ours can compare with."
Jiang Fa nodded. "Maybe..."
Thinking of how difficult it was for people like them to break through Ming Jin, the three of them were silent for a moment.
Xu Feng took a sip of tea and changed the subject. "By the way, Jiang Fa, how much did you share the reward for the escort this time?"
Jiang Fa shook his head. "I haven't received it yet. Head Guard Xing said that when Qingshan County comes back, the commercial bank will distribute it uniformly."
Xu Feng counted on his fingers. "Killed two An Jin bosses, blocked a falling rock, and shocked Black Wind Stronghold head-on. Village leader, if this was left in the escort agency, the reward alone would be a huge sum, let alone the fact that you saved Miss Liu and Escort Xing. This life-saving grace is as heavy as a mountain, so you can't show it at all, right?"
Zhao Chuan sneered from the side, "You think everyone is like you, thinking about money every day."
"I'm thinking about Jiang Fa!"
Xu Feng said confidently, "It's not like you haven't seen it. He used to stand there every day at the martial arts arena before midnight, and didn't go back until dark at night. What was the purpose of practicing so hard? Isn't it just to earn more money in the future?"
Jiang Fa picked up the tea bowl and took a sip without saying anything.
Xu Feng These words are rough, but they really hit the point.
He practiced so hard just to improve his strength.
Only when your strength improves can you earn more money and go further on the road to martial arts.
"Right."
Xu Feng suddenly put down the tea bowl, as if remembering something important, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Did you see those boxes of goods at the bridge yesterday?"
Zhao Chuan's hand holding the tea paused slightly.
Jiang Fa said nothing.
"I saw it."
Xu Feng's voice became even lower. "There was a box that was smashed by a falling rock. The contents were not satin porcelain at all, but bundles of blocky objects wrapped in oilcloth. I got close and the oilcloth tore a corner. Inside was Dark Iron Essence Gold, the first base."
The tabletop suddenly became quiet.
"Are you sure?"
Zhao Chuan's voice was very soft, but the expression on his face was extremely solemn.
"I'm sure!"
Xu Feng rarely said seriously, "I passed by Huang'an County when I was escorting out a few times ago, and I once saw him at the Weapon Forging Pavilion."
He glanced at Jiang Fa, then at Zhao Chuan,
"This is an excellent material for making weapons. A fist-sized piece of Dark Iron Essence Gold costs at least a hundred taels of silver. That car alone costs at least several thousand taels of silver."
Zhao Chuan stared wide-eyed. "Why did Black Wind Stronghold intercept Lin Lineage's goods? I see. If he really succeeded, then Black Wind Stronghold might not have to worry about his livelihood for several years."
Jiang Fa frowned. "Senior Brother Lin's family specializes in medicinal materials business, so how come they are involved in mining this time?"
Xu Feng thought for a while, his eyes widening. "Could it be Lin Lineage who discovered the Dark Iron Essence Gold mine? If so, as long as it is operated properly, Lin Lineage is even expected to become the fourth largest Lineage in Qingshan County."
The air in the tea shop was silent for a long time.
Xu Feng looked at Jiang Fa, then at Zhao Chuan. Seeing that neither of them spoke, he felt a little frightened. He shrank his neck and lowered his voice and said, "I just said casually, don't look like this, you two."
Jiang Fa tapped his fingers on the table twice unconsciously and whispered, "Did you mention what you just said to others in the inn?"
"No."
Xu Feng shook his head quickly. "I'm not stupid. If word of this gets out, not to mention Black Wind Stronghold, more than a dozen gangsters around Qingshan County will have to target Lin Lineage. By then, let alone rise, it will be doubtful whether Lin Lineage can keep this industry."
Jiang Fa nodded, looking slightly calmer.