After exiting the north gate, there was an official road about two feet wide in front of him. The scene on both sides of the official road was completely different from when he followed Chen Xi into the city for the first time a month ago.
At that time, there were only a few scattered houses outside the north gate, and the grassland beside the official road grew to waist height, without even a decent place to stay. Nowadays, temporary inns and tea sheds are densely erected on both sides of the official road. They are simply built with wood, and some simply use a few bamboo poles to support a piece of cloth with a banner of "Star Selection Special Offer Room" hung on it.
The inns were crowded with Rogue Cultivator stalls. The stalls were covered with animal skins, spiritual grass, and Law Artifact fragments. The shouts of the vendors mixed with the shouts of the inns soliciting customers, making it a bit more lively than the city's square market.
Qin Tiexin After walking north along the official road for about three miles, the sound of people gradually became thinner, and the density of temporary inns and stalls also dropped. The official road branched off here, with the main official road continuing to the north on the left, and a gravel path on the right, leading to a short spiritual fruit forest.
On the left hand side of the fork in the road, there is a thick snow willow tree, about an arm's length thick. The bark is light gray, and the branches are covered with fine white flowers. From a distance, it looks like a thin layer of snow has fallen.
There is a simple tea shed made of rough wood and hay under the tree, about three feet square, with the roof covered with sun-bleached thatch. Five wooden tables are placed under the shed, and three of them are occupied.
The table near the door sat a couple Foundation Establishment Early Stage, who were discussing in low voices whether to sell the spirit beasts in front of Star Selection. The table next to the wall were two Foundation Establishment Late Stage Rogue Cultivator, one is wearing a blue robe and the other is wearing a black robe, each holding a sword and leaning on the back of a chair. They are not talking while drinking tea, as if they are waiting for someone. There is another table in the corner, and there is a man in gray robe sitting with his back to the entrance of the shed, drinking tea alone, with no distinguishable figure.
Qin Tiexin walked to an empty table at the back and sat down. The tabletop was made of simple planed wooden boards. Although it was simple, it was wiped clean. There was no dust or tea stains left by the guests at the previous table. He gathered up his sleeves and put the immovable prosthetic arm in a natural position on the table.
After a while, a young man who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old lifted the curtain from behind the shed, holding a stack of porcelain bowls in his hand. Early Qi Refining was a man of cultivation, wearing a white washed coarse cloth shirt, with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of forearms that had been tanned by the sun. The young man walked to the Qin Tiexin table, pulled the rag from his shoulder, wiped the table twice, and quickly turned over a tea bowl.
"Senior, do you want tea? The shop has Lingwu green bud, fire rock black tea, and several kinds of fruit tea made from Lingguo."
"Ordinary spirit tea, one pot."
The young man neatly placed the tea bowl on the table, then turned and went into the kitchen. There was a wooden sign hanging on the wall of the tea shed, with a price list engraved on it. A pot of Lingwu Green Buds cost ten Spirit Stone, Fire Rock Black Tea twelve Spirit Stone, and Fruit Tea ranged from ten to fifteen. Ordinary Spirit Tea cost two Spirit Stone per pot, which was not expensive.
Everyone Qin Tiexin scanned the three tables. There was no Chen Xi, at least it didn't look like there was one.
According to his understanding of Chen Xi, the senior brother is probably between these tables. But he has seen Chen Xi's ability to disguise himself. If he didn't want people to recognize him, you wouldn't know it sitting across from him.
Qin Tiexin decided not to make it difficult for himself, and sat quietly, waiting for his senior brother to come to him.
After a while, the young man brought up the teapot and tea bowl. The teapot was made of pottery, and the lid was tightly buckled. The hot steam coming out of the spout carried the light aroma of spiritual tea. Qin Tiexin poured himself a bowl. The tea soup was light green, Spiritual Qi not high in content, but it was fresh. He took a sip from the tea bowl and glanced casually along the official road outside the tea shed.
After about half a cup of tea, the curtain in the back kitchen of the tea shed was lifted, and a chubby middle-aged man walked out carrying a tray.
Foundation Establishment Middle Stage is a cultivator, wearing a long gray cloth stained with many tea stains, and an apron around his waist whose original color can no longer be seen. The flesh on his cheeks trembled slightly with his footsteps. He walked to each table one by one to say hello., the couple called him "the shopkeeper", the two swordsmen nodded in response, and the man in gray robe ignored him. The fat shopkeeper didn't care either, walked around with a smile on his face, and finally walked to the Qin Tiexin table with a teapot in his hand.
"Sir, has your tea cooled down? I'll add some hot water for you." The fat shopkeeper bent down and pointed the spout of the teapot at the tea bowl in front of Qin Tiexin.
Qin Tiexin Just as he was about to say no, the tea flowing out of the spout drew an arc, and instead of being poured into the bowl, it splashed straight onto his thigh. He wanted to avoid it, but the muscles in his legs instinctively tensed, but his body seemed to be locked by some invisible force, and he could not move at all.
The tea is warm and seeps into the skin through the pants.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The fat shopkeeper was shocked and his voice was so loud that the whole tea shed could hear him, "I'm really sorry, sir. There is a drying circle in the backyard. I will take you there. It will be fine soon. It will be fine soon!"
Qin Tiexin looked at him. He had a round face, small eyes, a fleshy nose, and a double-folded chin. There was fine sweat on his forehead, and his face was full of fear and apology. This naive appearance was completely different from the Chen Xi in his memory. But the light coming from those small eyes was familiar to him, and it flashed by as fast as an illusion.
This fat shopkeeper is Chen Xi.
In order to connect with each other, he pretended to be a chubby tea stall owner and deliberately poured tea into the guests' pants. Qin Tiexin was a little dumbfounded. He stood up in cooperation, frowned, and pretended to be displeased.
"It's okay, sir, come with me. I'll open the drying circle for you and we'll be drying it right away!" The fat shopkeeper nodded and led Qin Tiexin to the backyard. Before leaving, he didn't forget to say hello to the guests in the shed, "Everyone, use it slowly, use it slowly, and come back as soon as you go."
Passing through the curtain is a narrow corridor, and at the end of the corridor is a wooden door. Pushing open the door is the backyard. The yard is not big, and the ground is compacted loess. There are a few piles of firewood and a few empty wine jars piled in the corners. A few half-washed coarse clothes hang on the clothesline and sway gently in the wind. There are two connected red brick houses in the back. The chimney of the one on the left is steaming, probably the kitchen, and the doors and windows of the one on the right are closed.
The young waiter poked his head out of the kitchen, carrying a bunch of freshly washed teapots.
Chen Xi waved his hand towards him. "Go to the front to greet the guests." The young man responded, put down the teapot and went to the front shed.
The fat shopkeeper led Qin Tiexin into the brick room on the right. The door was closed, and he took out a palm-sized array plate from his waist and pressed it on the ground. Spirit Rune on the array plate lit up silently, and a light cyan soundproof light shield quickly unfolded, covering the entire room. When the light shield came into contact with the wall, it made a very light buzzing sound, and then fell silent.
After doing all this, the fat shopkeeper straightened up. He turned around and faced Qin Tiexin. His facial features were still the same, but there was no longer fear in his small eyes, and the curvature of the corners of his mouth was no longer flattering. His whole person had a different temperament from the inside out.
"Junior brother," Chen Xi's voice also changed from the rough voice of the fat shopkeeper to the familiar low voice of Qin Tiexin, "It's me."