The distance of more than ten miles was not far for Shang Xia, but he finally decided to enter Changfeng City early the next morning.
The winter night came quickly, and Shang Xia lit a fire in the leeward mountain pass at the foot of the mountain and roasted a pheasant for dinner.
The waning moon was in the sky, and Shang Xia was roasted by the warmth of the fire in front of him, so he casually wrapped a bear skin and prepared to sleep alive.
I don't know how long it took, the waning moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds, and a hurried sound of horses' hooves in the distance came from far to near.
Shang Xia's eyelids moved, and then wrapped the bear skin tighter.
"Driving"
The sound of horses' hooves passed outside the mountain pass, and the sound of the rider whispering urging the mount could be vaguely heard.
However, only a moment later, a scream sounded, and there was an exclamation from the rider on the horse, and there was a faint frightened cry of a child.
But all the sounds that followed came to an abrupt end, and the cool wild wind was faintly mixed with the sound of clothes breaking through the air, and it was getting farther and farther away.
At this moment, there was another noisy sound of horses' hooves, seven or eight strong horses rushed past the mountain pass, and the conversation of people on horseback could be vaguely heard.
"The hoof prints just left on the snow, that person is not far from us."
"Look, this is the red-scaled horse that the man is riding, and he has died."
"The corpse of the red-scaled horse is still warm, and the tenderness is still there, that person is still with the child, he must not have run far, chase it"
"This place is not far from Changfeng City, we must intercept that person before he enters the city"
"Hurry up"
Early the next morning, Shang Xia tore a piece of ragged clothes into strips of cloth, carefully wrapped the bow arm of the iron tire bow and carried it on his shoulder, then changed into a thick coarse cloth shirt, used a wooden stick to pick out a few grouse and the stacked bear skin, and walked all the way to Changfeng City after leaving the mountain pass.
Although Shang Xia didn't know how long he had been in the mountains, he "touched" the slightly soft beard "hair" on his chin, coupled with his slightly rough face blown by the wind and snow in the mountains, coupled with his tall figure, at first glance, he looked like a young hunter in the mountains.
The distance of more than ten miles, even Shang Xia did not take long with the feet of ordinary people.
When he came to the city gate, the sunlight in the eastern sky had just emerged, and it happened to open the city gate.
The business travelers who had already been waiting outside the city began to enter the city one after another after being roughly searched by the city gatekeepers.
"How can Changfeng City now not only have the city gates closed, but even the entrance and exit must be checked by the city gate guards."
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind Shang Xia.
Shang Xia glanced at the words and saw a middle-aged man who looked like a caravan manager, who was asking a local villager beside him in surprise.
The villager was carrying a load of vegetables, and it seemed that he was going to sell it at a good price early in the morning, and said with a smile when he heard this, "Who said it wasn't just over a month ago, there was news that the thieves in Jizhou went north and were captured by the city lord, and it is rumored that the thieves' accomplices and subordinates will come to the rescue.
"Oh, that's how it is."
The person in charge of the caravan was stunned at first, and then he wondered, "This is also strange, the thieves in Jizhou have nothing to do in Youzhou, what is Youzhou doing in this corner of Youzhou, and what oil and water can be squeezed out."
At this time, a young man dressed as a warrior sneered and said, "You don't understand this, although Youzhou is small and looks barren, it is because of this that it will be a favored place for bandits from all walks of life."
The caravan steward heard the words and became even more numerous
Interested, I saw that there were still a few companions of similar age around the young warrior, and I saw that the styles and styles of several people were roughly the same, and I didn't know what I was thinking when my eyes moved, and there was a little more respect between my expressions, and I said, "I would like to hear the details."
The young warrior seemed to feel the respect between the middle-aged man's words, glanced at him, and explained, "Without him, this Changfeng City is the territory used by bandits from all walks of life to sell stolen goods, as for the buyer, hehe, naturally it is who lacks and who buys it."
As soon as the young warrior finished speaking, he heard someone from the city gate in front of him shouting at him, "What are you talking about behind you, don't you want to enter the city?"
The middle-aged man in charge of the caravan bowed to the young warrior and turned back to his own caravan.
The young warrior let out a chuckle, and there was obviously a hint of disdain in his voice.
Shang Xia stood in front, and he could hear the accent of the caravan steward and the young warrior, all of whom were undoubtedly from Jizhou.
Although he didn't turn his head, he could sense through the martial arts will that the sense of superiority that emerged between the young warrior's expressions just now was speaking.
Jizhou is vast, and the aristocratic families far exceed before the fall of Youzhou, and there is a martial arts holy place like Bailu Blessed Land, which makes Jizhou warriors often have enough psychological advantages over Youzhou warriors.
I just don't know if these young warriors are from the aristocratic families of Jizhou or the children cultivated by the Bailu Blessed Land.
However, as the young warrior said, Youzhou is a barren and remote place, and what are these young warriors who are obviously from extraordinary backgrounds doing here
Shang Xia's 'color' pretended to be dull, which made his face a little more honest, and he looked more like a young hunter.
At this moment, Shang Xia's 'color' moved, and in the perception of the martial arts will, a young 'woman' in her early twenties and not very heavily dressed, holding a child with a frozen face in her arms, slowly squeezed in among the crowd waiting to enter the city
At this moment, Shang Xia's left arm was suddenly hugged, and he said in a slightly shy voice: "Child, father, didn't you promise to take our mother and son into the city yesterday to catch the market?
As he spoke, Shang Xia could clearly feel that under the arm that was wrapping his arm, a sharp object was pressing against his ribs through the not too thick clothes, as if as long as he said something wrong, this thing could pierce his chest.
In Shang Xia's perception, it was really a very sharp dagger.
Shang Xia couldn't help but shiver, as if the winter morning wind had blown through his clothes, but in the eyes of the young 'woman', it seemed that the young orion next to him was frightened and stupid, and he couldn't help but tighten the dagger in his hand again.
At this time, Shang Xia's slightly embarrassed voice sounded: "Isn't it cold, I don't want you two to go out, I think about selling the prey to you and your mother and daughter each and bring a cotton coat back."
"No, our mother and son are just looking at the excitement in the city, his father, you should buy more food."
The words of the young 'woman' sounded no different from an ordinary village 'woman' who had never seen the world.
The pedestrians next to them heard it and looked at the family of three with kind eyes.
Finally arrived at the gate of the city, a city gatekeeper with a cultivation level reached the Wu Yuan Realm stepped forward, his eyes first fell on the longbow that Shang Xia was carrying on his shoulder, but he only glanced at the slightly tattered strip of cloth wrapped around the bow arm, and then turned over the bear skin wrapped in a ball by Shang Xia, and said without raising his head, "What a big bear, the bear skin is also intact, you are a good hunter."
As soon as the city gatekeeper finished speaking, Shang Xia felt that his arm was tightened.
"Hey, I'm lucky to find a blind bear hiding in a hole in the mountains."
Shang Xia scratched the back of his head and said with a simple smile.
"Well, go, go, this bear skin is at least three silver dollars, remember not to be cheated."
The city gate guard waved his hand casually and let Shang Xia and the three of them enter the city.
Shang Xia and the little 'woman' thanked him repeatedly, then rolled up the bear skin and picked the grouse into the city.
After walking a few steps, the slightly flattering voice of the city gatekeeper soon came from behind him again, "A few of you, but the four young masters of Fan, Han, Lu, and Zhang, my young master Yang have instructed me in person, he has booked the best guest room at the Changfu Inn, a few of you can check in first, and my young master will take care of the wind and dust for the four young masters in the evening."
When the voice came, Shang Xia's eyebrows raised slightly, and he glanced behind him inadvertently, just as he saw the young warrior who was talking to the caravan steward before, bowed his hands and smiled, "Thank you for your son, and thank Brother Yang for your kindness on my behalf."
At this moment, a strange martial arts will emerged from the city gate, and the aura began to spread around, as if it wanted to probe something.
"This is."
Shang Xia's eyes were on the side, but he continued to walk towards the city silently on the surface.
At this time, Shang Xia suddenly felt that his arms had been released, and he only pretended not to know the mother and daughter, and didn't even look at each other carefully, so he found a lively street and walked all the way there.
In winter, heavy snow closed the mountains, and there were not many times when inns and restaurants in the city could buy fresh game.
The four grouse that Shang Xia was carrying were soon chased by the guys of an inn, and after asking the price, he exchanged a silver dollar from the shopkeeper.
As for his complete bear skin, it attracted the shopkeepers of three leather shops to compete for it at a street entrance, and was finally snatched by a fat shopkeeper wearing a dogskin hat at a high price of four silver dollars.
Coupled with the silver dollar that the four grouse had just exchanged, Shang Xia held the five silver dollars in his hand and put them into his cuffs.
But at this moment, a glutinous voice came from behind him, "Mother, I'm hungry"
Shang Xia turned around in surprise, only to see the young 'woman' who should have been separated from him after entering the city, standing beside him holding the child at this time.
In her arms, a little girl who looked three years old, her little face was a little red from the cold, and she was shrunk into a ball at this time, looking at Shang Xia with a pair of big black eyes.
Shang Xia said strangely, "Why are you two back again?"
The little 'woman' hung her head, her face flushed, she didn't know if she was frozen or sick, and said in a voice like a mosquito fly, "I, I have no money on me."
According to his perception, the little 'woman' in front of him was at least a martial artist in the second heaven of martial arts.
At this moment, a "gurgling" belly sound came, making the little woman's face even more red.
Shang Xia swept his eyes and saw a wonton stall on the corner of the street, and said with a smile, "Coincidentally, I'm hungry too, let's go, let's eat chaos."
After the words fell, Shang Xia had already taken the lead in walking towards the wonton stall.
Behind her, the little 'woman' looked at Shang Xia's back with a slightly peculiar gaze, and then lowered her head and hugged the child and walked quickly behind Shang Xia.
"Boss, three bowls of wontons and six sesame cakes, bring the chili pepper and vinegar and put it ourselves."
Shang Xia shouted to the boss, then found a bench and sat down, looking back at the mother and daughter behind him.
The little 'woman' was originally going to sit down next to Shang Xia, but after thinking about it, she staggered a position to the side, and then put the little girl in her arms between the two of them.