Xiaoshan squatted next to Lao Zhang's stall before dawn, watching Lao Zhang push a cart to open the stall. Several times he wanted to go up to help, but Lao Zhang scolded him away, "Look at your dirty look, don't disgust my customers."
.”
In the morning, many people came to drink Lao Zhang's oxtail soup, which cost five copper coins in a large bowl. You can add in steamed pancakes as you like, and if you are lucky, you can even pick up a piece of oxtail.
Lao Zhang was busy for half a morning, and the two large pots of oxtail soup were almost wiped out by the old customers in the town. He weighed the heavy money jar, closed the lid with satisfaction, and began to clean up the stall while humming a little tune.
At this time, Xiao Shan, who had been squatting next to him, came up again and touched a cloth bag with his hands. "Uncle Zhang, these are the eggs I picked up from the mountain yesterday. Can I trade them with you for a bowl of soup?" He opened the cloth bag.
, there are five bird eggs in it.
"Xiaoshan, where is your father? Could it be that you stole the eggs from your father?" Lao Zhang recognized the eight-year-old child.
"No, no, no, my dad fell down when he went up the mountain to cut firewood the day before yesterday. He is still lying in bed and hasn't gotten up. I just want to give him a bowl of hot soup." Xiao Shan explained hurriedly, sweat breaking out on the tip of his nose.
"I'm looking for medicine if I fall. What's the point of drinking soup?"
Xiao Shan blushed and said nothing, but raised his hands holding the eggs again.
"Hey, okay, here's the last bowl, I'll give it to you in exchange, but I can't take my bowl back to you." Lao Zhang grabbed the cloth bag.
He knew the situation of the Xiaoshan family. The only laborer who could make money fell and was injured. He was afraid that he would not have the money to see the doctor and get medicine.
"I brought it." Xiao Shan carefully took out a bowl from his arms.
Lao Zhang poured the last bowl of oxtail soup left for him to Xiaoshan and said: "There are troops moving near Longjiao Mountain recently. If you have nothing to do, don't go up the mountain.
From now on, if you want to drink soup, just clean yourself up, come to my place to help me, and put a bowl back when you're done, so you don't have to bring anything to exchange."
"Thank you, Uncle Zhang!" Xiaoshan happily walked home holding the bowl in his hands.
His home is in the northernmost part of the town, closest to Longjiao Mountain but far away from the official road, making it relatively remote.
The aroma of oxtail soup penetrated his nose constantly, and Xiaoshan kept swallowing. Although his stomach was empty, he was reluctant to drink even a small sip when he thought of his old father on the bed.
Two teenage boys were walking towards them. As they crossed the hill, one of them suddenly stretched out his leg and tripped.
Xiaoshan's attention was all on the bowl of soup, and he didn't pay attention to the soles of his feet. His body suddenly lost its center of gravity and threw himself forward.
The bowl filled with oxtail soup flew out of his hand, and he watched helplessly as the bowl fell to the ground with him. With a "pang" sound, the porcelain bowl broke in half, and the steamed pancakes and oxtail soup were scattered on the floor.
"Soup, my soup!" He burst into tears.
"Hahaha, this little poor guy is crying again." The two boys turned around and looked at Xiaoshan jokingly.
Xiaoshan ignored the ridicule of others, crawled to the broken bowl on both hands and feet, picked up half of the bowl, and used his other hand to push the cakes and soup on the ground into the broken bowl. Two lines of hot tears flowed down his helpless little face.
"Hahaha, my dog won't even eat this crap if you feed it to it." The two boys watched the fun happily.
At this time, two young men came from the north. One of them shouted with thick eyebrows: "What are you doing? Are you bullying the younger ones?" The boy looked at the fun with his fingers and looked at each other angrily.
"What does it have to do with you? A foreigner." Although the two boys were tough with their mouths, they were very honest physically and could not run away when the young man approached them.
Xiaoshan only sees the cakes and soup on the ground, and doesn't care about the people who bully him or speak for him.
He looked at half of the bowl distressedly, and then at the soaked cakes and soup on the floor. He found that the broken bowl couldn't fit in, so he picked up a piece of soaked cake and stuffed it into his mouth.
Bang, the puff pastry in his hand was patted off, and a head stretched out in front of him, saying gently: "Dirty, don't eat it. Uncle will buy you another bowl."
Xiao Shan sobbed and said: "Uu, Zhang, Uncle Zhang has closed the stall. Buy it, but you can't buy it. Uuuu." He reached out to pick up the puff pastry on the ground again.
Unexpectedly, the next moment he soared into the air and was helped up by the big-eyed young man, who then put something on his back and said, "Take this, you can go buy other things."
He turned over his hand and saw that there was a shining gold coin in his palm!
"Ah!" He pinched the gold coin tightly and covered his mouth, two lines of hot tears still flowing.
The big-eyed young man wiped away the tears on Xiao Shan's face with both hands and said, "Do you want me to catch those two boys? You teach them a lesson with your own hands."
"No, no, no, the one who tripped me is the mayor's son. I, I won't argue with him. Thank you, sir! With this money, I can find a doctor for my father. You can wait here until I find a doctor.
Take you home with me."
"Huh? Why did you call me sir?" The big-eyed young man squatted down so that Xiaoshan didn't have to raise his head to speak.
"Aren't you from the army? Uncle Zhang said that there is an army operating near Longjiao Mountain. You are coming from Longjiao Mountain, and you look like soldiers."
"Oh, I'm not a soldier, well, I'm not a soldier from your side, and I didn't see the army on the mountain. By the way, do you have to pass through this town when coming down from Longjiao Mountain?" The big-eyed young man looked back at his companions,
The companion spreads his hands.
"No, the biggest road in and out of Longjiao Mountain is over Bafang Town. The road into the mountain from our Peishi Town is more difficult, and most people don't pass here." Xiaoshan looked at the two young men curiously.
Both of them are in their twenties, tall and muscular, and the one who speaks to him is slightly taller and looks younger.
"Thank you, kid. Go find the doctor quickly and don't worry about us."
"No, dad has never seen you, how can he return the money to you in the future?" Xiaoshan wanted to take them home and ask his father to write down their names.
"Haha, I don't have to pay back this little money. I'll just treat it as a reward for answering my questions." The big-eyed young man stood up.
"No, no, no, how can you reward so much for just a few questions! Daddy can't even earn half a year's worth of wood chopping."
"Little brat, leave as soon as you are told, don't talk nonsense!" Another young man became impatient.
"Hey, don't scare him." The big-eyed young man touched Xiao Shan's head, "I am an official who is much older than the town. The little money you have is what my servants spend for a day. If you don't reward me too much, you look down on me.
I."
"Ah!" Xiaoshan's brain circuit is not enough.
What kind of official is much better than the mayor? Why do you look down on him if you think there are too many?
When he came to his senses, the two young men were gone.
"This child looks a bit like Xiaohua."
The two young men returned to Longjiao Mountain from the original road.
"What are you talking about with a child? Ding Kui, what are you looking for?"
"Enemy, didn't I tell you, I want to see who brought me here." The big-eyed young man is Ding Kui, "Brother Yu, are your feelings accurate? Didn't you mean that the group of people were heading this way?
Are you walking?" The person with him was naturally Ao Yu.
They found a campsite on Longjiao Mountain. Ao Yu's inspection confirmed that someone had stayed there recently, and they took the road to Peishi Town when they left.
"The smell in crowded places is too mixed, and my senses are cut off in the town." Ao Yu originally tracked a breath, but couldn't find it after going down the mountain.
"So, let's go back to the mountain and take a look around. The enemy cannot send so many people here. They must weave a dragnet to wait for me."
Ding Kui came here based on the content of the second level 1 secret message. He knew very well that this was a trap, so he rushed there half a day in advance, but unexpectedly he missed it.
"Perhaps those people will come back after a while. Didn't you hear that kid say that there is an army operating nearby?" He was determined to find the person who cracked the first-level secret message.
"Maybe someone lied to you." Ao Yu took back the dragon soul and confirmed that no one was following them.
"Impossible! He is an honest child. The reward for him is not too much, just one gold coin." Ding Kui didn't think he would make a mistake.
"You are too stingy. What can you do with just one gold coin? It's so hard to afford it."
"Originally I just wanted to buy him some food, but later I found out that he has a father, so I can't give him too much. What if I give it to his father to squander it? It's definitely enough to ask a doctor to see a doctor.
You can’t blame me for not encountering any enemies. I also hope you can put in more effort. The reward I’ll give you will definitely not be saved, but there aren’t even any enemies! Let’s look for more. All the enemies on this mountain are considered extra.”
Ding Kui promised Ao Yu a large reward to come to Longjiao Mountain for a trip.
"Did others see through your trick? I knew you wouldn't be fooled, so you removed them." Ao Yu habitually put the blame on Ding Kui.
"That's even more impossible! The arrangements have been made, why don't you wait until the agreed time has passed before withdrawing? It's not half a day away." Ding Kui said, but he still felt a little guilty.
The more Ao Yu thought about it, the more unhappy he became, so he threatened, "Aren't you afraid that people will concentrate their efforts on Ruan Xingzhu? Your little human lover is in danger."
"Hehe, Xingzhu will not be in danger. At worst, the mission will fail and the rebels will not be able to leave so many masters." Ding Kui was really not afraid.
"What? Who else did you send?"
Ding Kui waved his hand and said: "They were not sent by me. There must be many masters among the people who escaped from Hailin Prefecture. The fact that the rebels were able to break through Luguo County means that the masters from those families did not participate in the war. The only possibility is that they ran away to protect their families.
Think about it, how many sixth-level warriors are there in my family, but others don’t have them? My family can still defend Hengfu City, is it so easy to break through Luguo County? Although I don’t know the reason why those masters left, but I
I know they're not dead."
"Since they have experts, why do you still send people to take care of them?" Ao Yu became more and more confused as he listened.
"You don't understand this. Do you know your attitude? My people guided them to Zhongwangzhou. I have to show a welcoming attitude. Not only do I have to send people to pick them up, but I also have to send experts and close associates to let them know who is the right person.
He is the master of Shaodian Kingdom."
Ding Kui thought more than Yang Chao. He not only wanted to recruit experts, but also wanted to change everyone's concept of focusing on the capital.
"I get a headache just thinking about it." Ao Yu shook his head, "I just know that whoever wins will listen to whoever wins."
"That's because the number of dragons is too small. If there are humans, hey, how many adult dragons can the Dragon God defeat?"