"Here comes the fresh fruits. Here comes a pack for my baby. Be obedient and don't cry or make trouble!"
"Come and eat the mandarin fish noodles now. After eating my noodles, the girl can tie flowers and spin threads. The bald boy will do her pigtails tomorrow!"
"Xiang Gai! The newly picked big Xiang Gai, Semi-pure silk!"
The closer the official road gets to the capital, the more lively it becomes. Shouting sounds come from the stalls on both sides of the road, but it is no longer as spacious as before, and gradually looks cramped.
Two literary masters, one white and one blue, were walking among them. The "young master" in green shirt looked around with bright eyes, and soon his hands were filled with all kinds of food.
Cheng Yu next to him had the same thing on his hands, but because Jia Fei's two hands were no longer enough, he asked Cheng Yu to help him.
The cat demon is a person who buys things without asking the price. Cheng Yu is not much better than him, so he just keeps buying and buying all the way. Two people and four hands are always enough.
Suddenly the cat demon stopped and looked forward with a flash of green light in his eyes.
Fortunately, the cat demon knew that Jin Wuwei's power was empty in the capital at this time, and Cheng Yu was around, so she dared to use her demonic power directly in public.
"Brother Cheng, this place is not far from the outer city of the capital. I don't know why but I am a little worried. I just looked around. In addition to the ethereal purple air in the imperial city that is quite eye-catching, I seem to have seen some things in the outer city.
There are traces of the Five Elements Formation, but I can’t see it clearly. I wonder why. Could it be that the formation is covered with a barrier to blind the eyes? Would you mind scanning it again with your spiritual consciousness?”
Jia Fei stuffed food into his mouth and sent a message to Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu nodded lightly, and the two of them moved to a deserted place on the side of the road, then secretly released their consciousness and looked around.
Um……
There is a tall building in front, and I can really feel the residual aura of water.
The consciousness continued to spread around, and the remaining golden and wooden auras were felt in the other two directions of the outer city.
It seems that the outer city was originally protected by the Five Elements Formation, but it may have been completely destroyed due to the battle with the Brahma Sect last night, and the Jinwu Guards did not even have time to repair it.
It seems that Jin Wuwei was indeed seriously damaged...
"Hey! Brother Cheng, look! The Dingyuan Gate is right in front of you! It's just that the three characters on the city gate are all mottled. Alas...it's hard to recognize them unless you look carefully."
Jia Fei held a few strings of small fried cakes between his fingers and suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted. His shout was half excited and half emotional, which attracted the attention of all the people on the official road.
Cheng Yu shook his head helplessly and smiled. As soon as he sent a message to Jia Fei, informing him that there was no longer a Five Elements Formation in the outer city, the cat demon let himself go and started shouting.
"Hi! You look so handsome, why are you talking nonsense? This place is far away from Dingyuan Gate. Not to mention that my old eyesight is dim, and young people like you will never be able to talk nonsense."
The three characters on the city gate are clearly visible. Besides, with your northern accent, do you know what Dingyuan Gate is?"
Among the people nearby, an old man with gray hair shook his head and smiled bitterly, while saying disdainfully.
"snort!"
Jia Fei snorted softly, presumably because he was in a good mood, and ignored the old man at first.
But when the old man saw that Jia Fei stopped talking, he thought that the stranger, a foreigner, had already given in, so he actually shook his head in pride.
Jia Fei saw the old man's proud attitude of relying on his elders, and finally couldn't help but reply:
"Ha! Listen carefully, kid, this Dingyuan Gate is the due north gate of the outer city. I think in those days, whenever the army went out to conquer the north, they would come out through this gate. You, a yellow-mouthed kid, only have a few years to live. I'm afraid I went out to conquer the city back then.
At that time, your grandfather and grandfather had not yet landed in the country, and as for the martial arts field outside the city back then, I must have never heard of it."
As soon as Jia Fei said this, there was a burst of whispers around him.
The old man was so proud that he was deaf and couldn't hear clearly. He didn't hear Jia Fei call him a yellow-mouthed boy, but when he heard the last three words of martial arts field, he suddenly said in wonder:
"Huh? You look like a young man with a northern accent, but you actually know about the martial arts arena in the north of the city in the early years?"
Cheng Yu also took another look at the old man at this time, only to see the old man's gray beard and a pair of hazy old eyes, leaning on a crutch made of tree branches tremblingly.
After Jia Fei finished speaking, more and more people gathered around to watch the excitement. When the old man saw it, his old face suddenly became brighter, and he continued to speak with a bit of pride:
"Yes, there was indeed a martial arts arena in the north of the city in the early years. When I was a child, I heard my grandfather say that in the early years, it was an open space in the boss's area, and there was a troop of soldiers and horses stationed there. However, later on, when the world became peaceful, it was not used for a long time, and the soldiers and horses were not used.
I don’t know where I went, but people gradually began to live in the open space, which is now the Yanwuzhuang. Here! Just go down this branch."
"Oh? Yanwuzhuang turned out to be the place where soldiers and horses were previously stationed?"
"No wonder I always think the name of the village is weird. This is the first time I've heard of it."
Discussions continued one after another, and more and more people came to watch, and the official road was about to be blocked.
"Da da... da da..."
"Hey! If you are idle, get out of the way! If you are idle, get out of the way!"
Suddenly, a burst of horse hooves and shouts came from behind the crowd.
In fact, when the sound was still half a mile away, Cheng Yu was the first to recognize that the person chasing behind him was Wu Dingliu, the military post he met by chance last night.
I thought he had just suffered a serious injury and should lie down to recuperate, but I didn't expect that he could still ride a horse from the direction of the ferry.
It was a little late, then it was fast, and soon the sound of horse hooves was approaching, and the crowd forming a circle loosened slightly. Wu Dingliu, who was also a master who was used to making a living right now, rode his tall horse skillfully through the gaps in the crowd.
Interspersed.
"Yo! It's my benefactor!"
Wu Dingliu, who was on the horse, sat high enough to see clearly. He recognized at a glance that the people surrounding them were Cheng Yu and Jia Fei. Before he could reach them, he hurriedly reined in the horse's head, held the horse's neck and carefully got off the horse.
Despite this, he secretly grinned and subconsciously wanted to reach out to support his shoulders, but resisted. He pushed aside the crowd and walked two steps to Cheng Yu and Jia Fei, cupped his fists and saluted:
"My two benefactors are here, and I would like to pay my respects to you. I just didn't expect that my benefactors would have such a long journey. In just a short time, they would have reached the foot of the capital..."
After speaking, he looked around and saw so many people surrounding him. He frowned and asked in a low voice:
"What kind of trouble did my benefactor encounter?"
Cheng Yu shook his head and smiled:
"We're just chatting here, it doesn't matter."
Cheng Yu took advantage of the situation to support Wu Dingliu and took a closer look at the three soul fires on his body. Well, it was a little better than last night, but it was still weak and his face was pale, showing that his vitality was severely damaged after losing blood.
"You have just been injured. No need to be polite. Why are you not recuperating at home and riding out again? Could it be that the case last night has not been completed yet?"
Wu Dingliu's expression froze when he heard this, and he wanted to ask Cheng Yu Jiafei to step out of the crowd and find a secluded place to talk. Unexpectedly, the shaky old man next to him still wanted to drag them to continue chatting about Wuzhuang.
"Yan Wuzhuang? My benefactor is going to Yan Wuzhuang? I happen to be going there too. Which household is my benefactor looking for? I will just lead the way for my benefactor."
"We are going to the capital, where are we going to perform martial arts? We were just chatting here, and this old man came out of nowhere, and without knowing us, he interrupted us and disturbed our mood. It's really annoying."
Jia Fei rushed to the side.
Cheng Yu simply recounted the little incident just now, and Wu Dingliu finally understood the whole story and drove away the old man and the onlookers one by one.
When everyone onlookers saw that Wu Dingliu was riding a horse, and they knew at a glance that the tall horse was not a livestock raised by the people, they all dispersed, but the old man still shook his head, and pulled Wu Dingliu's wrist and said repeatedly:
"You, a newcomer, don't know, let me tell you, then..."
"Snapped!"
Wu Dingliu endured the pain and threw a crisp riding whip in the air. The old man was startled, and then he looked at it intently. Then he immediately became deaf and blind, turned around quickly with his walking stick and "dengdengdeng"
Go, take a few steps, look back, mutter in your mouth, and then walk away in frustration.
The sound of Wu Dingliu's whip completely cleared the crowd of onlookers. Then he asked Cheng Yu to go to a deserted place and sighed softly and whispered:
"The villain handed in his errands on time last night, took care of his wounds at the post station and rested for a while, then rushed back to Lian Lizhuang, oh, which is where the assassination occurred. He had to make a handover with the local government in order to complete the case.
,Secondly...oh!"
At this point, he didn't know whether it was a wound or something sad. He frowned and exhaled before continuing:
"Secondly, I took the brother who was traveling with me and was killed back to his home. His family lives in Yanwuzhuang."
After Wu Dingliu said this, he turned slightly and pointed behind him. Cheng Yu and Jia Fei looked at where he was pointing. They saw a lot of people coming and going, but they did not see Wu Dingliu's deceased brother.
But Cheng Yu heard a "squeaking" sound of axles turning in the distance, which was much more difficult to hear than the sound of a nearby carriage.
Jia Fei next to him was not idle, and his eyes immediately reflected a faint green light, but in broad daylight, a mortal would not be able to see it without looking carefully.
With the help of Jia Fei's magical power, Cheng Yu also saw an ox cart approaching in the steaming heat at the far end of the official road.
Sitting in the car were an old man driving the cart and a government servant in soap clothes. Behind them, there was a large wooden box covered in black paint. The wooden box was larger at the front and smaller at the back.
The black coffin bumped along with the bullock cart, and from the gaps in the boards, some cold corpse air mixed with a trace of resentment seeped out.
"This brother of mine is really pitiful. He has no father or mother since he was a child. He was adopted and raised by a lonely old woman. He is still unmarried. This time I send him home, how can I explain to his old woman?"
After Wu Dingliu finished speaking, his face turned three points paler than before. I don't know whether it was due to grief or physical weakness, but his whole body started to tremble slightly under the sun.
Cheng Yu held his shoulder, called Jia Fei, and took out a fur bag from the brocade bag, which contained only half a bag of buttermilk left last night.
Although it is the scorching heat at this time, the buttermilk is still very fresh, and it will stay fresher if placed in the Five Elements Blunt Spirit Pouch than in the refrigerator.
"I was going to give you a bag last night, but you said you were afraid of taking it back to the inn and you couldn't tell. There is half a bag left at this time. Please drink it. This buttermilk is still very fresh and will be of great benefit to your body.
.”
Wu Dingliu was stunned for a moment and then refused, but Cheng Yu couldn't resist and finally took it from his hand, opened the cork and took a sip before saying:
"It is indeed the authentic Manzi buttermilk. I also drank it when I went to the north a few years ago. It is indeed a good thing to nourish the body, eh?"
Wu Dingliu seemed to suddenly remember something, glanced at the bag in his hand, and looked like he was hesitant to speak.
After Cheng Yu comforted him and Jia Fei repeatedly urged him, Wu Dingliu said sheepishly:
"Yesterday I had to go back to the post house to deliver errands, so it was inconvenient to carry this bag with me. At this time, I wonder if my benefactor could give it to me?"
When Jia Fei heard this, he asked without waiting for Cheng Yu to speak:
"Huh? Now you're not afraid that this barbarian's skin will cause you trouble?"
Wu Dingliu chuckled, patted his skin and said:
"To be honest, I know that this buttermilk has a tonic effect on the weak, but I am still young and recover quickly. I want to bring it back with the idea of giving some to my brother's mother.
His mother is old and has weak bones. She may not be able to bear the sudden bad news. This cheese can be used to replenish her. As for this skin bag, when I go back and pour the cheese out to his mother, I will return it to my two benefactors.
.
Cheng Yu waved his hands when he heard this and said:
"You can just take it, and when you're done using it, just dispose of it secretly. You don't have to give it back to me."
Wu Dingliu then thanked him profusely and carefully stuffed the leather bag into his side pocket.
"Not far from the branch road ahead is Yanwuzhuang. My poor brother's home is at the entrance of the village. It is really inconvenient for me to escort the coffin today. If my two benefactors are free in the future and go out to play in the city, they can go to my house for a drink of tea.
Let’s take a rest. I live at the east end of Erhuang Village next to Yanwuzhuang. There are two locust trees, one big and one small, at the door.”
Cheng Yu and Jia Fei looked at each other and laughed:
"Okay, we will definitely visit you when we have free time out of the city."
Just as I was talking about this, the ox cart carrying the coffin was approaching with a creaking sound.
Seeing a black coffin being carried on the bullock cart, a few idlers who were watching the excitement from a distance also left one after another because they thought it was unlucky.
Wu Dingliu pointed at the fork in the direction of the fork on the handlebar and watched the ox cart leave the official road. Then he cupped his fists and gave a deep salute to Cheng Yu Jiafei, then slowly climbed on the horse's back, skillfully weaving in and out of people.
He rode his horse and chased the bullock cart.
"Let's go! Let's go into the city."
Cheng Yu said hello, Jia Fei took a bite of the fried cake and said vaguely:
"It's getting late. If we wait like this, the gate to the inner city will be closed."
"Do you and I need to go through the city gate when entering the city?"
Cheng Yu smiled.
When Jia Fei heard this, he slapped his forehead and smiled. The two men, one white and one green, walked onto the official road and merged into the flow of people entering Beijing.
…
"Drive! Drive!"
"Benefactors! Two benefactors!"
Less than half an hour later, the sound of galloping horse hooves was heard again on the side road next to the official road.
Wu Dingliu seemed to have no injuries on his body. He roared and whipped his horse and galloped back. He stopped at the place where he originally met Cheng Yu. He stood on the horse and shouted loudly about his benefactor while looking around.
People walking on the official road all turned to look at him, but no one responded.