Qi Yuan had just finished washing up and was cooking a pot of meat porridge. When he heard the noise, he turned around and saw a naked boy running out of the tent with a panicked look on his face. He was startled.
The boy's panicked eyes didn't relax until he saw Qi Yuan.
"What's wrong? What happened? I'm here, don't be afraid."
Qi Yuan pulled him behind him, frowned, and looked at the tent.
Did a wild beast break in?
Didn't hear any movement?
The guards picked up their weapons and surrounded him.
Don't blame them for making such a fuss, it's not uncommon to encounter wild beast attacks in the wilderness, so you need to pay attention to any disturbance.
Otherwise, when you are distracted, a beast may come out from somewhere unnoticed and take your life.
Along the way, they were attacked several times by wild beasts.
A middle-aged guard named Cheng Yun stepped forward with a gun. He was also the second best expert in the team after Zhao Wu.
He used the tip of his spear to lift up the tent curtain, only to find that there was nothing inside.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering what the little boy was doing in such a sudden move.
Qi Yuan turned to look at the little boy he had pulled behind him, and saw that he was clinging to the lapel of his clothes. Then he realized that it was probably because the child didn't see him when he woke up, and he was a little afraid that he would leave him behind.
She gently touched his head and comforted him in a warm voice: "Don't be afraid, I won't abandon you."
After telling everyone to disperse, Qi Yuan took the little boy back to the tent, took out the clothes he had been sewing for most of the night and put them on for him.
Well, looking at the crooked stitches on it, Qi Yuan himself felt a little hot, and thought that when he met the town again, he would buy him two sets of clothes quickly.
When he took out a pair of "leather boots" he made from animal skins, it suddenly made people feel that the boy's clothes were actually quite decent.
At least, people can tell that they are clothes.
Unlike this pair of "leather boots", it has the potential to look different.
Therefore, when the boy changed his clothes and was led out of the tent by Qi Yuan, everyone was instantly shocked by the "trendy" outfit of the little boy. They couldn't bear to see it.
But the boy himself didn't feel anything was wrong.
He felt that this was the best piece of clothing he had ever worn.
Especially the "boots" on his feet were warm and comfortable, countless times more comfortable than when he used to run around barefoot on the cold ground.
Qi Yuan felt a little embarrassed when he saw the strange expressions on everyone's faces.
However, he has been trained for a long time, otherwise it would be impossible for him to tout himself as a sage.
So he took the boy to dinner without changing his expression.
In the morning, he personally cooked a large pot of fragrant meat porridge, and also dug some fresh and tender wild vegetables on the roadside. After cleaning them, he mixed them with sesame oil and minced onions, ginger, and garlic. It was very refreshing.
When the boy drank more than a dozen pancakes and the fifth bowl of meat porridge, everyone saw that he was still licking the bottom of the bowl with a look of unfulfilled interest. They were stunned and didn't know what to say.
Qi Yuan looked at his slightly bulging belly and wondered where the child had eaten all the food.
"Don't you feel your stomach is full?"
Qi Yuan asked.
The boy shook his head.
Although he still didn't speak, he finally gave a response.
Zhao Wu on the side was surprised: "No wonder he has so much strength, his appetite is really amazing."
Qi Yuan also nodded secretly, thinking that people with such extraordinary talents should have something different from ordinary people. Being able to eat means that the body digests quickly and has strong absorption ability.
The reason why he didn't dare to let him eat more yesterday was not because Qi Yuan was reluctant to part with the food, but because he was worried that he would eat too much all at once and burst his stomach. Now that he knew that this child was born with a big appetite, he no longer restricted him.
How much to eat.
"Do you have a name?"
After eating, Qi Yuan asked.
The boy shook his head.
His parents died young and no one named him.
"Well, that's it."
Qi Yuan thought for a while and said: "In that case, then you can take my last name. I will give you a name, just... Qi Yi. From now on, you can call me Master and be my first formal disciple."
,OK."
The boy nodded and did not refuse.
I couldn't help but feel a little joy in my calm heart. I also had a name, and I was no longer the little bastard that others called me.
In this way, Qi Yuan tricked a talented young man into becoming his disciple.
Since Qi Yi has such a talent, it would be a pity to just learn cooking from him and become a cook.
Therefore, Qi Yuan planned to ask Zhao Wu and others to teach him some martial arts.
Qi Yi was still young and had never had any basic skills before, so when Zhao Wu and others had nothing to do, they taught him some basic boxing and kicking skills.
Along the way, Qi Yuan taught him how to read and cook. After setting up camp every day, he practiced martial arts with Zhao Wu and the others. Every day was fulfilling.
Qi Yi is very smart and can learn many things at once, which greatly impressed Zhao Wu and others who taught him martial arts.
However, what he learned the fastest was cooking.
Maybe it was because the times when he was hungry in the past were so engrained in his mind that he didn't want to live the kind of hungry days again, so he could quickly learn every kind of meal Qi Yuan taught him to cook.
The only pity is that he never spoke.
Qi Yuan thought that he might be mute and that's why he couldn't speak. Although he felt it was a pity, there was nothing he could do about it.
After Qi Yi was able to memorize the words Qi Yuan gave him, Qi Yuan passed on to him the simple set of skills he had practiced.
Although the technique with only a few hundred words is simple, getting started is a key.
It not only involves the meridians of the whole body, but also the induction of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
If you cannot sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, you will not be able to draw the spiritual energy into your body, and you will not be able to produce magic power.
If you don't know the direction of the meridians throughout your body, you won't be able to use your magic power and use spells.
So this is a very laborious stage that requires his careful teaching bit by bit.
However, Qi Yi is indeed a genius. After learning all these things, within a few days, he was able to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body, which made Qi Yuan highly praise him.
After receiving praise from Qi Yuan, a rare happy smile appeared on Qi Yi's face.
It seems that his long-closed mind has finally slowly opened up, and is no longer in a cold and dead place.
This made Qi Yuan very happy. Autistic children are difficult to take care of. It took a lot of effort for him to make Qi Yi accept himself in his heart.
Time always flies by inadvertently, and in the blink of an eye, they have been gone for more than a month.
The weather is getting warmer, the grass is green on both sides of the road, and the trees in the mountains and forests in the distance are even more lush.
Of course, there are also the roars of various beasts that can be heard from time to time, and there are also the miserable cries of some unknown beasts before they die, which makes people's hair stand on end.
After all, the wilderness is full of dangers, especially in some uninhabited places, where all kinds of ferocious beasts roam freely. If you are unlucky enough to encounter some demons who have awakened your wisdom, then run as far as you can.
"Sir, the front is the Skeleton Mountain Realm. Legend has it that it was a battlefield in ancient times, where countless corpses were buried. Few people dare to pass by there. Otherwise, let's take a detour to the south first, and then go to Chentangguan.
"
Zhao Wu told Qi Yuan the news he had inquired about.
Qi Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked, "How far does it take to go south?"
"About five or six hundred miles around?"
"I see, it's a bit far. Have you ever asked about the people who have passed under Skull Mountain recently and have they encountered any danger?"
Zhao Wu thought for a while: "I heard that several business trips passed by there recently, and they did not encounter any danger."
"In this case, we don't need to take a detour, let's go straight."
Qi Yuan didn't want to take a detour. Why did he come here? Isn't he just looking for a chance to meet Empress Shiji? Only by meeting Empress Shiji could he persuade her to gain some benefits for himself.
Now that Skull Mountain is right in front of him, how could he be willing to give up this opportunity?
A group of people got on their horses and escorted Qi Yuan's carriage to continue moving forward.
At noon, they arrived at the foot of Skull Mountain.
This mountain is called Skeleton Mountain just because there are many white bones buried in the mountain. It is not made of skeletons, but people feel that the mountain is quite dark, so few people dare to walk from here.
As he meandered along the road at the foot of the mountain, Qi Yuan frowned in thought.
When he got here, he realized that he had taken it for granted. This mountain was hundreds of miles away, and he had no idea where the Bone Cave was, nor how to find Shiji.
With so many mountain peaks, we can't go looking for them one by one, right?
Just when he was frowning, there was a sudden loud noise, and then he heard the angry and frightened shouts of Zhao Wu and others outside.