By the time the young man and his party arrived in Yancheng, it was already evening.
"Dear guests, here we come!"
The driver reined up the horse, drove the carriage to an open space beside the city gate, and shouted into the carriage.
"Nanny, grab my hand, be careful."
"Nanny knows, little squirrel, hold on to Nanny's pigtails."
"Zhizhi."
The young man led his sister and jumped out of the carriage, while the latter and the little thing on his head looked curiously at the ancient city in front of him.
The city wall is not very high, but every brick is deeply engraved with the traces of time. The soldiers guarding the city were wearing heavy armor, their sharp eyes shining through their visors as they cautiously scanned the group of new visitors.
In the whole world, there is nothing but the royal land.
Yancheng is actually part of an ancient country. The monks disdain the struggle for power among mortals, but the princes and generals enjoy it endlessly. There are countless ancient kingdoms with vast territories on this land. They use cities as points to divide their territories.
The coachman took out a token and waved it to the soldier. The latter ignored it and went to patrol the city wall on his own.
"You guys, hurry up and stay in the city. If you are late, there will be no place." The coachman reminded that he also had to prepare to enter the city. The horse has been running all day and needs a good rest.
Nannan could no longer hold back her excitement. She happily took her brother's hand and ran towards the city gate.
When she stepped on the first bluestone slab in the city, Nannan's big eyes reflected the brightly lit scene in front of her.
Although the sky is getting dark, the city is brightly lit with lanterns and colorful lanterns. The red lanterns extend along the streets and into the depths of the dense flow of people.
The streets were crowded, and the vendors on both sides were shouting and shouting tirelessly.
"Candied haws on a stick - sweet candied haws on a stick -"
"Crispy roast duck - crispy roast duck fresh out of the oven -"
"Newly imported fabrics - quality that only immortals can appreciate -"
In a corner of the street, a fat Taoist priest with a red face was squatting in front of a stall that looked like an antique stall, holding a small gadget and bargaining with the boss.
"I said boss, this thing of yours is quite new, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about, sir? This is a serious local product!"
"嘁嘁 道-" The Taoist shook his head and left the gadget and left. How could he not know whether it was just unearthed?
Behind them was a bustling wine shop. Some people were drunk and showing off their drunkenness inside, and started to engage in drunken punches.
"Hahahahaha! I'm the Big Dipper descending to earth! Look - move!"
"There's still the Big Dipper! Pay the money for the drink quickly, or I'll send you to the government!"
Others in the wine shop were drinking, talking and laughing, and were happy to have a show to entertain them.
One day I entered the mortal world and lingered never to return.
Nannan had never seen such a scene before. She held her brother's hand and looked around curiously.
Naturally, the young man felt his sister's excitement. Originally, he planned to take his sister for a walk and spend time with her during this trip.
The young man knelt down and held his sister's face: "Let's sell some medicinal herbs first, and then go to the hotel to stay. After settling in, we can go shopping with my daughter, okay?"
"good."
Selling medicinal herbs is also one of the purposes of this trip, and the merchant houses in the city will often give a fair price.
There are many trading houses in Yancheng where you can purchase medicinal materials, and the young man is a regular customer of one of them. The boss of the trading company was also happy to accept the young man's medicinal materials. After all, these were first-hand raw materials picked from deep in the mountains, which were much more reliable and fresh than those from the merchants.
With the silver coins in hand, the boy and the little girl found the hotel, settled in, and plunged into the bustling crowd.
"Well - brother, please eat one more, Nannan can't eat any more." Nannan munched on the sweet and sour candied haws, and shared it with her brother in a sensible way.
Naturally, the little squirrel also got a good taste, holding a candied haws in its arms and munching on it.
The boy did not refuse his sister's kindness. He lowered his head and bit into one. The sweet and sour taste exploded between his lips and teeth. He nodded with satisfaction, and then looked around to see what other snacks he could buy for his sister.
"Pinch the candy man——"
A shout from the street caught the eyes of the boy and his daughter.
Not far in front of them, a craftsman was playing with several vivid candy figures.
This naturally attracted many children to watch, including many snot-nosed babies about the same age as Nannan.
Nannan stepped forward, and while looking at the strange combination of a boy, a little girl and a squirrel in front of her, the craftsman worked with his fingers dexterously. After a while, there was a little squirrel, a little girl and a boy's little sugar man. The son blew out.
The children exclaimed: "Wow--" and there were a few faint sounds of swallowing.
Nannan's big eyes were shining brightly. It's obvious that she likes this little sugar man very much.
When the young man saw this, he decided to buy it. Then I calculated the remaining funds. Even though I received special care from the business owner, the remaining money will be enough to buy daily necessities.
It happened to be getting late, so I should take my sister back to rest.
"Thank you, brother, I like it very much!"
On the way back, Nannan held up her little candy man and looked around. The night wind was very cool, blowing across her face that was red with excitement.
The little squirrel also held up his own candy man, but he seemed to be thinking about whether to eat it.
But before handing it to the little squirrel, Nannan specifically warned:
"Be good, little squirrel. If you eat it, Sugar Man Nannan will have no playmates and she will be sad."
Okay, no more. it thought angrily.
The boy held his sister in one hand and held the lifelike candy man in his other hand. Naturally, he would not eat it. If he could, he would even want to treasure this candy man for the rest of his life.
For a lifetime...if I become an immortal, can I really endure life and death and make my sister happy forever?
The young man looked up at the night sky. The stars were pouring down from the sky, and a full moon was emitting a soft light to the earth.
Nannan felt her brother stop. Seeing his actions, Nannan imitated her brother's example and looked up at the sky. As a result, the little squirrel fell directly. It hurriedly grabbed Nannan's braid, and then swung it on Nannan's smooth forehead.
"Brother, there are so many stars."
"Yes, I heard from the old people in the village that if you become an immortal, you can go to those stars."
"Will there be another girl there?"
The young man chuckled when he heard this: "My sister is unique. There is only one cutest daughter in this world."
"hey-hey."
…
In the dead of night, the calm breathing of the boy and the little girl echoed in the room. The little squirrel lay on the girl's body, sleeping soundly in an extremely unsightly position.
A figure suddenly appeared in the room. It looked at the squirrel with an moved expression:
"I completely exhausted all the demon energy that I have successfully cultivated and managed to survive. I really can't help you..."
The black shadow stretched out a furry hand and gently covered the little squirrel, then the palm of his hand glowed, shrouding the little squirrel in warm white light.
The little squirrel hummed comfortably, scratched its head with its toes, smacked its mouth a few times, and continued to sleep deeply.
After finishing the treatment, the black shadow flicked his hand, shot a ray of silver light into the little squirrel, and whispered to himself:
"Now that I am still being hunted by that evil dragon, it may be difficult to protect this thing completely. Giving it to you here is a small reward for your sacrifice of life to save me."
After saying this, the black shadow disappeared from the room silently.
…
"Candied haws... so delicious..."
