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…………
early morning.
Yu Ye walked on the mountain path.
After resting for two or three hours, he felt much more energetic. However, the morning dew wetted his robes, making his vigorous figure less elegant.
It should be early spring. Looking at it, the mountains and fields are green, the grass is green, the wild flowers are blooming, and it is full of vitality.
I remember that the first time I went out for a long trip, it was still a cold winter day. Now I am traveling alone again, and it is full of spring scenery. He also went from a young boy in the mountains to a monk at the first level of Qi refining. As for what will happen in the future, there are no plans yet. He wanted to go to Luming Mountain first to fulfill a promise he made with Feng Laoqi.
At the end of the trail was a rutted dirt road that stretched from east to west, leading to nowhere.
Yu Ye stopped and looked around for a moment, scratched his head, and walked west.
After three or five miles, several thatched cottages appeared ahead.
Yu Ye quickened his pace.
The thatched cottage was located under an old tree beside the road. No one else was seen. Only an old man in shabby clothes sat on the stone in front of the door, looking at him with cloudy eyes.
Yu Ye walked closer, leaned forward and said, "Old man, do you know Luming Mountain?"
"Oh, brother, are you buying wine?"
The old man didn't seem to hear clearly and said to himself: "You can help yourself to three cents of silver for a jar of wine." Looking at his fingers, there were indeed several clay wine jars stacked in the room.
Yu Ye didn't want to buy wine and didn't have any money, so he said loudly: "I'm going to Luming Mountain. Please ask the old man for directions."
"Luming Mountain?"
The old man heard it clearly this time, but said blankly: "This is the boundary of Tianmen Mountain. I have never heard of Luming Mountain."
Don't blame this old man for being ignorant, he has never heard of Tianmen Mountain. Many people live their whole lives no more than a hundred miles away from home. The vastness of Daze is said to be thousands of miles in circumference, so no one should be able to visit all the places or know the names of them.
But we can't give up just yet. There should be a village nearby and find someone else to ask.
Yu Ye and the old man nodded in thanks and continued along the dirt road.
After turning around a small forest, there was a fork in the road, and there was indeed a village a mile or two to the right. Smoke could be seen rising from cooking stoves, and roosters could be heard crowing and dogs barking.
There was a carriage parked in front, but the carriage was tilted. There was another man squatting on the ground and cursing in a low voice.
Yu Ye walked over.
The cart was loaded with a bunch of wine jars, and perhaps because of its heavy weight, the wheels got stuck in the pit, making it difficult to get out even if a horse-drawn man pulled it.
Yu Ye saw the reason clearly and said enthusiastically: "Uncle, do you want my help?"
The driver was a middle-aged man with a thick beard and a coarse robe, but his chest was exposed and his face was sweating profusely. He looked back at Yu Ye and saw that the other person was a young man with a long sword. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Who are you?"
"I……"
Yu Ye then remembered that his dress was different from ordinary people, but it was inconvenient to tell the truth. He hesitated and replied: "I went out to find relatives and passed by here."
The man asked suspiciously: "Bringing a sharp sword to find a bride?"
"Oh, this is a gift from a friend, just for self-defense."
For fear of causing misunderstanding, Yu Ye hurriedly put down his sword, stretched out his hands to grab the wheel, and signaled: "Uncle, let me help you push the cart."
"Don't try to be brave."
The man said disapprovingly, but he still walked to the car, held the horse's bridle, stretched out his hand to avoid being hit, and said: "Hey, drive——"
Yu Ye exerted his strength with both arms, and he directly lifted the wheel. The horse took advantage of the situation and pulled it, and the cart drove out of the pit with a "boom".
"Tsk, that's a lot of strength."
The man stopped the carriage and exclaimed. The cart plus the wine jar weighed hundreds of kilograms. He originally wanted to go back to the village to find someone for help, but he was out of trouble in the blink of an eye.
Yu Ye clapped his hands and picked up his long sword.
Since he gained cultivation, he found that his strength had increased a lot, and he was still a little surprised to be able to lift a heavy cart.
"What should I call you, and where can I go to find my relatives?"
The man's mood improved and a smile appeared on his face.
"I am in the wild."
Yu Ye reported his name and took the opportunity to say: "I want to go to Luming Mountain, and I hope my uncle can show me the way."
"Luming Mountain?"
The man thought for a moment and affirmed: "I don't know."
Yu Ye was greatly disappointed.
But I heard the man say again: "I'm going to the Tianmen Town inn to deliver wine. There are many people coming and going in the inn. You might as well follow me to find out something. I don't know if you can get what you want."
Yu Ye's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly.
The man tied up the ropes on the car, looked back and forth again, and waved: "Get in the car!"
The cart has two horses and two shafts, and two people can sit in front of the cart.
Yu Ye ran over and sat next to the man, saying gratefully: "Thank you, uncle!"
"Country people are not so particular. Just call me Lao Xiao."
The man calls himself Lao Xiao, and he is quite easy-going. He reached out and pulled out a whip, cracking it with a crisp sound. The horse driving the shaft shook its mane and swung its tail, pulling the cart forward.
"Where do you live?"
When Lao Xiao started talking about home affairs, Yu Ye no longer had any scruples.
"Yujiacun."
"You've got up early and are on your way. Have you eaten any food? It's still more than twenty miles to Tianmen Town. We won't be able to get there until noon. We'll have something to eat to fill our stomachs. There's enough wine in the car."
Lao Xiao took out a piece of dried meat from his arms and handed it to Yu Ye. He grabbed a jar of wine, opened the mud seal, raised his head and drank a few sips, and then breathed out the alcohol happily.
"I, Lao Xiao, passed down my brewing skills to my father, and the grain wine I brew is famous far and wide. Now that my father is old, I am in charge of the business."
"Well, I met an old man selling wine before."
"Haha, that's my dad. He sells wine by the roadside, just to pass the time. Come, drink -"
Although Yu Ye was hungry, he refused to accept favors easily. He looked at the dried meat in his hand and felt embarrassed. Unexpectedly, Lao Xiao handed over the wine jar again.
"I have no money, and I don't drink wine."
"You help me push the cart, I should repay you. And how can a man not drink? Do you look down on Lao Xiao, or do you look down on my Lao Xiao's grain wine?"
This old Xiao is a straight man.
Yu Ye had no choice but to take a sip from the wine jar. His mouth and tongue suddenly felt burning, and he blew air hurriedly, looking very unbearable.
Lao Xiao couldn't help but laugh out loud, he took the wine jar and drank continuously
Yu Ye smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Drinking is a hobby of hunters in the mountains. When he was a child, his father teased him to taste strong liquor, and he still remembered the spicy, bitter and hot feeling. Perhaps because he has not yet reached adulthood, he still doesn't like drinking and doesn't know how to taste it.
And it was just a sip of wine that made the two strangers become familiar with each other.
Lao Xiao is not only straightforward, but also extremely talkative. While driving the cart, he talked to Yu Ye about his wine-making experience, the relationship between the innkeeper of Tianmen Town and him, and so on.
Yu Ye didn't go out anymore. He swallowed the dried meat into his stomach in a few mouthfuls, then held the long sword in his arms and enjoyed the spring scenery of the fields. Lao Xiao’s laughter, the sound of horse hooves and wheels, kept going all the way...
It's almost noon.
The carriage drove into Tianmen Town.
There are about a hundred households, one east-west street, and more than a dozen shops, which is the whole picture of Tianmen Town. Compared to Lingjiao Town, this place is much more lively.
Lao Xiao drove the carriage to stop at the east end of the street, moved more than ten jars of wine for two wine shops, and then drove to the west end of the street, stopping again in front of an inn with a flag banner of Tianmen Town.
This is the Tianmen Town Inn, and it is also the only inn in the town. The three shops facing the street are the wine shop and concierge; the courtyard door next to it leads to the backyard, where the stables and guest rooms are located.
The innkeeper and waiters came out and moved all the wine jars on the cart into the wine shop.
Yu Ye was not idle, and kept busy.
The shopkeeper, who was in his forties or fifties, was known as Shopkeeper Jia. He called Lao Xiao brothers and arranged meals for Lao Xiao and Yu Ye. After lunch, Lao Xiao hurried home and asked shopkeeper Jia to take care of Yu Ye for two days, then drove the carriage alone and left Tianmen Town. Shopkeeper Jia had a good relationship with Lao Xiao and immediately ordered his clerk to open a guest room for Yu Ye.
The backyard of the inn.
Yu Ye stood in front of the guest room door and looked at the surrounding scene.
The so-called guest room is an ordinary stone house with only a bed and a wooden table.
There are six other similar rooms on the right, where four or five guests live. Among them were old people, women and children. If you come up to ask for directions, I'm afraid no one may know Luming Mountain.
On the left hand side is the Taoist courtyard wall, which houses stables and huts. Near the courtyard gate are the kitchen and well. A man was chopping firewood, and a woman was washing the kitchen utensils. There are also several large trees that block out the sky and sun, making the spacious courtyard quite cool.
Yu Ye looked back at the long sword he placed on the bed, reached out and closed the door, turned and walked towards the man who was chopping wood, and said, "Qiangzi, take a rest, I'll chop some firewood."
The waiter's name was Qiangzi, and he was also a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old. He wiped the sweat from his face and said with a smile: "How can there be any reason for guests to chop firewood!"
Yu Ye couldn't help but grab the machete, rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a tree stump and placed it on the ground.
Qiangzi said awkwardly: "Aunt Wu, look..."
Aunt Wu was a woman in her forties. She just squatted by the well and washed, without raising her head, and said: "He is a guest of Lao Xiao's care, and let him be. Don't even think about being lazy, go wash the pots and sweep the floor." "
Qiangzi nodded in agreement, turned around and ran away.
"Bang, bang——"
Yu Ye raised his knife and dropped it, causing the tree stump to fall into pieces. He grabbed another piece of wood and continued to chop with the knife.
I felt really sorry for living and eating in the inn for free, so I helped chop some firewood as a small compensation.
Within a few moments, all the wood on the ground was chopped into pieces. He piled the firewood neatly, called "Aunt Wu", drank a few sips of water from the well, and washed his face.
At this moment, a group of carriages and horses drove into the backyard. There were five people in total, each riding four horses, driving a single-shaft cart pulled by two horses.
Brother Qiangzi showed up to greet him.
A strong man with a beard flew off his horse and shouted loudly: "Brother, open three guest rooms, prepare two jars of strong wine and ten pounds of meat. My brother will stay here for the night and will get up early tomorrow and leave."
Qiangzi was busy taking care of the carriages and horses, but he did not forget to apologize and said with a smile: "As you know, there are only two guest rooms left."
The strong man raised his hand and threw out a large piece of silver and shouted: "I want three guest rooms, are you deaf?"
Qiangzi hurriedly reached out to catch the money, wondering: "There really is no vacancy..."
The strong man stared and was about to get angry.
Several of his companions came over, carrying swords and waving their arms, looking very scary.
Aunt Wu threw away the basin she was washing, turned around and hid in the kitchen.
Several residents in the yard also stayed away from each other.
Yu Ye finished washing his face, wiped his hands, raised his eyes, and said loudly: "Qiangzi, please give up my residence to a few distinguished guests."
Qiangzi said: "I'm afraid it's inappropriate..."
"I'll just make a floor in the kitchen. Please wait a moment."
Yu Ye ran straight to the guest room, he wanted to retrieve his long sword.
It is convenient for others, convenient for yourself, and it can also help the inn earn some money, so why not do it.
The strong man looked at Yu Ye up and down, and then exchanged glances with several of his companions.
Yu Ye pushed the door open and walked into the house, turned around and walked out.
But I saw the strong man and his companions coming to the door, bowing their hands and saying, "Little brother, are you from the Taoist sect?"
