When it got completely dark, it was already past nine o'clock. Qingyan asked Chou Chou how things were going over there at Pingliang Mountain. Those people hadn't gone into the formation, had they?
Although Blackbird had reinforced the formation at Qinian Village before, after all, it was not the same place, and it was not necessarily one type. What if it worked at the time but failed later.
It was almost dawn when she and Chou Chou came out. Who knows if they couldn't get in because of the wrong time.
Chou Chou: "No problem. The officers and soldiers have been trying there since dark and have not gone in. It should have been reinforced."
Qingyan nodded, "Then they won't spend the whole night there, right? It's already minus ten or twenty degrees at night, and I don't think they brought a tent or anything. They won't freeze to death if they spend the night on the mountain."
Chou Chou shook his head: "They are not stupid. The leader said to try the surroundings again. If there is no problem, they will go down the mountain. They will go to the inn in the town to rest and return to the county town tomorrow morning."
Qingyan nodded, "That's okay. Camping in this weather is definitely asking for death, so we have to leave early tomorrow. Those two people found out about my appearance, and they were in trouble.
I was originally thinking of going to a restaurant to hear the news, but it seemed that was no longer an option. "
Chou Chou: "If there is anything to listen to, we can still hear it with our spiritual consciousness even after we leave. There is no need to waste time here.
We haven't entered the coldest period of the twelfth lunar month yet. If we keep going at our rate, we will probably have to spend the winter in the north. "
It has been in the Xiangxiang space for these years, warm in winter and cool in summer, but it is actually very uncomfortable with this cold weather.
Fortunately for Qingyan, she spends most of her time in Beijing. The four seasons are distinct, so it can be said that she can adapt well to each season.
Although there is a brazier in the inn, it is really not as warm as their own wooden house, let alone the house with the formation they have lived in for the past two days.
So I had a not-so-sweet sleep, and I got up early before dawn the next day. After washing and tidying up, I was just getting dark.
When she went downstairs, she saw that someone was already having breakfast. It seemed that some people were leaving early, and she was not the only one.
She also ordered a bowl of hot noodle soup, and followed the example from the table next door, and bought a few steamed buns to take away.
She and the two people at the next table finished their meals at almost the same time, so they went to drive together in the backyard.
The other party should be a father and son, one in his forties and fifties, and the other in his teens and twenties. They look very similar. They both have faces with Chinese characters, thick eyebrows and big eyes. Their eyes are very upright, and they don't look like cunning people.
Seeing that Qingyan was alone, they did not come up to talk. They just deliberately slowed down the carriage after leaving the inn. In addition, their carriage also had a wooden carriage, which was somewhat similar to hers, making others look like them. It's the same thing together.
Qingyan could see what they meant. This was to protect her. After all, a little girl was still very dangerous outside.
Even when she went to buy charcoal, the other party waited for her for a while until the man loaded all the charcoal into the back of the car before they set off together again.
As a result, when she left the city gate, the gatekeepers didn't even check her car. They only took a quick look and let her pass.
Qingyan said to Chou Chou: "It seems that there are still many good people. No one has spoken to me. They are just strangers who met by chance, but they are secretly protecting me."
Chou Chou came out of the space, leaned on Yuan Bao, and said lazily: "Don't treat everyone as a good person. Some people hide their secrets deeply. If you trust others easily, then you are not far from getting into trouble."
Qingyan nodded, "I know, I'm not stupid. Isn't this just something I feel? Even if I knew that the other person was protecting me secretly, I would not go up and make friends with him. We have too many secrets. We are on the same road as others. It’s so inconvenient.”
Chou Chou: "It's good that you know. If the other party is in danger, we can help secretly, but we can't do it openly. This meddling will delay us for more than ten days. When can we go to the south."
Listening to Chou Chou's complaints, Qingyan touched her nose in embarrassment. She did like to meddle in other people's business. She probably inherited this from her mother. Her mother especially liked to meddle in other people's business, otherwise she wouldn't do charity. Do it yourself.
There is no way, my mother is pampered by her father and brothers. She is already in her forties or fifties, but she still always thinks of one thing after another. She has inherited this perfectly.
When we left the city, there was snow again. There were people cleaning the city, so there was no snow.
She changed the cotton shoes on her feet into sheepskin boots. They were a little empty and were indeed too big.
After thinking about it, I asked Chou Chou for two pieces of rabbit skin, wrapped them directly on my feet, put on socks, and then put on boots. It was much better. It was really warm to cover the ankles.
She was walking behind the father and son's carriage. There were several cars behind her, including an ox cart and a donkey cart, so she couldn't get into the carriage and stay there.
It was already cold in the morning. Qingyan was wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket and a large cloak, but she didn't feel warm at all. It was hard to imagine how cold it would be in the twelfth lunar month, so she really had to go south as soon as possible.
After passing Pingliang County, there was a large plain with almost no mountains. It seemed to Chou Chou that there would be no need to walk on mountain roads for at least three hundred miles.
Not taking the mountain road does not mean it is safer, because it is easier to encounter wolves on the plains and there is no place to hide. At least there are trees on the mountain to climb up and hide.
What's more, if these people didn't turn around halfway in the next hundred miles, they would all be traveling the same way, and she wouldn't be able to take out the wooden house.
She could spend the night in the carriage, but the big bear would suffer, and she would have to carry it outside in such a cold weather.
Fortunately, the weather has cleared up, and it looks like it won't snow again for a while. It should be better to find a place sheltered from the wind to make a fire.
Chou Chou lit up the charcoal stove in the carriage and placed a copper pot on it. He put more than half of the pot of water in it to avoid spilling it.
Qingyan also thought of it. It would be difficult to live comfortably along the way. She was going to warm it up and give Qingyan a soup. It would be much warmer if she held it in her arms.
When we reached noon, we didn't stop to rest. We probably just ate some dry food. Although there were villages nearby, they were not on the official road, so we had to walk some distance inward.
It is estimated that everyone is thinking of continuing on the road and trying to reach the next county or town before dark. Only towns have inns to stay in, not in villages.
Unless you have no choice, try not to stay with other people in the village while on the road, as this can easily lead to accidents.
Because not all villagers are kind and honest, many are unruly people who come from poor mountains and harsh waters.
They would be malicious to the merchants who came to stay overnight, and it would be a good idea to have their daughters married off and brought up at a young age. Many of them were seeking money and murder, directly killing people and burying them somewhere, and keeping their belongings.
Qingyan saw that they were not stopping, so she wanted to find a place to stop and rest, maybe she could be separated from them.
But the entire road was covered with snow, and there were no trees, let alone any shelter from the wind. The wind was blowing at level 5 or 6 today, so there was no way to rest.
As a result, I had no choice but to follow along and feed the big bear some warm water and a few snacks on the way, but there was no way to feed him any fodder.
Fortunately, Qingyan wore a lot of clothes, and Mrs. Tang was there. In addition, there was a stove in the carriage. People in the carriage would turn on the heat and walk outside, so her back was quite warm.
Unlike others, although they had carriages or were covered with sheepskins or quilts, they were still so cold that their hands and faces were red and shivering.
Like the two father and son in front, when they were eating dry food before, they could hardly hold it in their hands.
Of course, Qingyan saw all this with her spiritual consciousness. Otherwise, there was a carriage in the middle, so how could she see what they were doing.
The two fathers and sons took turns driving, one drove for about an hour, and the other was sitting in the carriage with a quilt around him. He didn't dare to sleep because it was too cold and he was afraid of getting sick.
Then switch again after an hour so that both of you are less tired.
Although their carriage was also made of wood, the interior was far less comfortable than Qingyan's.
Not only was it covered with sheepskins underneath, but also sheepskins were hung around the carriage. Except for the carriage door in front, it was almost completely covered with airtight.
The father and son were just made of wooden boards, with limited wind protection.
Of course, even this is much better than the few cars behind. The cattle cars behind are all pulling goods. There are no sheds at all, and the cars are full of bags of goods.
The driver in front could only dress himself in a ball, with a leather hat on his head, muffs on his hands, and a piece of black sheepskin covering his legs.
It was freezing here, with necks hunched and shoulders shrugged. The main reason was that the goods were not piled too high, so the northwest wind blowing from behind could directly hit people's heads, even if they were wearing a leather hat. If there is a small gap, you can blow it in, but it won't have much effect.
After such a comparison, Qingyan felt that she seemed to be the most comfortable. Sure enough, people still need to compare. Compared to others' discomfort, she seemed to have a much better state of mind.
We walked until after eight o'clock, which was equivalent to walking for nearly twelve hours, before we encountered a town on the edge of the official road.
The previous towns were relatively close to the inside. If it weren't for Qingyan's spiritual awareness, she wouldn't be able to see it from the official road, so everyone wouldn't dare to enter easily even if they saw the boundary monument.
This town is called Mapo Town. Like the previous Zhangji Town and Sanli Town, it is located on the north side of the official road. It should also be dedicated to supplying supplies to passing merchants.
If it weren't for the thick snow on the road, they wouldn't actually have to walk for so long. They could probably get here in less than ten hours, so it would be a good idea to build a town here without having to sleep in the wilderness at night.
No one had any intention of going any further, so they all entered the town.
Qingyan didn't want to be independent and had to rush on the road at night. Of course, the main reason was that she had seen it with her spiritual consciousness. There was really no place to take shelter from the wind in front of her, even the relatively low-lying places like before. .
The only place she saw that Qingyan felt was wrong was a pit that went straight up and down, so she asked Chou Chou. Chou Chou said that it was a puddle, but it was frozen with a layer of ice and covered with snow.
I knew I couldn't put a wooden house in a place like that, so I just went with the flow.
Mapo Town is much larger than Zhangji Town and Sanli Town, more than three times larger.
There are three streets in total. The two streets on both sides are occupied by local residents, who have built adobe houses. The main street in the middle has a few two-story tile-roofed houses, and the rest of the bungalows are also shops.
Moreover, Qingyan also took a look, and found that two of the two-story buildings were inns and one was a restaurant.
There are two inns, one is larger and the other is smaller. The larger one is on the roadside and the smaller one is inside.
The smaller one is much cleaner than the big one, maybe because there are more people staying in the big inn.
All the rooms in the big inn are full, and even the livestock shed in the backyard has no room, except for Datongpu, which still has a few places.
Qingyan would definitely not stay in Datongpu, so she could only stay in the small inn there.
There were two vacant rooms on the second floor of the small inn, so she could book one, so she didn't even stop when she passed by the entrance of the big inn, and drove straight into the car.
She was afraid of being late, and if these people went to ask if there was a room, she would not be able to grab it by then.
It's not that the small inn only has two rooms, but there are only two upper rooms on the second floor, and there are lower rooms on the first floor below. There are also vacancies in Datongbu, so she is afraid that there will be no upper rooms.
The father and son parked the car at the entrance of the big inn. When they saw Qingyan continuing to move forward, they couldn't help but look at each other. They did not follow her, but asked their son to get out of the car alone to inquire.
There was no need to ask the shopkeeper, the waiter at the door told him directly that there were no more rooms, and there were only a few spots left in Datong Shop.
As soon as the two father and son heard this, they got in the car and went inside.
The few ox carts behind them didn't even stop and went straight in.
The son said to his father: "Dad, that girl didn't even get out of the car, so she knew there were no rooms in this inn?"
The father smiled and replied: "In such a long distance from Pingliang County, this is the only town on the official road. You can guess it. However, it seems that the girl must have been here before, otherwise it wouldn't be possible." He will be so familiar with the road."
They often walked this road, so they knew there was no place to rest in the middle, so they headed straight for this town.
They also know that there is an inn inside. Usually when they come, there are not many people in the inn outside, so they always stay in the inn outside.
Moreover, they had a carriage, and there was a parking space in the backyard of the inn. They had never stayed in the small inn inside, and they didn't know if there was one.
When they arrived, Qingyan had already opened a room, which was still a room on the second floor, and was now going to the backyard to park the carriage.
Only when we got to the backyard did we realize that although the inn was a little smaller compared to the rooms, there was still a backyard, and the backyard was bigger than the big inn.
Not only is there a house for livestock, there is also a shed for carriages, there are sheep pens, chicken coops, and even a place for growing vegetables.
