The old woman ate a pancake and went back to her room to rest, without letting Yang Zhen leave. Naturally, Yang Zhen was unwilling to leave this place where he could rest. At his request, the old woman searched for the books at home, but unfortunately she only found two books.
The fonts in both books are official script. After Yang Zhen got used to it, she could recognize almost half of the characters. Those who don't know each other can even make guesses, so they can continue reading the book.
A book is the almanac of this world, describing what is suitable and what is not suitable for a certain day, etc. Yang Zhen flipped through it and lost interest. But I also know that the calendar of this world is almost the same as that of ancient China, with twenty-four solar terms, leap months, etc., and I also know that autumn has just begun. This time is almost the same as when he left the earth.
The other is a storybook, in which the protagonist is none other than Patriarch Yunxiao. At that time, Patriarch Yunxiao traveled to the west to learn art, and went through many ups and downs, encountering many robbers and monsters. This book is about how he eliminated (sha) demons (ren) and subdued (duo) demons (bao). It has some flavor of "Journey to the West", but it is far less story-telling. The book is full of short stories, which are not coherent as a whole and contain many contradictions. They are more like the "Legends of the Tang Dynasty" in the previous life. Obviously, the level of storytelling in this world is still at a relatively early stage.
Despite this, Yang Zhen still read it with gusto. Just the fact that the story in it might be true was enough for him to read it carefully. The book is in a tattered state, and it can be seen that it has been read frequently. Yang Zhen held it in both hands and was even more careful when turning the pages, for fear of being damaged.
The whole afternoon was spent reading. Later, the old woman woke up. Seeing that Yang Zhen was fascinated by the book, she didn't bother her and went back to her room to do her own business.
It wasn't until five consecutive drum beats sounded that Yang Zhen woke up as if from a dream. Closing the book, he raised his voice and asked:
"Grandma, what time is it now?"
"It's the time of year, and drums will be played in the city at this time every day..."
Youshi... Yang Zhen calculated in her mind that it was five o'clock in the afternoon.
"Grandma, it's getting late. I have to go back to the mountains... It's time for me to go."
"Shitouzi, wait a minute, your Aunt Fu is coming back soon, I'll ask her to see you off. Don't you little kid not be able to find a way out of the city, hey... what a sin!"
Just as he was talking, the door of the courtyard was pushed open with a creak, and a plain-looking woman with a hairdress and a cloth came in.
This woman looked to be in her twenties, holding an oil paper bag in her hand and looking rather haggard. She was the old woman's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Fu. She looked at Yang Zhen in surprise, wondering why a child appeared at home. At this time the old woman came out and told her roughly what happened.
After hearing what happened to Yang Zhen, Mrs. Fu was also very sympathetic:
"Hey, poor baby, why don't you remember your home?"
Then he apologized again:
"I'll go see my little brother off. Hey, if the government doesn't allow it, you can stay at my house."
The yamen also takes care of people staying overnight. What kind of truth is this? Yang Zhen was very surprised. He didn't think this was Aunt Fu's prevarication, so after a little hesitation, he asked the question. He is still a child anyway, so it is normal to ask whatever comes to mind.
"The government said that children are not allowed to be kept privately, even if they stay overnight." Mrs. Fu explained.
"The reason is, I heard it's the immortal's rule. I don't know the meaning behind it."
…………
When the drum sounded for the second time, Yang Zhen had already come out of the old woman's house. It was now Youshizheng (six o'clock in the afternoon), and at Xushi, the drums would sound for the third time. At that time, it was time to close the city gate, and Yang Zhen had to leave the city before this time.
Mrs. Fu led the way, still holding the oil paper bag in her hand. When Fu was helping out in a restaurant today, most of the roast chicken was left over from a customer, so the restaurant asked her to take it home. When they went out just now, the old woman and Mr. Fu asked Yang Zhen to take the bag of chicken away. Yang Zhen refused and was worried about whether Tiezhu would have anything to eat when he returned, so she had to accept it.
Yang Zhen was holding a bag of cakes and a set of clothes in her hands, which the old woman had packed in the house in the afternoon. The clothes were worn by the old woman's son when he was a child. They were slightly modified to suit Yang Zhen.
With Mrs. Fu taking them, the two took a shortcut and quickly reached the city gate. Yang Zhen said goodbye to Fu with gratitude, and when she left the city, she saw Tiezhu already waiting here.
After the two met, Yang Zhen raised the oil paper bag and talked about her gains with a smile.
Compared to the morning, Tie Zhu's mentality had returned to normal. Hearing this, his mouth opened with joy, wishing he could sit down and feast now.
…
"Brother Tiezhu, do you know why immortals don't let city people take in children?"
"I don't know, I'm not an immortal...I only heard that immortals value children very much. In this world, there are people who kill people and rob children, but there will never be anyone who steals or robs children, otherwise the immortals will kill them. His life. Otherwise, why would I let you wander around the city alone in the morning? I just know you can’t lose it, haha!"
"Then do you know that I later met the same group of beggars from yesterday..."
"Ah? Those Wangba! How are you? They didn't beat you, right?"
"They thought so? But I ran away and knocked one of them over. Seven or eight of them didn't catch me, haha!"
The two of them talked and joked all the way, and soon they reached the bottom of a hillside. After climbing over the hillside, they were very close to the Taoist temple.
At this moment, seven or eight figures suddenly appeared on the hillside, and at the same time, many rocks of different sizes were blown towards them with the sound of wind...
"It's them, run away!"
Tie Zhu, who was walking in front, quickly protected his head and turned around, only to find that Yang Zhen reacted faster and had already retreated back to the corner. Tie Zhu also moved back, but a little slower, and a stone as big as a table tennis ball hit him in the lower back.
"Uh..." Tie Zhu groaned and squatted down.
"Tiezhu!" Yang Zhen shouted quickly and hurriedly supported Tiezhu and hid around the corner. Tie Zhu was seen gritting his teeth and sucking in air, obviously in severe pain.
"We hit the green-faced ghost!" cheers came from above.
Then there was a burst of noise:
"I hit it!"
"It's me, what are you grabbing?"
"Bah! I obviously picked up that stone, I know it!"
"Shit! Can you hit someone with your little arms and legs?"
"Why not?"
Finally came an angry rebuke from an older child:
"What's the fuss about? Go down and beat them to death!"
Yang Zhen was in a hurry. At this time, he was holding a stick in one hand and holding the iron pillar with the other. As for the package of chicken and pancakes and clothes, he had already placed them on the grass aside.
"Tie Zhu, how are you? Can you leave? They are coming..."
Tie Zhu vigorously kneaded the waist hit by the stone without saying a word, and the muscles on his face were twisted. He waved his hand, indicating that Yang Zhen did not need to support him, and leaned on the ground with a wooden stick, staggering forward. After walking a few steps, there happened to be a piece of flat land the size of a kitchen. The iron pillar stopped and held up the wooden stick:
"Little Shitou, run away! I'll fight them..."
