Eye-catching, densely packed, and terrifyingly dense, the grasshoppers were crawling everywhere from the shadow of the locust cubs holding the grasshopper gourds.
The locust cub stood there with a twisted smile. When he saw Shen Yan pushing the door open, he shouted loudly: "Shen Yan, let's play with the grasshopper together. Look at how cute my grasshopper is."
Shen Yan: "..."
There is nothing wrong with describing a grasshopper as cute.
A pile of overlapping bugs, like tumbling rapeseeds, has nothing to do with cuteness.
It took Shen Yan a long time to get used to it, and after asking, Zhao Kuo took people to sell cloth early in the morning, and some members went to dig coal mines to make money.
We burned coal for cooking last night.
Shen Yan fetched water from a wooden bucket and washed himself, and then began today's task that Zhao Kuo left for him.
Everyone in the mercenary group has their own thing to do.
Taking a wheat cake that Zhao Kuo left for him and the half piece of Southern Song Dynasty jade that could summon the archers Liu Xi Liu Changyi, he took a few children out.
Looking at the wheat cakes, Shen Yan was worried, but Aunt Dong had used all the flour last night to bake the wheat cakes, and it was impossible for him to eat noodles again.
His mission today is to help the mercenary group seduce children.
Shen Yan also happens to be familiar with this city.
There were seven children strung on a rope. Shen Yan held the rope and walked out.
At first I thought it was quite strange to transport babies like this, but after walking for a short time, there were strings of babies everywhere, and there was even one with hundreds of babies strung on a rope. This must be a large mercenary group.
Shen Yan thought to himself, Zhao Kuo must have been like this when he was a child, right?
That picture really makes people laugh.
Among these strings of children, there are some strange sights, such as a team, the heads of children, and the bodies of ants half as tall as a man.
Locust Cub seemed to notice that Shen Yan was staring at him intently and said, "They are from the Ant-Man Mercenary Group."
Shen Yan thought to himself, is it a subhuman race?
The population composition of the Mercenary City is somewhat complicated.
Locust Cub: "They are so poor, they don't even have shoes to wear."
Shen Yan thought to himself, Ant-Man really needs shoes and has too many feet, but he is actually quite cute, especially the girl's head, which is neatly cut.
It was already evening when we entered the city yesterday, and the whole city was a bit hazy, like flowers in the mist.
But now, this wasteland city was clearly displayed in front of Shen Yan.
Broken sunlight shines on the concrete city, and there are abandoned warehouses everywhere, similar to Shen Yan's residence last night, arranged haphazardly like cubes.
The road was full of potholes, and from time to time there were dilapidated trucks emitting black smoke bumping on the road, which was a gray color.
The messy auto repair shop smells like oil stains.
On the street, mercenaries of all colors sometimes exuded a fierce aura in their eyes. There were stalls on both sides of the street, which was surprisingly lively.
There are sellers of wheat, rice, glutinous rice, beans and other staple foods.
The strange thing is that the wheat is ground into powder and sold, the rice is peeled off, and even the beans are crushed.
Later, Shen Yan found out that it was not that they sold the food exquisitely, but that it was to prevent the food seeds from flowing into other people's hands. Farming had always been in the hands of a few large mercenary groups, which was a resource monopoly. These seeds were valued more than anything else. Importantly, they are all processed before being sold to others.
In the context of material scarcity, monopolizing important supplies is the foundation of strength. The most powerful mercenary groups in the mercenary city have their own unique symbolic industries.
There are also meat sellers, mainly pork. The animal husbandry seems to be in the hands of individual mercenary groups. There are also hunting beasts. Judging from the dismembered parts of the beasts, they are huge. Shen Yan can't tell what kind of beast it is. It is probably The new species produced by the hybridization of species are quite diverse.
There are also those selling leather and cloth.
There are also blacksmithing furnaces, several of which can be seen on a street. Hot molten iron is flowing in the furnaces. Many mercenaries stand in front of the furnaces to buy newly-baked weapons, daggers, swords, hammers, etc. Such a cold weapon.
These stalls have one thing in common. There are several mercenaries with sinister faces standing behind them. Their fierce eyes seem to be able to poke holes in people if they dare to cause trouble in their stalls.
Looking at the essence from the phenomenon, although the mercenary city has its own order, snatching of supplies definitely happens.
The scarcity of materials and the resulting evil can only be suppressed by force.
Shen Yan was very wise when he chose to join the Tiger and Leopard Mercenaries. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for him to survive alone. Not to mention how he obtained supplies, he couldn't even keep the supplies alone.
Shen Yan watched with great interest along the road.
The unknown, the strange, the adventure, the exploration, the novelty, stimulate every nerve.
In addition to these, there is another trade that can be seen everywhere, holy artifacts.
There are many kinds of artifacts, real and fake, and it is a sacrificial artifact market that is larger and more lively than the antique market in Panjiayuan.
They are randomly mixed among these stalls, everywhere, and they are a unique buying and selling market formed by this city and this world.
Of course, most of the products sold are fakes.
Shen Yan sighed: "The counterfeiting industry is booming."
This seems to have become a default rule.
It is quite similar to the antique market. It also follows the rules of buying and selling, being self-confident about authenticity, and it tests experience and vision.
If you can buy a true holy artifact from it, you will naturally make a fortune, but if you miss it, you will have to consider yourself unlucky.
Of course, it's like looking for a fish out of a haystack, but some people actually bought genuine products from them. When Shen Yan was shopping, he heard many legendary versions of how to get rich overnight.
That's what makes this market so fascinating.
Shen Yan held the baby in hand and was wandering around dizzyingly, when a small stone hit him on the head.
Looking up, he saw a truck. On the roof of the truck, Zhao Kuo was sitting on it, throwing stones in his hands like a soldier. A tiger and a leopard were also prostrate on the roof of the truck, looking down, ferocious and ready to pounce. It looked particularly scary, guarding the stall selling cloth next to the truck.
Zhao Kuo said: "Why are you here?"
As if he thought of something, he waved to Shen Yan: "Get in the car."
The weather was extremely hot now, and Shen Yan was already sweating after walking around for such a while.
Just got in the car and rested.
However, a few children went to help sell cloth, and their shouts could be heard far away.
Shen Yan got into the car. There was a sunroof in the car, and Zhao Kuo was getting down from the sunroof.
That beast-like body is so strong that it makes people blush.
Zhao Kuo also took another look at Shen Yan. Shen Yan took a bath last night and wiped all the dust off his body. The kerosene lamp last night was somewhat dim and he couldn't see very clearly.
Now, full of thin, broken youthfulness.
Zhao Kuo muttered, "What a loss, what a good little manservant."
Then he became mysterious, glanced around, and closed all the car windows.
Shen Yan: "..."
Zhao Kuo lowered his voice: "Show you my baby."
Take out from the car those large and small boxes containing handicrafts that are kept with you and rubbed every night.
"Let's see if they have any stories."
The corner of Shen Yan's mouth twitched unconsciously, not only was he looking at a few works of art and closing the windows, but he also made it so mysterious.
Shen Yan said directly: "They are all mass-produced by machines according to the same mold. What story can there be?"
No matter how fine the crafts are, they are soulless and there is no trace of the hard work of the craftsmen day and night.
Zhao Kuo looked at Shen Yan seriously, as if trying to distinguish between true and false: "Seriously?"
It's impossible. Last night, even the locust cub casually hung an inconspicuous broken gourd on his body, and Shen Yan was able to tell a beautiful story in a clear and logical manner.
After hearing the story, Locust Cub performed the "Lin Yuan Ceremony" that night and transmitted the sound into Mengyuan.
It took him a lot of energy and money to get these sacred artifacts. They are all his treasures, and he usually rarely cares about them.
Zhao Kuo was not 100% sure that it was because Shen Yan told the story that the "Lin Yuan Ritual" was triggered in advance, so he asked Shen Yan to help look after his treasures, which meant he was trying.
As a result, it was directly rejected by Shen Yan.
Shen Yan felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by Zhao Kuo.
Pointing to a few boxes, he said, "Do you know the nine great artifacts that govern the country in history?"
Zhao Kuo was stunned, what?
Shen Yan reached out directly, opened the box in front of him, and took out the contents: "The first item is Dushan Jade Sea."
Then he opened the second box: "Ding Kiln Children's Pillow."
Open the third box and point to the contents: "Northern Song Dynasty pearl relic treasure building."
Zhao Kuo actually collected three of the nine artifacts that govern the country. I don’t know if Zhao Kuo’s vision is good or bad.
Shen Yan firmly said: "It's all fake."
If one person collected three genuine items like this at the same time, Shen Yan would be able to kneel down in front of him.
It's not easy, and it's completely impossible.
Zhao Kuo: "?"
The nine great artifacts to control the country? Just the name alone makes me feel a little inexplicably excited.
Staring at the three items turned out with clear eyes: "What if it's true?"
Shen Yan thought to himself, I really dare to think that this is questioning his professional ability. The key is that these three handicrafts are too crafted and the sizes are wrong. They are miniature models. He does not need to carefully identify them, he can easily Distinguish it.
Shen Yan waved his hand: "Impossible."
Zhao Kuo felt as if a cool breeze had blown through his heart. If what Shen Yan said was true, he would immediately turn from an upstart with a rich collection to a pauper.
They are all treasures that he can't put down.
He muttered: "Are they all fake holy weapons?"
Otherwise, he has collected these treasures for many years, but none of them triggered the "Lin Yuan Ritual".
Shen Yan also got a new term, pseudo-holy weapon?
Shen Yan thought to himself, without the accumulation of history, the painstaking efforts of craftsmen, and the infusion of blood and tears, handicrafts are fakes and forgeries, are they fake holy artifacts?
Zhao Kuo frowned, not knowing what he was thinking.
"What are the remaining pieces of the nine great artifacts that govern the country?"
Whether it's true or false, it's time to listen to the story.
I have to say that Shen Yan's storytelling is a bit evil and touching.
Shen Yan raised the corners of his mouth. As expected, both adults and children like to listen to stories.
