The woods outside Hanling City
Behind the dense shade and layers of intertwined leaves, a pair of alert and alert eyes hid for a while. The all-seeing eyes were staring intently at the people coming and going outside Hanling City in the distance. Under the cover of lush leaves, the petite body of a young man is curled up. The young man was wearing a simple coarse linen shirt, his feet were bare, and a thick plush purple robe and long cotton boots hung on the branches behind him.
This young man is Qiye who came back from the Far East Region. Back and forth, months passed. Outside the Far East, it is already a warm spring-like season. Occasionally, the sky is bright and the wind is dry and hot, giving people a vague feeling that summer is about to begin. Seeing that the temperature was getting warmer, Qiye took off his winter clothes and temporarily put on his old exposed clothes.
These days, Qiye has been hiding in the woods, paying close attention to all the movements in Hanling City, but he has not found anything unusual: the soldiers guarding the city take turns on duty step by step, and there is no special increase in the number of troops defending the city; merchants and passers-by A and B remain the same. There was an endless stream of people coming in and out, everything seemed so normal...
"It's strange. Han Qi, the lord of Hanling City, is dead. Why can't I see any signs of mourning...or is there any difference?" Qiye wondered a little after observing for several days.
"Why don't you... go take a look?" After thinking for a moment, Qiye decided to go and find out.
But before that, there is one thing that needs to be resolved. Qiye looked at it and saw the mark of the word "slave" on his right arm after taking off his winter clothes. This word was deeply engraved on his arm, and it was even burned on the tip of his heart. It was sharp and dazzling and could not be wiped off. If he went out like this, he would definitely be caught as a runaway slave and tortured. Even though she was branded with the word "slave", Qiye never gave up on getting rid of the fate of being a slave.
Soon, Qiye lit a fire in the forest and took out a torch from the fire. Stick it on your right arm and use high-temperature charcoal fire to burn it, "sizzling..." The skin with the slave mark cracks during the burning, and the continuous sound of the charcoal roasting fat is sizzling like ears. ..
"Ahem..." Qiye gritted his teeth and muttered in a low voice, his eyebrows wrinkled and his facial features slightly distorted. However, this kind of pain is nothing compared to the devouring pain of the black demonic flames. Now, Qiye has gradually adapted to the deeper level of severe pain.
After just a dozen breaths, the word "Slave" on his right arm had been burned beyond recognition by the charcoal fire and was scorched. The lingering word deeply imprinted in his mind had become a piece of rotten flesh. 'Huh~' Qiye took a deep breath, breathed a long sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. After cleaning the scar, he took out the healing ointment from the spiritual ring and applied it on it.
After everything was done, Qiye sat down to regulate the spiritual energy in his body. Nowadays, there is still a large amount of undigested spiritual power in the spiritual world. A ray of spiritual power is slowly extracted from it and introduced into the wound on his right arm. With the two-way treatment of spiritual power and healing medicine, a burn as big as the mouth of a cup will turn into a scab in a short time.
After burning the incense, I felt a strong itching sensation in my right arm. The wound was unknowingly covered by scars. Gradually, the scars faded away, and a piece of skin that was fairer and more delicate than the surrounding skin appeared at the original mark. The word 'slave' was finally removed. Seeing that many years of hard work had gone away, Qiye smiled happily, with tears in his eyes. Only at this moment did his immature face show the youthfulness that a boy should have.
Gently touching the newly grown skin, it was tender and smooth, as if it could be broken by blowing a bullet. Qiye kissed it with satisfaction. After so many years, the thorn in the heart was finally pulled out. How could it make people unhappy.
Qiye happily found a set of simple clothes from the spiritual ring. What was distressing was that every piece of clothing Yanahei had stored in the spiritual ring was so bloated, baggy, and ill-fitting.
After putting on a casual outfit, Qiye walked out of the woods calmly. A few hundred meters outside Hanling City, there are rows of Hakka shops, including a two-story, antique tea shop. Pedestrians and traders from the north and south will stop for a short rest. The constant flow of people makes it a good place to inquire about news.
"Come, come, sir, please come inside... We have a new spring tea, don't miss it!" At the entrance of the store, Qiye walked slowly and awkwardly into the tea shop amid the earnest shouts of the waiter. Until now, Qiye had never entered any business store, so he was naturally a little cautious.
After choosing a remote and uninhabited place on the ground floor to sit down, the tea waiter came forward with a smile and a fawning teapot. The businessman's eyes quickly looked at Qiye, and he sighed in his heart: For such a young child, it seems that he is here to drink tea, but the clothes he wears do not look like a poor person, but he is a bit nondescript... Cha Xiaoer even murmured in his heart but did not dare to neglect, for fear of offending the second young master of some family.
"Master, do you want tea or...?" The tea waiter stepped forward respectfully and asked.
"Besides tea, what else do you have here?" Qiye glanced around the store and asked casually.
"That's a lot. In addition to tea, we also have hundreds of pastries and fruits from all over the place, but... that..." The tea waiter fluently introduced his own specialties, and slightly rubbed his palms with his hands to give a hint.
"Ding~" Although he had never entered a business store, Qiye had heard a lot of worldly knowledge from the slave camp. He casually threw a gold coin from his pocket and landed on the tea table, spinning continuously.
"Is this enough?" Qiye asked calmly, with no trace of distress on his immature face.
"Enough, enough, enough!" Cha Xiaoer stared at the constantly rotating gold coins with shining eyes, as if the whole world was falling into it, and kept nodding.
"Okay, let's get a pot of tea and some pastries... Also, get some suits that fit." From the tea waiter's reaction, Qiye saw the purchasing power of this gold coin and ordered tea. Then add a few sets of fitted clothes. Although his clothes were decent, they didn't fit him well.
"Okay, okay, young master, please wait a moment. I'll be back as soon as I go!" Cha Xiaoer said with a bright face and quickly wiped the gold coins on the table into his palm, as if he was afraid that the young master in front of him would regret it, and quickly Retreat.
While waiting, Qiye looked around at the tea guests and listened quietly to their chatter.
I saw three well-dressed men at the table on the far right, peeling peanuts, and their conversations were somewhat secretive. Seeing this, Qiye was a little curious and quietly probed with his consciousness.
"Have you heard? The wife of shopkeeper Wang next door went out to hook up with a pretty boy, and even came back with a child."
"I've heard it, I've heard it. It's said that Shopkeeper Wang's mother-in-law always said that his wife married him because she couldn't conceive a child."
"Let's see where her mother-in-law's old face goes this time... Hahahaha." The three of them laughed furtively.
...
Hearing this, Qiye blushed and withdrew his consciousness, feeling a little embarrassed and depressed: He didn't expect to hear this for the first time using his consciousness to eavesdrop. Looking at it again, the three people at the table were still talking and laughing with gusto. Seeing this scene, Qiye felt a little envious: How wonderful it would be to be able to have a drink and laugh with the closest friends. ah! Unfortunately, I have neither relatives nor friends...
"I have kept you waiting for a long time, young master. This is your good tea. These three plates are our specialty cakes: mince cake, thousand-layer mung bean cake and acacia red bean cake, as well as the clothes you need..." Sadly In the meantime, the tea waiter had quickly served all kinds of cakes and introduced them skillfully. He also poured a cup of tea and delivered it to Qiye.
"Thank you. I'll do it myself. I'll call you if anything happens." Qiye came back to his senses and felt a little uncomfortable being served like this all of a sudden.
"Oh, okay, please tell me if you have anything to do. I'll be here right away!" After the tea waiter put all the things on the table, he stepped back knowingly and continued to greet other guests.
Qiye took a slow sip of tea, and a light and elegant fragrance filled the mouth and lingered on the tip of the tongue. Take a look at the pastries on the table. They are crystal clear and pleasant in color, tempting your taste buds all the time. Take a quick bite and you will find the sweetness of glutinous rice intertwined with the fruity aroma of nuts. The sweetness is moderate and the taste is smooth and soft. Qiye unknowingly ate a few more pieces. When had he tasted such delicious food before? If I hadn't tasted it myself, I wouldn't have known that such sweet food existed in the world.
After eating the cakes to his heart's content, Qiye took back his mind with satisfaction. Now that you're full, let's get down to business. Looking at the tea customers in the shop, there were many more tea drinkers than when I came in before. Perhaps it was almost noon and the weather was hot, so people on the road chose to drink two cups of tea here.
"Why haven't you seen the City Lord in the past few months?" A tea guest at a certain table suddenly asked.
"Don't you know yet? I heard from Mr. Langbei that the Lord of the City is in retreat, preparing to attack the 'War Spirit Level', so the Lord of the City will temporarily leave everything to Mr. Wolfbei." Another person seemed to have news. The well-informed middle-aged tea guest explained.
"Oh, if the Lord of the City can successfully advance to the 'War Spirit Level', then our Hanling City will not be afraid of other cities coveting him, but I don't know how long the Lord of the City will be in seclusion this time?" the tea guest said quietly while drinking tea.
"I'm afraid it could be as little as a few years, as many as ten years, or even longer. The 'War Spirit Level' is a level that most people cannot reach!" the middle-aged tea guest sighed.
After Qiye heard the two tea guests talking about each other, his heart became cold: Han Qi was in retreat? Wolfbei will handle everything temporarily? It seemed that his judgment was correct, Langbei was the one who killed the lord and seized power.
"Little brother, could you please ask me something?" Qiye greeted him nonchalantly.
"Please tell me, young master, there is nothing that I don't know about this coming and going from north to south. I promise to tell you everything I know." The tea waiter excitedly leaned forward and boasted to himself.
"I heard that the Lord of the City is in retreat, is it true?" Qiye asked casually.
"Hmm, it is said that about a month ago, the Lord of the City came back from the Far East Territory and seemed to have gained something, so he started practicing in seclusion." Cha Xiaoer said in a serious tone.
"Oh? Who did you listen to?" Qiye changed the subject.
"Of course this is what the city list says. Now everything in Hanling City is temporarily handled by Lord Langbei." Cha Xiaoer replied matter-of-factly.
"Oh, so that's it..." Qiye thought thoughtfully and stopped asking further.
After sitting in the tea shop for a while, Qiye stood up and left silently after eating and drinking. Turning around the woods at the intersection, my figure swayed and disappeared into the depths of the woods without anyone noticing...
