"Boss, is that iron lady who guards the gate that you mentioned really that sticks to the rules?" A middle-aged man at the next table frowned and asked:
"I don't know, if it's a favor from a second-rank official, would she be willing to give it?"
When the shopkeeper heard this, he was shocked all over and looked carefully at the middle-aged man who was speaking.
The middle-aged man did not have any official authority or imposing manner. He was just a middle-aged warrior in tight clothes. He was not too strong and looked average in training.
"A second-rank official is already an important official in the court, so the Iron Lady must give it to him." The shopkeeper did not dare to neglect him and lowered his head quickly:
"May I ask who this gentleman is..."
He felt a little unsure. He had just spoken ill of the imperial court in front of so many guests. Now, could it be that a second-rank official had come to this small inn
"Oh, I'm not an official, I'm just asking casually." The middle-aged man smiled slightly.
The shopkeeper was stunned, and was about to speak when he heard the middle-aged man say:
"But I am a second-rank official of the dynasty, the son of the Minister of Rites."
The shopkeeper's expression changed again, and he finally smiled bitterly and said:
"Are you deliberately trying to make fun of me, sir?"
"That's not the case. I just want to try out how impressive the title of the son of a second-rank official is." The middle-aged man chuckled, causing the shopkeeper to smile bitterly and roll his eyes secretly.
Qiao Mu listened quietly at the side, but doubts arose in his heart.
It is true that the second-rank official is a top official, but as for the Minister of Rites, he just happens to know...
"Is this man really Hai Wuya's son?"
Chapter 174 A Person with Abnormal Intuition (3k
The six ministers of the six ministries were of the second rank in the official system of Dayan, and were already high-ranking officials in the court of Dayan, with incredible power.
The innkeeper did not doubt the possibility that this person was impersonating someone else.
Because Anxi Pass is still in Zhongzhou, only a few hundred miles away from the imperial capital, impersonating the identity of a high-ranking official's family member is tantamount to seeking death.
When the middle-aged man revealed his identity, the innkeeper naturally apologized repeatedly, fearing that he would offend the son of a minister.
However, the other guests at the next table looked at each other unconsciously, then stood up and left.
Qiao Mu saw this scene, but didn't say much. He just ate noodles quietly.
Although the children of the powerful and wealthy are mostly playboys.
But Hai Wuya is different. He was just rescued from the Heavenly Prison by Emperor Yonghe not long ago.
Other children of powerful people can be playboys because they have a stable status, power in their hands, and are pursued and praised by others.
Hai Wuya has been in prison for thirty years and has been out for only a month or so. Is this son of Hai Wuya starting to get carried away
Besides.
This person is not a young man in his teens or twenties. He looks like he is already middle-aged. He is just now starting to act like a domineering playboy for fun. Isn't he a bit of a late bloomer
"Haha, it seems that the position of Shangshu of Da Yan is quite prestigious... I have lived for half my life, and I didn't expect that I could actually get some benefit from it. This makes me feel relieved."
The middle-aged man also noticed the departure of the guests at the next table, but he did not feel anything wrong. Instead, he felt complacent.
"Mr. Hai, you are joking..." The shopkeeper wiped his sweat and became more humble.
After being flattered by the innkeeper for a while, Mr. Hai gradually became annoyed.
After eating and drinking, he was about to get up, but unexpectedly the innkeeper came over in a hurry. After hesitating for a few times, he finally made up his mind and said deeply:
"Mr. Hai is a distinguished person, and I think the Iron Lady guarding the gate would also give him some respect."
"If Mr. Hai can really get out of Anxi Pass, could you do me a small favor?" The shopkeeper hesitated and took out a letter from his arms.
But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted impatiently by Mr. Hai.
"Did you get it wrong?"
"I'm the son of the minister, and you want me to do something for you? When did I have to run errands for you? Do I owe you something?"
"I dare not." These words almost frightened the innkeeper to his knees, but he quickly said:
"Mr. Hai insisted on leaving Anxi Pass. I guess some of his relatives died in the alien war, right?"
"My elder brother was actually a member of the 100,000-man army back then, so he might be considered a comrade of yours truly..."
"I just hope that you will take my family's books with you to burn when you go into the desert to pay tribute to the dead souls, for the sake of our brotherhood."
Having said this, the shopkeeper looked earnest and bowed deeply.
When Mr. Hai was slightly startled, several more people came to the door of the inn. They were the guests who had left in a hurry just now and had returned.
"Sir, I have a letter from home. Please burn it for me after you leave the border. I want to express my condolences..."
"If you are willing to help me with this, I will be your slave..."
"In fact, in recent years, I have often dreamed of my brother who joined the army. I always feel that he is still there, and his residual soul is still floating in the desert. I can't leave the Anxi Pass, but since you can, please burn this book for me."
Mr. Hai was a little impatient at first, but as he listened, he was slightly moved.
There are two main folk customs regarding commemorating the dead in Zhongzhou of Dayan.
One is that fallen leaves return to their roots.
As the saying goes, if a person is alive, you want to see him in person; if he is dead, you want to see his body.
Family members who died in other places for some reason would go through untold hardships to bring their bodies back home for burial.
The second is to burn family letters in front of the deceased's body. It is said that this can send the letters to the underworld and can also be regarded as a way of expressing grief.
Whether it was Mr. Hai or many people in the inn, it was because of these two reasons that they insisted on crossing the Parthia Pass and entering the desert.
If this happened in other places, few people would actually do this.
After all, large-scale battles involving hundreds of thousands of troops usually only occur in the border areas of Kyushu.
Although there is a custom in Zhongzhou of returning to one's roots, customs are customs alone and we must also consider the actual situation.
It is also impossible for people from Zhongzhou to travel thousands of miles to the borderland to collect the remains of their relatives and bring them back to their hometown.
But the city of Parthia was too close. It was not in the borderland but in the heart of Zhongzhou, and it was even only a few days’ journey from the imperial capital.
As a result, people have come here spontaneously to worship over the years, and over time a small town has even formed in front of the Anxi Pass.
"They are all men who value friendship and loyalty..." Mr. Hai laughed, helped the kneeling shopkeeper up from the ground, and said with a smile:
"Old Chen, I came to your inn more than ten years ago, but I was stopped at the checkpoint by the iron lady guarding the gate. Have you forgotten?"
The shopkeeper was startled, blushing at first, then suddenly realizing something:
"So you are Brother Hai from that time... It's been a long time since we last met."
These two people seemed to be old acquaintances. Mr. Hai had just shown off his identity deliberately, and it seemed that he was just joking with acquaintances. However, the shopkeeper obviously did not recognize him before and knelt down directly.
"Forget about reminiscing about the past. I didn't come to Anxi Pass to reminisce with an old rough man like you." Mr. Hai smiled slightly.
"If other people in this town have letters or other memorial items, they can also give them to me." He patted his chest and said proudly.
Including the shopkeeper, everyone was moved to tears, and Mr. Hai's eyes also flashed with emotion.
He is already middle-aged, so how could he have the leisure to show off in front of passers-by or perform such low-level activities to show off in front of people
What he said to the shopkeeper was not a lie. He just wanted to see how great the reputation and power of the Minister of Rites Hai Wuya was.
It was only recently that Hai Wuya came out of the Heavenly Prison and regained power.
If Mr. Ruohai, the son of a minister, is truly a middle-aged dandy who is greedy for power, then he should immediately rush back to the imperial capital from other places and experience the dandy life of the second-generation officials of the imperial capital.
But he didn't.
After visiting his old father in the imperial capital, he did not stay in the imperial capital, but soon came to the Anxi Pass.
If he is alive, I want to see him in person; if he is dead, I want to see his body.
Even though his brother had been dead for many years, he still wanted to explore the ruins of the sand city that disappeared in the desert.
"More than a decade ago, the female general guarding the pass was quite arrogant. She said that those who were weaker than her would not be allowed to leave Anxi Pass." Mr. Hai said to himself:
"My martial arts talent is mediocre. I have practiced martial arts for more than ten years and I still think I am no match for her. But I didn't expect that there would be a turn of events now."
It doesn’t matter if you are not my opponent in martial arts, you can use power to suppress him!
Thinking of this, Mr. Hai stood up from the table, tilted his head back and drank a bowl of sweet wine, some of which flowed down his chin.
"Let's go to Anxiguan!"
He threw the bowl down and strode out of the inn with a heroic and confident look.
"Another big shot is coming!"
"This time, this big shot is quite powerful, so there is no need to fight with that female general."
"I think there's hope for passing the Resting Pass this time!"
"That female general is guarding Anxi Pass on behalf of the imperial court. She is a high-ranking official who can crush anyone. Now here comes the son of a second-rank official. Let's see if she can still be so arrogant!"
Including the innkeeper, other people in the inn also followed suit, and the mood gradually became heated.
The townspeople have long suffered from the iron lady who guards the gate.
Because of the existence of Anxi Pass, ordinary people cannot enter the hundred-mile desert and can only stay in front of Anxi Pass.
Now that Mr. Hai stood up for them, they were immediately excited and spontaneously ran around to tell others.
Outside the town is a huge cemetery.
The cemetery is filled with tombstones like a forest.
When the people of Zhongzhou arrived at the Anxi Pass, they were unable to enter the vast desert, so they had to erect tombstones in front of the pass to pay tribute to the dead.
Over time, a forest of tombstones formed in front of the checkpoint, and it seemed endless as far as the eye could see.
It was nearly the Qingming Festival, and many people were paying tribute to their deceased loved ones in the Forest of Steles. As some people took the initiative to tell others about it, they also became excited.
Soon, a large group of people followed Mr. Hai, making a huge noise.
Qiao Mu finished his noodles, stood up quietly, and followed the crowd.
Daozhen, a disciple of the Da Dao Sect, gave him a boundary-breaking talisman, which could allow him to ignore the influence of the Hundred Miles Desert Array and enter the real Rest City.
But before that, he had to leave Anxi Pass first.
Since this son of Hai Wuya can do this, he can just follow behind him, which will save trouble.
As soon as he left the inn and got closer to the Anxi Pass that stretched across the desert, Qiumu suddenly felt a little uneasy, and instinctively sensed something was wrong.
This feeling... .he was very familiar with it.
His intuition pointed directly to someone in the Rest Pass... .
"Is there anyone who has practiced the 'Martial Spiritual Rhinoceros Art' in Anxi Pass? The Wu Ji Society is really lingering around."
Qiao Mu suddenly became interested.
If there are members of the Wu Ji Society guarding the An Xi Pass and refusing to let ordinary people enter the desert, then things would become a little confusing.
Forty years ago, the Martial Saint escaped from the desert alone.
According to Daozhen, the remnants of the former Great Yan army are still fighting hard in this desert.
And if there really was a member of the Wu Ji Association guarding Anxi Pass during these forty years, not allowing people from Zhongzhou to enter, then could this represent the attitude of the Martial Saint? Was the Martial Saint covering up something
Qiao Mu followed the crowd and came to the Anxi Pass.
But the closer he got to the Resting Pass, the more his intuition discovered something strange.
"Something's wrong. It doesn't seem to be the "Martial Spirit Holy Rhinoceros Art"? What's going on?" Qiao Mu frowned.
Up to now, he had met quite a few warriors who had practiced the "Martial Spirit Rhinoceros Secret".
However, practitioners of "Wu Sheng Ling Xi Jue" including Hai Wuya, Wu Qizhen, and even Wu Shengren, all have subtle differences in intuitive perception compared to the people in the An Xi Pass in front of them.
While thinking.
The gate of the Anxi Pass checkpoint in front of them burst open, and two rows of armored soldiers poured out. Then a female general riding a war horse, wearing fish scale armor and a layer of armor covering her face, holding a gun in one hand, walked out surrounded by the soldiers.
And Qiao Mu's Wu Sheng Ling Xi Jue intuitively sensed that it was indeed the female general among the crowd.