Sixteen days later, outside the city of Juntianfu in Yizhou, a man in a green robe with a free-flowing bun was walking forward. It was Ji who had been wandering here.
When Ji Yuan left Ning'an County, he brought some inner linings and two sets of outer clothes. The gray set had a tear under the armpit two days ago, so he has been wearing the green set during this period.
Ji Yuan actually felt some attachment to these two sets of clothes, just like a sweatshirt he had in his previous life, which was very old and had been worn for many years. It was not a valuable item, but it was comfortable to wear and everyone in my family loved to wear it and had never thought of throwing it away.
Similarly, Ji Yuan had no intention of throwing away the gray suit. He was even thinking about buying a sewing kit or something to see if he could mend the hole under his armpit by himself.
At this moment, Ji Yuan was still carrying the gray bag and the oil-paper umbrella, with the Qingteng sword on his back, walking leisurely. The wooden box had been pawned for three hundred coins in a county before. The golden nanmu, which was very valuable in his previous life, was just a good material for making desks and decorations in this life. The quantity was too small to sell at a high price.
As the Juntian Prefecture ahead was getting closer, the number of people on the official road naturally increased. In addition to horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, there were also many lone passers-by like Ji Yuan.
As one of the twelve prefectures in Yizhou, Juntian Prefecture actually has no outstanding features. It can be said to be average, quite different from the famous Chunhui Prefecture in Jizhou. Even though it once produced a Zuo Kuangtu who was the best in the world, he was just a famous figure in the world, and many years have passed.
Compared to Ji Yuan’s previous life, this is a world that is more easily forgotten. The restrictions on the spread and storage of information are enough to make a famous figure in the martial arts world from decades ago disappear without a trace.
With the decline of the Zuo family, most of the younger generation in the martial arts world today don’t even know that there was once a top master who was so arrogant as to call himself a sword immortal. Even fewer people can dig up the “grave posts” to uncover the past. Perhaps only a small number of storytellers still remember some classic old stories.
As he got closer to the city gate, the noisy sounds in the city washed over Ji Yuan's eardrums again and again. These days, he didn't know if it was because of the Samadhi Fire, or because his magic power had become stronger after being tempered by the fire, but Ji Yuan always had the illusion that his eyesight had improved a little bit. He was trying hard to rely on his vision to see if there was any improvement, but unfortunately, everything was still blurry.
"Cooked cakes, selling cooked cakes~~~ Freshly baked cooked cakes~~~ One penny each~~"
Just as he entered the city, he saw someone walking past the city gate carrying a load on his shoulder. The hawking sound attracted him to look at the peddler, and he could vaguely see that the other person was not short.
It just so happened that I saw that the person's aura, although not weird, was somewhat special. After thinking about it, I hurried forward a few steps to follow him.
"Brother, give me two pancakes!"
"okay!"
When the porter heard that there was business, he hurriedly put down his load and waited for Ji Yuan to come up. Then he lifted the cover on the special cake box, and a puff of hot steam came out, feeling like taking steamed buns out of a steamer.
"Here, sir, you are from out of town, too. Our steamed buns and rice cakes are exquisite and delicious."
Ji Yuan smelled the fragrance of the pancake, nodded, took it, paid for it, took a bite to taste it, and praised the seller, saying "It tastes good".
The latter smiled, picked up his load and continued walking, shouting and selling as he walked.
However, Ji Yuan followed him while eating a piece of bread, which puzzled the sellers who were carrying loads on their shoulders.
"Sir, why do you keep following me?"
"Oh, I just came to Juntianfu, and I don't think there is anywhere I want to go, so I'll just go for a walk with you. How far do you have to walk in a day carrying a load?"
The big man's reaction made the pancake seller feel very interesting. He had never met such a customer before.
"I carry a load on my shoulder and sell pancakes once at noon and once in the evening. When business is good, I can sell out in half a street. When business is bad, I may walk half of the city in a day."
"Wow, that old man has really strong legs!"
"Hey, I'm trying to make a living! I'm selling pancakes~~~ they're freshly baked~~~"
The hawker would suddenly shout like this whenever he chatted with Ji Yuan. After a while, Ji Yuan had finished two pancakes and took out two coins to buy something else.
"Two more, bro!"
"Oh, Master, could it be that you like to eat hot food, so you're following me?"
“Hahaha, that’s what I mean!”
…
Ji Yuan chatted with the peddler, asking about the Zuo family and also asking about the peddler's own situation in a roundabout way.
Fifteen minutes later, the peddler was a little panicked because the gentleman next to him was still following him and had already eaten at least a dozen pancakes.
It can't be said that his appetite is too big, but he buys two tickets every now and then, and keeps walking and chatting with him as if nothing happened. That's quite eye-catching.
"Mr. Big... These are my last two cakes. Would you mind if I gave them to you?"
In front of a shop selling plain food on a street corner, a peddler carrying a load on his shoulder spoke with a cautious smile on his face, fearing that Ji Yuan would follow him after eating the cake.
As if he was waiting for these words, Ji Yuan suddenly smiled.
"Haha... that's good, but wouldn't that be taking advantage of you, brother? How about this, I write a few words for you?"
"ah?"
"Please save the cake for me, and keep your promise and wait for me here!"
"Uh...Okay!"
The hawker was still in a daze, and Ji Yuan went straight into the shop next door without taking the cake. The shop owner was reading an article in a book, and when he saw Ji Yuan come in, he greeted him warmly.
"Sir, what would you like to see? We have the finest inkstones and wolf-hair brushes, famous fragrant inks and paperweights..."
"Uh, shopkeeper, how much is a piece of rice paper?"
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment.
"Sir, you just want to buy a piece of paper?"
"Well, how much is a piece of rice paper?"
The shopkeeper lost interest and walked back to the counter.
"Ordinary flower and wood Xuan paper costs two cents per foot. Large-format Xuan paper is more expensive. Xuan paper made from qingtan bark is much more expensive. It costs..."
"It's ok, store, I want the most ordinary one..."
A piece of paper was worth two cakes, it was really a coincidence. Ji Yuan took out three cents and put them on the counter.
"Shopkeeper, how about borrowing your pen to write a few words?"
The shopkeeper glanced at Ji Yuan, then looked him up and down, took out a piece of rice paper and placed it on the counter, and only took two cents, then pointed to the brush on the pen holder and the inkstone beside him and said:
"I am also a scholar, please make yourself at your own convenience!"
Ji Yuan smiled, took the remaining penny, took the brush, smelled the scent of ink, carefully dipped it in the ink in the inkstone, and then stood by the counter and wrote on a foot-long piece of rice paper.
The wolf hair brush twisted and wrote a line of words, and the four big characters "evil cannot defeat good" were completed in one breath.
"Thank you very much!"
Ji Yuan returned the pen and walked out of the shop while blowing on the paper. The owner of the shop opened his mouth slightly, was stunned for a moment, and then hurried out. The handwriting just now was extremely good, which shocked him a little. It must be a master of calligraphy!
When Ji Yuan walked out of the store, as expected, the peddler had already run away with his load. Ji Yuan just stood there and looked at the corner of the street in the distance, with no intention of chasing him.
"Oh... I'm really free..."
While Ji Yuan was talking to himself, the shop owner had already run out of the shop holding the hem of his robe.
"Sir! Sir, please stay~~!"
"Sir, I have some of the best Qingtan Xuanna in my shop. I can give you some. I wonder if you can leave some calligraphy for me!"
Ji Yuan turned to look at the shopkeeper who was looking expectant, and casually handed over the paper with the ink still wet in his hand.
"How about this one for you, and return the two cents to me?"
"How... can this be done?"
The shopkeeper was pleasantly surprised and took the paper very carefully. He held it in his hand and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He even felt as if he could sense the artistic conception of the words.
"Two cents!"
"Oh, oh, oh, wait a moment, sir, wait a moment, sir!"
The shopkeeper hurried back to the counter to get money, but he didn't take two cents. Instead, he grabbed a handful of change and rushed out of the store and handed it to Ji Yuan with both hands.
Ji Yuan smiled and took the money without any hesitation. He didn't insist on taking the two cents. He was not that desperate.
"Okay, it's worth it!"
After saying that, he left without looking back, without even knowing the name of the store. The owner opened his mouth but didn't have the nerve to ask Ji Yuan to write something or leave a signature.
Then, he went back to the store with a smile on his face and appreciated the four large characters written on the one-foot-long rice paper. The more he looked at them, the more they appealed to him, and he had an urge to copy them.
"This piece of calligraphy must be framed. It must be framed!"