After leaving Ganzhou, the following days were indeed safe and pleasant with good weather.
Lei Sitong sent a cavalry of 600 people to escort Yan Liqiang and his party all the way through the city and the county. As expected, they did not encounter any trouble along the way...
As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's true character. After the incident at the Weiyuan County Posthouse, Yan Liqiang felt that his position beside Sun Bingchen had been stabilized and improved again. After that, what made Yan Liqiang's heart beat fast was that he discovered that every time Sun Bingchen looked at him, his eyes became more and more profound and focused.
Although Sun Bingchen looked the same as before, his occasional focused gaze still made Yan Liqiang feel a little unusual after being caught by it. He didn't know if it was his sixth sense at work, but Yan Liqiang always felt that behind Sun Bingchen's deep gaze on him, there was something hidden that he couldn't see through.
The first time Yan Liqiang felt that there seemed to be something hidden behind the look in Sun Bingchen's eyes was when he helped Sun Bingchen find the iron box that Ye Tiancheng had hidden. This time, the feeling was even more obvious.
If Yan Liqiang hadn't known that Sun Bingchen was not into homosexuality, he would have probably lost the courage to stay with Sun Bingchen.
Perhaps Yan Liqiang once again proved his ability and attentiveness, so in the few days after leaving Weiyuan County, after landing and staying in the hotel every day, the responsibility of taking care of Ye Tiancheng fell on Yan Liqiang.
Ye Tiancheng took advantage of every opportunity he had with Yan Liqiang to try to brainwash and get close to Yan Liqiang, hoping to make Yan Liqiang make a deal with him - to provide him with a few silver needles.
Silver needles are very common and can be bought in most county clinics. They are tools used to treat diseases, and the reason why Ye Tiancheng needs silver needles is because he can use them to break the secret method of acupuncture with a sword that Liang Yijie used on him, allowing the meridians and acupuncture points in his body to start functioning again, thus giving him the ability to escape.
In response to Ye Tiancheng's request, Yan Liqiang pretended to have the same attitude: Why should I work for you? Do you think I'm stupid
This attitude alone is enough to drive Ye Tiancheng crazy.
On January 23, after several days of travel, Yan Liqiang and his group had passed Ganzhou City and continued eastward to reach Shizhai County, the farthest county town east of Ganzhou.
That night, Yan Liqiang and the cavalrymen who escorted them stayed at the county government office in Shizhai County.
Shizhai County is a poor county, poor and dilapidated, with barren land and yellow sand everywhere. There are not many people in the county. The posthouse in the entire county is small and old, and can only accommodate dozens of people. Moreover, the posthouse is outside the city. After learning the news of the arrival of Sun Bingchen and his party, the county magistrate of Shizhai County, wearing a faded official robe, personally brought several officials from the county and waited for Sun Bingchen on the road. He invited Sun Bingchen and his party to the county government office, and ran around to settle them down.
Although the so-called county government office sounded grand, it was still old and dilapidated. It was even worse than the old house where Yan Liqiang's family lived in Qinghe County. In order to entertain Sun Bingchen and his party, the county magistrate even mobilized the family members of several yamen runners, clerks and the like who were working in the yamen. In the back hall of the yamen, he built a stove with an earthen foundation, slaughtered a pig and prepared dinner for everyone.
If Yan Liqiang had not experienced it himself, he would not have believed that a county could be so poor and destitute.
However, although the county government office was dilapidated, there was a prison cell in the basement that could hold people. After arriving at the county government office, Yan Liqiang had Ye Tiancheng escorted out of the prison van and sent to the cell, where he personally stayed to watch over him.
Different from the dark and damp cells in other places, the cell in the Shizhai County government office was as dry as a hole dug out of dry stone. In such weather, it was dry and cold. No one had been detained in this cell for two years, so the smell in the cell was not that bad.
There were torches lit in the cell, but no lamps. The lit torches made a special sound when burning, just like a mouse gnawing at the corner of a table. This was because for a place like Shizhai County, oil for lighting was a luxury. Many people could not even get enough food to eat, so how could they afford to use oil to light lamps
As soon as the person who brought the straw mat left, Ye Tiancheng, who had just been locked up in the cell, suddenly moved, shaking his handcuffs and shackles, and came to the iron bars of the cell. He held the iron bars with both hands and stared at Yan Liqiang who was touching the dog's head and teasing the yellow hair not far away. He lowered his voice and said, "We have arrived at Shizhai today. We will leave Ganzhou in two hours tomorrow morning..."
Yan Liqiang looked at Ye Tiancheng calmly without saying anything. The former governor of Pingxi County, after these days of living in the open air and traveling in the dust, he did not wash his face, take a bath, brush his teeth, take a bath, wash his hair, or change his clothes every day. He was already unkempt and black-faced, almost like a beggar. Perhaps the only thing that distinguished him from a beggar was his pair of ghostly eyes.
Yan Liqiang felt that the closer Ye Tiancheng was to leaving Ganzhou, the more anxious he became in the past two days.
Yan Liqiang knew why Ye Tiancheng was so anxious, because once they left Ganzhou, the real danger of this journey would begin. Ye Tiancheng knew that there were people waiting to kill him on the road ahead, but he was unwilling to die in the prison car like a useless person, so he became anxious.
In fact, it was not just Ye Tiancheng. Yan Liqiang also felt a huge pressure these days. Since the day before yesterday, Yan Liqiang felt uncomfortable every time he walked in the team. He had a feeling that he was being spied on. But the strange thing was that this time, he couldn't find where the spying came from. He always felt like a shadow like a leech. This feeling appeared several times when he was following their team, even when he was walking in the wilderness with no one around.
If possible, Yan Liqiang really wanted to kill Ye Tiancheng with a knife, because he knew that the unknown danger was coming towards Ye Tiancheng.
This is really ironic, Yan Liqiang laughed at himself in his heart. A few days ago, he wanted to tear Ye Tiancheng into pieces, but in the blink of an eye, he was worried about Ye Tiancheng's safety. Moreover, the danger brought by Ye Tiancheng might also implicate him. What a situation.
But as Sun Bingchen's attendant and guard, his bottom line at this time was that he could not betray Sun Bingchen. He could only help Sun Bingchen to find a way to escort Ye Tiancheng to the Imperial Capital. The only thing that could comfort Yan Liqiang was that as long as Ye Tiancheng was sent to the Imperial Capital, Ye Tiancheng would die in the end no matter what. So these few days, Yan Liqiang had been convincing himself that this time he was sending Ye Tiancheng to the Imperial Capital.
"Once we leave Ganzhou tomorrow, the road will be even more dangerous. Today is the best opportunity." Ye Tiancheng roared at Yan Liqiang in a low voice like a wild wolf trapped in a cage.
"I said, you are a prisoner now, and you don't have the capital for me to work for you!" Yan Liqiang looked at Ye Tiancheng calmly, then took out a grindstone and a knife, and started to trim the pot of arrows in front of him.
"You should know that the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations I taught you is a true Qinggong secret book. You can never get such a skill under normal circumstances. Even Sun Bingchen can't teach you advanced skills casually! Doesn't this prove my sincerity? I have other more precious skills here, the Tianlun Flame Skill. As long as you give me the things tonight, I will teach you the secrets of the Flame Skill!"
"I'm sorry, I haven't had time to practice the secret book of "Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations" you told me these days. As you can see, I have been traveling with the team during the day, and I have to watch you most of the time at night. How can I have the time to practice any secret book? So I am not sure whether the secret book is true or not. And you are willing to tell me that, and I have not agreed to any conditions from you, so you don't need to use that as an excuse..."
In the past few days, Yan Liqiang did not have the time and environment to verify the secret book of light work that Ye Tiancheng used to bribe him. However, along the way, his archery skills were slowly accepted by everyone. In the eyes of others, Yan Liqiang had a talent for archery and his archery skills improved rapidly. In Yan Liqiang's own feeling, through the training of the past few days, he gradually felt that he was about to touch the edge of the fourth level of the archery realm. In addition to the archery, he seemed to be able to master the Iron Head Skill of the first level of the Golden Bell Cover, which he had practiced for a few days, and his progress was very fast.
According to the secret book, in order to cultivate the Iron Head Skill in the first level of the Golden Bell Cover, even those practitioners with outstanding talent would have to cultivate those acupoints for at least a year to have the feeling of the skill he has now. He has only been practicing this set of skills for a month or so. Yan Liqiang could not find any other reason for such a speed of practice except the aura brought by the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing.
The stronger he is, the higher the chance of surviving danger. In the past few days, thinking of the upcoming test, Yan Liqiang has been secretly preparing. He doesn't want to fail to go to the Imperial Capital and become the burial object of Ye Tiancheng, the dog official, halfway. That would be the biggest tragedy in the world.
"If you don't give me the thing today, aren't you afraid that I will tell everyone that you learned the secret technique from me and want to make a deal with me? In this way, do you know what the consequences will be? Even if I can't get out, I can ruin your future..." Ye Tiancheng's tone became dangerous and cold, and the expression on his face began to become ferocious.
Yan Liqiang looked at Ye Tiancheng with disdain and chuckled, "Do you think other people will believe what you said? Besides, how do you know that I haven't reported to Lord Sun that you taught me the Ten Transformations of Cloud Dragon? Do you really think I'm easy to fool and that you can easily catch me?"
Ye Tiancheng's breathing became heavy, "Tell me, how can you help me once?"
"I'll say it again, if you want me to help you, you have to show me something I can see and touch right now. Don't tell me what will happen in the future. If you don't have any benefits that I can see, and you want me to take risks, no way..." Yan Liqiang said, and took out a set of silver needles he bought two days ago, and showed them in front of Ye Tiancheng, "I have this thing. As long as you recover your strength, I believe that those shackles will not be able to trap you. If you want this set of silver needles, it depends on what you have to exchange for it?"
Ye Tiancheng gritted his teeth, then without saying a word, he retreated again and sat on the ground. He only raised his eyes occasionally and looked at Yan Liqiang outside the cell with a strange and incomprehensible look.
Yan Liqiang was unmoved. To him, Ye Tiancheng now was just something that could be squeezed for surplus value. He wanted to see if he could squeeze something else out of Ye Tiancheng besides the set of "Ten Transformations of Cloud Dragon".
(End of this chapter)