The gate to the courtyard where Qian Su lived was open and could be pushed open. When Yan Liqiang entered the courtyard, he saw Qian Su lying on a lounge chair under the grape trellis in his own courtyard, taking a nap with his eyes closed, and swaying leisurely.
Qian Su had been having a great time outside the past few days, so today he was recuperating in the camp. He did not leave the camp and rested in the camp after lunch.
For some reason, when Yan Liqiang saw Qian Su like this, he was reminded of the men he saw in the bath center in his previous life, who lay in the rest area to rest after waving big swords for two hours.
"Cough... cough..." Yan Liqiang coughed twice.
Qian Su finally opened his eyes and saw Yan Liqiang, then he got up from the recliner and called Yan Liqiang over.
"Uncle Qian!"
Qian Su looked Yan Liqiang up and down, with a playful smile on his face, "I heard that Zhou Yong gave you the horn python bow in his collection?"
"Under the circumstances, it would have been bad if we didn't take him in!" Yan Liqiang was not surprised. Although Qian Su was not in the soldiers' courtyard that morning, all the big and small things that happened in the craftsman camp escaped his eyes and ears. If he, as the camp supervisor, didn't even have this ability, then there was no point in him staying.
"Hahaha, just accept it. That horn python bow is worth at least 130 taels of gold. It's very valuable. Moreover, it's a strong bow of five stones. It's a bit difficult for Zhou Yong to use it. He has had that bow for several years. It seems that it is destined to be with you. It's prepared for you!"
"Brother Zhou is too polite!"
"Although I'm not a samurai, I also know that the bow is the first of the six arts, and there is a reason for it. Many alien races even put the way of bowing on a par with martial arts, especially in the army. The bow is a weapon for war, and the importance of the way of bowing is even higher than that of martial arts. If a person can make achievements in the way of bowing, he can also rise to prominence. A new samurai who just entered the army is at most awarded the rank of a flying lieutenant like me. Even if a person has not built a foundation and is not a samurai, if his archery skills can reach the realm of the third heaven and enter the army, he will start as a hawk lieutenant, one level higher than me, and he will be more valued by his superiors..." After saying this earnestly, Qian Su smacked his lips in aftertaste, and then he remembered something, "By the way, what's the matter with you? Do you want to leave the camp?"
"Well... I've been in the camp for half a month. I want to go out and get some fresh air and relax. I haven't been to Huanglong County yet, so I plan to take a walk around the county town. Only by alternating between tension and relaxation can we make further progress!" Yan Liqiang said with a smile.
"If you wanted to go out of the camp alone in the past two days, I'm afraid I would have to arrange two soldiers to follow you. But judging from your performance today, after passing the horse and foot test, ordinary people are no longer your opponents. It won't be of much use to arrange two people to follow you!" Qian Su pondered for a moment, then took off a waist badge on his body and handed it over, "How about this, you take my waist badge, Zhu, the captain of Huanglong County, and the county lieutenant are all familiar with me and know my waist badge. If you encounter any problems in the county that you can't solve, you can show this waist badge and say that you are my nephew, and no one will dare to mess with you!"
"Thank you, Uncle Qian!" Yan Liqiang took the badge, took a look at it, put it in his arms, and then said goodbye to Qian Su.
Just as he reached the gate of Qian Su's yard, Qian Su's voice came from behind, "Remember, lust is like a knife hanging over your head. You have just passed the horse step test, so it is normal to be distracted, but don't be confused about this kind of thing and ruin your future!"
Did Qian Su think that he was going to the county town to show off his sword skills? Yan Liqiang was speechless. He turned his head and glanced at Qian Su. "Uncle Qian reminded me twice. I won't be confused!"
"That's good, that's good!" Qian Su yawned and lay down on his recliner again.
…
Yan Liqiang came out of Qian Su's yard and went straight to the camp gate. Seeing Yan Liqiang coming out, the soldiers guarding the camp gate greeted him enthusiastically, "Young Master Yan, are you going out?"
"Yes, I've been here for many days. I want to go to the county town for a stroll!"
"It will take two incense sticks to get to the county town from here. It's quite a distance. Why don't you take the camp's car? The camp's car happens to be going to the county town to buy rice and salt today, so it can go there..."
"What a coincidence! I don't know when the camp's car will leave. If it's too late, I'll just walk there by myself!"
"Ah, no need to wait, no need to wait, Young Master Yan, look, isn't it coming?" As the soldier pointed, Yan Liqiang turned his head and saw a servant from the artisan camp driving a carriage out from behind.
The driver was an old servant from the kitchen of the craftsmen's camp. Naturally, he knew Yan Liqiang. When he saw the carriage approaching the door, he stopped it. When Yan Liqiang told the servant his purpose, the servant immediately invited Yan Liqiang to get on the carriage.
This carriage was used to carry goods. There were no comfortable stools or chairs at the back of the carriage, only a few wooden boards. Yan Liqiang didn't care and just jumped on the carriage and sat on the wooden boards at the back of the carriage. Then he followed the carriage out of the craftsman camp and came to the road outside.
"Young Master Yan, this cart is used to transport things. It's not convenient to sit in the back. How about you sit in the front and I'll get off and lead the horse!" Seeing Yan Liqiang sitting in the back, the servant driving the cart felt a little uneasy and turned around to say to Yan Liqiang.
There was only room for the driver in the front of the carriage. Yan Liqiang wanted to sit on it, so the servant from the craftsman camp had to get off.
Yan Liqiang laughed and shook his hand, "Hahaha, no, no, it's the same for me to sit in the back. Aren't there a few wooden boards here? I can sit on them. It's okay..."
The servant said it twice and finally felt relieved when he found that Yan Liqiang really didn't care.
"By the way, uncle, are you familiar with Huanglong County?"
"Of course I'm familiar with it. I've lived in Huanglong County for decades!"
"Then I wonder if there are any fun and interesting places in Huanglong County?"
"Yes, too many..."
Hearing Yan Liqiang's question, the servant driving the carriage became excited. While driving the carriage, he talked to Yan Liqiang about various things in Huanglong County. Yan Liqiang listened with great interest.
Yan Liqiang chatted with the servant driving the carriage all the way and did not feel bored. In just over ten minutes, the carriage he was riding in entered the county town from the south gate of Huanglong County. The soldiers guarding the city gate seemed to know where the carriage came from. They did not make things difficult for them and did not check them at all, and let the two men in.
It was afternoon, and the streets in Huanglong County were bustling with people and vehicles. It was extremely lively. Yan Liqiang took a look and found that the streets in Huanglong County were indeed much wider than those in Qinghe County. There were more shops and tall buildings on the streets, and there were many merchants and businessmen coming and going. The entire county was two or three times larger than that of Qinghe County, and was a bit like a city.
Just like in Qinghe County, most of the young and strong men on the streets here have weapons such as swords hanging around their waists, and everyone is used to it.
"Master Yan, the Wanfeng Rice Shop I want to go to is just on the street ahead, turn left. I don't know where you want to go, Master Yan. I'll drive you there first..."
"No, thank you very much. I'll get off here!" Yan Liqiang said, and jumped out of the car swiftly and stood on the side of the road.
"Master Yan, do you need to take a car to go back? If you do, I'll wait for you at the south gate of the county town after I finish pulling the goods!"
"No need, I will go back by myself after I'm done shopping..." Yan Liqiang said, waved to the coachman, and in the blink of an eye he disappeared into the crowd.
The servant driving the cart looked at it, smiled and shook his head, and said nothing more, and drove the cart to go get the goods.
…
Yan Liqiang was walking on the street in Huanglong County, looking for an ice-making shop.
There is an ice shop in the county seat of Qinghe County. Huanglong County is much more prosperous than Qinghe County, so naturally there will be an ice shop.
On the way here just now, he had talked with the driver and obtained a lot of useful information. There is not just one ice cream shop in Huanglong County, but three.
There are two ice cream shops in this county town. One is near Chaoyang Lane in the county town, one is not far from the county government office, and the other is in a place called Dashuijing in the north of the city.
Yan Liqiang had just arrived. Although he knew where the ice cream shop was, he was unfamiliar with the place and could only grope his way around.
The reason why he was looking for an ice shop was certainly not to buy ice, but to buy something else - saltpeter.
This idea came to his mind as early as half a month ago, when he just arrived at the craftsman camp and saw the sulfur spilled on the ground in his yard.
He came to Huanglong County this time originally to avoid disaster, and this disaster came from the Hong family. The Hong family and his own family both lived in Liuhe Town. He could avoid it for a while, but not forever. Thinking of the methods used by the Hong family, Yan Liqiang's heart was actually filled with a sense of crisis.
As a normal person, he certainly would not sit and wait for the Hong family to use force against him and ruin his future. After seeing sulfur in the craftsman camp that day, the formula for gunpowder naturally popped up in Yan Liqiang's mind.
There is no gunpowder in the world so far, but as a modern man, a promising young man who has been baptized by "Land Mine Warfare" since childhood, Yan Liqiang is very familiar with the power of gunpowder. As long as he can make gunpowder, he can use gunpowder to make some things. At the critical moment, he will have an extra trump card, which may save his life.
There was plenty of sulfur in the artisan camp, and there was no shortage of charcoal, but there was no saltpeter.
This is a strange world, and many things are difficult to explain with so-called scientific principles. Yan Liqiang actually has no idea whether he can make gunpowder, but the idea and the formula of gunpowder have always been in his mind. He will never be satisfied if he doesn't give it a try.
If his opponent was only Hong Tao of the Hong Family, even if Hong Tao had learned Iron Sand Palm, Yan Liqiang would have the confidence to beat Hong Tao to a pulp. But Yan Liqiang knew that if the Hong Family really wanted to cut off his path and prevent him from becoming a warrior, then the Hong Family’s means, or the person who would take action against him, would definitely not be Hong Tao…
In the initial examination of national martial arts, the Hong family even used ice ants and bribed their friends. This shows that the Hong family has already used all means to deal with me and to protect their status and interests in Liuhe Town.
Even if he had passed the horse-stance test, the crisis of the Hong family had not been resolved. A person who had passed the horse-stance test was not taken seriously by the Hong family. As the time for the national martial arts exam in a month and a half was getting closer, the crisis was probably imminent. Since the Hong family had already taken action this year, they would never allow themselves to delay until next year and add variables...
This is Yan Liqiang’s basic judgment of his own situation and the Hong family.
(End of this chapter)