Official road, teahouse.
The landscape here is slightly different from that of the northwest mainland.
The wind in the northwest continent is like a burly man, full of brutal force. The wind here is hot, sticky and a little damp, like a foreign woman wearing a mysterious mask and acting in a sinister way. The sun at noon is particularly scorching.
In the corner of this quiet teahouse, a tall and strong man in a coarse linen shirt rolled his Adam's apple a few times and drank a bowl of tea that was bigger than his face in no time. After drinking the tea, the heat in his body dissipated a little, and he put the ceramic bowl down.
"Shopkeeper, give me another bowl."
The teahouse owner was holding his chin with one hand, his eyes half closed, and he woke up instantly when he heard the thunderous noise. He was about to get angry, but when he saw the man's physique and fierce expression, he swallowed fearfully and obediently added more tea.
The tall and strong man drank another bowl happily.
He pulled at his collar and cursed under his breath.
At this time of year, the temperature in the northwest continent is still moderate, but here it is already extremely hot and humid. The exposed skin is also covered with a thin layer of sweat, which looks like wax at first glance. If the wind blows the dust, the fine dust in the air will stick to the skin. At this time, if you rub it with your fingers, you can rub off a gray-black mud, and there is also an unspeakable sweat and sour smell.
"Not enough, add another bowl."
He drank seven or eight bowls in a row before stopping.
The teahouse owner was furious, but when he saw the silver coin the man took out from his clothes, he immediately smiled. The man fanned his bamboo hat with one hand while asking the teahouse owner for information. For the sake of the silver, the teahouse owner told him everything he knew.
The tall and strong man asked simple questions, such as what the royal family's current surname was and whether the surrounding area was peaceful.
Ordinary people know these problems.
The teahouse owner answered them one by one.
but-
"From your accent, you are a local, right?"
The tall and strong man said, "Yes, I am a local. I have been away from home for many years and came back recently after receiving an urgent report from home."
The teahouse owner lowered his voice and said, "I see that you are extraordinary, not like an ordinary person. I dare to tell you the truth - if it is nothing urgent, you should leave here as soon as possible after finishing your business. In recent years, there have been wars and conscriptions everywhere. If you are found, you will definitely be arrested!"
When fighting in a war, the men who were conscripted were basically sent to serve as expendables.
The tall and strong man smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid of being caught, boss?"
The teahouse owner said, "Don't worry, we have already paid the tribute."
Some people can avoid being conscripted if they are willing to spend money, and if they don't have money, they can use food instead. The relatives of the teahouse owner have some connections, but others are not so lucky. Here, the soldiers are conscripted for the same number of years as the war lasts.
The lower and upper age limits for conscription are constantly being updated.
It is difficult to see young people on the streets nowadays.
The tall and strong man said, "If a soldier is captured, he will be captured. He was used to kill people anyway. Thank you for your concern, boss."
After saying that, he asked the shopkeeper about some more things.
When the sun was slightly lower in the west, he grabbed his hat and put it on his head, then walked out of the teahouse and stepped into the scorching sun.
He didn't move very often, but each step was several feet away, and soon he disappeared. The shopkeeper stared at the man's back, secretly shocked - someone with such ghostly powers must be a brave warrior!
The shopkeeper's previous worries were unnecessary.
The man didn't know what the shopkeeper was thinking. He traveled for two more days after leaving the teahouse. During this time, the weather changed and a thunderstorm came without warning. If he hadn't used his martial arts to block the rain, he would have been soaked and embarrassed.
I haven't taken a shower for several days and my body smells sour.
Finally, a city was seen.
He had no pass and was a wanted criminal, so he couldn't just walk into the city. He relied on his skills to sneak in. He found the best house in the city, used the well water to take a bath, and stole some clothes.
Judging from the size of the man's clothes, he was much smaller than him, but wealthy families would choose to make clothes with a large volume, so he could barely fit in. He put on his clothes, picked up some silver and prepared to leave, but something unexpected happened.
There were footsteps coming from the corridor outside the house.
Several maids said in unison: "Madam."
Then a soft female voice was heard.
"Does your house have any visiting cards today?"
The maid replied: "Madam, there is no visiting card."
The footsteps were getting closer. The man said to himself, "It's troublesome." He immediately climbed up the beam and hid. The next moment, the door creaked and was pushed open from the outside. Several graceful figures fell into the house, and several maids came in one after another. Some burned incense, some brewed tea, and some went behind the screen to get clean clothes... It looked like they were preparing to help the lady bathe.
The man on the beam was silent for three seconds.
"ah-"
The maid behind the screen exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" the lady asked softly.
"Husband, Madam, it seems that our house has been robbed."
The woman called Madam stood up and walked quickly behind the screen. What was stolen was a set of men's clothing. This maid was responsible for organizing and looking after the clothes and jewelry in Madam's room. She could find what was put where with her eyes closed.
But at this moment, there is one set of men's clothing missing.
The lady was calm: "Look, what's missing?"
The maid searched and soon found the answer.
In addition to the set of clothes, I was still short of some silver.
These silver coins were the rewards that the lady usually gave to her servants. Even though there was only a small handful missing and it was hard to find compared to the small box, the maid had a habit of stacking the reward silver coins layer by layer, which looked tidy and comfortable.
The rewards at this moment are in chaos.
The maid in charge of guarding turned pale with fright.
Just as he was about to bow and apologize, he heard the lady's gentle voice say, "If there is nothing else stolen, don't worry about it. There are many people who live a hard life in this world. The man may have been forced into a desperate situation and became a thief. Since no one was injured and not much was lost, let's just let it go."
The maids burst into tears of gratitude when they heard this.
"Prepare some water. The weather is getting hotter."
Because summer comes early here, the rich and powerful people put on light summer clothes early, and this lady did the same.
This woman looked very young, with delicate and white skin. She should not be very old, but her eyes were full of charm and elegance that could not be ignored. This kind of charm was obviously not something a woman in her teens or twenties could have. It was not easy to guess her age.
The lady sat on the side of the table next to the window. While the maid was fetching water for her bath, she opened a scroll and read it carefully. She was so focused that time passed quickly. When she came back to her senses, the maid had already prepared everything. The bathtub was half filled with flower water and fresh flower petals. The maid wanted to help her undress, but the lady smiled and said, "Go down. You don't need to wait on me."
The maids bowed and left without asking why.
Soon, the lady was the only one left in the room.
No, it should be said that there are two people.
She smiled and raised her beautiful eyes, looking at a certain place on the beam of the house with clear and confident eyes: "I understand that the warrior has a difficult life, so I will not report him to the authorities... This warrior is still staying here, tarnishing my reputation. Isn't that repaying kindness with enmity?"
The man sitting on the beam: "..."
He guessed that these women were ordinary people and could not see through his tracks, so he used a little trick to hide his body, and planned to wait for the woman to enter the bathtub before quietly leaving with the maid.
Unexpectedly—
It seems that I made a wrong judgment.
The lady asked, "The warrior won't come down?"
The sturdy man finally responded, but his words and tone were very frivolous: "I have been a thief on the beam today, why not be a thief who steals flowers again? What's the point of repaying kindness with enmity? Why don't we talk about the real 'favor' when we are on the couch?"
The smile in the lady's eyes instantly turned into ice.
She raised her hand and slapped the beam of the screen, and with a swish, she drew out a shining sword, her eyes dark as she asked, "Are you looking for death?"
The murderous aura stirred up the energy of heaven and earth around him, making it restless.
Upon seeing this, the sturdy man stopped pretending and revealed his true form.
When the lady saw the strong man's appearance clearly, her heart sank.
She couldn't tell the true strength of this person, and there was not even any fluctuation in the air, but this gentleman on the beam was obviously not an ordinary person. This could only prove one thing, that his strength was far superior to hers. Today she had run into a tough guy...
The lady was frightened and the strong man also had a sullen look on his face.
The two men faced each other at a distance of more than ten feet.
a long time-
The sturdy man's eyes moved down from the woman's face, and then back to her face after a glance - the women here were all wearing tube tops, long skirts and long shirts, and the atmosphere was open, and the tube tops were positioned lower. Whether this was real or fake, it was clear at a glance.
So, the lady in front of me is really a woman.
A woman who opened up a Dan Mansion and concentrated her literary mind!
The sturdy man frowned tightly, as if wondering whether he was still in the northwest continent or had returned to his homeland. If it was his homeland, how could there be female scholars? The woman did not move rashly during the moment he was absent-minded.
He asked, "Are you a woman?"
Madam said, "What about a woman?"
The sturdy man fell silent for a while before he spoke: "My last name is Qi Cang. I was passing by here by accident and did not mean to disturb the host. I have no ill will towards you. You can put down the sword in your hand. If I have ill will, what can you resist?"
Madam knew that what Qi Cang said was not false.
A quarter of an hour later—
The two of them sat opposite each other and brewed tea, without any sign of tension.
Qi Cang carefully looked at the woman opposite him and asked, "From your accent, I can tell you are not from here?"
"Yes, I came here to live with my brother many years ago to avoid disaster."
Qi Cang asked again: "From the northwest?"
The lady nodded: "That's right."
Qi Cang asked again: "Are you from Heyin County, Longwu County, Sibao County, or Minfeng County?"
Compared to the vast northwest continent, these four places are small and not well-known. If you don't deliberately learn about them, you have basically never heard of them. Madam paused while pouring tea and looked up at Qi Cang with a puzzled and questioning look. Qi Cang understood as soon as he saw this reaction.
He couldn't help but grin.
He muttered: "The road of enemies is narrow..."
She didn't understand what he meant: "I am indeed from Sibao County, but it's just that enemies meet on a narrow road... Where did you get the idea from, brave man?"
Qi Cang drank it in one gulp: "Literally."
The lady continued to beg questions.
"How could the warrior guess the little woman's ancestral home with just one word?"
Qi Cang said: "Because you can practice."
Madam frowned: "..."
She discovered that she could practice cultivation a few years ago, but by then she had already passed the age of enlightenment, and her body was burdened with too many acquired worldly impurities. She could hardly feel the flow of the energy of heaven and earth, let alone accommodate it into her body.
She just had better luck.
I accidentally got a rare treasure.
It is said that it can expel the foul air accumulated in the body over the years. She relied on this thing to accumulate it bit by bit. God will not let down those who spend money. As long as she spends enough precious medicinal materials, she can really get what she wants and successfully condense her literary mind.
Only she knows the difficulty and effort involved.
The words of the man in front of me seemed to hide a secret.
She said calmly: "There is no necessary connection between the two."
Qi Cang said, "Yes, the master I served before was killed by the governor of Longwu County. What's interesting is that this person is also a woman. She also has a large number of female scholars and warriors under her command. Do you think there is any connection between them?"
The lady was shocked at first, she didn't know that there were other women who could practice besides herself, and then she was confused: "... But, I was born in Sibao County, not Longwu County..."
It's totally unrelated, right
"The governor of Longwu County took over Sibao County last year, but you said that you were able to practice a few years ago. This is somewhat different from what I know..."
Madam: “…”
As the sky gradually darkened, Qi Cang had no intention of moving, so the lady had to take the initiative to invite him to stay at her mansion for a few days, and said, "The clothes you are wearing don't fit you. If you don't mind, I will ask the embroiderer in the mansion to make you a new one."
Qi Cang was not shy: "You can make a new one. If I wear your man's clothes, it will inevitably cause misunderstandings."
Madam said, "Not really."
Because there is no male owner in the house.
Qi Cang discovered this very early on.
Although there were several sets of men's clothes from different seasons in the master bedroom closet, none of them showed signs of being worn. They were all new clothes. Apart from these, there were no signs of male activities. Qi Cang thought she was just a widow, so he didn't investigate further and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
At night, the lady went out.
He told the groom, "Go to the government office."
To be precise, it is the palace of the princess who was granted the fiefdom here.
She always felt that the name Qi Cang sounded familiar.
"Qi Cang... Qi Cang... Is this man's surname Qi?"
The inside of the office was brightly lit.
She was rummaging through a pile of books and files.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and she found nothing. At this time, a woman's voice came from outside the door, teasing, "My dearest, didn't you go back from work? When did you become so diligent and come back to work at this time?"
Madam: “… Your Highness, looking for someone.”
The man walked with graceful steps, and the lady did not even raise her head.
"Who are you looking for? Tell me and I'll find someone for you."
Madam said, "Qi Cang."
The woman she called Her Highness hummed, turned her head and asked, "Qi Cang? Why are you looking for him for nothing?"
The lady was surprised: "Your Highness knows him?"
His Highness covered his mouth and smiled foolishly: "Alas, this man named Qi, ten years ago, who in the country didn't know him? But, you haven't told me why you suddenly looked for him?"
Madam said, "Something happened."
His Highness sat sideways on the table, leaning back with his right hand: "If I want to find him, I have to ask the King of Hell if he is willing to make concessions."
The lady frowned: "What do you mean?"
His Highness said, "He has been dead for many years. If you dig in the mass grave outside the city, you might be able to find his entire family."
Madam: “…”
Could it be that they have the same name
A coincidence