Chapter 27: 027: Entering the City

The journey to Xiaocheng was not smooth.

Setting aside the wolves, tigers, leopards, venomous insects, and ferocious beasts, the mere threat of bandits lying in wait to rob travelers was enough to make anyone shudder. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shen Tang and her companion tried to avoid sleeping in the wild as much as possible.

However, the immediate priority was to get Young Master Shen a couple of new sets of clothes; Qi Shan himself was nearly running out of garments to wear.

He emerged from the cloth shop with a fabric bundle in hand.

There was no time for custom tailoring, so he could only pick out two sets of men's shirts from the ready-made stock that were roughly the same height as Young Master Shen.

With inner garments, outer robes, and the set he had already lent to Shen Tang, three sets of rotating clothes should be sufficient.

"Young Master Shen, it's time to go—"

Qi Shan was about to call Shen Tang to set off so they could reach a village before dark, but Shen Tang, who should have been waiting by the door, was nowhere to be seen.

Where did she go?

How could she dare to wander off in an unfamiliar land?

Just as he was about to search for the missing Shen Tang, a flash of familiar pure white caught his eye from across the street—that tall, snow-white mule was lying obediently on the ground. Even with passersby gathering in a circle around it, it couldn't stop its tail from swishing wildly.

Qi Shan: "..."

"Come and take a look, neighbors! Freshly picked green plums, three copper coins a jin, until they're all gone..."

As he approached the crowd, he heard a familiar cry.

There was the familiar Young Master Shen, sitting on the ground without a shred of dignity, her hair hastily tied into a bun with straw rope. A cloth was spread out before her, piled high with a small mountain of green plums, and beside it sat a large basket overflowing with more.

She seemed entirely unashamed, enthusiastically hawking her plums.

Whenever someone approached, she greeted them warmly, calling out "Sir," "Madam," "Brother," or "Sister" with a voice as sweet as honey.

She didn't forget to advertise her wares, claiming they were high quality and low cost, with thin skins and large flesh; that eating them would not only quench thirst and relieve heat but also nourish the skin, making them an essential fruit for the height of summer.

Qi Shan stood in the crowd watching for a moment and noticed that most of the buyers were women, each purchasing three or five jin at a time. Setting aside the fact that the plums were incredibly cheap—making it a bargain for the buyers—simply being called "Sister" or "Madam" by this handsome young master was a win in itself.

If it weren't for the fact that Young Master Shen was quite young, possessed an enthusiastic attitude, was beautiful, and had eyes so clean and pure that they held no lewd intentions, the men on this street would likely have dragged her into an alley for a beating—why bother flirting with these married women and young ladies?

Calling everyone "Madam" or "Sister" was frivolous.

Before long, Shen Tang had completely sold out of plums. She tucked dozens of copper coins into her purse, stood up to brush the dust off her bottom, and acted as if she had expected Qi Shan to be standing there all along.

She asked with a smile, "Yuanliang, are you finished with your business?"

Qi Shan felt exasperated, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'm finished. What on earth are you doing?"

Others ran wine shops; why was Young Master Shen selling plums in the street?

Shen Tang shook her clinking purse.

"I've run out of money, Yuanliang... why do you ask?"

Did he not know how broke she was right now?

She couldn't exactly reach out and ask Qi Shan for money, could she?

They were neither kin nor close friends; they were merely traveling companions, owing nothing to one another. Shen Tang couldn't have the audacity to treat him like an ATM.

Under Qi Shan's complex gaze, Shen Tang returned the basket to another vendor, redeemed the Wenxin token she had used as collateral, and tucked it back into her waist. With her newly earned money, she bought some salt, wine, and other small pickled side dishes.

"Since you know your pockets are empty, why did you give your silver to Tian Shi and the others?" As Qi Shan spoke, he tossed the cloth bundle into the bag strapped to the motorcycle. Ever since he discovered that Shen Tang could manifest the motorcycle for twelve hours a day without fatigue, the vehicle had been given a new job.

Both of them threw their luggage onto it to save effort.

Two days ago, when they parted ways with Tian Zhong's group, Shen Tang had pulled several pieces of broken silver from her bosom to give to them, along with a dozen flatbreads.

"First, those pieces of silver weren't earned by me," she reasoned. They were scavenged from the first official who had been killed; she felt no heartache using someone else's inheritance. "Second, Tian Zhong and the others are injured and penniless. Even if they have somewhere to seek refuge, they have nothing on them. There's no telling if they'll even keep their lives long enough to reach their destination."

Even without money, she wouldn't starve to death.

After a bit of thought, she had decided to part with the silver.

As an artist and shut-in who had grown up in peaceful times, Shen Tang could never bear to see people in misery; if she could help, she would.

Qi Shan seemed unconvinced and asked, "Is that the only reason?"

Shen Tang tilted her head in confusion.

"If not that, then what? What, are people being accused of conspiracy theories these days just for doing good deeds?"

Qi Shan: "..."

Seeing that Shen Tang's expression didn't seem fake, his mind began to wander into strange conclusions. His expression shifted unpredictably, leaving her utterly bewildered.

Not understanding why, Shen Tang asked cautiously, "Yuanliang?"

Qi Shan gave her a deep look and sighed, "It's nothing."

But with a sudden step, his figure flashed away, leaving her three yards behind.

Left standing in place, Shen Tang muttered, "...Damn it!"

If it was nothing, why the hell did you use your verbal magic to run away?

He always took advantage of the fact that she didn't know how to ride the motorcycle using "Wind-Chasing Shadow-Stepping"!

Because she was truly penniless, Shen Tang could only sell her self-produced flatbreads, green plums, and malt candy as they traveled.

The prices of the plums and candy fluctuated based on the local people's attire; she charged a few more coins for those dressed neatly and cleanly, and a few less for those covered in patches and disheveled. The price of the bread followed the local vendors. Since it was a zero-capital business, she tried her best not to disrupt the market.

Qi Shan remained noncommittal regarding her considerations.

Of course, no one knew what he was actually thinking of her in his heart.

Young Master Shen was the most wretched Wenxin strategist he had ever seen in his life; even during his own lowest points, he had never been like this.

But since she seemed to enjoy herself, he couldn't say much.

The two of them hurried along and finally approached the borders of Baobao County.

Calculating the time they had spent on the road, they were likely moving even slower than the second batch of exiled convicts from the Gong clan.

"Yuanliang, I heard the people in the market saying that Baobao County has 'Four Great Treasures' and that the people are well-fed and prosperous... but why?"

Shen Tang held onto the motorcycle and followed Qi Shan, looking around.

The streets were empty, and all she saw were scenes of ruin. The occasional passerby was sallow and emaciated, looking like a skeleton wrapped in a tattered sack, swaying with every gust of wind.

These passersby were also extremely timid; if their eyes accidentally met the unfamiliar faces of Shen Tang and Qi Shan, they would shrink their necks like startled rabbits and quicken their pace until they vanished.

Qi Shan sighed, "Baobao County was one of the first prefectures to be breached by the State of Geng. Of the six surrounding prefectures, three were completely looted, and Baobao County was particularly severe. To restore its former prosperity... it will be difficult."

Every household was draped in white for mourning, and the sounds of wailing and sobbing never ceased.

Qi Shan was not surprised by such a scene of decay.

Who could have helped it, when the battlefield of the two nations was placed in the State of Xin?

The people of this land were destined for tragedy.

However, when the two finally arrived at Xiaocheng after much hardship, they discovered that the inside and outside of the city were two completely different worlds.

Outside the city, corpses lay everywhere and the land was a thousand miles of wasteland, with the whistling night wind sounding like thousands of lonely ghosts wailing in grief.

But inside the city—

The crowds surged, and songs and dances rose in peace and prosperity.

(End of Chapter)