"Bah! Bah, bah, bah!" The young man disliked the old man's words very much: "You will die as soon as you are old. But I have two brothers who are older and younger. Who will take care of them if they die? You old man

It’s really unethical! We quit! You pay us half of the fee and we leave!”

"How can this be possible? Tubo hasn't arrived yet! What does it mean to leave an old man like me here? If I am eaten by wolves, it will be equivalent to being killed by you for money. Not only will I not get any money,

He will also go to jail!"

"Shit! If I don't want to work with you, a stingy old man, we won't do it anymore! It's fine if you don't pay us. We'll carry two sacks of spices, and you'll be the ones paying us!"

"You...you guys don't do anything wrong!" The old man was so angry that he gasped and coughed, and seemed to be tearing himself apart.

Niu Er and Zhao Liuer in the river looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.

Niu Er muttered in the injured horse's ear for a while, then raised his hand and patted the horse's butt. The horse walked forward along the river, turning around to glance at Niu Er from time to time.

Niu Er waved his hand: "Let's go!"

Zhao Liuer asked doubtfully: "How can you safely leave this injured horse in the wilderness? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by wild beasts?"

"Hey, I gave it the trick of pretending to be a tiger. Don't worry, there are ferocious beasts who will take care of it."

The two then led the horses onto the main road.

Facing three people not far away, fighting over two bags of spices, a large cart was abandoned in the aisle.

Zhao Liuer shouted: "Hey, is this the way to Tubo?"

When the three of them heard this, they looked at the two mountain-tower-like figures in the dark night and felt terrified.

"Who are you?" the old man shouted pretending to be brave.

"We are from the Tang Dynasty and are doing business. There was a proprietor in Tubo who asked us to bring back a batch of goods. We walked for a few days but got lost, so I wanted to ask."

They walked forward as they talked.

The old man pulled a torch off the car and raised it high to look at the two approaching people.

When he saw that it was indeed two Tang Dynasty talents, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you go straight on this road, you can reach the Tubo Kingdom in about two days' journey." After the old man finished speaking, his eyes caught sight of the two tall horses behind the two of them.

"Thank you, husband!"

After the two of them finished speaking, they turned around and left.

The old man stopped them: "You two wait!"

Zhao Liuer and Niu Er smiled slightly, turned back, and asked respectfully: "What else can I do, old man?"

The old man stepped forward holding a torch, circled the two horses twice, then nodded with satisfaction, stood in front of the two of them and asked: "Is this your first time going to Tubo country?

"

"yes!"

“It’s my first time going, do you have your entry certificate?”

"What is the entry certificate?" Niu Er asked naively.

The old man smiled slightly after hearing this, shook his head and said: "You don't even know this, so you should go back as soon as possible."

"How can that be possible! We came from Chang'an City and have been gone for almost a month. We are almost reaching Tubo. You want us to go back? Isn't this a joke!"

The old man was even more proud: "It's okay to go. Fortunately, you two met me. I have a voucher, and the voucher stamped with the official seal said that there were five people traveling with me. Because two people went to deal with the dead donkey on the way, so we went

The old man and these two children are left alone.”

The old man said, pointing to the boy beside the car who was still holding two packets of spices tightly.

The two of them snorted in annoyance and turned away from looking at him.

But out of the corner of his eye, he still looked at the two tall and strong horses.

"How about it? Going with me will ensure that you enter the Tubo Kingdom smoothly."

"This... you are carrying a cart and we are riding horses. It is better for us to go our own way. When we get there, I believe someone will have a way to work around it!" Zhao Liuer probably scratched the ground.

say.

Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly, the old man hurriedly said: "Don't you know how much the Tubo people hate the Tang people now? You have no credentials. Once you go, they will be regarded as spies and you will be arrested and thrown into prison.

, life or death is uncertain. Follow me to ensure your safety. Moreover, it is your first time to go to Tubo country. If you are not familiar with the place, I will naturally ensure that you have smooth passage in Tubo country."

Zhao Liuer and Niu Er were hesitant.

The old man added: "Don't worry, I'm a good philanthropist and I won't take any money from you!"

As the old man spoke, his eyes glanced at the two tall horses, showing a look of joy.

Zhao Liuer and Niu Er pretended to murmur, and said, "Okay, I can go with you, but you need to be faster on your feet. We are riding horses."

The old man suddenly panicked, smiled, and lowered his voice and said, "Since you two are afraid of delaying your trip, why not let the two horses pull the cart for me, and let's go together?"

"That won't work! This horse is our helper, not an animal that pulls a cart! It's very precious!" Niu Er immediately got angry, arguing and refusing to do so.

The old man panicked: "I am willing to pay you for your labor!"

"How much?" Zhao Liuer asked hurriedly.

He was worried that being too tough would annoy the old man.

The old man stretched out his finger: "Two liang!"

"Erliang? Don't bury the enemy! We don't even have enough horse material for the whole trip!" Niu Er stared at him reluctantly.

The old man smiled instead, seeing that Niu Er seemed to be very willing.

"Three taels?"

"Three liang? Wait a moment, we two will discuss it." Zhao Liuer took Niu Er to the side at the right time and stretched out his fingers to settle the accounts.

The old man stroked his beard with contempt in his eyes.

After a while, the two came back to the old man, stretched out their big hands and said, "Five taels! If it's less than five taels, we won't do it!"

"Five taels?"

This time it was the old man's turn to raise his finger to settle the score.

"Okay! Five taels is five taels!" Because the old man had calculated that if the horse hitched the cart, he would be able to reach the Tubo Kingdom by tomorrow afternoon at most, so that he would not be able to break the contract.

I was worried about breaching the contract after traveling day and night, but seeing the strength of the two young men, I was definitely prepared to breach the contract.

This breach of contract means that I have to compensate others twenty taels.

But it is still very cost-effective to spend five taels and keep the five taels.

"Okay! Five taels!"

Niu Er continued: "You are in charge of the food these days, and you are also in charge of the horse feed!"

"What?" The old man hurriedly settled the accounts again, so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead.

Niu Er then said: "If you are willing to add another two taels, horse feed and our meals for the past few days, we can take care of ourselves."

The old man pulled out two more fingers, counted them, and felt very painful, and said: "We can't add another two taels, we've already lost money."

"Then take care of the food and the fodder!"

The old man looked towards the dark road. What fodder? Isn't the wilderness full of horse fodder?

Hehe, it’s not a loss!

"Okay, take care of the food and feed the horses!"

"Let's go! Hitch the carriage and let's drive forward for a while. There is a flat land ahead where we can rest."

"Walk..."

The two boys hurriedly threw away the sacks and ran to lead the horses and harness them...
Chapter completed!