The group of people walked from the main road onto the small road and circled around the hill, almost taking the wrong path. When they arrived at the village, it was already dark.

"Woof woof woof..."

The strange visitor caused a burst of barking.

Naturally, there was more than one dog in the village. This barking was like a stone thrown into calm water. For a while, there were dogs barking in front of and behind the village, one after another, echoing each other from afar.

"I'm just passing by. I'm neither a bad person nor a malicious person. Please be patient."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dog in front of him really became quiet.

The swordsman held his sword and looked at it, feeling curious.

However, the dogs nearby stopped barking, but the barking of dogs in the distance still did not stop, echoing endlessly in the dusk between the mountains and bays.

After hearing the news, dogs continued to come to support. Some saw that their fellow village dogs had become silent, so they also shut up.

.

"Everyone, please come back."

Song You had no choice but to persuade them to retreat one by one.

In the village, someone opened the door to look.

In order not to scare the villagers, the swordsman stuck his sword in the bag on his horse and walked over quickly.

"who are you?"

"My father-in-law, you're so polite! We came from Changjing and were going to Hezhou. We were passing by your place. We didn't calculate the distance well and couldn't reach the city ahead, so we wanted to exchange some food with my father-in-law." Shu Yifan

He cupped his fists towards the old man in the crack of the door and said politely.

"No no……"

"We are not gangsters, nor are we asking for money in exchange." Shu Yifan was afraid that he would be frightened, so he added, "I don't need to open the door, I just need to hand the food out through the crack in the door or through the window.

"

"No no……"

"..."

Shu Yifan looked helpless.

Even the best swordsman in the world can't do anything like this.

At this time, Song You came up behind him, also gave a salute to the old man, and said softly: "Don't be afraid, old man. I am a Taoist. I am passing by here and just want to buy some food and ask for some water. If there is any

I will be very grateful if you do. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have it, we will just leave.”

The old man looked at him.

With the remaining daylight, I saw that he was wearing a Taoist robe and he was quite friendly. He looked at Shu Yifan again. He was still worried, but he said truthfully: "We have already eaten in the evening. There is nothing left to eat. There is nothing left in the jar."

There is no food for a long time. I don’t know what to eat until tomorrow. Where can I sell food to the young gentleman..."

"Is it so poor here?"

"It's like this everywhere."

"Then what does my father-in-law eat on weekdays?"

"Eat whatever you have..."

"I see."

Song You nodded, indicating that he understood.

Ordinary people do not have food to eat every day, and there are many times when they cannot afford to eat. At such times, you can only look at what is available in season and eat whatever is available. Otherwise, how would people know that?

How to eat Sophora japonica flowers, how can you know the taste of wild vegetables, which roots are sweet, which stems are hungry, and which shoots cannot be eaten.

He still saluted and thanked him, and when he was about to leave, the old man said again:

"Little sir."

"What else can I do, husband?"

"If you really want to beg for some food, you can go to the rich man Ding's house at the east end of the village and ask."

"Tongtou of the village?"

"That's the first one at the east end of the village." The old man said to him, paused, and then lowered his voice, "The rich man's family is having a wedding. When you go, say something nice, maybe you can get some good food."

"Thank you, husband."

"..."

The old man waved his hand and the door closed.

"I thought I could save you some time, but I didn't expect that it would actually drag you down." The swordsman looked away and said with some shame.

"Your Majesty has saved me a lot of effort." Song You said with a smile, "If you want to blame me, I just have to blame you for Your Majesty and chivalry. It's already dark now, so it's normal to arouse people's vigilance. There's really no need to blame yourself."

"..."

The swordsman breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look into the distance: "This village seems quite big."

"Not small."

"The east end of the village..."

Shu Yifan raised his head and glanced at the sky.

Stars are already visible in the sky.

Then he lowered his head and pointed in the direction:

"This way."

The group of people walked away in the dark again.

It was getting dark very quickly, and it seemed that the sky was getting darker with every step I took. Fortunately, there were more and more stars above my head. Although the starlight was dim, it was not so dark that I couldn't see my fingers on the ground.

"strangeness……"

Shu Yifan frowned and said as he walked: "Didn't you say that the rich man's family in the village was having a wedding? Why not only did he not hear the sound of gongs and drums, but it was not lively at all?"

"Maybe something special."

"special……"

Weddings are held at dusk.

Although it was a bit late at this time, it was just after dusk. Even if it was past the time for beating gongs and drums, it was still time to hold a wedding or entertain guests, and the village should be very lively. However, along the way, not only the village

It was quiet inside, with only the barking of dogs but no sound, and no one even seemed to be a guest at the rich man's house.

"Is this the place?"

Shu Yifan looked around and determined that this was the first house at the east end of the village and the only big house in the village, and it was not an ordinary big house. Then he stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Tuk tuk..."

Shu Yifan knocked on the door and put his ear to the door.

Soon there were footsteps inside.

Shu Yifan immediately put his head back.

"Squeak..."

The door was opened.

"Which one?"

A servant holding a white lantern stood at the door, and there were several people standing behind him. They were all well-dressed, and they were all looking outside.

The servant raised the lantern to illuminate the few people outside.

"You are..."

"That's polite."

This time it was Song You who spoke: "My surname is Song Mingyou. I am from Yizhou. I came from Changjing and passed by your place. It is getting dark. I would like to ask for some water in your house. If it is convenient, I can buy some food."

"Not a guest."

The servant turned back to look at his master behind him.

Behind him, an old man in luxurious clothes leaned forward, looked at Song You by the light of the lantern, and said:

"Is he a Taoist gentleman?"

"I am a traveling Taoist who has traveled here."

"Real Taoist priest or fake Taoist priest?"

"There is an ultimatum to prove it."

"Can I take a look?"

"Of course you can."
To be continued...