Deshan looked sad all the way in. He Qizhou guessed what was going on. There were not many herdsmen like him in the market. Occasionally, the few he passed by had accumulated a lot of goods. It seemed that the situation this year was indeed not optimistic.
And Deshan would definitely have to spend a lot of money on himself... He Qizhou had an impulse and thought that if it was not possible, he would cut the path at night.
Although they came very early, there were several batches of people who came to inquire about the price. The price quoted was actually lower than what they found on the road. The upright Tokuyama would not counter-offer. His price was already based on the market price he heard from the innkeeper.
, when he heard that the other party’s price was 30% lower than his own, he just waved people away and didn’t sell a single sheepskin all morning.
Seeing that Deshan was in a bad mood, Ling'er didn't dare to go shopping in the market anymore. The six of them sat in a shed with ventilation on all sides and ate the cold wind all morning. Although the camels and cows behind them contributed a few "heats",
But the smell is really not very good.
Tokuyama looked at the sun and murmured: "There are almost people here." Then he tightened the leather bag tied around his waist and walked alone to a mud house in the corner. After about half an hour, he finally arrived.
Jian Deshan brought two people over. One of them was wearing a fox fur coat and a round mink fur hat on his head. He was about thirty years old, with big shoulders and a round waist. The other was smaller and followed behind in a cotton robe. Apparently
He's a follower.
The man in the fox fur casually turned over the sheepskin on the car, and then glanced at the ten barrels of "cheese" on the other car. Deshan, who had been standing upright, actually bowed slightly at this time, pointing at He Qizhou and Xiaoxue and the two of them.
He said in a voice: "Master Xiong, these are my nephews and nieces. You see, my niece's consumption can't last long. She can only survive in the south. Please take care of her, Master Xiong." This was what was discussed before.
To put it bluntly, Xiaoxue's thin body does look like she is about to die soon.
Mr. Xiong glanced at the two of them, turned around and left, leaving behind a sentence: "Pull up the cart of cheese, and you two will follow me."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiong, hurry up, tie up the cow, and let's go!" Deshan finally showed his face and said excitedly.
"I didn't ask you to come, it's just the two of them!" Mr. Xiong said coldly as he walked a few steps away.
"I'll drive the bus, Xiaoxue, you sit on it." He Qizhou looked back at Deshan, who was breathing a sigh of relief. He wanted to say thank you, but in the end he held back. This was not something he could repay with a thank you.
"We'll wait for you here. Listen to Mr. Xiong. If anything happens, we'll talk about it when you come back." Deshan called to He Qizhou who was driving the car.
He Qizhou pulled the cow hard, caught up with Master Xiong who was more than a dozen steps away, and asked: "Master Xiong, I can help you with work on the way. Can you charge less money?"
"Shut up! You must have heard the name of the Salt Gang. Remember, do whatever you are told. When you see the person asking you later, answer every question and don't say a word that you shouldn't say!
Did you hear that?" Mr. Xiong growled.
"Yes, yes, yes." He Qizhou made a face at Xiaoxue, and could only agree first, and followed Mr. Xiong who walked quickly forward into a row of mud houses. There were two big men standing at the door of the room, looking at them expressionlessly.
He Qizhou drove the car and entered the low door. Inside the door was a dark and long corridor, which was filled with the strange smell of animal excrement, spices, cured meats, cheese and other mixed smells. Mr. Xiong, who was leading the way, skillfully
Taking out a handkerchief and covering their noses, He Qizhou and Xiaoxue could only cover their mouths and noses with their sleeves.
On both sides of the corridor were warehouses for storing goods, some of which also housed cattle and sheep. After walking for about a hundred steps, he finally reached the end of the corridor. He Qizhou found that the doors of the warehouses here were all locked, and the smell was smaller.
, obviously they store more valuable goods.
Mr. Xiong roared, and immediately several of his men entered the corridor from the small door on the east. They skillfully checked the salt in the salt barrels, weighed them one by one, and moved into the last warehouse. He Qizhou took a look inside, like this
There are hundreds of salt buckets.
Seeing his subordinates reporting the amount of two thousand and forty kilograms, Mr. Xiong smiled with satisfaction and said, "Your Pangu tribe is quite honest in doing business. That's all. Come with me."
He Qizhou helped Xu Muxue out of the ox cart and said, "Where can we park the ox cart? We have to drive back later."
The smile on Mr. Xiong's face disappeared instantly, and he said angrily: "Do you want to go to the south? Do you still want an ox cart? Do you know that originally we were not prepared to take it with a grain of salt, not because of He Deshan?
Years of friendship? I’m warning you again, don’t open your mouth when you should shut up, this is the last time!”
He Qizhou nodded, took Xiaoxue's hand, and silently followed Master Xiong, silently greeting the eighteenth generation of each other's ancestors from behind.
When I walked out of the corridor, my eyes lit up. It was an adobe house that was twice as tall as the outside. The room was huge, with windows on the north and south sides, and two small rooms in the corner. Mr. Xiong said to his subordinates: "Look at them
, I'll come when I go." After saying that, he walked into one of the rooms, closed the door, and walked out again after a while. He Qizhou could hear the sound of unlocking the door, opening the cabinet, and then locking it again. Xiaoxue whispered in his ear.
: "It seems that Uncle Deshan gave the gold bracelet to the pig."
"I will think of a way." He Qizhou replied in a low voice.
"Follow me!" Mr. Xiong said to He Qizhou and the two of them. He had already taken off his fur coat, and inside it was actually a cotton robe similar to that of his men. Then he said loudly: "There have been more merchants leaving in the past two days.
Some of your hands and feet are not very clean, please take care of your home and warehouse!"
"Yes!" There were about ten people in another hut who responded at the same time. He Qizhou made a rough calculation. Including the entourage, the men who moved the salt, and the guards at the door, there must be at least twenty people under Mr. Xiong.
I don't know where those windows lead to, and it seems impossible to come in through the corridor unnoticed. Just as I was thinking about it, Mr. Xiong led them out of the east door of the room alone.
He Qizhou thought something was wrong. After all, this was already the wall of Nanshi City. Wouldn't he have to hit the wall if he walked further? As expected, there was another small warehouse behind the east gate, but he saw Master Xiong opening a secret door with a downward direction.
In an authentic manner, Mr. Xiong said: "You know the rules, don't talk nonsense when you go out!"
He Qizhou nodded, not even bothering to reply to him. The secret passage was not long, only a dozen feet or so. When he went up the stairs, an iron door was tightly closed. Mr. Xiong knocked lightly with two long and one short strokes. Seeing that there was no reply, he again
After knocking once, someone finally opened the door this time. The person who opened the door was wearing a sheepskin jacket, which was somewhat similar to the leather jacket He Qizhou wore. The difference was that the other person's leather jacket was with the skin on the outside and the hair on the inside, while He Qizhou and Xu Mu's leather jackets were
It's the wool side facing out.
The person who opened the door looked at the two people behind Mr. Xiong, frowned and said: "Why is it from Pangu? Didn't they say they don't accept salt? Are you too full?" "Brother Biao, we are regular customers, and the door-to-door business is not good.
Push it." After speaking, Mr. Xiong approached the person who was much younger than him and whispered flatteringly: "This time the salt is given for free. Two thousand kilograms of good green salt. I just need to bring two people over. If it is a woman,
If they don't go south, they won't be able to survive this winter. Anyway, they can just leave it to fate on the road!"
Inside the iron gate was a dark hut. Mr. Xiong's whisper fell into his ears word for word. He Qizhou, who had excellent hearing, frowned slightly and began to worry about the livelihood of the Deshan family in the coming year.
"Did you get another benefit?" asked the short brother Biao.
"How dare I? Please tell me, Brother Biao." Mr. Xiong changed his domineering look.
"Wait!" Brother Biao walked out of the hut, and Master Xiong returned to his original majestic appearance. He said to the two people behind him: "After entering, don't look at things you shouldn't see, and don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Do you understand?"
"Got it." He Qizhou, who was carefully observing the secret room, nodded and responded, thinking that this should be the secret room where the Salt Gang avoided trouble. It was directly connected to Nan City. It would be easy to blend into the crowd when escaping, which was also a great idea.
Brother Biao went to half a stick of incense before returning, and said to Master Xiong: "Second brother said, this is the last time, if it doesn't happen next time, you go back first!"
"Okay, I'll note it down." Mr. Xiong bowed and exited through the iron gate, not forgetting to say to Qi Zhou when he left: "Deshan is still waiting for you, don't be clever!"
He Qizhou thought to himself, it seems that this Mr. Xiong is very worried about others knowing that he is secretly accepting property, and he is still threatening himself not to talk nonsense. When Mr. Xiong returned to the tunnel, Brother Biao closed the iron door, inserted the latch, and took Qi Zhou and the two of them with him.
Go out from the east door. Outside the east door is a bedroom. Two people are sleeping soundly. After closing the door of the secret room, it turns out to be the closet of this bedroom. Brother Biao shouted to the two sleeping people: "I'm going to do something."
Alright, please watch the door."
"Go away, don't disturb me in my sleep!" One of them covered his head with a quilt and growled.
Brother Biao didn't mind, so he asked Qi Zhou and the others to follow them. After leaving the bedroom, there was another long corridor. On both sides of the corridor were rooms with closed doors. As he walked, Brother Biao said, "You are lucky."
, The second brother is on duty today. According to the fourth brother’s temper, you can’t get in through this door at all. Then you must do whatever the second brother says.”
"Thank you, Brother Biao, for the reminder." Qi Zhou said.
"Originally, outsiders have to be blindfolded when entering here, but Pangu tribe is also a regular visitor. We can trust you shepherds of Shengzhou. I have also heard about your family. It is very pitiful, but I want to remind you.
, The road to the south has been uneven recently, so you should be careful when the time comes." Brother Biao said.
He Qizhou didn't expect that the other party was still soft-hearted. Maybe he had been staying in the secret room and wanted to talk to outsiders. He hurriedly said: "We will be careful, thank you."
As he walked to the end of the corridor, there were sounds of shouting and fighting. After turning a corner, He Qizhou's eyes lit up. He saw on the left was a place similar to the living room of Yumen Xiaozhu, surrounded by seats like steps. There were about ten steps in total.
, each level is about two feet high, and the sunken ground at the bottom is made of rammed earth. It is a ring with a length of five feet and a width of five feet. The ring is about three feet above the central ground, and the four sides are about one foot away from the lowest step. At this time, the platform
There are two shirtless men fighting each other with punches and kicks.