The business in the pawn shop was relatively slow, with not a single customer. The shopkeeper was drowsy with his chin in his hands, and a few waiters nearby were drinking tea and chatting.
"Shopkeeper, I want to treat you as something."
When there was business, the pawnshop owner suddenly opened his eyes, rolled his eyes, and put on a professional smile.
That's called being harmonious and making money.
The customer was a young man, about 20 years old, quite handsome, but his clothes were very ragged, with coarse cloth and a pair of straw sandals on his feet. He looked like a poor man at first glance.
"Brother, what do you want to be?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.
The shopkeeper of the pawn shop is very professional and treats the poor and the rich equally without any slightest contempt on his face.
"How much does this cost?" Li Jun handed over a package.
"Okay, please wait a moment."
The owner of the pawn shop took the package and it was quite heavy.
Open it and take a look.
The pieces are pieces of rusty bronze, and you can vaguely see patterns on them, which are quite ancient.
"Brother, where did you get this thing from?" The shopkeeper stopped smiling.
Li Jun thought for a while.
"These scraps of copper were handed down from my ancestors. Recently, my family couldn't open the pot anymore, so we had to exchange them for some rice and noodles. Shopkeeper, how much is it worth?" Li Jun made up a random reason.
"hehe."
The pawnshop owner sneered.
"Let's not talk secretly. Brother, this thing looks like it came out of the tomb. It's evil, and most people really don't dare to accept it."
Li Jun said nothing and looked at the pawnshop owner quietly.
These are pawn shops' routines. They try to find the shortcomings of the pawned object and lower the price as much as possible.
really.
The pawn shop owner softened his tone.
"Fortunately, you came to our Rongchang Pawn Shop today. My boss is very capable and can talk to the Demon Suppressor. Only my family dares to accept things from the tomb like yours."
"Look, you're quite pitiful. You only have two pennies."
Black, really dark.
The weight of Li Jun's package of bronze is more than ten coins?
"Sure, I'll die, the shopkeeper will give me the money!"
Li Jun agreed without hesitation. Anyway, he still had several packages of this stuff at home. If he found a few more pawn shops, he could always get dozens of coins. Plus the money Hu Mingsheng gave him before, it would be enough for him to live on.
.
In a world full of ghosts and monsters, every moment is precious.
Never waste it on trivial matters.
Seeing Li Jun agreeing so happily, the shopkeeper felt a little sick. If he had known that he was eager to make a move, he should have lowered the price.
An idea struck.
"Brother, I think you are really pitiful. I will give you an extra ten cents and you can keep this dog."
Dog Da: "..."
Li Jun really wants to give a thumbs up, this shopkeeper is really good at doing business.
Li Jun shook his head and walked out of the pawn shop with two slings of money.
Then, he followed the same pattern and went to all the pawnshops in Anping County and exchanged dozens of coins. The heavy copper coins were piled on the table, giving him the illusion of being very wealthy.
What a pity!
After all, this is a world filled with ghosts and monsters. What can we do with more money?
A dreamless night.
The next day, the sun rises.
Li Jun went to the Yamen with a small amount of money and obtained the road guide through abnormal means.
Then, he contacted a trading company and planned to go to Jiuyuan City in a few days.
…
"Ce~"
In the barren mountains and ridges, an official road stretches into the distance.
A group of business travelers trudged along the official road.
There is a large flag at the front of the business trip, embroidered with complicated patterns, with the word "river" in the center.
Li Jun knew that it was the symbol of Hebo of the Weishui River.
Business travelers in Anping County who travel across counties will go to the Yamen to pay for a Hebo flag.
When ghosts and monsters see He Boqi on the road, they will usually give him a bit of mercy.
In addition to the Hebo flag, there were also many yellow talismans, black dog blood, and a big red rooster placed on the car in the middle.
They are all for self-defense.
Of course, the caravan also raised a worshiping immortal master.
"Brother Li Jun, the world is not peaceful now. Why are you going to Jiuyuan alone?"
The speaker was a red-faced man named Zhang Youcai, a cook in the caravan. Even though he was a rough guy, he was good at cooking. Anping County is a small town, and Zhang Youcai had known Li Junyuan before.
Zhang Youcai liked Li Jun as soon as he saw him. He liked him inexplicably. He felt that this young man resembled his son.
It's a pity that Zhang Youcai's son died early.
A good person, he couldn't think about it anymore, so he hanged himself.
Zhang Youcai remembered that his son was obviously a cheerful person, so why did he hang himself?
I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out.
Every household in this world has things that they can't figure out. As time goes by, they will be forgotten.
Li Jun said absently: "Find a way to survive."
Zhang Youcai sighed.
He thought that Li Jun couldn't survive in Anping County, so he had to take the risk to find a way elsewhere. What a pity!
He remembered that Li Jun's parents seemed to have died, and the wife he finally married ran away with someone.
He is also not very clever and fails to complete several jobs.
Poor, pitiful!
Li Jun didn't know Zhang Youcai's thoughts. All his attention was now on the immortal master he was worshiping.
The surname of this immortal master worshiped is Ouyang, and he is known as Immortal Master Ouyang.
Master Ouyang is very mysterious and spends most of his time in the car. Even his meals have to be brought to the car.
Of course, this is not surprising.
The strange thing is that his meal is always a cooked meal with a live animal.
Sometimes it’s live chickens and ducks, sometimes it’s live mice, live cats and dogs.
The merchant traveler brought several carts full of living animals to supply to Immortal Ouyang.
Could it be raising ghosts?
Li Jun didn't know the details of Master Ouyang, so he didn't dare to send ghost soldiers to investigate rashly, so he could only make a rough estimate.
Hu Mingsheng once said that whether it is Yin Yang sect or spiritual sect, the essence is related to ghosts.
Ghosts need to eat just like people.
The food of ghosts is very wide. They will eat humans, similar species, animal flesh and blood, and even water plants and dew when they are extremely hungry.
and.
Ghosts seem to prefer raw food with blood.
Li Jun suddenly thought of a question.
Will practitioners in this world use humans to feed their ghosts?
Li Jun shuddered at the thought of this.
The carriage moved forward slowly.
Zhang Youcai thought for a long time and finally gritted his teeth and said.
"Brother Li Jun, why don't you help me with the cooking? Boss Zheng and I will return the travel expenses to you, and you can save some money so that you can marry another wife and live your life."
Li Jun almost bit his tongue.
People in this world seem to have a certain obsession with marrying a wife. Men who fail to marry a wife, or whose wives run away with someone else, will be spat on when they walk.
Li Jun was a little embarrassed: "Uh, thank you, Brother Zhang."
Zhang Youcai smiled and nodded, seemingly satisfied with Li Jun's answer.
The caravan advanced slowly and stopped in an open space when it got dark.
The Hebo flag was placed high on the ground, and some yellow paper symbols were arranged around it.
Everyone built a bonfire and started preparing dinner.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on everyone, as if they were coated with a layer of golden light.
If there weren't ghosts everywhere, camping in the wild would actually be quite nice. Li Jun closed his eyes and quietly enjoyed the rare good time.
"Get her."
A loud shout came.
Li Jun opened his eyes and saw several caravan guys chasing a little girl.
Where did this little girl come from in the barren mountains?
Li Jun squinted and looked carefully, finally confirming that the little girl was human.
But why do people appear in barren mountains and ridges?
"Poor, pitiful."
Zhang Youcai looked pitiful. He cried out for pity while shaking his head and sighing.
"What's the pity for?"
A waiter next to Zhang Youcai sneered.
"It's just a little refugee girl. She has been living in the wilderness. Sooner or later she will feed the ghosts. Why don't we capture her and feed her to the immortal master?"
Li Jun was shocked all over.
"This little girl is quite fierce. If I tie her to a tree, I might be able to attract her family."
"These lowly refugees are so ignorant. How dare they come to such barren mountains and mountains?"
Everyone in the caravan was talking a lot.
Li Jun once again saw the cruelty of this world, where the weak eat the strong, and humans are as scary as ghosts.
Especially these caravans, without the constraints of the law, turn into robbers every minute.
He remembered a text he once read.
The last years of the Tang Dynasty.
There was an old woman who had to hide in the mountains and forests to avoid paying taxes.
There are tigers in the forest.
The old woman's family was almost eaten by the tiger.
However, the old woman was still unwilling to leave the forest.
Li Jun squeezed his palms tightly, and the imperial concubine stood quietly beside him. As long as Li Jun gave an order, the imperial concubine could rescue the little girl.
"Bad good guy."
The dog came running out of nowhere.
"I advise you not to be a bad person. There is something wrong with this little girl. Be careful of setting yourself on fire."
Little girl has a problem?
Li Jun observed carefully again.
The little girl was about ten years old, cute and immature. She was wearing a tattered, loose-fitting dress, probably made from an adult's clothes.
I didn't wear any shoes, and my little feet were dirty.
The little girl was tied to a tree and cried miserably.
"Please don't eat my daughter, she has no meat on her body, woo woo woo."
No matter how Li Jun looked at it, he felt that there was nothing wrong with the little girl and that she was a living person.
Besides, it's not dark yet, so ghosts usually won't appear.
A ghost that can appear in broad daylight must be very powerful, so there is no need to use such unsavory tactics.
It seemed that Li Jun was confused.
Gouda said with disdain.
"Does it have to be a ghost to have a problem?"
"I'm a Qilin, and I know how to read Qi. Although this girl is a human, she is surrounded by a strange aura. In short, don't provoke her and just wait and see what happens."
Although Li Jun was a little strange, but thinking that Gouda never told lies, he could only put away his sympathy, turned his face to the side, and forced himself not to listen to the little girl's cry.
At this time, Zhang Youcai poured some ingredients from the cloth bag and prepared to cook.
In addition to rice and noodles, there is also a round insect.
Seeing Li Jun staring at the bugs, Zhang Youcai smiled and said: "This is a bamboo bug. I collected it when I passed by the bamboo forest before. It was wrapped in flour and fried. It is very fragrant. Little brother Li Jun has never eaten it, right?"
Can insects be eaten?
Li Jun is quite experienced.
Li Jungang was about to say that he never eats bugs, but he saw that Zhang Youcai had already wrapped them in flour, heated a pot, added oil, and fried them.
In just a moment, the bamboo insects were fried to a crispy brown, and when you smell them, the aroma is fragrant.
Well, it would be nice to try it.
There are not many bamboo insects, just enough to hold two bowls.
Zhang Youcai took out a small bowl and secretly filled a bowl for Li Jun.
"These insects are not from the caravan. I caught them secretly. Now you can eat them secretly without anyone seeing them."
Li Jun picked up a bamboo insect. It was soft and soft. He carefully fed one into his mouth. It was charred on the outside and tender on the inside. It was surprisingly delicious.
Li Jun ate with big mouthfuls, as if he had opened the door to a new world. He was eating out of control, and his mouth was full of oil.
"Brother Zhang, I didn't expect insects to be so delicious."
Zhang Youcai chuckled and licked his mouth.
"You, you stay in Anping County every day and have little knowledge. There are many delicacies in this world, haha!"
Li Jun answered vaguely, and finished the bamboo worm three times, five times, five times, and two times.
The meaning is still not finished.
He decided that when he saw a bamboo forest in the future, he would go in and catch bugs to eat.
Zhang Youcai saw that Li Jun was enjoying his meal, so he simply gave his share to Li Jun.
Start immersed in cooking.
Night falls.
After everyone in the caravan had eaten and drank enough, they chatted around the campfire and made some erotic jokes.
"Uuuuuuuuah, you bastards, let us go."
"Beasts will be punished."
There was a faint sound of crying in the distance.
Li Jun frowned slightly and looked over again.
The caravan members used the little girl to attract her family, a beautiful middle-aged woman in her thirties.
This beautiful woman is dressed in tatters, but she can't hide her beauty. Her skin is moist, her hair is black and shiny, and her figure is soft. She is a beauty at first sight.
This kind of beauty must be cultivated with sufficient food.
How can refugees have enough food?
Could it really be a ghost?
However, the beautiful woman and the little girl are indeed real people!
Li Jun was puzzled.
Several caravan guys gathered in front of the cage, laughing and looking at the beautiful woman.
"Hahaha, beauty, you are lonely in the mountains. I really want to love you."
"It's a pity that our caravan hasn't offered blood food to the immortal master for a long time. Hey, it's such a pity for such a beautiful little lady."
These guys shook their heads, sighed, and walked away one after another.
The beautiful woman and the little girl sat numbly in the cage, their eyes desperate.
Li Jun finally couldn't bear it anymore. He walked over and handed a steamed bun to the beautiful middle-aged woman.
"Sister, have something to eat. Don't worry, I will definitely try my best to save you. Even if I risk my life, I will save you."
When the beautiful middle-aged woman heard this, her eyes shone with light.
"My name is Wang Meiniang, and I live in the mountains with my husband and children. I had something urgent to do today, so I escaped. Unexpectedly~ wuwuwu."
Wang Meiniang covered her face and cried. The little girl didn't know how to worry. When she saw the steamed bun, she screamed happily, grabbed the steamed bun and wolfed it down.
"Thank you, big brother. Big brother is a good person. Nannan likes big brother."
Li Jun comforted Wang Meiniang for a few more words before walking away.
As soon as he sat down, he met the dog's playful eyes.
"Li Jun, I have to admit that you are really cunning."
"Are you thinking that even if this woman and child have problems, if you give them a little kindness, they will be grateful?"
"I advise you to save it. Their thinking is different from humans."
"Every favor must be repaid, that's the childish thinking that only you humans have."