Thinking of this, Ming Zhiyuan became a little eager in his heart. He was about to ask the girl if he wanted to send her back when he heard a gurgling sound in his stomach.
The girl's pretty face turned red with embarrassment, and Ming Zhiyuan couldn't help laughing. "You must be hungry, girl. I have some dried meat here. You can eat some first."
He took out a package of dried meat wrapped in butter paper from the package on his back and handed it to the girl.
The girl hesitated for a moment, then took it, opened the paper bag, took out the dried meat, and only ate one piece of dried meat, then she asked in surprise: "What kind of dried meat is this? Why is it so delicious?"
Ming Zhiyuan smiled and said: "It's just ordinary dried pork with some seasonings added. If the girl thinks it tastes good, just eat more."
While eating the dried meat, the girl took out the exquisite kettle and drank water.
Ming Zhiyuan sat on the ground and didn't look at her. He waited until she had almost finished eating and then said, "Where are you going, girl? It's very dangerous for you to walk alone in these high mountains. If you want to go home, I will
I can take you back."
The girl just drank a sip of water and still held the dried meat in her hand. After hearing Ming Zhiyuan's words, she stopped eating and wrapped it in butter paper again and handed it to Ming Zhiyuan.
"Thank you, I, I won't go back, my family can no longer accommodate me..."
As the girl spoke, she began to cry silently again.
Ming Zhiyuan saw that she looked miserable, and it was not as simple as just quarreling with her family. He took out a piece of cloth and handed it to her, saying, "What is the girl hiding?"
The girl took the roll and saw that it was very neat, so she picked it up and wiped away the tears on her face, looking blankly at the dense forest at the foot of the mountain without answering.
"If there is anything that the girl doesn't want to say to outsiders, just pretend that I didn't ask. It's just a little girl like you. It's too dangerous to go out alone. If you're really bored and want to go out for a walk, you'd better talk to your family.
Say it well."
Seeing that the girl still didn't speak, Ming Zhiyuan asked again: "Did someone chase you just now? Was it a member of your family?"
The girl turned her head, thought for a while and said: "I don't know if anyone has found my trace. Do you have to go to Senlan City? Why not go to other places to see other places? Going to other places is also a journey. Why don't we go together?
?”
Ming Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, "I just want to go to Senlan City."
"Then...are you going to live in Senlan City?"
"That's not the case. It's just a few days of fun and we have to go."
"I see that your martial arts skills are extraordinary. What a dodgy move you made just now, and your quick skills. Why don't you take me with you when you leave, and we can travel around the Lingding Continent together."
Ming Zhiyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Girl, aren't you afraid that your family will worry?"
The girl's eyes suddenly turned cold, her eyes were in a daze, and she didn't know where she was looking. She just shook her head and said: "I don't have any family to worry about, only my family is afraid that I won't be able to exchange for the value they want."
Ming Zhiyuan looked at the girl in surprise and saw that the beautiful little face was covered with endless sorrow. Although she no longer shed tears, she looked even sadder than when she was still crying.
"Girl, this is the first time you and I met. I shouldn't have asked more questions. But if you really want to go out and relax, you have to tell your family, right?"
"Say something? If you say it, I will be sent to the sea of fire."
The girl shed tears again and wiped the corners of her eyes with a roll of cloth.
Ming Zhiyuan was a little helpless. If the girl refused to go home, even though he could still enter the city, his plan to find a reason to inquire about the news about Senlan City with her family would be in vain.
He thought for a while and said: "The mountains and roads here are high and dangerous, and there are countless wild animals in the mountains and forests. If the girl really wants to go out and relax, she cannot go to these places. It is safer to take the road out of the city."
The girl still shook her head, "If I could walk out of the city road, why would I have to climb mountains and ridges? They would have caught me long ago."
Ming Zhiyuan saw that this girl was very stubborn. He had a big responsibility, so he no longer bothered to persuade her. He stood up and took out a kettle and a pack of dried meat from the package and handed them to her.
"Girl, this is all I have with me. If you don't mind, take it. I'm going down the mountain to the city now, so I won't keep any more. Take care, girl."
The girl looked up at him, her beautiful eyes filled with tears, and she looked extremely distressed, "Do you have to go to Forest Blue City?"
Ming Zhiyuan did not pick up the kettle and dried meat, but put the things on the ground in front of her, nodded, and said: "Yes, since I want to visit every big city in Lingding Continent, and since I have arrived at the gate of Senlan City,
There is no reason not to go to the city."
After saying that, he hugged her fist again and said, "I'm going to say goodbye. Please be safe, girl."
After saying that, he turned around and walked down the mountain, never looking back again.
The girl picked up the kettle and paper bag on the ground and watched Ming Zhiyuan's figure gradually disappearing in the dense forest. She was full of curiosity about this person.
A man who was ordered by his master to travel across the Lingding Continent, traveling to the ends of the earth alone with a sword. Seeing how free and unrestrained he is, such a life must be very happy.
Suddenly, she shouted, "Young hero, please stay, please wait."
Ming Zhiyuan had already walked a long way down the mountain. When he heard her shout, he slowly walked back. Could it be that the little girl was afraid and finally wanted to go home?
When he walked back to the girl, he saw her running over quickly, took out two small golden watermelons and put them in his hands, saying: "Since you lost your money bag, I still have some money here, so I'll give it to you."
Let me temporarily resolve your predicament, and I hope you can travel across the entire Lingding Continent as soon as possible."
After saying that, he imitated Ming Zhiyuan's way of saying goodbye, hugged him with a fist, turned around, picked up the kettle and dried meat, and headed towards the mountains and forests.
Ming Zhiyuan looked at the two golden watermelons in his hands, and at the petite back of the girl, and for a moment he admired the woman's generosity and courage.
It's a pity that such a woman doesn't want to go home. Otherwise, with her generosity, her background must be high, and her family must know more about the Lord of Senlan City. When she inquired about some news about the Lord's Mansion,
, and will inevitably be more accurate and faster.
Shaking his head and sighing, Ming Zhiyuan put the two golden melons in his arms, turned around and walked down the mountain again.
There are indeed no copper coins on him. This is the currency commonly used in Lingding Continent. Gold, silver and copper coins are divided into equal parts according to their respective values.
When he arrived at the city gate tower, the guard sergeant collected the entrance fee at the gate as usual. He took out a gold melon and handed it to the guard sergeant. The sergeant took the gold melon, was startled and said, "Don't you have any copper coins?"
?”
Ming Zhiyuan shook his head, "We've run out of copper coins and silver coins, so this is all we have."
The sergeant looked at him hesitantly for a while, then looked him up and down, then took the pumpkin back and asked the leader to give change to Ming Zhiyuan from the cash box.
The leader sat behind a short table, took the gourd, and looked at Ming Zhiyuan. Then he opened the cash box and counted for a long time, and came out with a bag of copper coins.
The sergeant threw the copper coin bag to Ming Zhiyuan and said impatiently: "Go in."
Ming Zhiyuan didn't count the copper coins in the bag, he just took them and put them on his back before striding into the city.
Senlan City is worthy of being the only large basin city among the thousands of miles of high mountains and ridges. There are countless avenues in this city, and it is very lively. There are countless shops lined up on every street, and all kinds of signboards are densely packed.
Ming Zhiyuan stood at the entrance of a main street and looked inside. He saw a surging crowd, various hawking sounds, shouts, bargaining sounds, and various acrobats performing on the street, causing cheers.
He walked through several streets in a row, but he didn't see any street that was a little cooler.
After asking for directions from people on the roadside, I found out that this was only the outer city. If you wanted to enter the inner city, you had to cross several streets and pass through the inner city gate.
Ming Zhiyuan was too lazy to find his own way. When he saw a few helpers waiting for work on the street, he called a man over, grabbed a handful of copper coins and gave them to him, and asked him to lead him to the gate of the inner city.
The gang of idlers got a lot of copper coins for nothing, and all they had to do was to take someone to the inner city gate. They nodded and bowed with joy and led Ming Zhiyuan through the streets and alleys. They kept asking what Ming Zhiyuan was doing in the inner city?
If he still needs help, he can follow Ming Zhiyuan into the inner city to help him with some errands and comprador work.
Ming Zhiyuan didn't want to talk to him much, so he just asked him to take him to the inner city gate quickly.
Seeing that Ming Zhiyuan didn't want to say anything, the helper had no choice but to shut up and led Ming Zhiyuan through five or six streets before arriving at the inner city gate.
The inner city wall of Senlan City is more than ten feet higher than the outer city gate, and the people guarding the city gate look much more capable.
When the city gate guard saw that Ming Zhiyuan was about to enter the inner city, he asked Ming Zhiyuan to find a way out. Ming Zhiyuan couldn't find a way out. He was stunned for a long time and didn't know what to say. He was just a farmer outside Senlan City.
I stole a city entry voucher, but I didn't know that the entrance vouchers for the inner and outer cities of Senlan City were not the same.
The sergeant saw that Ming Zhiyuan had no way out and only had a certificate for the outer city, so he drove him away and said: "Let's go, let's go, there is no way out of the inner city and you can't enter. All the nobles live there, no one guarantees a way out, how can we let you guys
Can servants without names come in whenever they want?"
Ming Zhiyuan had no choice but to turn around and walk aside. The helper who was leading the way had not left yet. He was standing at a street intersection from a distance and looked at Ming Zhiyuan. Seeing that he was being driven away by the city guards, he nodded and trotted over to Ming Zhiyuan.
"Master, is there no way to lead? Can't we enter the city?"
Ming Zhiyuan looked at him, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said: "Do you have any idea?"
The gangster turned his head and glanced at the city gate guard, then pulled Ming Zhiyuan into a street, and then said: "The road guides are only available to the nobles in the inner city. Small servants like this rely on the sky for their livelihood."
Where can I find such valuable things? However, I have a way to get you into the inner city. I just need a few silver coins to help."
As he said that, the gang raised their eyebrows towards Ming Zhiyuan, with an expression that you know.
Ming Zhiyuan held the copper coin bag behind his back in front of the helper and shook it. There was a clanging sound of copper coins in the bag.
"As long as you can get me into the inner city, this bag will be yours."
The helper looked at the big bag of copper coins, almost drooling, and kept saying: "Enough, enough, so many copper coins, that's enough."
Ming Zhiyuan also imitated his behavior just now, raised his eyebrows and said: "Then what happens next...?"
The helper looked around again, lowered his voice and said: "Master, we are not entering from here. You come with me, and we enter the city from another place."
Ming Zhiyuan was not afraid of what tricks he would play, and followed these idle men for a long time, turning left and right, and came to a small restaurant selling wine and vegetables.
The gang seemed to be very familiar with the owner of the restaurant. They nodded to the owner without saying hello, and led Ming Zhiyuan into the restaurant and directly to the backyard of the restaurant.
Two waiters in the courtyard were killing chickens and fish. They were not surprised when they saw the gangster leading an outsider in. One of them nodded to him, dropped the knife in his hand, wiped his hands, turned around and walked into a house.
The assistant and Ming Zhiyuan also walked in. The assistant pushed open a row of cupboards against the back wall of the room, revealing a square secret passage in the back.
The gangster asked Ming Zhiyuan for a bag of copper coins. Ming Zhiyuan took it in his hand, opened the bag, and motioned for him to take it himself.
The guy came over, reached into the bag, grabbed a few handfuls, counted them casually, and said, "Go in."
Bang Xian took the lead and climbed into the secret passage. Ming Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment and then climbed in too.
As soon as he climbed in, he heard the sound of the waiter moving cupboards to hide the secret passage behind him.
This was a secret passage with only one direction. Ming Zhiyuan followed Bang Xian and climbed for about a stick of incense, and faintly saw some light in front of him.
Bang Xian stretched out his hand and knocked on the top three times, two short and one long. The sound of heavy objects moving immediately came from above, and the dark tunnel suddenly became much brighter. Bang Xian first climbed out along the newly opened tunnel.
Ming Zhiyuan also climbed out, and when he stood up, he saw that this place was also a place similar to a merchant's backyard warehouse. The room was filled with various sacks containing goods.
Several burly men were guarding here. While helping Ming Zhiyuan dust himself off, he said with a flattering smile: "Master, we have arrived in the inner city."
Ming Zhiyuan looked at him suspiciously, and the man quickly said: "I will never deceive you. If you don't believe me, just go out and take a look at the door of the shop. This is Jili Street in the inner city. This is a common business for us. We will never do it."
Deceiving guests."
Ming Zhiyuan held the bag of copper coins and said, "Take me out to see if it's the inner city, and I'll give it to you."
The helper bowed to the big men next to him and said, "Brother Liu, please wait a moment. I'll take the guests out of the gate and confirm that they are in the inner city. I'll be back soon. I won't be missing a few big brothers."
The big man named Liu looked at Ming Zhiyuan, then glanced at the gang of idlers, and just nodded without saying anything.
Bang Xian quickly led Ming Zhiyuan out of the warehouse, passed through a large courtyard, walked into the back door of a shop, and walked to the front hall. Ming Zhiyuan looked all the way and saw that this place turned out to be a shop selling rice and grains.
Bang Xian led Ming Zhiyuan out of the door of the shop, pointed to the tall city main building in the distance and said to Ming Zhiyuan: "Sir, look, the city main building is over there."
Ming Zhiyuan looked up and saw a towering tower standing behind other tall buildings. On the tower's horizontal plaque were written five golden characters, "Senlan City Main Building."
After looking at the distance between the city's main building and this shop, he knew that he was indeed in the inner city. He threw the bag of copper coins in his hand at the group of idlers and walked into the crowd of people on the street in a few steps without saying a word.