Chapter 9: Hu Yang Mountain Swamp

One more step forward, and the kid would be a meat patty. The child grabbed the rattle on the ground, coughing uncontrollably from the dust raised by the horse's hooves. The parent finally squeezed out of the crowd, picked up the child, and ran without looking back.

People on the street blamed them one after another, but the white-robed passenger ignored them, looking up at Uncle Hao.

Uncle Hao had no expression.

Liu Baobao was beside He Lingchuan, coughing hard: "Who are you, don't you know that galloping in the busy city will be whipped?"

"Who will punish?" The young man in white robes laughed, not hiding his contempt, "You?"

That person's gaze was like a needle, Liu Baobao's skin felt numb, and he couldn't help but shrink his head: "Heishuicheng has strict laws, try running a few more steps?"

After saying this, the young man ignored him and just shifted his gaze to He Lingchuan, as if he knew he was the mastermind.

He Lingchuan smiled at him, but the other party stared carefully for two glances before urging the horse to move on again.

The gray-clothed guest behind him never looked up.

After such a small disturbance, the speed of the two riders slowed down, and the men, women, and children on the street sent them off until they disappeared at the corner of the street.

That direction is heading northeast out of the city.

Uncle Hao said at the right time: "Both of them have cultivation, especially the gray-robed guest behind, I can't see his depth. That white-robed kid might be from a military background."

He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised.

Uncle Hao once slaughtered more than a dozen wealthy households in the capital in one night, and later was enlightened by a Taoist, practiced magic, eliminated hostility, and his cultivation was profound, enjoying the status of a senior guest in the He family. He said the gray-robed guest was capable, and He Lingchuan naturally had no reason to doubt.

These two don't look like ordinary merchants, what are they doing in the border area? At this moment, a few more people came to the center of the street, and they were the patrol guards of Heishuicheng. They were also alarmed and asked the surrounding masses: "What happened?"

"Two people galloped through the city, almost stepping on a child!" The crowd talked all at once, and the general idea was like this.

Only two? Then it wasn't the Young Master of the He family, that's good. The patrol guard was even angrier. He said not to gallop, but you insisted on it. Isn't this contempt for the law? "Must be severely punished!"

He Lingchuan pointed the way for them: "Those two went to the northeast gate."

The patrol captain thanked him and led his men to chase after them.

After they left, Uncle Hao said: "A few patrol guards can't keep them."

"I know, just throwing stones to ask the way." He Lingchuan shrugged, "This is Heishuicheng, can they fight in broad daylight?"

However, the patrol captain returned in about a quarter of an hour, empty-handed.

He Lingchuan was not surprised by such a result, but had to ask for the reason: "What about those two?"

The patrol captain didn't expect him to wait here for the result, and was a bit embarrassed. He coughed before saying: "Those two are subordinates of the Great General of the North, the Governor of Xunzhou, and came to Heishuicheng on official business, and showed the fire seal official document."

He Lingchuan said "Oh" for a long time.

He knew that the patrol captain was talking about the Great General of the North, Nian Zanli, who led the Governor of Xunzhou, which is the head of military and political affairs, and his power was much greater than that of the Prefect of Jinzhou.

Below the state is the county. If Prefect He Chunhua of Qiansong County saw this Great General of the North, he would also respectfully call himself "subordinate."

A few patrol guards left quickly, and Liu Baobao also looked a bit uneasy: "Those two shouldn't remember me, right?"

"What a big deal, is it worth people worrying about?" He Lingchuan comforted him without sincerity, but thought in his heart, what is the Governor of Xunzhou sending his subordinates to Heishuicheng for? At this moment, two claps of thunder rolled across the sky, "Booming" and exploding, making people's ears ache, and also making the dogs on the street bark a few times, tucking their tails and running away.

The people of Heishuicheng are used to it, doing whatever they should do.

He Lingchuan looked west, and found that the wind and clouds were surging on the horizon, a large piece of thick dark clouds.

The storm is coming.

"The storm is coming." The young man in white robes looked at the sky and then at the gray-clothed man, "Look, is this place okay?"

The two of them were in the Hulu Mountain.

It has seven peaks, three of which are bare, as rough as a bald man.

Although it looks unremarkable, the Hulu Mountain is actually rich in rats, rabbits, foxes, and deer, and sometimes people can hunt wild boars and gray wolves.

The two stood on a beast path, having already checked several mountain caves nearby.

"Although the water and soil are not rich and beautiful, there are many living creatures, and the quantity is barely enough." The gray-clothed man had a purple-gold pestle in his hand, with a monster with bulging eyes and a big mouth carved on the top, with four hanging rings under its feet, and the end sharpened like an awl, flashing with metallic luster.

With a shake in the wind, the pestle, which was more than a foot long, became a seven-foot purple-gold staff.

The gray-clothed man stuck the purple-gold staff into the soil for more than a foot, until it stood firm on its own, before asking the young man in white robes for a green copper coin and stuffing it into the beast's mouth.

The beast's mouth closed on its own, biting the copper coin, and the red light in its eyes grew stronger.

The gray-clothed man began to shake the top of the pestle.

The hanging rings under the monster's feet immediately rang "ding-ling-dang-lang." At first, it was messy, but after listening for a while, one could find that it was circulating repeatedly according to a specific rhythm.

And each time it was clearer and louder than the last, and... spread further! The insect chirping and bird calls that originally filled the mountain forest all disappeared, only the bell sound echoed, lingering for a long time.

The young man in white robes took a long breath.

With his concentration to listen to this bell sound, after a while, he also felt dizzy, heart palpitations, and tinnitus, so he had to disperse his concentration and stare at the distant mountain peak.

Distracting his attention, he could still endure it.

It was about the time of a cup of tea, and there was a "clatter" behind the two, and an angry voice came:

"Don't shake it, stop, don't ring it anymore!"

The purple-gold pestle stopped at the sound, and the two looked back, seeing a Hu Yang tree shaking its branches and leaves, rustling, and the sound seemed to come from the leaves.

The Hu Yang tree is winding and vigorous, having experienced wind and frost, and looks at least three or four hundred years old, which is the largest tree nearby.

The young man in white robes spoke first: "Are you the local Mountain Swamp?"

"I am the Mountain Swamp of Hu Yang Mountain, appointed two hundred years ago. Now it is called Hulu Mountain." The voice of the Hu Yang Mountain Swamp was very strange, like the vibration of countless leaves rubbing against each other. At first, it was a bit blurry, but the more it spoke, the smoother it became.

It was as if someone who hadn't opened their mouth for many years had re-adapted to the ability to speak. "I have been sleeping for a long time, and even the local officials can't wake me up. Who are you?"

It sensed the copper coin held by the beast head of the purple-gold pestle and was very surprised: "Eh, this is the social order of the new dynasty, it seems to be called... what is it, Yuan?"

"Yuan coin." The gray-robed man patted the beast head, and the green copper coin fell into his palm. If there were idle people watching, they would see that this thing was slightly larger than an ordinary copper coin, with a hole at the top to facilitate tying a rope.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 10 =====

"Yuan money." The gray-robed man patted the beast's head, and that green copper coin fell into his palm. If any idler were watching, they would see that this object was slightly larger than an ordinary copper coin, with a hole at the top to make it easy to tie a string through.

(End of chapter)