Chapter 36: Secret Lookout

Uncle Rong Kui lowered his head, hiding his shocked eyes.

With that probing remark just now, Uncle Rong Kui confirmed one more thing: Qiao Ziang was also killed by this kid!

"Hey—" Xu Yuan had already reached the staircase, when Uncle Rong Kui hurriedly called out to him again: "The Demon-Suppression Army, are you going or not? Give me a definite answer."

Xu Yuan did not hesitate: "I'm not going!"

"Not going?" Uncle Rong Kui was stunned; was he really giving up such a great opportunity?

"Don't listen to the nonsense spreading outside. It's hard to get by in the Demon-Suppression Army, but if someone high up is protecting you, that's a different matter. Your second uncle now holds an official position. He has no son, so he must be grooming you as his successor. In the future, you'll at least reach the rank of Commander-in-Chief like your second uncle..."

Xu Yuan still shook his head: "I'm not going."

"A Commander-in-Chief is granted five hundred mu of fertile land and fifteen hundred mu of medium land, with an annual salary of three hundred taels of silver!" Uncle Rong Kui played his trump card; he had never in his life met someone who truly didn't love money.

Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then sighed: "I really cannot go. Please thank my second uncle for his kindness on my behalf, Uncle Rong Kui."

Xu Yuan went upstairs, still sleeping in Zhao Yong's room. Lying on his back on the bed with his hands under his head, he gazed at the ceiling and thought silently:

What will happen to my stepmother after I leave?

Xu Yuan did not know the details of the family matters; from childhood to adulthood, his father had never spoken to Xu Yuan about such things.

But Xu Yuan could always feel that those matters were no trivial concern.

For instance, on certain specific festivals, his father would always become extremely nervous.

Secretly making many preparations in advance.

If nothing happened, during the following few days, his father would be very happy; whatever toy or snack Xu Yuan wanted, as long as he asked, his father would buy it with a smile.

But Xu Yuan also vaguely remembered that in the year he was seven, his father lay in bed for a full three months.

Thick cotton curtains tightly blocked the doors and windows, daring not to let in a single ray of sunlight.

What impressed Xu Yuan most was that the smell of medicine filling the room could not overpower the scent of blood on his father's body; his father's coughing in the middle of the night often woke up the neighbors on both sides.

Uncle Rong Kui failed to persuade Xu Yuan. He drank a few cups of wine alone downstairs, thought for a moment, decided not to eat, got up, leaned over the back door to take a look, then opened a crack in the door and slipped into the darkness.

Seeing Uncle Rong Kui heading toward the south end of the street from upstairs, Xu Yuan couldn't help but chuckle silently: "Truly a lustful ghost."

Night travel was rarely prohibited today, but going out at night still carried great risks.

Uncle Rong Kui entered the door in the dark and heard a joyful, coquettish laugh; then a pair of soft, warm hands slipped through his collar, expertly sliding down and taking control.

Uncle Rong Kui forcibly suppressed his arousal and said: "I have serious business."

"Use the channel that risks your life to help me send a letter back."

Widow Yang lit a lamp, and Uncle Rong Kui wrote the letter and handed it to her.

Widow Yang then smiled: "Serious business done, now we should do something fun."

Uncle Rong Kui naturally exerted himself fully; leaving early tomorrow morning, he feared they might never meet again.

Outside the window, Xu Yuan quietly withdrew.

Uncle Rong Kui was very lustful, but when Xu Yuan pressed a small knife against his neck during the day, he could also see that he feared death even more.

Unless absolutely necessary, he would not run out at midnight to meet Widow Yang.

Widow Yang was a secret lookout for the Demon-Suppression Army.

The Demon-Suppression Army controlled many such lowest-level secret lookouts.

Especially in areas like Qihetai Town, where official power could not reach directly, they were very effective.

The Demon-Suppression Army used them to collect and transmit information.

Normally they had no specific tasks, each living their own life; the Demon-Suppression Army provided certain protection and a small subsidy of silver.

Even if such a secret lookout was exposed or eliminated, it caused no loss to the Demon-Suppression Army.

They formed a vast grassroots network capable of gathering large amounts of intelligence for the Demon-Suppression Army.

Moreover, the network they formed made transmitting information extremely convenient.

Xu Yuan returned to the Zhao Family Fur Shop and truly went to sleep.

Uncle Rong Kui was so eager to transmit a message to the second uncle, even unable to wait until tomorrow to reach the county town; Xu Yuan guessed that the second uncle's purpose in "recruiting" him this time was probably not pure.

"Ooh ooh ooh—"

Ah Hua flapped its wings, jumped onto the roof, and let out the first loud crow of the day.

Uncle Rong Kui, with two large bags under his eyes, stumbled out of Widow Yang's room, fastening his belt as he walked and buttoning the frog buttons on his collar.

When he reached the entrance of the Zhao Family Fur Shop, Xu Yuan happened to be opening the door to come out.

"We're leaving now," Xu Yuan said: "Go to Xijie to buy some food."

At the west end of Xijie there was a breakfast stall; father and son pushed a cart with a large stove on it, baking cakes inside the furnace at two cash each, providing free hot water and small pickles. Many merchant caravans passing through the town would eat breakfast here.

The two bought four cakes, finished them, then negotiated with a merchant caravan: ten cash for two people to ride their cart to the county town.

The merchant caravan's cart was loaded with goods; the two climbed up and sat on top of the cargo.

There was no comfort to speak of, and they had to be careful not to fall off. But the cheap price was better than walking back themselves.

The old horse pulling the cart was not fast; the cart swayed back and forth. The two simply lay down on top of the cart, and Uncle Rong Kui chatted with Xu Yuan intermittently.

This fat man's mouth just couldn't stay quiet.

"Being a soldier and eating the emperor's grain is indeed not a good path. Hundreds of years ago, ordinary soldiers couldn't even receive full pay. Those army commanders who drank the soldiers' blood were conscienceless; if two-tenths of the pay remained after they took their cut, that was already good."

"Actually, our Demon-Suppression Army is the same, but we are not camp soldiers; we are legitimate Imperial Guard! Our treatment is much better than those ordinary soldiers."

Becoming a Squad Leader gives twenty taels, a General Squad Leader fifty taels, a Hundred Households Commander one hundred fifty taels, and starting from Hundred Households Commander, land grants are given."

"Here in Southern Jiaozhi, all grants are actual; in newly conquered territories, a large number of the original local gentry and clans were killed, leaving behind only high-quality irrigated fields."

Xu Yuan had a dogtail grass in his mouth, ignoring everything Uncle Rong Kui said. After the sun rose, the sunlight was so piercing it made one unable to open his eyes, so Xu Yuan pulled the thick felt hat down over his face.

Uncle Rong Kui was still rambling on about the various benefits of the "Demon-Extermination Army" when he suddenly heard a snoring sound, leaving him with a face full of helplessness.

On the forty-li official road, the carriage moved slightly faster than people walking; by mid-afternoon, Xu Yuan finally saw the low, dilapidated walls of Shanhe County.

This was no "strategic point contested by all military strategists"; the walls were merely to guard against banditry. Not to mention the county magistrate, even the current Son of Heaven had no mind to repair them.

Arriving outside the city gate, Xu Yuan and Uncle Rong Kui jumped down from the carriage and parted ways with the merchant caravan.

The two joined a queue on one side; paying the head tax allowed entry, while the merchant caravan needed a detailed calculation of commercial taxes.

Just by looking at the merchant caravan owner's frowning face, one could tell the tax rate was not low.

After Xu Yuan paid his money, he saw the carriage drivers of the merchant caravan shouting at the beasts, driving the convoy toward the left side beneath the city wall to clear the space at the gate; clearly, they could not enter the city today.

A chapter that's even slightly wild gets banned...

Sigh, continuing to beg for monthly tickets.





(End of this chapter)