Chapter 113: The Fat Sheep

During the reign of the Zhou Emperor, he placed great importance on farmland, kept taxes light, and frequently granted tax exemptions, resulting in every household living in peace and prosperity.

He also opened up commercial routes from the east to the west, using the specialties of the nineteen provinces of Great Zhou to trade for the specialties of the East Sea and the Western Regions.

In this way, he drove even greater prosperity for Great Zhou.

It was also because of this that the Northern Frontier of Great Zhou could maintain so many Northern Defense troops to resist the barbarian tribes without damaging the economic foundation of Great Zhou.

The Western Regions are mostly deserts and basins with little farmland.

The Buddha Kingdom is like a large nation, while the surrounding areas are individual small nations, each with its own distinct local customs and languages.

To save himself the trouble, Lu Fang joined a camel caravan heading to the Buddha Kingdom.

No matter where one is, money can always solve a great many complicated matters. After handing over a sum of silver, Lu Fang did not need to worry about the journey or sand bandits; even food and daily necessities were meticulously provided by others.

Even in the middle of the desert.

During the scorching day, Lu Fang and the others lay inside a giant camel carriage, surrounded by blocks of ice to drive away the heat, and they could drink their fill of rich, iced fruit wine.

"Hiccup!"

Zhou Yi Yi took a large gulp of the iced fruit wine, her small face flushed as she let out a tipsy hiccup. She lay lazily on a bamboo mat, reached out, and grabbed a stack of desserts, saying:

"Little Junior Brother, take out some more of that dried exotic beast meat you brought out last time as a snack. Don't be so stingy."

Lu Fang smiled bitterly. This Fourth Senior Sister didn't look fat at all, yet she had an extraordinary appetite. Just in these past few days, she had developed a fondness for dried exotic beast meat.

Originally, he had been quite willing.

After all, having a Third-Stage Great Scholar as a bodyguard, what was a little dried exotic beast meat? But gradually, he realized something was wrong; she really could eat too much.

However, Lu Fang still took out ten or so catties of dried exotic beast meat and said, "Fourth Senior Sister, I don't have much left in my storage bag. Eat slowly."

"Got it." Zhou Yi Yi responded casually, picked up a small strip, and chewed it slowly in her mouth, saying indistinctly, "Little Junior Brother, this exotic beast meat gets more fragrant the more you chew it. It's truly strange."

Lu Ling laughed, "If Third Senior Sister likes it, eat more. I remember helping Brother dry quite a lot last time."

Xiao Tao also took a strip of dried meat and chewed it gently in her mouth, saying, "I don't know what Young Master was thinking, but this meat is actually quite delicious once dried."

On the road, they basically sat in the giant carriage.

Bored, they could only pass the time by eating and drinking a little.

The territory of Great Zhou is vast, and it was thanks to Lu Fang using the teleportation array a few times that they were able to reach the border of the Western Regions quickly; otherwise, it would have likely taken half a month to get here.

However, what pleasantly surprised Lu Fang was that over these past few days, with the popularization of the Great Zhou Literary Gazette, more people had read with a scholarly air, and the number of people on Mount Taixu had increased significantly, which in turn increased his own scholarly air.

Now, he had a full thirty-five wisps of scholarly air on him.

This time, Lu Fang did not use them recklessly, but waited to use them for ascending his realm, as the trial ground of the Buddha Kingdom required the Sixth Rank to enter.

Although Lu Fang was now at the Seventh Rank, Third Stage, and had a large amount of Myriad Dao Stones on him, he did not know how many Myriad Dao Stones and how much scholarly air would be consumed to enter the Sixth Rank.

To be on the safe side, his priority remained ascending to the Sixth Rank realm.

Lu Fang shut out all the noise, closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate using the Myriad Dao Stones. Even Zhou Yi Yi, a Third-Stage Great Scholar, frowned at the sight of him constantly using mid-grade Myriad Dao Stones to raise his cultivation base.

However, she didn't say anything.

For her, as long as she could eat and drink while protecting Lu Fang, that was enough.

"Young Master Fang, the team leader asked me to inform you that we will be resting and purchasing necessities in a city ahead. If you want to buy anything, you can walk around."

A voice sounded from outside the carriage.

"Understood."

Lu Ling responded and lifted the carriage curtain to look out. She saw the outline of a city not far away in the desert. The camel caravan did not enter the city as a whole; only a few people led camels into the city to purchase necessities.

She picked up the scroll and lifted her skirt, about to get off the carriage.

Xiao Tao said softly, "Young Lady, are you going into the city?"

Lu Ling hurriedly made a shushing gesture, but it was already too late. Lu Fang had already opened his eyes and asked suspiciously, "What are you going into the city for?"

Lu Ling said somewhat embarrassedly, "I want to go into the city and ask if anyone recognizes my mother. What if she lives here?"

Lu Fang nodded and said, "That works. Let's go into the city. It just so happens we can see if there are any delicious specialties."

"Delicious food!"

Zhou Yi Yi, who was still lying there chewing dried meat, sat up all at once, her eyes shining as she said, "I want to go too."

The four of them got off the carriage.

A middle-aged man with a big beard and a bamboo hat walked over, smiling, "Young Master Fang, are you heading into the city?"

This bearded man was named Zhao Ya. He was not from the Western Regions but was the leader of a caravan that ran between Great Zhou and the Western Regions, mainly transporting Great Zhou's unique silk and other items to the Buddha Kingdom for sale.

"Yes, just going into the city to look around."

Lu Fang smiled.

Zhao Ya nodded, "Young Master Fang, no need to rush. We likely won't set off for a long time. When the time comes, we can contact each other via sound-transmission talisman."

Lu Fang had paid a high price to join the caravan, otherwise, he wouldn't have received such good treatment, so Zhao Ya was quite polite to him.

At the very back of the camel caravan were individual merchants. These merchants had joined the caravan temporarily; for the sake of safety and other considerations, joining a caravan would save a lot of trouble.

These merchants included both those from Great Zhou and those from the Western Regions.

Among them, a middle-aged man with a scar and distinct Western Regions features moved his lips and transmitted his voice, "Found four big fat sheep."

The bald man sitting next to him subconsciously looked at Lu Fang's group and moved his lips:

"They look like wealthy young masters from Great Zhou, here in the Western Regions to play. Except for that one called Fang Lu who is a Seventh-Rank, Third-Stage scholar, the others have very average martial strength."

The scarred middle-aged man said, "These four fat sheep are unlucky to have joined this caravan; they deserve to be slaughtered."

The bald man grinned, took out a piece of dry food, bit into it hard, and said, "When the time comes, the two of us will join forces to take care of these four fat sheep first. I imagine we can get quite a bit of silver."

"Hahaha..." The scarred middle-aged man licked his lips and said, "These three women have truly incredible looks; they will definitely sell for a high price."

Just at this moment.

Zhao Ya shouted loudly, "Further ahead, there will be a larger desert area. Everyone must bring enough water and food. In case of an emergency, you can use them. Also, sand bandits appear in this area."

"If you encounter sand bandits, you must remember not to panic and not to run around. We will communicate with them." ===== CHAPTER 114 =====