Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow

The mottled yellow land spreads out in the blue sky, peaceful and far away.

Shen Qing lay on the simple cart board and looked at the sky, speechless, his body shaking with the bumps of the donkey cart.

Beside him, there was a group of farmers in coarse cloth clothes, following the donkey cart left and right.

The dry yellow soil was blown up under their feet and floated to the side.

"Sir, you look like a city person, which is really rare here!" Li Dazhuang's rough voice broke the silence around him first, and he asked curiously: "Where did you come from, sir?"

Others couldn't help but prick up their ears, and were very curious about Shen Qing's origins.

Shen Qing glanced at these weathered men and said sparingly: "Kyoto."

"Where is Kyoto?"

"It's a very far place, three thousand miles away."

"Wow, it's really far away."

Others thought Shen Qing was bragging and didn't believe it.

In their minds, a pair of legs would be broken after walking over 3,000 miles.

Master Li from the next village, even if he had practiced martial arts, did not dare to say that he could walk such a long distance.

Shen Qing did not mean to explain.

Nowadays, demons are rampant in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and his cultivation has not yet fully recovered. It is very dangerous for him to be alone in the wilderness.

So just now, after comprehensive consideration, he decided to go back with these people, so that there would be some protection.

As long as he settles down and gives him one night, his injuries will be almost recovered, and it will be safer for him to leave at that time.

After all, these people are just casual acquaintances, and there is no need to communicate too much.

As the donkey cart continued to move forward, the scenery on both sides gradually changed, and there were more trees and traces of human activities.

Not long after, they finally came to a village in a valley.

The village is not big, with a dozen or so households scattered around.

The old house built of loess is almost integrated with the hillside. If it weren't for the rising smoke, it would be difficult to recognize that there is a village hidden here from a distance.

"Oh, look, it's Chen Gouzi, Li Dazhuang and others who are back!"

At the entrance of the village, a little girl with pigtails shouted excitedly, her little hand tightly grasping a piece of potato, her eyes full of joy.

"Oh, it's true! You come back so early today?"

The lady next to her responded with a smile, and she didn't stop sewing, but her eyes couldn't help but look in the direction of the donkey cart.

"Huh~"

The donkey cart stopped at the entrance of the village. Chen Gouzi walked out from among the people and shouted, "Auntie Li, I want to talk to the village chief about something?"

Auntie Li glanced at Shen Qing behind Chen Gouzi and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

"I picked it up on the road. Is the village chief in the house now?"

"I just saw him coming back from the field, but I didn't see him go out. He should still be in the house."

"Okay, I'll go see him." Chen Gouzi told the other people behind him, "You all wait here for a while, I'll be back soon."

After saying that, he hurried away without waiting for Li Dazhuang and the others to say anything.

After he left, Shen Qing sat up on the cart with a little strength.

"You can sit up?" Li Dake looked at Shen Qing in surprise.

Shen Qing said calmly, "Yeah."

He looked around Shangao Village.

This village is very poor to some extent, even poorer than Hongshan Village where he lived back then.

At least Hongshan Village relies on the mountains for food and water for water, so there is still some hope.

But the mountains here are barren, and even water sources are extremely scarce.

Shen Qing felt uncomfortable and difficult to adapt after staying here for a while.

Li Dazhuang smiled and said, "That's great. There are many fun places in our village. When you recover, you can go and experience them yourself."

Shen Qing responded with a smile and nodded.

At the other end, in an earthen brick house in Shangao Village.

Chen Gouzi walked to the door of the village head's house.

The door hinge on the mottled wooden door made a slight sound.

The village head came out of the house and sat on the threshold safely.

After years of grinding, this threshold has become extremely round, with a slight concave in the middle, just right for sitting down.

When the village head saw Chen Gouzi coming over, he pretended not to see him and bowed his head to knock the pipe in his hand.

Then, he held the dry pipe in his hand, and with his other hand, he twisted a wisp of golden tobacco from the small cloth bag beside him and filled the tobacco into the pipe.

After completing all this, the village head gently took out a fire starter from his pocket and blew it gently.

Flames jumped out of it.

The village head moved the pipe over and lit the tobacco in the pipe.

He took two quick puffs, waited until the tobacco was all burned before putting the fire starter away, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.

After a while, he slowly exhaled.

In the smoke, his face looked more peaceful.

The village head said: "It's Gouzi, come in and sit for a while, it's windy outside."

His voice was low, like a jar of aged wine.

Chen Gouzi took two steps forward and said anxiously, "No, I want to tell you something. We found a stranger outside today. His identity seems a little different, so we brought him back. We need your advice."

Li Zheng frowned slightly when he heard this, and his expression became serious. He temporarily put aside the dry pipe in his hand and said, "Gouzi, what's going on? Please explain it to us clearly."

"Here's the thing."

Chen Gouzi snatched the other party's tripod from Er Dan, and when they took the initiative to apologize, they finally told the story of how they returned to the village together, without any concealment.

After listening, Li Zheng took another long puff of cigarette, nodded in approval and said: "You are doing this reasonably. I heard that there is a lot of chaos outside, and we ordinary people are not very capable. If we cause trouble, we shouldn't. Man, maybe the whole village is in danger."

"Where do you think we..." Chen Gouzi asked.

"Now that he's here, let's bring him in. It's better to have many friends than many enemies." Rimasa said decisively.

"Okay. I'll go over and let them in."

"Well, send it to me first for a look?"

"Got it."

Chen Gouzi turned around and ran away, and Li Zheng shouted: "Tomorrow Wong Tai Sin will send his subordinates to come to us to offer sacrifices. This time the lot will be drawn for your Ni'er, so be prepared."

Chen Gouzi paused, then walked toward the village gate as if he hadn't heard anything.

When he reached the entrance of the village, Li Dazhuang took a step forward and asked, "What do you say?"

"Li Zheng said he wanted to see you first." Chen Gouzi stepped forward and raised his chin towards Shen Qing and said.

Shen Qing straightened her back and said calmly: "Okay, let me ask some big brothers to lead the way." (End of Chapter)