Si Cheng watched with amusement as Wu Yong wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead. He really hadn't noticed that Wu Yong had such a funny side.

"Fortunately, we came across this village. The other people here are relatively law-abiding. If they had even the slightest bad intention, it would have been impossible for us to escape unscathed. We were too reckless this time. In the future, we should not go into unfamiliar villages to trade." Si Cheng was also a little scared of his reckless actions. Even with his superhuman strength and some martial arts skills, it would have been difficult for him to escape from this village unscathed, let alone with several villagers who were powerless to even kill a chicken.

"We must have let our guard down because we encountered several groups of soldiers along the way. Nobody expected that someone would be so audacious as to try to commit a crime right under the noses of these soldiers." Wu Yong was really careless, because the closer they got to the city, the more people they saw coming and going, giving them the feeling that the city was about to return to its former state of order.

"Forget about that, let's hurry to that village, exchange those thirty catties of salt, and then head back." Si Cheng carried the same heavy load as them this time, because the village elders had repeatedly told him that he didn't need to do extra work just because of his strength, as that would create dependency among the villagers.

Neither the Gao nor the Gu couples had any objections. They had only asked Si Cheng and his wife to accompany them because of their families. Fortunately, everything turned out alright. If anything had happened, their families would have felt incredibly guilty.

Thinking about the other possible outcome, the two couples dared not delay any longer and began to hurry on their way.

"Hey, it's you again? You've already exchanged the food so quickly." As soon as they entered the village, they saw the soldiers they had met on the road earlier, and they greeted Si Cheng and his men warmly.

"So that's where you came from! What a coincidence! We had arranged to exchange some salt with this village, and we were just heading back when we decided to do so." As soon as Wu Yong finished speaking, he saw the villagers he had arranged to meet and waved to them.

"I thought you wouldn't even bother trading with us because you looked down on our little things." The villager who ran over was familiar with Wu Yong because he used to live with them before being assigned to this new village. They had traveled together to carry supplies before.

"Since we promised you, we'll definitely keep it for you. Take your things out with you; we'll go back after we exchange them here." This time, Wu Yong had learned his lesson and didn't want to go into the village to rummage for things anymore.

The other party didn't mind, assuming they were in a hurry to get on their way, and cooperated by going back to the village to bring the things out.

"Your salt is really good quality, and it even comes in packaging. Was this stored away before?" The soldiers who had led the team earlier also came over to join in the fun, and Old Ma, who had been leading the group, even looked through their salt.

Si Cheng made no secret of it to the soldiers, saying, "These are the ones we just brought back from the neighboring province of S. It took some effort."

"You guys are pretty brave. The journey must have been rough."

Hearing Lao Ma's certain words, Si Cheng glanced at him and said, "It really wasn't smooth sailing. You must have suffered a lot on your journey south."

"You wouldn't believe it, we've faced almost as many hardships as Tang Sanzang on his journey. We've encountered all sorts of dangers, and the most unbearable thing was not finding water for several days. A third of our group is gone by the time we get here." A quick-witted soldier summed up the hardships of the journey in just a few words.

"Is the drought in the north that bad right now? Where did all these come from?" Wu Yong couldn't help but ask, thinking of his former colleagues.

When the soldier told him the location, he was disappointed; it wasn't the direction his friends had gone.

"Wu Yong, is this enough?" At this moment, the people who went back to fetch the grain had already brought it over.

Wu Yong did not step forward to check, but instead took the person to the Gao and Gu families to check, saying, "It's their salt, you can just exchange it with them directly."

The two sides quickly handed over the numbers, and seeing that it was still early, Si Cheng and the others wanted to get back to the county town as soon as possible.

"By the way, my name is Ma Tao, and I'm the leader of this small team." Seeing that they were about to leave, Old Ma thought it was fate that they had met twice, so he introduced himself first.

"I am Si Cheng, and we are villagers from Pinghe Village." Si Cheng introduced the people next to him, but he did not invite Lao Ma and the others to Pinghe Village, since now was not a good time to be hospitable.

"You all go ahead with your work. We need to hurry back while it's still early." After saying goodbye to everyone present, Si Cheng and the others led the ox back home.

“Pinghe Village, just hearing the name of the village, it should be a nice place, but shouldn’t the villagers be very honest and kind, and invite us to visit? Why don’t they say anything?” Old Ma was still wondering, after all, according to the national situation, he would introduce himself first, so why is it so difficult to casually mention 'come visit sometime'?

"Boss, don't you see the situation now? Who has the mind to entertain guests?"

"Get lost. I just liked them and wanted to get to know them better, but who knew they wouldn't give me a chance."

"Boss, have you forgotten why we came here? We're here to rob resources from their village. Do you think they'd welcome us?" The soldier put himself in their shoes; no one would be happy if someone forced themselves to join their big family.

"Sigh, I never thought we'd be so unpopular now. Some villages turn around and run away like they've seen a ghost when they see us," Old Ma said, mocking himself. "We've really reached the point where even dogs dislike us."

"As the leader suggested, we should find more deserted villages. That way, there will be fewer conflicts, and we can carry out our work more easily." He was really afraid of these local villagers. Perhaps because he didn't get along well with the people who had come to the countryside before, they were particularly resistant to these outsiders. So, he didn't give them a friendly look when he saw them.

"It's not as simple as it sounds. We've searched for so long and only found a few deserted villages, and the land there isn't much to accommodate many people. Look at how many days we've spent here, and we've only managed to accommodate this many people. If we really can't accommodate everyone, then we'll have to lead everyone to continue searching for other places."

In fact, Ma Tao and his colleagues knew that some villages still had a lot of vacant land, but they just refused to accept these people. They were still trying to figure out how to persuade the locals, and even sent out the more eloquent soldiers from the army, but with little success.