Chapter 198 Guhu Town (2)

"Can you cook for yourself?"

"Everyone in my family knows how to cook." The farmer paused, then said nonchalantly, "But the kid likes my cooking better."

This should be a sign of pride. Luo Xuanyi judged this implicit and restrained expression and tried to cater to it: "Wow, that's amazing, I can't even cook."

The wrinkles on the farmer's face moved, but he showed no emotion. He just slowed down his pace slightly.

"Sister, you can't cook. How are you going to eat when you're out by yourself? You'd better learn a few skills, at least to support yourself. Otherwise, when you have no food to eat, you'll just be peeling the melon and it'll be gone." He spoke like an elder giving advice, and his description was very vivid. It was probably because he had seen a similar scene with his own eyes.

The boundary between the town and the rice fields is a stream flowing down from the mountain. At this moment, Luo Xuanyi and the farmer were chatting as they walked on the stone bridge over the stream.

"My knife skills are pretty good," Luo Xuanyi defended. "Besides, I'm not picky about food. I eat everything and I don't even peel it."

The farmer chuckled and walked across the bridge with Luo Xuanyi. At one end of the bridge was the town's outermost three-tiered bamboo fence. It was very tall, each bamboo sharpened to a point, densely packed into the ground. However, there was no one guarding the archway leading into the town.

Luo Xuanyi felt it was time to ask more in-depth questions, so she pointed at the unmanned archway and asked, "The town is so tightly guarded, why is there no one guarding the gate?"

The farmer was no longer so tight-lipped. He glanced at the bamboo fence and said, "This isn't to keep people out. It's a barrier to prevent monsters from rushing down the mountain and into the town."

Another new word. Luo Xuanyi muttered to herself, realizing she seemed a bit addicted to knowledge, wanting to learn even the most insignificant words. After a moment's struggle, she decided to ask, and suddenly noticed the farmer had stopped.

"What's wrong?"

The farmer didn't answer Luo Xuanyi immediately. Instead, he quickly walked to the bamboo fence, took a closer look, and then turned back to Luo Xuanyi and said, "This row of bamboos has cracks. I guess they were attacked by a small monster in the middle of the night. They need to be replaced. I'm going to report this to Ma Erniang."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What did you want to ask me when you stopped me earlier?"

What does that mean? Does he doubt my motive for coming to this small town? This thought immediately crossed Luo Xuanyi's mind, but after carefully observing the farmer's sincere eyes, she realized that the farmer wanted to clear up her doubts before parting ways with her.

Luo Xuanyi felt a sense of unease as to why he wasn't thinking, but this was a good opportunity, so she spoke frankly, "Look, I'm a casual cultivator who's heard that Guhu Town is rich in low-level herbs and monster bones. I just don't know how these herbs and bones are traded here. Big Brother, do you know where I can buy them in bulk?"

The farmer's breath changed with Luo Xuanyi's words. Luo Xuanyi noticed that he frowned slightly when he heard the word "casual cultivator", but in the end, his breathing slowed down.

"Then you can come with me to Ma Er's mother's house. She is in charge of this area." The farmer immediately took a step and quickened his pace towards the central street of the town.

Luo Xuanyi followed easily and asked doubtfully, "Ma Erniang...are you the manager of some trading house? I need to buy a large amount of herbs and animal bones, and I'm afraid one person alone won't be able to get enough."

"There's no point in looking for a trading house. They buy the goods in bulk and don't sell them to outsiders." The farmer shook his head. His steps were fast, but his breathing was not disordered at all.

Guhu Town gradually appeared in front of Luo Xuanyi as the farmers walked. Behind the bamboo fence was a circle of flat land with sturdy bamboo sheds built and a few horses tied here and there; behind that were three layers of fences, and then people began to live.

The houses were unlike those in the ordinary villages Luo Xuanyi had overlooked. There were no jumbled, dilapidated mud houses of varying sizes. Instead, they were all sturdy-looking mud brick houses, covered with tiles and a dense layer of grass. Every house had a bamboo wall, and through the cracks one could see chickens and ducks.

There are ditches dug on the ground, which should be used for drainage when it rains, and they are also neatly arranged.

Further in, there were no more barricades, and the houses were even closer together. A few men came and nodded to the old farmer, as if to say hello. Strangely enough, they were all strong, well-trained men, though some had lost an arm for half a year, and some had a wooden leg.

Luo Xuanyi took in everything, and she vaguely felt that the residents here were a little special.

The streets, residential buildings, and countless alleyways all looked identical, creating a sense of spatial dislocation. The astonishing town planning shocked Luo Xuanyi, and she couldn't help but wonder who had drawn up this plan.

No matter who planned the town, the planners obviously did not build it as a residential area, and the people living here do not seem like ordinary residents.

Soldier. Luo Xuanyi finally remembered the word.

As if unaware of Luo Xuanyi's wandering thoughts, the farmer had already turned into an alley, turned left twice in succession, walked in again, and then turned right again. He strode inward, finally emerging from the narrow plywood path and arriving at a large, open courtyard. The tops of two banyan trees peeked out from the top of the courtyard wall.

The farmer knocked on the door three times in a regular pattern and called out, "Second Mother, there's a crack half an arm's width in the left-hand barricade of the entrance."

After a while, footsteps echoed through the courtyard, heavy and fast. A muffled thud echoed from behind the gate as someone unbolted the door, which sounded heavy. The door opened, and a giant figure, hunched over to prevent his head from hitting the top frame, emerged. It was a man.

Second Mother? Luo Xuanyi was puzzled.

The man had a similar gloomy aura as the farmer. He looked at the farmer, then at Luo Xuanyi: "Uncle Tian, who is this?"

Tian Liu, known as Uncle Tian, finally remembered to introduce the two people and said awkwardly, "This is, uh, Sister Xuanyi, who's here to buy spiritual herbs and bone materials. Sister, this is Ma San, also known as Jiaju."

Ma Jiaju didn't exchange any pleasantries with Luo Xuanyi. He just stepped aside and made way for the door. Luo Xuanyi followed Tian Liu into the yard.

Two updates first~ Sister Yi has a big flaw in common sense hh Also, her face is actually a bit gloomy but harmless. I'll see if I can make an avatar when I have time.