Chapter 24 Encounter in the Heavy Rain
Shopkeeper Hu immediately paid the two men a thousand taels of silver notes, and exchanged ten taels for small change of silver and copper coins as they requested.
Zhao Liya and Hu Ling thanked them and got up to leave.
"That's great! We sold it for a good price! Aya, you're awesome!" Hu Ling grinned and gave a thumbs up.
Zhao Liya smiled and said, "Now we have a lot more freedom!"
"yes!"
One thousand taels of silver may seem like a lot, but a considerable portion of it has to be spent immediately.
The two of them also had to buy two Ganoderma lucidum to prepare for the task, and they planned to buy ones that were between 40 and 60 years old.
They first found a drugstore, but it was dishonest and tried to rip them off because they knew nothing. They asked for one thousand taels for each plant. Finally, they expressed their sympathy for them and gave them a discount, charging only four hundred taels for each plant.
The two of them turned around and left at the same time without saying a word.
I finally found a reasonably reliable shop and bought two plants, about fifty years old, for two hundred and fifty taels, about the same price the guy at Yuqingtang had quoted.
If selling and buying were not arousing suspicion, they would simply buy from Yuqingtang.
After buying the things, the two hired a car to return to Gaolian County the next morning and did not buy anything else in the provincial capital.
It’s inconvenient to get it because it’s too far away. You can still buy it in the county town.
Unexpectedly, our luck was not very good. There was a landslide halfway through, and the entire road was blocked. We couldn't get through. If we waited, who knows how long we would have to wait.
The hired driver refused to wait here with them, and they didn't want to go back to the provincial capital, so they paid half of the fare here. The driver turned around and went back to the provincial capital. The two of them decided to cross the mountains and bypass this section, and then hire an ox cart in a nearby village to go back to the county town.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the two reached the top of the mountain, a dark cloud floated in the sky, and soon "boom!" it started to rain suddenly.
Traveling in the mountains in heavy rain is very dangerous and it is easy to get lost.
Fortunately, they saw a mountain temple not far away, and they hurried over to take shelter from the rain.
Not long after the two men arrived at the mountain god temple, they heard the sound of horse hooves. A group of seven or eight people on horseback also came to the mountain god temple, dismounted in front of the temple, and went into the temple to shelter from the rain.
Zhao Liya and Hu Ling looked at each other, their faces calm but their hearts secretly alert.
The other party obviously didn't expect to meet a strange young couple here. He was slightly stunned, but soon felt relieved.
It's raining, so it's normal to bump into people when taking shelter from the rain.
Disguising as a man isn't easy. It might work for a while, but it's easy to get caught. Zhao Liya has already changed back into women's clothing. The world isn't that chaotic, and with Hu Ling by her side, who would dare to do something like that?
Besides, I thought I could get home today by carriage.
Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of chatting with them. He cleared a place opposite them and sat down, whispering something. Apart from glancing at them when he first came in, he didn't do anything unusual.
Zhao Liya and Hu Ling both breathed a sigh of relief.
The leader on the opposite side was a young man of about twenty years old, with handsome eyes, well-shaped eyebrows, thin lips slightly pursed, and a handsome face with cold and hard lines, which made him look noble. The light blue riding suit with arrow sleeves was tailored to fit him, adding to his imposing aura, making people subconsciously feel their scalps tighten and dare not look directly at him.
There were no unnecessary decorations on his body. The jade hairpin in his hair looked simple and plain, and the material of his clothes also seemed ordinary, but upon closer inspection, they were not simple.
When he just stepped in, Zhao Liya subconsciously looked up and inadvertently met his gaze. The shockingly bright gaze was as sharp as a sword, almost making her lose her composure and change her expression.
She struggled to keep a blank face and look away calmly.
Zhao Liya thought that this person must be very rich and perhaps of an extraordinary status.
Don't mess with people like this, the best way is to stay away from them.
Zhao Liya couldn't help but look into the rain, praying that it would stop soon.
The weather in June is like a child's face, changing rapidly. They thought a downpour like this would stop after a while, clean and crisp, but it looked like it had no intention of stopping.
Before I knew it, the sky had darkened and the rain continued to fall. A layer of wet mist rose from the mountains, making my vision increasingly blurred.
Hu Ling whispered to Zhao Liya, "What should we do? Are we going to spend the night here?"
The driver showed them the way. From here, they had to cross the mountains and hills and follow the widest mountain road. They would come to the village in less than ten miles.
By then, it would be no problem to hire a donkey cart or ox cart in the village, and we would definitely be able to return to Gaolian County before dark.
Now I regret not taking shelter from the rain. Who knew it would last so long? It's almost dark now, and the fog is rising. I don't dare to risk walking around.
If it were just the two of them, it wouldn't matter if they stayed here for the night; in this kind of weather, it would actually be safe. But who would have thought they would run into a group of strangers by chance?
Zhao Liya said absentmindedly: "There's nothing we can do about it, let's just stay overnight."
A flash of cold light passed by, and the sharp flying knife shot out, nailing Zhao Liya with a "clang!" sound! It came too fast, and Zhao Liya and Hu Ling were stunned and had no time to react!
When Zhao Liya screamed "Ah!", the flying knife had already nailed her!
"What are you doing--" Hu Ling stood up suddenly, and his harsh question was stuck in an instant. A snake covered with black and white spots was writhing on the ground, and a flying knife was nailed firmly to the ground at the abdomen.
Zhao Liya and Hu Ling's faces changed and they were shocked.
If it weren't for this flying knife, Zhao Liya would have been in trouble. Although they didn't know what kind of snake it was, the color looked quite strange, and it was probably not a good thing.
Zhao Liya stood up, collected herself, nodded gratefully at the young man, and said, "Thank you, young master!"
Zhou Hansheng glanced at her and nodded slightly, then paused and replied, "You're welcome."
One of his followers ran over, retrieved the flying knife, and casually pinched the snake's vital point, crushing it to death before throwing it away. He said with a grin, "Young Master is truly amazing! Such speed and accuracy are unmatched!"
Several followers and subordinates laughed and echoed.
The attendant raised his eyebrows at Zhao Liya again and said with a smile, "You are so brave, young lady, you didn't even scream out of fright. I even covered my ears!"
Not only did his brothers laugh and scold at this, but Zhao Liya and Hu Ling couldn't help laughing as well.
Thanks to the snake, the atmosphere in the mountain temple became less distinct and more lively and relaxed.
Zhao Liya smiled. "I was scared too, but the young master acted so quickly that I didn't have time to scream. Once I reacted and saw what was going on, I naturally wasn't scared anymore."
She casually gave out a nice guy card: "You are such nice people!"
It seemed that several good people had never been praised as "good people" before. They froze for a moment and laughed.
There was a tacit understanding between them. No one was curious about each other's identity, where they came from, etc., and they couldn't help but complain about the weather that changed so suddenly and caught people off guard.
(End of this chapter)
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