Because they had obtained permission from the royal court, Xia Xiao and Azhu were able to travel through each city very easily. But after they passed the outer forest and arrived at Nanshang, they changed their attire.

Xia Xiao and Ah Zhu each wore a black and white outfit, with a tight waist. Compared to the others at the city gate, their outfits were too cool. But this outfit, plus a bamboo hat, made them look like knights. This border city was full of people, and no one would mess with the knights carrying swords and knives, because most of them were practitioners. Without some strength, who would dare to run around and dress like this?

This place is very close to the Snow Dragon Pass, so the guards at the city gate are wrapped in coats. Seeing Xia Xiao and Azhu coming, thinking that with such endurance, they must be cultivators and their strength is not low, he said nothing and let them enter the city.

A guard looked at Xia Xiao and Azhu's straight backs and asked:

"Do you know him?"

"The hat is pulled down so low, and the woman is wearing a veil, how can anyone tell?"

"Yes, but he must be a cultivator. I wonder if he has something to do in Nan Shang?"

"Why do you care so much? The Zou Shou Church has not left Da Xia yet. Anyone who wants to come can come, and anyone who wants to leave can leave. Anyway, there is no possibility of war."

The guard who asked the question earlier was right, so he shifted his gaze away from Xia Xiao and A Zhu and continued to ask people about their purpose.

Most people said they were visiting relatives or taking refuge with them. They didn't care about these issues, they just went through the motions. What kind of trouble could a small civilian cause? Even if it was a cultivator, what kind of trouble could they cause? There was no shortage of cultivators in the border city. Anyone who was daring and rude and committed a crime would be punished on the city wall. The head hanging high was a warning to all who came.

The city was crowded, and the flow of people rushed into the city like a spring breeze, pushing open countless windows that had been tightly closed in winter.

The spring breeze awakens the potted plants of the rich families. They sprout green buds and want to show off their beauty in the spring. Some potted plants are worth a thousand taels of gold, and they like them, so they often compare them to show their noble status. The awakened poor families will be busier than in winter. They only have two seasons a year, winter is the rest season, and the other three seasons are busy.

Some people don't even have a rest season. They are busy all year round. After finally finishing this year's work, they have to start working on the next year's work. There are many people in the world who spend their lives like this, and their only comfort is a fried egg in their plain noodles.

Xia Xiao and Azhu were walking in the center of the street. They saw people moving goods and hawking goods on both sides. All shops, big and small, were open with their doors wide open. The shop assistants inside were trying every means to entertain customers.

There are countless stalls outside the store. If you are not careful, the space at the door will be occupied. At this time, the boss has to go out and drive people away, cursing.

No one wants to be a bad person, but it is harder to be a good person than a bad person. It is not easy for everyone, and it is normal for peddlers to set up stalls at the door. A small stall cannot make a lot of money, nor can it hinder the store from making money. Some people will deliberately walk into a store out of admiration when they see many peddlers in front of a store. But it is too immoral to set up stalls at the front door to block the way!

There were shouts, calls for help, bargaining, and mother and daughter going out together to collect the missing items at home and discussing. The countless sounds mixed together made Ah Zhu feel less cold, but she still wanted to find an inn quickly and change into warmer clothes. This dress was nice, but it was too thin, and it was even colder when riding on a horse.

"It's cold, right? Who told you to wear this kind of clothes?"

"I didn't say it was cold!"

Ah Zhu snorted. It was really cold, but she picked these two sets of clothes on the way to Nanshang. She thought they looked very cool. She had to wear the clothes she liked no matter how cold it was. And she had finally persuaded Xia Xiao to wear this black and white outfit with her. How could she complain just because it was cold?

Xia Xiao and Azhu found an inn and planned to rest for a night before heading to the capital of the Southern Business Empire. Southern Business was vast and had a complex terrain, so it would take some time to get to the capital. They had spent a lot of effort in the past half month from the royal court to here, so they had to take a good rest.

The inn likes to entertain knights. These guys are generous and basically don't ask for change, but today something strange happened. Xia Xiao took the change and gave it to Ah Zhu as her pocket money. Although it's not much, it may make Ah Zhu listen to him. She never cares about money, it's always Xia Xiao who is in charge.

"When we left the royal court, the princess gave us so much money. It should be enough for us to spend in Nanshang and Tianmeng Kingdom, right?"

"Although we only took a little, it's enough to run back and forth from Yu Valley to these three places. And we don't have to go to Tianmeng Country. If that woman is in the capital of Nanshang, we will go back and report. If not, she must be in Tianmeng Country, and we have to go back to the academy."

The strength of both of them is incomparable to that woman.

"Then why don't we save money and have a big meal tonight?"

Xia Xiao had booked two rooms before, and Ah Zhu was thinking about canceling one of them, even though it was inconvenient, it might save money. Ah Zhu would rather live in a worse place, but also want to eat good food. But after hearing Xia Xiao's analysis, she felt that two rooms were good, and she had space to dress up. Although she didn't wear heavy makeup like others, she still knew the most basic things, which was one of the abilities that girls were born with. Who isn't a delicate girl?

The hearty meal came at a price, and the two set off again early the next morning.

Compared with image and physical and mental experience, Xia Xiao cares more about the latter. Therefore, he tied a cloak for Ah Zhu when he went out, so that he could keep warm and not take off the tight clothes.

Ah Zhu was overjoyed. She followed Xia Xiao and looked at him, feeling a little sweet in her heart. However, Xia Xiao had already reminded her that this trip was dangerous and should not be taken lightly.

Every time they left a place, there would be greater danger. Xia Xiao hoped that the woman was not in the Southern Business Capital, otherwise if they met her, it would be a question whether they could return alive. Therefore, they were more cautious than the previous two times.

Ah Zhu understood, so she was much quieter than usual. There were no questions to ask now. The Southern Business Empire did not have the rain forest beside Yu Valley, nor the grassland outside the imperial capital. It was ordinary, which gave her less novelty.

By noon, the coolness had subsided, so Ah Zhu opened his cloak and let it flutter in the wind. They passed through towns and villages, heading towards the imperial capital at the fastest speed.

Some children saw Xia Xiao and the others and could not help but envy them. A strong and sturdy horse with a nearly perfect body shape ran like chasing the wind. If it was about to hit someone and could not avoid it, it would suddenly jump up and fly over the other person's head, blocking the sun at the moment, which was the most handsome. The young man's heroic dream needed a fast horse to carry it.

Looking at Xia Xiao and Azhu who were leaving, they were both carrying a bag and a sword, with thick bandages tied on the sword, giving people a sense of mystery and power. Soon, they were completely far away, but the smell of grassland grass was left in the air, which made the children from the village even more fascinated. But they had no horses, no swords, only bamboo sticks and benches.

So, they rode on the benches, holding bamboo sticks, and imagined themselves running between heaven and earth to save the people. In the future, they will have horses and swords, but they will not be as happy as now.

When they were tired, Xia Xiao and Azhu got off their horses.

It was spring, the grass was tender, and two horses were grazing by the stream. Xia Xiao stood on the ground and twisted his waist and neck. Ah Zhu's butt hurt from the shaking, and she couldn't get up after sitting down. She yelled at Xia Xiao to pull her up, and if he didn't come, she would throw the kettle at him. Slowly, she got up because she wanted to beat Xia Xiao.

When Azhu chased him, Xia Xiao ran. When Azhu couldn't catch up with him, he smiled triumphantly.

At this time, the Pudao moved again. It was placed under the tree with Xia Xiao and the backpack, and now it was looking at them. It was trembling slightly, as if it was angry, like a girl seeing her boy playing with others. But when Xia Xiao and Azhu rested in this quiet place and went to the next stop, it returned to calm, but the things in it gradually condensed and were about to show up.

Before they left, Ah Zhu said to Xia Xiao:

“It would be nice if we could build a small house in this place.”

"It's really nice to have trees, mountains and water."

"Come together later?"

Xia Xiao smiled and said she was dreaming, and asked Azhu to throw the stone hidden in her waist bag. It couldn't hit Xia Xiao, but she always liked to throw something to express her feelings, otherwise she really thought she was easy to bully.

Southern merchants are martial, and Xia Xiao and Azhu saw many people fighting on their way to the imperial capital. This race of fierce people is not much worse than the Goulongbang clan. But on this journey, the most attractive thing is the conversation between Azhu and Xia Xiao. This conversation took place at dusk one day, when Xia Xiao and Azhu were leading their horses and preparing to choose a place nearby to rest.

"Xia Xiao."

"Um?"

"I'm going to ask you a question, and you have to tell me the truth."

"Ask."

"If one day, I say if, if one day a girl confesses to you, will you agree?"