Chapter 859 Forming a Group [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]
Ouyang Rong followed Sha Ergou to the bamboo courtyard.
Sha Ergou brought over some dry food and water, and handed them to Ouyang Rong with a grin.
Ouyang Rong filled his stomach.
He noticed that Sha Ergou was staring at him.
Ouyang Rong asked somewhat helplessly, "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm full! By the way, Brother Liu, here are your clothes."
Sha Ergou ran back into the house, took out a stack of clothes, and then took off his felt hat, put it on top, and handed them to Ouyang Rong.
It was on a chilly autumn morning that Ouyang Rong dressed him in it.
However, the weather in this paradise-like place is not cold, but rather rather hot and dry, quite different from the autumn season outside.
Ouyang Rong took a sip of water to moisten his throat, but then heard Sha Ergou mutter quietly beside him:
"Brother Liu, Madam Yu really didn't lie to me."
“When I came back from ringing the bell this morning, she told me that there was a job with higher pay and asked me to come with her. I thought all the servants from our inn would come, and Brother Liu would come too, but when we got halfway there, there was only Maid Song and Lady Yu on the boat. Apart from me, there were no other people.”
"I also checked with Madam Yu, but she gave me a vague answer, saying she had already sent someone to ask you and that you should be coming."
“But when we got to this strange place, Madam Yu disappeared. I waited all day, and all the people who came after me were strangers. When I asked them, they didn’t know anything. Maid Song and the others also said they didn’t know anything about you. By the afternoon, the courtyard was almost full, and no one else came… I thought I had been tricked by Madam Yu and would never see Brother Liu again. Besides, I felt guilty…”
"Feel guilty about what?"
Sha Ergou lowered his head and pointed to his clothes:
"I was tricked into coming to this place because I was greedy for wages, and now I've even brought your clothes and hat with me, Brother Liu. I thought I could never repay you..."
Ouyang Rong was somewhat speechless.
Sha Ergou quickly recovered, scratched the back of his head, and smiled with relief:
"Thank goodness, Madam Yu didn't lie to me. Brother Liu really came. Did Madam Yu bring you too? Why did that mother and son from earlier come as well? Did Madam Yu even look for them?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at the simple-minded Sha Ergou, but did not speak immediately.
He wasn't brought by Boss Yu's wife. In fact, when she met Boss Yu's wife this morning, she pretended that nothing had happened.
If she really wanted to bring Ouyang Rong to Yunmeng Sword Marsh, then Madam Yu could have brought it up this morning when they met.
Furthermore, based on Sha Ergou's description, it was clear to Ouyang Rong that Boss Yu was just stalling for time and trying to keep Sha Ergou calm.
The current situation is quite clear: Peach Blossom Town, including the Red Dust Inn, is completely in the hands of Yunmeng Jianze.
They were actually secretly screening people, weeding out those with ulterior motives and unclear identities, and only letting in those they needed, or those who were absolutely safe.
Besides, even those like Ouyang Rong, who show no apparent suspicious points, should be left out.
And there should be a plausible excuse for the disappearance of these people in the town.
For example, if Ouyang Rong returns safely to the Red Dust Inn today, then Madam Yu will most likely have a plausible explanation for the disappearance of Sha Ergou, Song Zhian, and the others, such as that she sold Song Zhian again...
So, fortunately, he had accumulated enough merit to trigger a blessing, and through the help of Lu Jinghong and her son, he bumped into Lady Zhishuang, which made her remember him and feel embarrassed, thus allowing Ouyang Rong to sneak in.
Otherwise, who knows when we'll be able to enter Jianze.
Judging from the dazed look on this great queen's face when we met today, she probably almost forgot about him.
From this perspective, it seems that Lady Zhi Shuang was rather perfunctory in responding to A Qing's request from the beginning, or rather, she was quite averse to men, including Ouyang Rong, entering Yunmeng Sword Marsh.
At this point, one question remains.
Song Zhian, Yu Xiaoniangzi, and that group of girls were taken into Yunmeng Sword Marsh, and Ouyang Rong could roughly guess the reason.
Why were Sha Ergou and Lu Jinghong, along with the few bewildered boys he glimpsed in the bamboo forest at dusk, also selected?
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but glance at the short-haired, tattooed young man who was serving him tea and water.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked:
"Ergou, do you still think that coming here is to find a higher-paying job?"
Sha Ergou looked around first, then went to close the doors and windows. Returning to the table, he lowered his voice and said:
"That's definitely not true. My surname is Sha, but I'm not stupid, Brother Liu. This place is like a fairyland, hidden deep in the swamp. I've never heard of such a place in the swamp before..."
"Brother Liu, do you think those strangely dressed women who brought us here are the goddesses who worship Yuanjun?"
Ouyang Rong nodded, looking at him:
What do you think?
Sha Ergou pondered:
"I guess so. Legend has it that they often save fishermen, and Yuanjun is also a good deity. They probably won't harm us."
Ouyang Rong narrowed his eyes and asked:
“That makes sense, but why do you think they brought you and me here?”
Sha Ergou thought hard for a while, his eyes widened slightly, but his voice was low as he said:
"Brother Liu, did these goddesses see that we are hardworking and good at our jobs, and that we only do what we're paid for? So they brought us here so we can work for them from now on..."
"It seems like they're offering room and board, but we don't know if they'll pay us. If they do, then Madam Yu isn't really cheating us. But we don't know how much of her cut she takes. Also, we don't know if we'll be allowed to go back during holidays... What if, just what if, those goddesses are even more heartless than Madam Yu? We should probably run away, Brother Liu."
Ouyang Rong nodded, patted his shoulder heavily, and sighed:
"Ergou, you made the right decision to leave your hometown. You should have come out to work. You're practically born to work."
Sha Ergou's eyes widened slightly:
"Working? What does that mean? Does Brother Liu mean we should be hired laborers? Hmm, working, why use the word 'work'? Compared to being hired laborers, it seems to have a more imposing feel... This word is well chosen."
He pointed curiously to his face and asked:
"Innate talent...Sacred Body? Brother Liu, are you praising me? Does the Sacred Body mean it's very powerful? Does it mean the body is exceptionally good in this area? How did Brother Liu discover my talent...?"
Ouyang Rong: ...
Sha Ergou was about to ask more questions when there was a knock on the door.
The two of them turned their heads at the same time.
"who?"
Sha Ergou asked.
"It's me."
It was Song Zhian's voice.
Without saying a word, Sha Ergou rushed towards the gate, about to open it. However, when he got to the door, he realized what was happening, turned back to look at Brother Liu, and gave him a somewhat embarrassed look, asking for permission.
But he saw Brother Liu staring at him expressionlessly.
Sha Ergou dared not open the door without permission and waited patiently in the same spot.
After a moment, Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze, looked at the door, and asked in a low voice:
"What?"
"Have you eaten? My sister Yu and I still have some snacks."
Ouyang Rong paused for a moment, then gestured to Sha Ergou, who was touching his belly.
The latter immediately opened the door.
Song Zhian and Yu Xiaoniangzi walked in together. The latter was carrying a small bag of pastries. She would occasionally pick out a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, eating non-stop.
Sha Ergou was about to close the door, but was stopped by Ouyang Rong's gaze.
Song Zhian turned around and closed the door.
She and Yu Xiaoniangzi arrived at the table together in perfect unison.
Song Zhian glanced at Ouyang Rong and said softly:
"It was too crowded in the evening to chat for long... I didn't expect you to come too, Brother Liu. I thought it was just me, Sister Yu, and Brother Sha at the inn."
The four exchanged pleasantries.
Ouyang Rong understood why Song Zhian had come to him.
They all came from the Red Dust Inn and were already acquaintances. In this unfamiliar place, it was natural for them to stick together.
Of the four, Ouyang Rong appeared to be the oldest, and the other two called him Brother Liu.
After catching up for a while, Song Zhian seemed to discern who was in charge between the two. She looked at Ouyang Rong and asked softly:
"Brother Liu, Brother Sha, do you know where we are?"
Sha Ergou answered quickly:
"The place where the goddess lives."
Ouyang Rong shook his head:
"Does Miss Song know?"
Song Zhian glanced at Ouyang Rong, paused for a moment, and uttered four words:
"Yunmeng Sword Marsh".
Sha Ergou looked puzzled, and Ouyang Rong followed suit, both looking bewildered.
"Where is this place?"
Sha Ergou asked.
Song Zhian glanced at their expressions and said softly:
"It's a very powerful sect, and it seems to be all women. I heard about it when I was in my hometown."
Sha Ergou and Ouyang Rong exchanged glances.
Song Zhian observed them for a moment and asked:
"You know nothing?"
Sha Ergou scratched his head and said:
"Isn't this what Madam Yu brought me here? She said there are high-paying jobs here."
After he finished speaking, Ouyang Rong and Song Zhian looked at Yu Xiaoniangzi, who was secretly eating snacks.
The latter seemed to choke, immediately took some water and drank it down forcefully. She clutched her chest and muttered:
Why are you all looking at me?
Ouyang Rong asked, "Did Madam Yu say anything to you?"
After thinking for a moment, Miss Yu answered truthfully:
“My mother gave me two instructions.”
"Which two things?"
Lady Yu counted on her fingers:
"Firstly, my mother told me to follow Sister Song closely."
"Secondly... after you come in, you are told that whatever the people here tell you, you must do it properly, but you must not do any accounting work."
The air fell silent for a moment.
Yu Xiaoniang muttered somewhat discontentedly, "Why can't I do the accounting? I'm not bad at using counting rods."
Ouyang Rong and Song Zhian silently looked away. No one answered.
Song Zhian hesitated for a moment, then spoke:
“I just went to check, and there are many people in the bamboo forest like us. They used to live in town, but were suddenly brought here by acquaintances today. Some of them are very young, even younger than us, and they are ignorant and naive…”
"However, I met a young woman and we got to know each other well. She seemed to be the granddaughter of an old man in town. She was literate and knew a lot. I learned some things from her."
Ouyang Rong showed a curious expression:
"What's up?"
Song Zhian said softly, "She said it seems to be some kind of selection process. She said her cousin had come here before... She said that someone will come to choose us tomorrow. If we are chosen, it will be an honor to join. If we are not chosen..."
Sha Ergou tensed up: "What will happen if I don't get selected?"
Song Zhian shook her head: "I don't know, they'll probably be taken out, I don't know if they'll go back to town."
She continued:
"However, this selection process seems to be very strict. Even if you are selected, there will be differences in rank among the selected people. It all depends on individual talent. Hmm, she also said that the selection is mainly from young women, so most of those sent here from the town are young women."
"As for men, very few are selected, and the selection process is somewhat different from that for women... In addition, Jianze has three rules for not accepting men."
Ouyang Rong silently digested Song Zhian's words. In fact, her words confirmed his previous guesses, and were pretty much correct.
Sha Ergou asked curiously, "What are the three things you won't accept?"
Song Zhian seemed to recall for a moment, and then said:
"First, we will not accept those of low moral character or impure heart; second, we will not accept those who have committed crimes and are burdened with karmic obstacles, nor their children; third, we will not accept powerful officials, corrupt officials, or their children..."
At this point, she shook her head:
"Anyway, you have to have a clean background. Jianze seems to care a lot about this, but those of us who were able to get in have already been screened, so we don't need to worry about that."
Sha Ergou listened with surprising agreement, standing behind Ouyang Rong and nodding emphatically:
"That's right! Judging from this, the people of Yunmeng Sword Marsh must all be pretty good. The rules aren't wrong. Those officials are all bad people. My sister said that every single one of them is a predator who preys on the people and sucks their marrow. If we arrest them all and behead them, there might be some innocent people, but if we kill every other one, there will definitely be some who escape..."
The young man with the shaved head and tattoos spoke with unusual indignation.
Song Zhian turned to look out the window, slowly nodded, as if remembering something and feeling the same way, and remained silent for a moment.
Ouyang Rong stood by the table, his eyes slightly lowered.
As Miss Yu was secretly putting a snack into her mouth, she saw this and nodded vigorously to match the atmosphere.
"Exactly! They've eaten all the good food in the world..."
At this moment, Song Zhian looked at Ouyang Rong and asked:
"By the way, what about the mother and son guests who came with you? Why did they come as well? Apart from Lu Jinghong, whose age is within the acceptable range, how did Madam Li get into Jianze? It's against the rules. Brother Liu, do you know why?"
Ouyang Rong first glanced back at Sha Ergou, whose anger had subsided, and then replied:
"Their identities are not simple. They seem to be from the Lu family of Fanyang. They may have some connection with Jianze and were brought in as an exception."
Song Zhian seemed to be deep in thought, and muttered to herself:
"An exception...?"
Immediately afterward, Song Zhian chatted for a while longer, and soon after exchanging information, she took Yu Xiaoniangzi out, asking her with concern:
"Then get some rest. Tomorrow will be very important. Prepare well, and I hope we can all stay."
"Uh-huh!"
Ouyang Rong sat at the table, his eyes deep in thought. Sha Ergou personally escorted the two women to the door, watching them leave with a hint of reluctance.
Once inside, he and the now-stunned Ouyang Rong stared at each other for a moment.
The two then realized that they hadn't gotten any pastries; it seemed that Yu Xiaoniangzi had devoured the entire bag of pastries...
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(End of this chapter)
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