Chapter 2001 Guard
At this moment, an old voice came from the night——
"Xiao Qiqi, are you back?"
Upon hearing the voice, Zhu Feng's expression froze and he immediately raised his head. In the pitch-black night, he saw a small flame flickering and slowly approaching. The people around him were startled when they saw the flame.
It was like will-o'-the-wisp hanging in the air.
However, when he looked more closely, he saw the firelight flickering, illuminating an old face nearby, which was getting closer and closer until he could finally make it out clearly.
He was a white-haired old man.
He was leaning on a crutch in one hand and holding a lamp oil in the other, and was walking slowly towards this side. When he saw the fire and so many people here, the old man was shocked, and the wrinkles on his face moved with an expression of surprise.
"You, you are——"
"grandfather!"
The child in Zhu Feng's arms yelled, immediately broke free from his arms, got to the ground, and ran over.
The old man was very old, with a hunched back. Even though the child named "Little Seventeen" was so thin, he couldn't lift him up. Little Seventeen just ran over and hugged his grandfather's legs.
The old man asked, "Where have you been?"
"I went to play ball and I ran into them."
As he spoke, he pointed at Zhu Feng and his group.
The old man looked at them again, his expression changed from surprise to a bit of surprise, and seemed a little solemn. Xiao Shiqi continued: "Grandpa, they are not ghosts!"
This child is still obsessed with the "ghost" issue.
Ye Zheng, who was usually the most sociable person, immediately stepped forward and said with a smile on his face, "Of course we are not ghosts, we are just merchants passing by. Old man, may I ask for a bowl of water?"
The old man looked at them again.
They were an old man and a young boy. Facing such a large group of burly men, he was not afraid at all. He said calmly, "Come over if you want some water."
So, a group of people walked over.
Walking through the cemetery, the torches in their hands soon illuminated a small mud house in front of them. Compared to the broken walls and houses they had seen along the way, this mud house was also dilapidated, but it was obvious that it was often used for rest, so the roof and walls were intact and suitable for living.
The window paper was torn and the light I just saw was coming from inside.
Zhu Feng asked someone to wait outside, and he walked into the house with Ye Zheng, Ying Shao, and Xue Yun.
There are three rooms in this house, which looks spacious, so all kinds of furniture are available and it doesn't feel crowded. However, these things look a bit old. There are some newer bowls, plates and cups, but they are all put away.
The old man walked in and asked them to sit down.
Then he said to the child, "Xiao Qishi, go get those new cups and boil some water for the guests."
"oh."
Little Seventeen was quite quick. He put down the ball and ran over. He stepped on a worn-out chair and took out a few cups from the cabinet. Ye Zheng was worried that he would fall, so he hurried over to protect him, but saw the child jump down nimbly.
He ran to another room with a smile on his face.
There were several tiles stored in the room, all wrapped in oil paper. He opened one of them, and Ye Zheng leaned over to take a look. He found that there was actually half a tank of water inside.
It looks like rain.
The old man lit the stove, scooped some water to boil, and then said, "It's very far to find water here. I'm old and he's young, so we usually save rainwater for use, and in winter we save snow and melt it to drink."
“…”
"Don't be disgusted, guests."
In fact, Ye Zheng was a little disgusted.
The water looked a bit muddy, and even after boiling, it was not very clean. He took the cup and was hesitating, but saw Zhu Feng drink it in one gulp.
Immediately afterwards, Ying Shao also drank it.
The emperor has already drunk it, how can he still complain?
So Ye Zheng could only bite his lips in grievance to say that he had drunk it. On the other side, Xue Yun was a little hesitant, but still took a sip.
Zhu Feng put down the cup and looked around again.
It can be seen that they have lived here for quite some time, especially the large cemetery outside. He even guessed that this family has lived here for many generations.
But this is not a normal city, but a deserted city.
What are they doing here?
Zhu Feng thought for a moment and asked gently, "Old man, you—"
However, before he could finish his words, the old man put the remaining half pot of water back on the stove, turned around and asked, "I just heard you say that you are merchants?"
Zhu Feng said, "That's right."
The old man looked at them and asked, "What business are you in?"
“…”
The identity of the merchant was just a temporary thought they came up with after seeing the child, and they didn't think about it in detail.
But I didn't expect that the old man would ask more questions.
Zhu Feng smiled and said, "We are in the spice business."
The old man looked at them for a moment, then shook his head: "You are not."
Zhu Feng frowned slightly: "Why do you say we are not?"
"You don't smell of spices, how could you possibly be in the spice business?"
As he spoke, he sniffed at them again and said, "If you say you're in the medicinal herbs business, you might be more credible."
Everyone was stunned and looked at Xue Yun.
Indeed, as the young master of the East and West Halls, he has excellent medical skills and often has a scent of medicine on his body.
However, having said this, I can't change my words anymore.
Zhu Feng didn't seem embarrassed by his lie being exposed. He just looked at the old man and said with a half-smile, "The old man has a sharp eye and is very observant."
The old man just sighed and said with some disappointment: "I really thought you were merchants."
“…”
"If you are a merchant, I can even exchange some things with you."
Hearing this, Zhu Feng raised his eyebrows slightly again.
Although the large items in the house were very worn and obviously had been repaired, some of the cups and utensils looked very new.
Could it be that, as he said, it was exchanged?
He asked, "Old man, do you often trade with the merchants who come and go?"
"Otherwise, where will we get our food and supplies?"
"Are there many merchants coming here?"
"It used to be more common," the old man said dejectedly as he added rotten firewood to the stove. "I heard from my ancestors that this place used to be bustling with people coming and going, but later it became less and less. When I was guarding this place, I would only see people once every six months, or even once a year."
He was right.
The Silk Road had been abandoned for nearly a thousand years. Even if merchants continued to travel back and forth, they were all on a small scale. In addition, the journey was dangerous, so even fewer could reach their destination.
But Zhu Feng didn't pay attention to this. He immediately picked out a word from the old man's words.
"Guard? What are you guarding?"
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