The hunter hadn't dared to cry out loud, only silently shedding tears, but now that everyone was gone, he could no longer hold back and burst into loud sobs.
Zhou Wan and Tie Xiong were not discovered by the soldiers, but the hunter's house was ransacked.
When Tie Xiong and Zhou Wan saw that the firelight had died down, they quickly went out to check on the hunter.
The hunter's house had been smashed to pieces, and the hunter himself had been kicked several times. Covered in dirt, he sat on the ground, weeping bitterly.
"I'm sorry, it's all our fault for bringing trouble upon you. Don't worry, we will definitely compensate you." Zhou Wan felt very bad seeing the hunter like this.
Tie Xiong went straight up to help the hunter, saying, "Brother, I'm sorry."
He helped the people into the house and sat them down. Zhou Wan felt guilty, thinking that they had brought bad luck to the hunters, so she simply took out a lot of silver.
"Brother Hunter, please accept this; it's a small token of our appreciation," Zhou Wan said, handing it to the hunter.
"No, this is too much, I can't accept it." Although the hunter's house had been smashed to pieces just now, he was not tempted by so much silver.
"Just keep it, brother. If we hadn't bothered you today, you wouldn't have met with this disaster." Tie Xiong patted the hunter on the shoulder, gesturing for him to accept the silver.
"Gentlemen, I really can't accept this money. This matter has little to do with you." The hunter pushed the money back, sighing with a worried look on his face. "I live here by relying on the mountains for food and making a living by hunting, but sometimes the things I hunt are stolen before I even get them to the market to sell."
The hunter choked up as he finished speaking: "Sometimes I'd just exchange some silver, and they'd come and rob me the very next minute..."
Tie Xiong and Zhou Wan were both angry and furious. The soldiers were supposed to be protecting the people, but now they were oppressing them like this.
Tie Xiong patted the hunter brother, trying to cheer him up, but perhaps the hunter hadn't been able to confide in anyone for a long time, and suddenly he couldn't control his emotions anymore: "I really can't go on living like this. I was thinking of leaving here and finding another way to make a living, but my home is here, so where can I go..."
Tie Xiong and Zhou Wan exchanged a glance and decided to help the hunter.
"By the way, brother, have you seen Aunt Meng?" Zhou Wan realized she hadn't seen Aunt Meng in so long, so she quickly changed the subject.
The hunter shook his head; he had been so busy dealing with the bandits and soldiers that he hadn't paid any attention to anyone else.
Tie Xiong couldn't help but feel suspicious; he had always been somewhat suspicious of this old woman.
"I don't know either, and I haven't seen Aunt Meng either," Tie Xiong said.
"I hope she's not in danger. Let's go look for her." Zhou Wan was worried that something had happened to the old woman and couldn't stop feeling uneasy.
Just as she was about to leave, Aunt Meng suddenly came in and loudly called out to everyone to go eat: "Come on, let's go eat."
Looking at the old woman who had suddenly appeared, Zhou Wan couldn't help but feel suspicious of her. The danger had just passed, and she had appeared. What a coincidence! Besides, Tie Xiong had already suspected her many times.
She glanced at Tie Xiong and saw that he was doing the same.
Neither of them exposed or questioned the allegations; instead, they chose to remain silent.
The hunter was still somewhat immersed in his earlier sadness.
Seeing that no one spoke, and that Zhou Wan and the hunter were silent and in low spirits, Aunt Meng went up to invite them again.
"What's wrong with you? Are you going to eat?" Aunt Meng asked again, her expression unchanged.
The hunter glanced at Aunt Meng, then at the two of them, and said, "Okay."
Zhou Wan and Tie Xiong both agreed, and then they went to eat together.
The four of them sat together for a meal, but the atmosphere was rather quiet and no one spoke. It was Aunt Meng who started the conversation first.
She brought up things from her childhood with the hunter, and he was no longer so sad. Soon, the atmosphere at the dinner table became lively again.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat down to chat again. The hunter remembered that they had come to visit relatives.
He looked at Tie Xiong and the others and asked, "You said you came to find relatives, but did you come to find...?"
Zhou Wan perked up immediately when she saw that they had gotten to the point: "Brother Hunter, we're going to the Xu family. Their name is Xu Yuan. Do you know him?"
After listening for a moment, the hunter said seriously, "I heard when I was young that they went to Chang'an a long time ago."
"Okay, thank you, big brother." Zhou Wan hurriedly thanked her big brother.
Aunt Meng was also very excited: "The relatives you are looking for have also gone to Chang'an, and my children have also gone to Chang'an. We are truly destined to meet."
Zhou Wan was very happy and didn't pay attention to what Aunt Meng was saying.
She felt that the matter Xu Yuehuai had entrusted to her had been settled, so she decided to return to the capital.
She looked at Tie Xiong happily, and then suggested, "Tie Xiong, in that case, let's go back to Chang'an."
Tie Xiong nodded: "Okay."
At this moment, Aunt Meng also said with great interest, "I also want to go to Chang'an City. Can I go with you?"
Zhou Wan and Tie Xiong exchanged a glance, then Tie Xiong remained silent.
Zhou Wan said, "Aunt Meng, of course you can."
Then everyone started laughing and joking again, as if nothing had happened, although everyone was probably thinking about something in their hearts.
Once the land is secured, raising cattle and sheep is half the battle won; the rest can simply be left to the herders.
Qi Guze divided the land into areas for raising cattle and sheep, and also gave instructions on what to pay attention to when raising cattle and sheep.
Later, still feeling uneasy, he simply drew a diagram, marked it, and presented it to the King of the Underworld.
“Pei Xuan, now that this matter is settled, it’s time for us to return to Chang’an,” Qi Guze said to Pei Xuan.
Pei Xuan was also very happy: "Yes, Your Highness, we can finally set off back to Chang'an."
"Our grievances can finally be resolved." Although he went through so much on this trip, at least it wasn't a wasted trip.
Qi Guze was still uneasy; he felt things wouldn't go so smoothly.
The two chose a day to bid farewell to King Mingyue, who then hosted a lavish banquet for them as a parting gesture.
At the banquet, the little princess was very sad and didn't want them to leave. She wanted to ask them to stay, but she couldn't because she was bound by etiquette and rules.
Qi Guze could also see that the little princess was in a low mood, so he decided to say something to comfort her.
"Princess, you are welcome to visit the Central Plains in the future," Qi Guze invited her.
The little princess was no longer sad, because she had already decided that when she grew up, she would go to the Central Plains herself and taste all the delicacies there.
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