Chapter 43 The Cellar in the Blacksmith's Shop
Bai Zilin and Liu Ye pushed the cart for several streets before finally finding a blacksmith shop in a dimly lit alley. The shop's door was wide open, and its contents were scattered all over the floor, suggesting that it had been robbed.
Bai Zilin carried the basket on his back, placed the cart at the door, and carefully led Liu Ye into the blacksmith's shop, rummaging through a pile of things.
Liu Ye picked up a dagger from behind a door: "Brother Bai, I found a dagger. What did you find?"
Bai Zilin shook his head and said, "I didn't find anything useful. The knife and axe were taken. Liu Ye, I'll go check the back. You wait here for me."
"Go ahead."
Bai Zilin went to the backyard house, while Liu Ye continued searching the shop. She noticed a pile of rags against the wall, with a water vat covered up, which seemed a bit strange. She went over and moved the water vat aside, revealing a board on the ground.
She lifted the board, revealing a dark cellar. Good heavens, the blacksmith shop had a hidden cellar? Could there be someone inside? This was a bit scary. She didn't dare go down. She suggested that Brother Bai go down and take a look.
A short while later, Bai Zilin returned from the backyard: "Liu Ye, I didn't find anything."
Liu Ye quickly pointed to the cellar and said, "Brother Bai, look, I found a cellar. Do you want to go down and take a look?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Zilin immediately perked up. He took three steps at a time and quickly arrived at the cellar entrance, craning his neck to look inside: "There must be something inside. I'll go down and take a look."
He took the basket off his back and put it on the ground, then jumped down without hesitation. Liu Ye squatted at the entrance of the cellar with a worried look on her face and looked inside as well: "Brother Bai, be careful. If there is any danger, call me and I will go down to save you."
After Bai Zilin jumped into the cellar, he took out a flint and steel from his pocket and struck it hard to start a fire. He was right; there must be an oil lamp in the cellar. He used the flint and steel to light the oil lamp next to him. The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated the entire cellar. The cellar was not large, but it was filled with a lot of ironware, including axes, knives, and cooking utensils, which must have been hidden by the blacksmith.
Bai Zilin picked up two machetes and rummaged through a pile of ironware. Suddenly, his eyes lit up when he saw a bow and arrow under an axe, with a quiver next to it containing a quiver of arrows. He quickly picked up the bow and arrow and examined it with delight. The bow and arrow were heavy and of good quality, much better than his old one.
He carried the bow and arrows on his back, along with the quiver, and picked up a dagger, tucked it into his waistband, blew out the oil lamp, and climbed out of the cellar: "I've found the bow and arrows."
Liu Ye had already seen it, and it looked quite large, bigger than his old bow and arrow: "Great! Brother Bai has a bow and arrow, so I'll have an endless supply of meat to eat, hehehe."
Bai Zilin put the machete into his basket, carried it outside, and placed it on the cart: "Village Chief Zhao and the others must be here. We won't rest here. The two of us will travel through the night and rest when we've gone far enough."
Liu Ye nodded and said, "Okay, let's go then."
Bai Zilin put Liu Ye on the cart and pulled her all the way out of Wutong Town. They continued along the official road. At night, there were hardly any people on the road. Most of the disaster victims were resting in Wutong Town. Bai Zilin stopped the cart to rest when it was almost midnight.
Liu Ye got off the cart, stretched her arms and legs, and loosened her muscles. Suddenly, she heard voices behind her. She quickly looked behind her and vaguely saw a group of people walking towards them: "Brother Bai, people are here!"
Bai Zilin quickly took out two machetes from his basket, handed one to Liu Ye, and held the other tightly in his hand, looking warily at the people coming from behind.
As the group approached, by the moonlight, Liu Ye recognized them as the people from the carriage that had been robbed by the bandits. Among them were the master and young lady from the beef shop. She hadn't expected it to be them. Why weren't they resting in Wutong? Why were they traveling at night?
Mr. Qin and Miss Qin also recognized Bai Zilin and Liu Ye as the people they had met on the road that day. Mr. Qin gestured for a pause: "Oh, it's you. What a coincidence. Let's all rest here. This place is spacious."
Bai Zilin pulled Liu Ye and pushed the cart to the grassy area, while Master Qin and his group also rested on the grassy side of the road. Soon they lit a bonfire and sat around it.
With his keen sense of smell, Young Master Zhao caught a whiff of the meat aroma emanating from Liu Ye and the others' baskets. He turned to look at them and said, "I smell smoked meat. None of us have any meat. The aroma must be coming from their direction."
"Zhao San, go over and ask them if they're selling."
Zhao San was Zhao Gongzi's servant, and there was another servant named Zhao Si. Zhao San said with a troubled expression, "Young master, we've all been robbed. Even if they sell, we don't have any money to buy anything..."
Young Master Zhao looked at Master Li, who shook his head awkwardly. Young Master Zhao then looked at Young Master Li and said, "I've been robbed of everything. I don't usually like to carry anything with me. Do you have anything on you, Young Master Li?"
Young Master Li thought for a moment, then took out a jade hairpin from his hair: "I have a jade hairpin. If they are willing to exchange it, we can use this one."
Without any hesitation, Young Master Zhao took it: "You really have to be Young Master Li. I'll give you an even better one in the future."
Miss Qin looked at her father with a pitiful expression and said, "Dad, I'm hungry. You have some valuables hidden on you. Take them out and exchange them with those two people behind you for some food."
Madam Sun gave Mr. Sun a sharp rebuke, and Mr. Sun winked at her, as if to say, "Be patient and wait and see."
Master Qin glared at Qin Qiaoyun, took out a gold leaf from the corner of his clothes, which was exactly one tael. He sighed, stood up from the ground, and followed Young Master Zhao to Liu Ye and the others.
Master Qin politely clasped his hands in greeting to Bai Zilin: "We apologize for disturbing you both. Our purpose in coming is to buy some food from you. Could you sell us some? We can discuss the price."
Bai Zilin was overjoyed upon hearing this; they had unexpectedly struck it lucky again. He looked at Liu Ye and asked, "For sale?"
Liu Ye thought it was no big deal to sell it. She looked at Master Qin and asked, "What do you want to buy? We have smoked roe deer meat, two smoked chickens, and wild apples. I can sell you 30 wild apples, but do you have any money? It seems you were robbed too?"
Master Qin held up a gold leaf in his hand: "I have silver. This gold leaf is worth one tael of gold, and one tael of gold is worth ten taels of silver. I want to buy roe deer meat and apples. How much do you want?"
Young Master Zhao quickly showed off the silver hairpin in his hand: "I only have one silver hairpin, but this one is of good quality and worth a hundred taels of silver. I want both the roe deer meat and the apples. Give me more, there are six of us."
There were three of them: Master Li, Young Master Li, and their servant Wang Wu. There were six of them in total, and there wouldn't be enough to eat if there were fewer.
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