Withered vines, old trees, and crows at dusk.
A small bridge spans a flowing stream, but no houses are in sight.
Song Xiao, leading his horse, stood on the stone bridge covered with vines. He watched Qin Luo walk slowly towards him, bathed in the sunset glow. "Uncle Liu, this young Taoist is so leisurely. He's chasing the sunset glow."
Qin Luo and Jin Jiao walked in the sunset, while the road behind them was shrouded in darkness.
The burly middle-aged man in short sleeves looked at them, and Liu Tai casually said, "Perhaps the sunset is chasing him."
"Really?"
"I was just saying."
Liu Tai had never seen such a scene before.
Song Xiao didn't believe such a thing could happen; even cultivators would find it difficult to accomplish. He thought it was just a coincidence.
Before long, Qin Luo arrived on the bridge. Song Xiao greeted him warmly, "Qin Luo, we're going to rest here tonight. Come with us, so we can look after each other."
Across the small bridge lies an abandoned village.
The bodyguards are feeding the horses.
After Song Xiao invited him twice, Qin Luo couldn't refuse. "Thank you, Brother Song. I'll stay with you for the night."
Qin Luo followed Song Xiao into the deserted village. They chose to rest in the mountain god temple, which was spacious and provided shelter from the wind and rain, much better than the dilapidated thatched huts outside.
"Young Master Escort!"
Several burly men sat together in the temple, smiling and greeting Song Xiao.
Inside the mountain god temple was a statue of a mountain god resembling a general, along with freshly lit incense and candles. Qin Luo asked with a smile, "Brother Song, what is the name of this mountain god?"
Seeing Qin Luo's polite manner, Song Xiao felt embarrassed to call him by his name directly. "Brother Qin, this is the mountain god of Gushan. He was originally a general of the Great Yan Dynasty. He went into the mountain to kill demons and was worshipped by the people. Later, the people in the surrounding area moved away to avoid the war, and this place was abandoned."
"Isn't this within the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty?"
Qin Luo was somewhat puzzled.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding bodyguards burst into laughter. Song Xiao explained, "This place was originally the Great Yan, but it was conquered by the Great Xia a hundred years ago. Yanbei County was originally the Yan Kingdom."
"I see."
Qin Luo felt that Yanbei County was very large. It took him a long time to walk there, and it would have taken an ordinary person even longer.
"You believe in mountain gods too?"
Qin Luo looked at the majestic mountain god statue.
There is no mountain god inside the statue.
Looking up at the statue high above, Song Xiao said in a deep voice, "When we travel all over the country, no matter what god we encounter, whether he is efficacious or not, we must worship him to put our minds at ease."
Qin Luo took out a stick of incense, went to the statue, lit the incense with the candlelight, bowed, and placed the lit incense in the incense burner.
Jinjiao bowed his head and greeted the man respectfully.
The incense stick that Qin Luo lit was different from the other incense in the incense burner. It burned with golden smoke, and the statue above absorbed the golden incense, causing its originally dull body to glow.
Song Xiao spread out some dry grass on the open ground and waved with a smile, "Brother Qin, come and sit down."
Qin Luo sat down next to Song Xiao.
The golden horn lay quietly.
Song Xiao handed over a piece of beef jerky and said warmly, "This is beef jerky made by my mother. Please try it."
"Thanks."
Qin Luo took the beef jerky, tore off a piece to taste, and found it to be savory. He smiled and nodded, "It smells delicious."
He also tore off a piece for Golden Horn.
Jinjiao was eating beef jerky.
It wagged its tail happily.
Song Xiao picked up the wine flask, took a big gulp of wine, and then handed the flask to Qin Luo, saying, "Winter is coming, and it will be very cold at night. Here, have a couple of sips to warm yourself up."
Qin Luo smiled and shook his head, somewhat puzzled, "Brother Song, are you this enthusiastic to everyone?"
Song Xiao laughed heartily, "My dad said that when you're out in the world, you should make more friends. The more friends you have, the more paths you can take."
Qin Luo thought it made a lot of sense. He took out the golden gourd, drank some morning dew, and said, "Golden Horn, open your mouth."
Golden Horn opened its mouth excitedly.
Qin Luo poured out some morning dew to feed it.
Song Xiao asked with a smile, "Is this wine?"
"Morning dew collected in the mountains."
"Dew, I've never drunk this stuff before."
"Here, have a couple of sips."
Thanks.
Song Xiao didn't stand on ceremony. He took the golden gourd, took a big gulp through the gourd's mouth, and said, "Is this the taste of dew? It's neither good nor bad."
Song Xiao spoke the truth.
Then return the gourd to Qin Luo.
Qin Luo is refined and easy-going.
Song Xiao really likes his personality.
Qin Luo placed the gourd beside him. "Brother Song, why does your escort agency travel through such remote areas?"
Song Xiao didn't hide anything, "If you take the official road, you'll encounter checkpoints set up by the government and have to pay high fees. But if you take the desolate mountain trails, you can earn a lot more money."
"That's also dangerous."
"There's nothing we can do; it's life."
Qin Luo knew they hadn't had it easy. "It's fate that we met. Here's a talisman to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune to you."
Looking at the brand-new talisman, Song Xiao felt it was a bit fake. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, he took it and examined it carefully. He felt that the talisman was drawn very well.
"Brother Qin, I can't take it for free. How much?"
"Give me two more pieces of beef jerky."
"Hahaha."
Song Xiao thought Qin Luo was starving, so he quickly took out two large pieces of beef jerky, but Qin Luo put them into his sleeve.
"Brother Qin, do you want to leave this as provisions for the road?"
"I want to take some back for my junior sister to try."
"Your junior sister must be very beautiful."
"She's still a child."
Song Xiao immediately changed the subject, "Brother Qin, what are you going to Yanbei City for?"
"I want to talk to the Prince of Zhenbei."
"Hahaha."
Song Xiao grinned from ear to ear, "Brother Qin, when you run into the Prince of Zhenbei, tell him to treat the escort agency better and not bully us laborers."
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