Chapter 266: Set Off

Chapter 266 Setting Out

"Plague?" Li Huowang, who was just about to leave, was instantly captivated by the casual chatter of these two. His intuition told him this might be what he had been searching for.

Completely ignoring the Lu Family Troupe on the stage, Li Huowang hurried over to the tall and fat pair, waiting for them to continue speaking.

However, what made Li Huowang anxious was that when he listened casually, they talked endlessly, but when he focused his attention, they fell silent.

Li Huowang simply walked up to the fat man and gently nudged his shoulder with his arm. "Friend, may I ask what happened in Pi County? How did a plague break out? I've never heard of it before."

The fat man, who had been intently listening to the opera on the stage, was displeased upon being asked by Li Huowang. "What business is it of yours? Who are you?"

When the fat man saw the two pieces of broken silver Li Huowang handed over, his eyes went straight. The rude words on his lips were swallowed back down.

"Please do tell me. My maternal uncle is in Pi County. Hearing news of the plague there, I am truly anxious, which is why I acted so rashly."

Regardless of whether the other party believed Li Huowang's fabricated lie, at least for the sake of the silver, he appeared very helpful.

"Hey, brother, you should have said this earlier. I thought it was something else." A fat hand hidden in the sleeve reached out and took the two pieces of broken silver.

"Rest assured, your maternal uncle is fine. There is no plague in Pi County. Everyone is alive." Speaking of this, the fat man wearing a watermelon hat paused slightly.

"However, brother, if you truly care for your maternal uncle, it would be best to bring him out of Pi County. The feng shui there is not good."

Saying this, his voice subconsciously lowered a bit, as if afraid of being heard by something.

"Let me tell you, last time I went there to do business, I noticed the people living there were acting nervously, their complexions were all poor. I don't know how it happened, but no wonder others say Pi County has a plague; those faces looked worse than someone actually struck by the plague."

"Everyone in the county acting nervously, poor complexions?"

Standing still, Li Huowang pondered carefully before asking again: "Apart from that, is there anything else unusual happening in Pi County?"

Although nothing strange happens in this world, merely these two points were insufficient to judge what exactly the people of Pi County had encountered.

"I don't know that. I just passed through there, didn't stay long before returning. If you are really worried, just go see Pi County yourself. Anyway, it's only a ten-day journey, nothing serious. Look, didn't I come back?"

"A ten-day journey?" Li Huowang thought for a moment, then turned and walked towards the inn.

When Bai Lingmiao's map was spread out before Li Huowang, he quickly found the location of Pi County, which happened to be on the same route as Niu Xin Mountain.

After thinking carefully for a moment, Li Huowang ultimately decided to go take a look.

An entire county of people behaving strangely; no matter how you look at it, the matter couldn't be small. Going there greatly increased the probability of encountering the Sky Monitoring Bureau.

Moreover, this was now his only choice. There wasn't even a backup plan.

Just then, Lu Xiucai rushed in excitedly from outside. Before he could speak, Li Huowang looked up at him and said: "Go tell your father. Stop performing after today's show. Tomorrow we continue our journey."

Holding a copper coin, Lu Xiucai nodded repeatedly, turned around, and rushed outside.

Regarding Li Huowang's sudden departure, everyone else was already used to it. They prepared the ox cart and the newly bought carriage, loading all necessary items onto them.

As for where Li Huowang was going or what he intended to do, they were too lazy to ask, or perhaps dared not ask. They just needed to follow along.

If there was any change compared to before, it was that the Lu Family Troupe, previously dejected, had now changed their faces.

Everyone's faces were flushed red; the spirit and energy beaten down by peers had returned.

"Hehehe~ Little Daoist Master, Little Daoist Master~ We agreed before, this is your share, and this is mine."

Happy Lu Zhuangyuan reached out and held a handful of copper coins mixed with broken silver, presenting it to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang sized up Lu Zhuangyuan, whose smile bloomed like a chrysanthemum. "What? Did you collect so many tips?"

He knew well that the Lu Family Troupe in the past, just singing those yi-yi-a-ah sounds, never earned so many tips.

"Hehehe, after all, this is Great Liang. Those people all have money, they all have money~"

Lu Zhuangyuan spoke cheerfully, placing the copper coins and silver from his hand onto the ox cart.

Seeing Li Huowang did not refuse, the driver Zhao Wu took out a thick thread and threaded the scattered copper coins one by one.

Li Huowang naturally did not refuse. Although this silver was not much, it was a steady stream, saving him from wasting time on daily trivialities often.

And at least with this silver, everyone else's meals could be better. "Take out that cured meat tonight and make a stewed rice dish with it."

Just after saying this, a clear sound of swallowing saliva entered Li Huowang's ears. Logically, having eaten so much meat on the Qingqiu Grasslands, one shouldn't be craving like this.

"Whose voice is that? Didn't you eat today?"

Li Huowang turned his head and found that the person was not one of his own, but an old wheat harvester with speckled hair and a lean body. Beside him stood a youth with a simple, honest appearance.

The two of them also looked like they were traveling together along the way.

As if sensing the gaze, the old wheat harvester pretended not to care and looked away at the harvested rice fields on the other side.

"Gulu~" A stomach growl sounded. The old wheat harvester put down his hands holding the shoulder pole, grabbed the hemp rope of his belt on both sides, and tightened it forcefully.

Li Huowang glanced at their tattered patched clothes, turned his head, and continued on his path.

Along the way, aside from Dogwa talking a bit too much, no one else spoke.

When the sun slanted west, the ox cart wheels slowly stopped. As usual, everyone began dividing tasks to prepare dinner.

"Senior Brother Li, look quickly! There are dandelions by the roadside. Make some wild vegetable soup, it will perfectly cut the greasiness of the cured meat!"

Li Huowang, busy looking at the map, didn't hear who said this at all.

His attention was now focused entirely on the map in his hand. God knows if the scale on this map is correct; if they took a wrong turn, it would waste several more days of travel.

Soon dinner was ready. Today's dinner was cured meat stewed rice paired with wild vegetable soup.

Looking at the large bowl of oily rice before him, and the red-and-white cured meat between the grains, Li Huowang raised his head again to look at the two wheat harvesters squatting in the distance.

They were swallowing coarse grain steamed buns taken from their bags with cold raw water scooped directly from the stream.

The young wheat harvester stared straight at the meal in Li Huowang's hand, but was quickly pushed down by the old wheat harvester.

"Go fetch two bowls of rice and send them over." Li Huowang said to Bai Lingmiao beside him.

"Hmm." Bai Lingmiao nodded, turned her head, and walked towards the pot.

(End of Chapter)