CH 205

The creaking ox cart moved forward slowly.

Li Huowang and his group followed the ox head and continued forward.

Some of their luggage was placed on several carts, and everyone looked much more relaxed and less haggard than before.

These new tools were purchased by Sun Baolu when they passed through a town earlier.

After all, they still had to continue on their journey, and these necessary tools could not be lacking.

Jinshan Zhao still carried his bamboo basket on his back and hummed a tune in his mouth.

Looking at the lush green grass around him, his mood improved a lot.

Such beautiful scenery could not be seen in the hinterland of the Later Shu, so they must be getting close.

He opened his map again and rechecked their current location.

"Well... we should be able to pass through the checkpoint in a few more days."

He put away the map again and congratulated Li Huowang with clasped hands. "Master, we will be out of the checkpoint soon. Congratulations!"

"As long as we pass the checkpoint and enter the Qingqiu territory, everything will be fine."

Li Huowang, who was reading "The Scripture of Deception," looked up at him and then buried his head back into the book.

"Where are you planning to go? Are you going to follow us through Qingqiu to Liangguo?"

"No, I'm not going to Qingqiu. After I send you to the checkpoint, I will go back."

"Go back? Where are you going back to? Aren't you afraid of being caught by someone else?"

Jinshan Zhao smiled confidently. "It's okay. I still have ways to protect myself."

Li Huowang looked at the man in front of him again and felt like he was boasting.

He had been scared to the point of almost wetting his pants by the thief army before, and now he was pretending again.

While they were chatting, a village appeared in front of them.

They didn't all go in, but Jinshan Zhao and Li Huowang went to buy food.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

The two of them were not too conspicuous, and Jinshan Zhao was good at dealing with hostile farmers.

Li Huowang didn't plan to stay here and wanted to replenish their food all the way through the Later Shu.

Although this was more tiring, they couldn't afford to be too picky when being chased by pursuers.

As soon as they entered the village, Li Huowang smelled a peculiar odor.

He followed the smell and saw a pigsty, a pigsty built under a house.

Seeing the black pigs eating these things, Li Huowang's voice trembled.

"Do they... also feed pigs like this here?"

Seeing this scene, he thought of Master Jingxin who died lying in a pigsty in An Ci An.

"Huh? Master, why do you say that? Don't they feed pigs like this? That's why I never eat pork or ham, because pigs and dogs are both animals that eat feces."Li Huowang quickly suppressed his emotions and turned to look at him.

"What did you say? Is this how everyone feeds the pigs?"

"Naturally, it has been like this for thousands of years."

Jinshan Zhao squatted down, picked up a stone, and wrote on the soft soil stroke by stroke.

He wrote the character for "home" very neatly, even though he was using a stone as his tool, which was very beautiful.

"This character represents a house on top and a pig below, which means a home."

"From this character, we can see that pigs have been fed with waste for at least since ancient times."

"By looking at the character and understanding its meaning, we can find some things hidden within the characters."

Looking at the character for "home" on the ground, Li Huowang slowly squatted down and gently touched it with his finger.

"So this is what a home looks like... it seems that I misunderstood the nun before."

Thinking of the past, Li Huowang's eyes became slightly moist.

It used to be the only place where he could feel warmth in this crazy world, but that place was gone forever.

"Sir?" Jinshan Zhao noticed that Li Huowang's emotions were not right and took a step back.

After spending so much time with him, he had long discovered that this gentleman's mind seemed to be troubled, even though he had all sorts of supernatural abilities.

Li Huowang dug the soil next to the character for "home" with his finger and buried it, then stood up again.

He looked at Jinshan Zhao, an ordinary-looking old man.

"Sir, your identity is not ordinary, is it?"

Not many common people could read, let alone write such beautiful characters with a stone.

Jinshan Zhao froze, trying to balance something.

"I saved your life, and I didn't even tell you? Forget it, if you don't want to say it, it's fine. Go buy some food from a farmer."

Just as Li Huowang turned around and took a few steps, Jinshan Zhao's voice came from behind.

"Well, it doesn't matter if I tell you. I am actually a disciple of the Zongheng School."

"Zongheng School?" Li Huowang turned around slowly, looking at him with confusion. These three characters were very unfamiliar to him.

With Jinshan Zhao's explanation, Li Huowang learned what the Zongheng School was.

In short, it was a special profession that emerged in many small countries under special circumstances.

In Jinshan Zhao's words, it was about strategy, and it was an indispensable counselor for every monarch.Helping the monarch with strategies and tactics, connecting and uniting.

But in Li Huowang's understanding, this refers to the clever people who use their eloquence to jump between small countries.

"Knowing the big picture, good at analyzing, skilled in debate, adaptable, possessing both wisdom and courage, long-term planning, decisive, this is what we, the disciples of the alliance, are all about."

Watching Jinshan trying to reach for the sky to catch his tail, Li Huowang interrupted.

"You're so capable, why didn't you engage in a tongue battle with the woman we met earlier?"

Hearing this, Jinshan's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

"Ah ~ as the saying goes, a scholar meets soldiers, and even if you have a point, you can't explain it clearly, let alone the thief's auxiliary army of the Later Shu."

"Hehe." Li Huowang turned and walked towards the village, and Jinshan quickly followed.

"Sir, you may not trust me. But it doesn't matter. After you leave the Later Shu safely, I will do my own business."

"To prevent your location from being revealed by me."

"Since the sir has saved my life, I will definitely repay you. After I become a messenger in the Later Shu, I will not forget the sir."

"Okay, let's talk about it later. But I guess by then you will already be in Liangguo."

Everything was going well, but the relaxed atmosphere of the two chatting was interrupted by Li Huowang suddenly gripping the hilt of his sword.

"Sir... sir?" Jinshan followed Li Huowang's gaze and saw several black pottery jars under the eaves, each with a large red upside-down blessing symbol pasted on it.