Chapter 335 Exit Seclusion

In the past, Xu Han never believed in the word Heavenly Fate.

But now, standing on the golden wheat field of Wuye in Jizhou, Xu Han had no choice but to believe this statement.

It had been 19 years since he remembered that he had seen such a strong wheat field. The soil of Jizhou was not as fertile as that of Qingzhou, but it could not withstand the storms of the past half year.

Half a year had passed since the incident in Chang'an. It was autumn. This year's Great Zhou did not have as many droughts and snowstorms as in the past ten years. Instead, it followed the wishes of the people. When it was time for sunshine, it would be fine. When it was time for rain, it would be rainy.

The reason for all of this was rumored to be the only Great Empress, Yuwen Nanjing, who had ascended to the throne for thousands of years!

The rumors in the world were mostly divine. Naturally, someone was secretly pushing her. She said that the Great Empress was the legacy of the Chengyang Emperor back then. She was born with the will of the heavens and was destined to bring peace and prosperity to Great Zhou. And the six months since he ascended the throne, the people had indeed seen such hope. As a result, the expectations of the people towards the Great Empress had risen even higher. Even the discontented voices that had arisen from supporting the Great Empress had gradually subsided by this time.

Perhaps there really is a destiny in this world.

Xu Han looked at the golden wheat field in front of him and the smiles on the faces of the people. He thought to himself.

Speaking of which, he only found out that Qin Keqing's real name was Yuwen Nanjing when he was walking in the streets. Xu Han shook his head and withdrew the chaotic thoughts in his heart. He turned around and followed the vast dragon in front of him, heading towards the closed door of the Sword Dragon Pass.

Since the Great Empress ascended to the throne, her exorbitant taxes had been reduced by more than half, and it was said that after paying this year's taxes, she would cut taxes again. Along with the defeat of the Xia Kingdom and the Chen Kingdom, trade between the two countries also started again. Although the border checks were strict, they could not resist the temptation of huge interests, and the number of merchants traveling between the two countries could be said to be endless.

Boss Gan was considered one of the best businessmen in the industry.

There were about twenty people and five or six carriages in his hands. They traveled to and fro Xia Zhou Country. After half a year, they were filled with bowls and bowls. A few days ago, he had taken an eighteen-year-old concubine at home. It could be said that he was very proud of himself.

Xu Han met this middle-aged man in his early forties with a beard at the junction of Liang Zhou and Ji Zhou, even though he had worn that thick and expensive mink fur at the beginning of autumn.

Objectively speaking, after more than ten years of living as a beggar, even though Xu Han did not have a bad impression of men, he did not have a good impression of them at all.

However, Boss Gan saw Xu Han, who was sitting at the side eating at a noodle stand, and invited him to be the escort of the caravan to escort them into the country.

Xu Han, who had been in Pan Heng for a long time in Great Zhou, was worried that he could not find a way out of the Sword Dragon Pass. He naturally had no reason to reject Old Gan's proposal. The two sides quickly settled the transaction with three taels of silver and a package of food and accommodation.

Boss Gan was a shrewd person. The Great Zhou and Great Xia borders had always been heavily stocked with troops, and there were pitifully few bandits. He did not look for an escort. He hoped that these assistants would deal with the bandits. Boss Gan's heart was really uneasy. However, hiring a real escort was enough to spend 20% of his profits.

However, Xu Han was different. Being alone with his sword meant that he could at least fight. In addition, his upright figure alone was enough to scare away the few bandits on the border. Boss Gan, who had been traveling between the two countries all year round, knew very well that those bandits didn't have much ability and only dared to pick soft persimmons.

Xu Han asked for a cheap price. Boss Gan also knew that the other party probably didn't have much ability, but it was enough to deal with those bandits. Every time he thought of his own plan, he couldn't help but secretly praise himself in his heart for being a good material for doing business.

Of course, this complacency only lasted until the day before the Sword Dragon Pass.

After all, the Sword Dragon Pass was an important town on the Great Zhou border. With Empress Yuwen Nan Jing ascending to the throne and Tiance Prefecture taking power, the Sword Dragon Pass was once again valued by the Imperial Court, and a large amount of money was allocated from the barren treasury for the Mu Clan Army to expand their armaments. Apart from this resident soldier, the most common people in the current Sword Dragon Pass were merchants like Boss Gan.

Every time they arrived here, they would have to stay in the Sword Dragon Pass for a day.

This was for the sake of nourishing one's energy and accumulating strength. Secondly, there were merchants gathered in the pass to inquire about each other and find out what was worth selling and what was worth transporting back to Great Zhou for resale.

Boss Gan's uneasiness began at this moment.

Boss Gan's caravan of merchants in this area could also be considered outstanding, but it was not the strongest one. As for who was the most capable, there was still no conclusion, but there was no lack of people on par with him.

Huang Er was one of them.

Speaking of which, he was quite familiar with Huang Er. Two months ago, the two of them had a big fight over a deal. Huang Er's right leg was broken, and Boss Gan was bitten off a piece of meat from the other party's left hand.

Every time he heard the news about Huang'er, Boss Gan hated him so much that his teeth itched.

However, the news he heard yesterday made the middle-aged man, who was focused on competing with Huang'er, feel as if a bucket of cold water had been broken through in the ice and snow, and his entire body was covered in cold sweat from bones to pores.

Huang Er's caravan was looted by thieves at the border between Great Zhou and Great Xia. When Huang Er was found, his head was cut off, and the entire caravan had no chance of surviving.

In the past, even those robbers who had been robbed had always only wanted money and not life. Now that such a thing had happened, it caused panic and rumors to spread throughout the Sword Dragon Pass among the merchants.

Some said that a group of bandits had unified the previously scattered bandits, while others said that someone was plotting some demonic techniques and needed a soul to guide them. In the end, there were divergent opinions, but the truth became more and more complicated. However, at least one problem was placed in front of these merchants. The three-day journey between Great Zhou and Great Xia was no longer peaceful.

Wealthy ones spend a lot of money to hire escorts, but those without money want to avoid the limelight and temporarily don't want to get involved in this muddy water.

Boss Gan clearly belonged to the former. He planned to take another concubine in the early spring of next year, so how could he stop here? However, Xu Han alone was obviously not enough to support his courage to cross the border, and hiring a team of real escorts had become the most important thing in front of Boss Gan.

However, this escort that was normally not welcomed by the caravan became a hot item in the blink of an eye. Although his heart ached, Boss Gan had no choice but to pay a large price for such a five-man escort team.

As for Xu Han, who was obviously unable to do anything with the money, although Boss Gan was somewhat resentful in his heart, he was still a person who cared about people, so he offered to give only half of his wages and dismiss Xu Han.

However, he didn't want Xu Han to take the initiative to reduce his wages. He said that with only two taels of silver, Boss Gan felt that Xu Han was definitely an unattractive embroidered pillow. However, with two taels of silver, it was worth it to invite him to take care of the escort cart and do some hard work. Boss Gan agreed.

…

Although the examination at the border was harsh, it was mainly focused on materials. In addition, Boss Gan could be considered an old acquaintance. After stuffing some silver coins, he passed through the Sword Dragon Pass unscathed.

After witnessing the entire process, Xu Han couldn't help but secretly sigh that money was sometimes comparable to his cultivation.

"What are you looking at! Hurry up and push the cart!" However, just as he sighed, a rude shout came from behind him.

Xu Han turned around and took a look. He was one of the guards that Boss Gan had invited over. A burly young man was twenty-five to sixteen years old, with a bald head and a long scar on his shoulder. At first glance, he was the kind of character that was difficult to provoke. Of course, this kind of person was only aimed at ordinary vendors like Boss Gan.

This burly young man, Xu Han, remembered that his name was Huma, a Great Xia, who had done business escorting merchants between the two countries in order to make a living. However, he seemed to be extremely disgusted with Xu Han, who was called an escort, but who was doing the work of a clerk. However, Xu Han was not sure if this dislike was because he had ruined the reputation of an escort or because he had overestimated himself in their eyes.

The escort team seemed to have some background. Most of the four escorts had some cultivation. As for the escort head, he had been sitting alone in the carriage of the escort team ever since he had negotiated the price with Boss Gan. For this reason, Boss Gan had even specially found a clerk to drive the car for him. It could be said that his courtesy was so great that Xu Han had never seen the true face of the escort head before.

However, Xu Han apparently did not have the mood to compete with this Hu Ma. He bowed down obediently and pushed the horse carriage that had fallen into the mire towards the direction far away from the Sword Dragon Pass.

To Xu Han, being able to safely go to Great Xia was the most important thing.

As for Huma…

Why should a tiger leopard stop for an ant's cry?

…

The Great Xia, Great Zhou, and Chen kingdoms had a three-no-care zone.

That was Ya Qishan.

The wasteland in front of Boss Gan's caravan, called Deerhorn Plain, was not far from Ya Qi Mountain.

The Wilderness was vast. It would take them at least four to five days to walk. The first day after they left the Sword Dragon Pass, there was no change. Under the guidance of the escort leader, everyone found a wide-eyed area to rest and recuperate.

It was only after the campfires were lit that the bad news came again.

A few merchants who had rushed over from Great Xia had gloomy expressions on their faces. Boss Gan was keenly aware of something and eagerly called them over.

The few of them were filled with horror as they recounted what they had seen and heard on the road.

It was said that one more day's journey would bring them to the center of the antler plains, where they saw hundreds of corpses, and the unextinguished campfires and scattered things seemed to be the caravans of the traveling merchants, but there were no survivors.

Not only did he die a tragic death, but he didn't take away his belongings. According to those merchants, the other party was more likely to kill for the sake of killing people.

After sending off the merchants, Boss Gan worriedly gathered all the people who seemed to want to discuss the plan for this trip.

Even though Xu Han was now treated as an ordinary attendant, he was still able to see the escort head's original appearance.

It surprised Xu Han. Even Xuan'er, who was napping on her shoulder, widened her amber eyes and stared straight at the person who had stepped out of the carriage…

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