Aoyama

Chapter 220 Familiar Feeling

On the official road of Los Angeles, a long convoy headed north against the wind.

Gusts of wind blew, making the copper bell hanging around the old ox's neck jingle.

The bodyguards held down the brims of their hats with one hand, bent over, and walked against the wind and sand, taking each step with great difficulty.

The maids and servants huddled together on the ox-drawn cart that was leaking air from all sides, while the officials hid in the carriage holding a copper stove to warm their hands.

Only Chen Ji, wearing a black cloak, rode his horse beside the caravan, and no one knew what he was thinking.

In the carriage, Xiaoman secretly lifted the cotton curtain and whispered, "Do you think my son looks like a knight in the martial arts world?"

After a long time without any response, she turned around and looked at Su Zhou in the car: "Why don't you say something!"

Su Zhou sat in the wooden box, leaning against the edge of the box, and rolled his eyes weakly: "When your son saw blood, his lips trembled. Do you still want to be a chivalrous hero?"

Xiaoman recalled last night and found that her son was indeed very panicked, which was far from the image of a chivalrous hero.

But she still said stubbornly: "No one is very powerful from the beginning. You and I are officials, so of course we don't have to be afraid. If you become an official, maybe you won't be afraid either... Wuyun, don't you agree?"

Xiaoman looked at Wuyun who was still lying in the car, but Wuyun didn't even raise his eyelids. He just listened to their conversation silently.

Its mission in the car was to eavesdrop, which was why Chen Ji left Su Zhou behind. Otherwise, it would have run out and lay on Zaozao's head, which was so majestic.

Su Zhou said calmly: "I want to correct one thing. Jianghu is just Jianghu. Nowadays, there are only Jianghu people in Jianghu, not knights."

Xiaoman looked confused and couldn't understand the difference after thinking about it for a long time.

In the end, she simply gave up thinking: "Do you have any way to find a way to practice?"

"You want to find a way for him to practice?" Su Zhou glanced at her and said, "Give me the hand warmer, and I will tell you."

Xiaoman hesitated.

Su Zhou sneered: "You keep saying you're doing this for your son, but you can't even give him a hand warmer?"

Xiaoman gritted her teeth and said, "Okay! But you speak first!"

Su Zhou leaned against the wooden box and said lazily, "Aren't the ways of cultivation easy to come by? They are everywhere on the street, right?"

Xiaoman was shocked: "What nonsense are you saying?"

Su Zhou sneered: "I can only say that you are ignorant. Haven't you ever seen people practicing Tai Chi or Ba Duan Jin in the morning to maintain their health?"

Xiaoman stroked the small heater in her hand, puzzled: "You farted, can that be considered a way of cultivation?"

Su Zhou said calmly, "Yes. In the past, the founder of Tai Chi was a great master of the Divine Dao realm, and there was no rival in the entire Ning Dynasty. But for some reason, his disciple betrayed his master and made the way of practice public, so that everyone in the world practiced it, and no one could reach the Xiantian realm. Later, the people also began to use Tai Chi to maintain their health. Not to mention the Xiantian realm, no one could even practice to the peak of the acquired realm. Only some charlatans were left."

Xiaoman pondered for a moment and said, "So if we kill all the people who practice Tai Chi, the only person left who practices Tai Chi will have a chance to enter the realm of the gods?"

Su Zhou opened his mouth and hesitated for a while before answering: "Probably."

Xiaoman sighed and said, "It's a bit difficult."

Su Zhou said unhappily, "What are you thinking about? Are you crazy? There are many similar ways of cultivation in the martial arts world and the military. If your son is willing to spend money, it is easy for him to cultivate to the peak of the acquired realm."

Xiaoman held her purse tightly and asked: "How much does it cost to buy a cultivation method? Where can I buy it?"

Su Zhou thought for a moment and said, "It is occasionally sold at the midnight ghost market in Panjiayuan, Beijing. As for the price of the cultivation path, it depends on what level the most powerful master of this path has reached. If there are only acquired masters in this path, then this path is worth 500 taels of silver. If there are innate masters in this path, then this path is worth 3,000 taels of silver."

Xiaoman asked, "What about the realm of seeking the Dao?"

Su Zhou sneered, "Who would sell someone who can cultivate to the realm of seeking the way for money? If one cultivates to the realm of seeking the way before the age of thirty-six, one can live for more than a hundred years. This kind of thing cannot be bought with money. I advise you not to think about cultivating. With your son's cowardly nature, he will only be eaten up by others if he hangs out in the martial arts world. All right, give me the hand warmer."

Xiao Man stuffed the copper hand warmer into his arms and said with his neck stiff, "You just said something that everyone in the martial arts world knows, and you didn't find me a way to practice, so it doesn't count."

Su Zhou laughed angrily: "It's a pity that you don't become a profiteer."

Xiaoman's eyes lit up: "Do you think so too?"

Su Zhou: "...Do you think I'm praising you?"

"I just thought you were complimenting me."

Su Zhou was silent for a moment: "As an official, why are you willing to be his maid?"

"I'm not willing to do this," Xiaoman turned around and looked at Chen Ji calmly, "I promised someone that I would leave the Chen family only after the young master gets married and starts a family. By then, I will take a large sum of money and live in hiding."

……

……

In the cold wind, a porter from the Liang Escort Agency who was in charge of clearing the way shouted, "We have arrived at Mengjin County. We will stay here today."

Chen Ji patted Zao Zao's neck, and Zao Zao immediately understood what he meant. He turned around and walked through the biting cold wind to the Liang Escort Agency's team. He saw the escort leader standing by the official road, unfolding a sheepskin map, and said to Zhang Zhuo, "Master Zhang, we will stop at Mengjin today. Next, we will pass through Jingyuan, Changzhi, Licheng, Handan, Xingtai, Shimen, and Baoding. If we want to reach the capital before the New Year, we may have to walk two more hours every day, and we can't walk as slowly as today."

Zhang Zhuo pointed his finger at the sheepskin map, squinted his eyes and silently calculated the time: "Can your people hold on?"

Escort Leader Liang laughed cheerfully and said, "This is nothing to us. This time, we have inns to stay at along the way, and it's very comfortable to drink two sips of hot soup every day. When we went to Ganzhou to escort goods, we had to sleep in the snow."

Zhang Zhuo thought for a moment: "What will the Taihang Mountain bandits say? Will it alarm them?"

Escort leader Liang bowed and said, "Don't worry, Sir Zhang. Our Liang Escort Agency has earned its reputation through hard work. When the Taihang Mountain bandits see our escorts shouting, they dare not come down the mountain."

Zhang Zhuo hummed: "Okay, then let's follow your plan."

Escort Leader Liang put the map in his arms and waved to the escorts behind him: "Enter the city!"

After saying that, he took a sack from the ox cart and walked from the front of the caravan to the end. Every time he passed a bodyguard, he would take out a bunch of copper coins from the sack and hand it to the other person.

This is the rule of the escort agency. Wages must be paid every time we stop at a resting place.

The significance of sending them separately is that if they are all sent out at once, these escorts can be thrown into brothels and gambling houses at once. If they are not sent out for a long time, there will be a worry that the escorts will give up.

At this time, Chen Ji jumped off his horse, held the reins and walked to Zhang Zhuo: "Master Zhang, I'm afraid these escorts alone are not enough. I observed that except for the escort leader Liang, the others are not officials."

Zhang Zhuo nodded and said, "There are more than 20 Zhang family warriors hidden among the servants. If the crisis really comes, you only need to shout 'Wind and Snow Thousand Mountains' and they will be at your disposal."

He continued, "I have one more thing to ask of you."

"Master Zhang, please speak."

Zhang Zhuo looked into the distance and said, "If we really encounter danger, I mean if, if even you can't handle it, I hope you can immediately protect Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng and escape, and don't worry about those treasures anymore."

Chen Ji turned around and looked at the long convoy: "Master Zhang, are you willing to do that?"

Zhang Zhuo sneered and said, "You can be greedy again if you lose your money, but if you lose a person, you are really gone."

"I understand," Chen Ji took Zaozao's hand and was about to leave.

But then Zhang Zhuo called him, "Chen Ji."

Chen Ji turned around and asked, "What's the matter, Master Zhang?"

Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard and said, "Don't take to heart what your aunt said to you this morning."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Master Zhang, you are worrying too much. I know what is going on."

Zhang Zhuo suddenly changed the subject: "She said those things to you because I mentioned it to her many times, hoping to promote your relationship with Zhang Xia. But now I already know your feelings for the princess, so there is no need to mention the past. If you don't let the Zhang family down, the Zhang family will do their best to help you."

Chen Ji smiled and clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Master Zhang."

Having said that, he walked away holding the reins.

Behind him, Zhang Zheng quietly approached Zhang Zhuo and said, "Dad, that's not what you told me before."

Zhang Zhuo glared at him, rolled up his sleeves and climbed onto the carriage: "Do you know what a delaying tactic is? Go away and play in the mud."

……

……

Chen Ji walked very slowly, as ox carts passed by him one after another. He heard one of the escorts say in a muffled voice, "Brother, we just returned to Luocheng from Runan. We are living well here. Why do we have to take this escort trip? The escort leader said that we don't have to take this escort trip."

Another escort holding a bull nose ring said calmly: "This escort is to the capital. When we get to the capital, we will part ways with the escort agency and stay there. I heard that the capital is extremely prosperous. Wouldn't it be a pity not to make a name for ourselves?"

When the escort passed by Chen Ji, he smiled politely at him, and then walked against the wind, pulling the ox cart, while throwing the copper coins he had just received to his brother: "Keep the copper coins, this is the capital for me to make a comeback."

The escort asked in a muffled voice, "Brother, why did you let me keep it?"

The escort sighed, "I haven't touched a woman for more than two months. I'm afraid I won't be able to walk past a brothel. This is my only weakness..."

The escort asked in a muffled voice: "Okay, then where do I put the copper coins?"

The escort scratched his eyebrows and said, "Put it in the bag on your shoulder."

"The front or the back of the saddlebag?"

"Front."

"Oh."

In an instant, Chen Ji, who was behind the two men, looked at the backs of the two bodyguards and suddenly stopped.

Such a familiar...feeling.

(End of this chapter)