xymnovel Chapter 1418 - 1413: Closer and Closer to Him
Chapter 1418 - 1413: Closer and Closer to Him
Time flew by, and a month passed just like that.After rushing all the way, the people of Zhenyuan Escort Agency finally arrived at Xing City this very day, just before dusk.
Xing City was a small border town in the Northwest, close to the desert.
Water was scarce, and fresh vegetables and fruits were even rarer in Xing City.
Rice wasn’t the staple here; people mainly ate noodles. There was plenty of beef and mutton. It was similar in some ways to the Northwest Mu Shuangshuang knew in modern times, yet also very different.
Stepping onto the soil of Xing City, countless excited impulses surged up from the bottom of Mu Shuangshuang’s heart.
She held the reins of her horse, but her eyes kept roaming around, as if she could spot Fengzi just by looking hard enough.
She had a feeling Fengzi was nearby!
Not far from Xing City.
She could finally see Fengzi!
Forcing down the excitement in her heart, Mu Shuangshuang began to observe her surroundings.
In Xing City, many traveling merchants came and went. Like Mu Shuangshuang’s group, most of them had their own caravans of carts and horses.
But a team as large as theirs was indeed rare.
So many people looked their way, but once they saw the two big characters for "escort agency," they quickly took their eyes back.
An escort agency wasn’t something ordinary people could afford to provoke. The escort masters inside were all highly skilled in martial arts. If you could avoid offending them, you absolutely should!
"We finally made it to Xing City. Today we’ll rest at an inn. Once we complete the task tomorrow, you can all go about your own business. The night before we leave, we’ll gather again!" Zhao Erbiao’s booming voice rang out.
Everyone answered in unison, "Alright!"
Zhenyuan Escort Agency was especially humane.
As long as the task was completed, however you used your free time in between was up to you.
After reaching the inn, everyone still couldn’t hold back their excitement.
The little barber boy even took the initiative to seek out Mu Shuangshuang to chat, but unfortunately, Mu Shuangshuang kicked him straight out of the room with one blow.
He went to look for Shen Feng next, but unfortunately, from the moment Shen Feng entered his room, he vanished without a trace.
No matter how the barber boy pounded on the door, there was no response from inside.
The barber boy had no choice but to go report the situation to Zhao Erbiao, the escort leader.
Zhao Erbiao’s mind was entirely on the goods; he had no time to care whether Shen Feng was around or not.
That night, he had to stay up without closing his eyes, guarding those goods. Only when he handed them over first thing the next morning to the person holding the claim slip would this trip be considered perfect!
"Lifa, everyone’s tired from this trip. Stop bothering people! If something happens in the night and they haven’t rested enough, how are they supposed to fight off the enemy?
You’re here to run errands, not to supervise everyone. So if there’s nothing else, just stay in your room, tidy up, and do what you’re supposed to do!"
Zhao Erbiao was already used to calling Ni Fa "Lifa." His tone carried a bit of earnest admonition.
Ni Fa drooped his head after listening and voiced what was in his heart.
"Honestly, I’m just bored. There’s no one to talk to! I’ve never been to this vast Northwest before. Everything feels strange, everything feels curious!
Brother Zhao and the other brothers have been here before, so maybe it’s nothing new to you all. I figured since Da Niu, Shen Feng, and I are all here for the first time, we’d be thinking the same.
Who knew those two aren’t curious at all? Especially Da Niu—he just kicked me right out, clearly not wanting to hear me talk.
Brother Zhao, why don’t you tell me what’s so wonderful about the Northwest?"
Zhao Erbiao simply let things be. He had Ni Fa go get three jin of beef and a pot of boiling water, and the two of them prepared to eat and talk at the same time.
When he was escorting goods, Zhao Erbiao never drank alcohol.
Using tea in place of wine was the most basic rule, and everyone had followed it throughout the journey. No one had ever slipped up.
Ni Fa went out once and came back carrying a food box. Inside it was the beef he’d gotten from the waiter.
"Brother Zhao, the beef slices here in the Northwest are huge, way bigger than the beef I’ve seen back in the county!"
Ni Fa had already found it fascinating the moment he saw the beef plated by the waiter.
He’d held it in until he got in front of Zhao Erbiao before voicing his doubts.
"You brat, cut that talk out. If someone hears you, they’ll laugh their heads off!" Zhao Erbiao looked utterly helpless.
"Ah, then I won’t say it!" Ni Fa hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth.
He then heard Zhao Erbiao say, "The Northwest looks poor and harsh, but in fact, it’s rich in beef and mutton. And compared to the men back where we’re from, the men here in the Northwest have a wilder streak!
They like to eat meat in big mouthfuls and drink in big gulps! Oh, and opposite our Da Ning Dynasty is Da Wei. The people there are all fierce, with extremely strong fighting power!"
After traveling all over the land for so many years, Zhao Erbiao knew quite a lot.
He’d never had the chance to say it before, but this time he could teach everything to the foolish youngster in front of him, so the boy wouldn’t say something wrong and get laughed at.
...
In the inn, Mu Shuangshuang packed up all her luggage.
She planned to wait until Zhao Erbiao finished handing over the goods the next day before she came clean with him that she couldn’t continue escorting in the future, and that she didn’t even want the money for this trip.
After parting ways with the people from the escort agency, she would first find a courtyard somewhere to settle down.
Mu Shuangshuang’s plan was to put down roots in Xing City before she met Fengzi.
The army camp wasn’t somewhere just anyone could enter. She figured it would take some effort to find.
With that in mind, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t get a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, someone came knocking on her door.
Mu Shuangshuang quickly got dressed, opened the door, and saw Ni Fa’s anxious face.
"Da Niu, have you seen Shen Feng?" he asked.
"No, what’s wrong?"
"Shen Feng’s gone! I went to wake him up, but there was no response. Thinking back to how he was the same last night, I was afraid something had happened to him, so I rammed the door open.
And then... then I saw his bedding hadn’t even been unrolled. That’s one thing, but there were also five taels of Silver on the table. It should be the Silver the escort agency gave him as a welcome gift for becoming an escort master this time, and he didn’t take it.
I think he probably wasn’t even here last night. He must have left!"
Shen Feng was very mysterious.
All this way, apart from his name, no one knew his background.
Even Mu Shuangshuang, who’d been with him, had spoken with him only a handful of times.
"If he’s gone, he’s gone. What’s there to make a fuss about?" Mu Shuangshuang felt utterly calm inside.
In her heart, though, she was cursing Shen Feng. That Wang Ba, leaving without even talking it over.
She could have copied his method and slipped away without a sound too!
"Da Niu, what are you saying? What do you mean ’if he’s gone, he’s gone’? Isn’t Shen Feng our partner? On this whole journey, even though he didn’t talk much, he still worked hard without complaint.
The game you ate was all hunted by him. You... you’re not secretly resenting him because you’re afraid he’d steal your spot, are you?
Lu Daniu, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person. For the sake of status, you actually... actually..."
Ni Fa looked heartbroken as he accused Mu Shuangshuang.