Holy Bone

Chapter 845
Jiangzhou Mansion is located in the south of the Yangtze River, where private businesses are active, and merchants come and go in an endless stream. Even the scorching heat of July can't stop the enthusiasm of the businessmen.

For example, there are monkey performers on the street,
There are acrobats,
There are magicians from the Western Regions,

There are peddlers carrying burdens and yelling,

There are knife sharpeners who walk the streets,
There are also porters, coachmen, bodyguards...

Grain merchants, ship merchants, and cloth merchants from other places...

360 The five elements make up the wealth of the land in the south of the Yangtze River, and the first tax-heavy land in Kangding.

A few guests came to the Yuelai Inn that day. They were all dressed up in the dusty world. At first glance, they looked like people who had been running around for a living all year round. With a half-baked local accent, they led a few donkeys, a big donkey and three small donkeys.

As soon as these guests came, they asked if there was a separate small courtyard, and they lived together to take away the donkeys so that they could raise them.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw the big order, he smiled from ear to ear and quickly said yes and yes. Several customers invited him in, and called a clever errand boy of fifteen or sixteen years old to help them lead the donkey.

Seeing their honest faces, several guests rejected the shopkeeper's kindness, saying that these donkeys are the livelihood of their caravan, they are spoiled and difficult to take care of, and they are born with a stubborn temper, and they have to come in person to tame their temper.

The shopkeeper didn't take this matter too seriously, as long as others are willing to pay the room fee in full, it doesn't matter whether they lead donkeys or cattle, horses and sheep, as long as they have money to earn.

At this moment, a strange scene happened. As soon as the guests finished speaking, the donkeys, big and small, began to scratch their hooves and bark restlessly.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper said half-jokingly: "I see that these donkeys of yours are not only stubborn, but also like to take advantage of others. Don't they like to call everyone 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'?"

Just when the shopkeeper was about to personally lead the way for these people to the private courtyard, some of the donkeys suddenly knelt down to the shopkeeper, opening their mouths and neighing non-stop.

The shopkeeper was surprised: "This is shouting at people and kneeling at others indiscriminately. What do you mean? I kneel down to my son, deliberately breaking my life?"

Even the errand boy was surprised to see this scene.

One of them, a man in his forties who was the youngest, skillfully wielded a whip, and drove the donkeys to the courtyard with one blow: "These stubborn donkeys deserve a whip. It's a beating, and nothing can be cured by a beating."

Uh, the shopkeeper can't bear to say that all things have spirituality, and it's hard work for them to make money from your caravan camel goods, right?
After hearing what the shopkeeper said, someone immediately stopped the man from beating the donkey, but when the shopkeeper just left the courtyard and closed the door, there was a louder sound of whipping and the painful screaming of several donkeys in the courtyard.

"I'll let you stop screaming!"

"I'll let you guys stop barking like crazy!"

Cursing came from the isolated courtyard, although the shopkeeper couldn't bear it, he finally shook his head and sighed, turned his head and left in a hurry.

Strange to say, these guests claimed to be packers helping the caravan to carry goods, but since they stayed at Yuelai Inn, they have never seen them go out to carry goods.But this is not the strangest thing. The strangest thing is that these people go out empty-handed every day. They don’t know what to do. They rush back to the inn before the curfew, and they always bring back donkeys, big or small, every day. Seeing that the number of donkeys in the private courtyard of the inn increased.

On the third day after the guests checked in, a young servant sneaked up to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, why do I think those camel drivers are suspicious? Every day they don't do anything, they can always bring back new donkeys. Just now I sneaked up the wall and took a look inside." , In such a hot weather, so many donkeys are exposed to the sun without any shelter. Those packers beat or abused them. They don't take care of these donkeys at all. In my opinion, even if they are not killed, they will be exposed to the sun. Death from heatstroke."

The shopkeeper glared at the boy: "You forgot the rules of our business, don't inquire about the guests and be less curious, be careful if you are caught and report to the yamen, and you have to let me wipe your ass!"

It is said that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, so the boy boldly yelled loudly: "Then the donkeys in the yard are full of dung and barking, which has already caused dissatisfaction and complaints from other residents. Shopkeeper, you can't be too afraid , it's time to take care of this."

The shopkeeper quickly went to cover the boy's mouth, and cursed in a low voice: "You are afraid that there are not enough residents complaining, and there are not enough shit bowls on my head, right! I want to make the noise known to the whole world!"

Cursing and scolding, when those guests came back with two donkeys, one big and one small, before nightfall, the shopkeeper rubbed his palms, smiled and came forward to greet and chat. After chatting a few words, they talked about donkeys. Yes, why do you see a new donkey brought in every day?
Several laughed and replied: "Recently, the caravan is taking a short rest, so we are looking for some new pack donkeys in the city these days."

The shopkeeper then chatted a few more words, and the other party's answer was flawless, so the shopkeeper didn't ask any more questions, not wanting to make trouble with the money.

As a result, on the next day, the boy was really right. Three donkeys, two big, one small, and three donkeys died of heatstroke in a row. Those guests asked the shopkeeper to borrow a cart to transport the corpses, saying they would take them outside the city and bury them.

The shopkeeper saw with his own eyes that the donkeys were indeed dead, so he asked the customer why he didn't sell these donkey carcasses to our store, which happened to have a ready-made back kitchen to make a meal of braised donkey meat for everyone.

However, the other party answered that there was no bloodletting in the summer, and the meat of the animals would stink after being left for a long time, so as to prevent others from finding their heads after eating bad stomachs, it is safest to find a place to bury these donkey carcasses.Although we lost some money by doing this, but if we don't implicate the inn and the shopkeeper, it can be regarded as a good deed for us brothers, and our conscience will be easier.

The errand boy muttered: "If you really have a conscience, you wouldn't expose those donkeys in the hot July sun, and die of heatstroke in the end."

……

……

Ships in Jiangzhou prefecture come and go like weaves, and at the deep-water port wharf with thousands of sails in the same sky, the sky is abnormal, and the weather is getting hotter every day, but it still can't stop the busy figures of the porters.

Every porter and coachman here is extremely busy, helping grain merchants, tea merchants, cloth merchants, and porcelain merchants to load and unload goods. Some of these goods are transported along the coast to the Central Plains and northern places, and some have traveled across the ocean to foreign countries. , and in exchange for a boatload of gold, silver, jewelry and spiced wine to fill the cornucopia of Jiangzhou Prefecture.

At this time, the wharf porters and coachmen were sweating profusely, but under the urging of the caravan stewards, no one dared to stop and rest except for complaining a few words about God and letting people live.

According to the old people, this is the first time they have seen such a hot summer in their 50 or [-] years of life, which is really rare.

And among the busy adults at the wharf, there are also a few children who are busy with the adults. When those children see a driver who is struggling to go uphill, they immediately rush to help push the cart uphill. Although they sweat a day, they can’t earn much. He is only a copper coin, but he can earn a bunch of candied haws by himself.

So this bustling and busy wharf has become the place where children gather most in Fucheng.

Today, a few strange tea drinkers came to the teahouse near the wharf. They said it was strange because they only ordered a pot of tea and sat for a whole day.

In this scorching heat and hot sea breeze, everyone else went to cool places, the business of the teahouse was dull, and even the boss and the servants were sleepy, but these people could sit in the teahouse for a whole day, leaning on the railing While sitting, you can just see the busy atmosphere of the market on the pier.

These people are none other than the donkey drivers from Yuelai Inn.

If you follow their eyes, you can find that what they are looking at is not the atmosphere of the market at the pier, but the group of children on the pier.

His eyes were cold and emotionless, as if he was not looking at a living person of flesh and blood, but picking goods in the vegetable market, and then took out a pen and paper to record the characteristics of each child.

Suddenly, one of them let out a surprise as if he had discovered something.

"Ok?"

"He really took his sister and fled to Fucheng!"

When the rest of the table heard the words, they immediately followed the sound.

It has been four or five days since Xiaofei brought his younger sister to Fucheng. Although he has a dozen coins from Jin'an, he has always kept in mind Jin'an's words, don't waste money at will, and only use it in emergencies. He didn't spend any of it, and these days he has been helping adults push carts uphill at the pier, earning two or three coppers a day to support himself and his sister.

He didn't go to Wu Zang Dao Temple to find Jin'an these days. While earning money to support himself and his sister during the day, he was looking for people in the beggar's shack at night to find out more information about Wu Zang Dao Temple and Jin'an.

If you want to say where the news in the whole city is the most well-informed, it is naturally these beggar gangs all over the city.

He is very stubborn and vigilant, because his brother and sister were abducted by human traffickers once, and escaped from the human traffickers with great difficulty, so they are hostile to the world of adults and will not trust others so easily!People are best at disguising. The world of adults is full of lies, so he only believes what he sees and hears with his own eyes!

He had to confirm with his own eyes whether Taoist Master Jin'an was a good person worthy of trust!Is there any connection between the five internal organs Taoist temple in Jiangzhou Prefecture and the five internal organs Taoist temple in Wuzhou Prefecture?

Although it is a little bit hard and tiring, but I live with a sense of security.

And what their brothers and sisters lack the most is a sense of security.

As the setting sun shone on the sea, and the blue waves sprinkled the golden glow, Xiao Fei took the three coppers he earned today, bought two steamed buns made of white flour, put them carefully on his chest, and happily ran to the beggar's shack to find his little sister.

As they gained a foothold in Fucheng, other women and beggars were also willing to help the poor pair of brothers and sisters. When the elder brother went to the pier to push a cart, a woman and beggar took his younger sister to the river to wash clothes for others and do part-time work. , Although I can't earn food and clothing, I can't starve to death.

The reunion of brothers and sisters is naturally a warm scene.

The younger sister, who deliberately painted her face dirty, giggled happily and bit the white flour steamed buns bought by her brother. As long as her brother was by her side, she felt that the best food in the world was white flour steamed buns.

"Brother, what's wrong with you, why don't you eat steamed buns all of a sudden?" The younger sister blinked her big clean eyes, holding the steamed buns and looking at her brother curiously.

The elder brother turned around and glanced behind him, then frowned like a grown-up: "I suddenly felt uneasy, as if something was about to happen..."

As soon as my brother finished speaking, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the simple shack where the brother and sister lived.

The elder brother immediately picked up the bamboo pole sharpened by himself vigilantly, and protected the younger sister tightly behind him.

"These brothers and sisters can hide quite well, but it's really hard to find them living with these stinky beggars."

"Oh, don't they really naively think that if they gather in a crowded place, we can't do anything about them? A child is a child, no matter how cunning they are, they are just two teenagers together. I don’t know how dangerous the world is, hahaha.”

"I have used the enchantment talisman to isolate the surrounding area, so I can make a move."

The sound was getting closer and closer to the simple shack where the brothers and sisters lived. Suddenly, the footsteps of several people stopped in unison. Curled up behind his brother.

call!
The straw curtains of the shack were violently lifted, and a big ferocious face poked its head in, sneering: "I caught you!"

There was a flash of white light in front of his eyes, and the sharpened bamboo pole was stabbed by him, and he grabbed it easily. With a shake of his burly and powerful arm, the huge power gap directly sent the bamboo pole flying. The little boy's hands were split open, and blood flowed immediately.

"Brother!" My sister yelled sadly, tears falling down.

The space in the shack was limited, and there was nowhere to hide. Soon the siblings were carried out by a burly man. No matter how much they were crying, the surrounding beggar shacks remained indifferent. There was a layer of transparent ripple barrier to isolate this place from the outside world.

"It is said that fate is great, such a big storm, the boat was smashed by the storm, and the two of you brothers and sisters were buried in the bottom of the sea. The lives of your brothers and sisters are indeed great. It's a pity that your luck is not as great as your fate. After hiding in XZ, you still found by us."

The one who spoke was the oldest among the group of people. His eyes were gloomy like a vulture that eats people without spitting out their bones. He said viciously to the brothers and sisters who were holding their clothes by the back of their necks and struggling desperately in the air: "As a punishment, this time I will arrest you." You go back and use it to fill up the town of sea stone beasts, laying stakes for people, drifting in the dark ocean for the rest of your life, and you will never be able to go ashore forever!"

"Before leaving the city, let me help you relive the days when you were a dog and a donkey!"

……

Joy Inn.

Before the curfew closed, several porters who lived in the inn returned to the inn.

"Bought two more little donkeys today?" the innkeeper greeted.

Seeing the innkeeper struggling excitedly, the two little donkeys knelt down and kowtowed, tears fell from their eyes, as if they were crying for help, but the words they uttered were incomprehensible donkey calls, and instead they were beaten with a whip .

"Let you scream! Let you scream again!"

"Don't tell me to be more honest!"

Seeing the other little donkey desperately trying to protect its companion, the innkeeper couldn't bear to say that all things have spirituality, please let them go, if they continue to beat them, they will really be killed.Today I will give a jar of wine to a few people, if they drink it to their heart's content, how about selling it to me?
Only then did the beatings stop.

(End of this chapter)