You cultivate immortality, I cultivate merit

On the city wall, soldiers announced to the people living below that the city gate would be opened later.

Outside the city, the carriage of Shi Xiaoliu and his two companions was sold successfully, and the buyer drove away directly with the carriage.

This even made Shi Xiaoliu and the other two wonder if they had sold the carriage at a low price.

However, the discussions of people around them let them know that the price given by the buyer was very fair.

The only difference was that compared to buying a carriage in the city, they had to save the storage fee paid to the stable.

Shi Xiaoliu asked about the storage fee out of curiosity. The man pointed with his finger and said, "If you take the carriage to the horse farm to sell it, you will also have to pay the same fee."

At the gate, more and more people lined up, but the voices of discussion became quieter.

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two had decided to go into the city, so they lined up at the back of the long queue, listening to the discussions of the people around them.

"Something big and uncontrollable must have happened in the city."

Some people were talking in low voices, and some were reminiscing: "It seems that more than ten years ago, there was also a time when everyone was waiting outside the city gate to open."

"What happened that time?"

“I don’t remember, and the elders in my family never asked for any news afterwards.

I'm going to the city to visit my aunt's house today, otherwise, I won't queue up now."

At 3:30 pm, the city gate opened and the crowd rushed forward. Someone shouted at them, "Line up! No cutting in line allowed."

The people entering the city moved forward slowly. By the time Shi Xiaoliu and the other two arrived at the city gate to check, more than half an hour had passed.

The officers and soldiers who checked them looked very serious. They asked them when they lined up outside the city gate and whether they had seen any inappropriate people or things since they arrived.

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two shook their heads at the same time, indicating that it was already very late when they arrived.

They just wanted to wait outside the city gate for half the night. After the city gate opened, they would go into the city, find an inn, and have a good rest for the day.

After Shi Xiaoliu and the other two entered the city, they went directly to Shengjia Inn.

Shengjia Inn was located near the government office. When Shi Xiaoliu and the other two arrived, there were three medium-sized rooms vacant.

Led by the waiter, Shi Xiaoliu and his two companions went up to the second floor to look at the house, and they decided to stay there.

The waiter whispered to them, "The guests staying upstairs will rest in the inn during the day. They will go out at night if they have something to do. You can rest assured."

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two looked at each other. They suppressed their curiosity and did not ask the waiter for more information.

The three of them went into the room, asked for hot water to take a bath, and washed their own clothes.

The waiter saw them washing their clothes and said to them in surprise, "Gentlemen, we have a washerwoman in our inn who will wash the clothes for you."

Shi Xiaoliu smiled, and Shi Zelan said with a smile: "When we travel outside, we are used to washing our clothes by ourselves, so we won't bother the people in your inn."

Xia Yu asked the waiter about the delicious food in the city. When she heard there was a vegetarian restaurant, she immediately asked the waiter for the location.

After the three of them left the inn, Shi Xiaoliu said to Shi Zelan and Xia Yu, "The waiter is so enthusiastic."

Shi Zelan nodded and said, "People should still do their duty."

Xia Yu smiled and said, "The room is clean, you can stay here first."

The three of them walked around the city and finally went to a vegetarian restaurant. They ordered two or three dishes at random, and then listened to the guests in the restaurant discussing the fact that the city gates had not been opened for a long time today.

"I heard that there are many bodies of men in black piled up on the city walls."

"It's not a corpse, it's a seriously injured man in black. He has been sent to the East City Clinic for treatment."

"That doctor is best at treating broken arms and legs. Last time, my neighbor's kid broke his leg, and it was their doctor who came to see him."

"Did those men in black go up to the city wall to fight in the middle of the night?" "People living near the city said they didn't hear any noise in the middle of the night."

"He must not be a good person."

"I think it must be some chivalrous people who knew about their evil deeds and sent them to the city wall to be dealt with by the government."

"Shh, don't tell anyone anything. Walls have ears."

“I know, but uncle, aren’t you curious?

Do you want to go and ask Uncle Lin for some information?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Your Uncle Lin won't pay any attention to me."

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two looked at each other, had their meal, and then walked around the city for a while.

Shi Xiaoliu suggested: "Why don't we go sit in a teahouse and listen to the local storytellers tell stories?"

Shi Zelan and Xia Yu both agreed with his proposal, and they really couldn't wander around the city any longer, as someone was already secretly watching them.

They casually turned into an alley and happened to find a teahouse inside.

After Shi Xiaoliu and the other two looked at the teahouse's doorplate from outside, they went in.

There are no vacant private rooms upstairs in the teahouse.

There are no good seats in the lobby, only tables at the entrance and at the back.

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two went to look at the innermost seat, and they all felt that sitting there was a stuffy feeling.

The three of them chose a table that was slightly closer to the door. They ordered a pot of tea and prepared to spend some time in this teahouse.

They asked the waiter and learned that the storyteller's apprentices would take turns to tell stories in the teahouse in the afternoon.

If the guests like the stories they tell, they can give them a tip or two.

While the waiter was speaking, he was also paying attention to the expressions of Shi Xiaoliu and the other two.

When he saw Shi Xiaoliu frowning, he quickly explained, “The novelists who come to our teahouse to tell stories are all about to graduate.

His master was kind-hearted and asked our boss to give him such an opportunity.

If the guests feel that they did not speak well, we will ask them to leave the stage early."

Shi Xiaoliu nodded and said, "That's good. Your boss is also a good person."

After the waiter left, he quickly came back with a small box of boiled beans and said to Shi Xiaoliu and the other two, "The boss said that you are guests from outside the area, so please try some of our local beans."

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two stood up and raised their teacups to the boss sitting behind the counter.

The host stood up, raised the cup in his hand, and gestured to Shi Xiaoliu and the other two.

After Shi Xiaoliu and the other two sat down, the people in the teahouse began to discuss: "These are new guests. The host must have given them some beans cooked at home."

"I don't know how to cook their beans. Last time I asked my cook to cook them, they were not as delicious as the beans here."

Shi Xiaoliu and the other two tasted the beans and looked at each other in surprise.

Shi Xiaoliu conveyed the message to Shi Zelan and Xia Yu: "There is a little spiritual energy stored in these beans. People in the secular world can recover their health by eating them."

"Next time we come here we can have boiled beans with tea and never order anything else."

Shi Zelan nodded in agreement: "You can come sit in this teahouse." (End of this chapter)