Chapter 291: Mysterious Sword Box
Chapter 291: Mysterious Sword Box (A little late, delayed)
The sky is hazy and the grass and trees are green.
"Ta-ta~"
On the official road leading to Hengyang Prefecture, there were many people from the martial arts world riding alone on horses.
It rained last night, and horse hooves as big as bowls left potholes on the yellow mud road.
Following behind was a green-covered carriage, harnessed to two horses. They were not as strong as the eight-foot snow-white divine horse that was leading the way ahead. They were also fat and strong, with strong muscles and bones, but they were extremely laborious to move, as if the carriage was loaded with heavy objects.
"Where are you?"
"It's still thirty miles from Hengyang City. There should be a ferry ahead where we can rest our horses."
"Have you been to Hengyang Prefecture?"
"I once went to Hengyue Falun Temple with my elders to burn incense."
"Then you can return to the place and fulfill your wish this time."
Du Xiaochai sat on the shaft of the cart, with a few drops of rain falling on her face occasionally. She looked at the dark sky and road ahead, tightly gripping the reins and controlling the two horses, while the emerald green heavy spear lay across her back, the spear head wrapped in tarpaulin, inconspicuous.
After a long silence, she whispered.
"The Buddha does not respond, the Bodhisattva does not work, it is useless to ask for it."
Although Zhang Yu was sitting in the carriage, he heard it clearly and realized that he had said something wrong. All of Du Xiaochai's relatives had died in the battle at the hands of the Orthodox Christians in Sichuan. The elder who took her to the Falun Temple to burn incense when she was young was probably no longer alive.
"We've been traveling all night, and we're exhausted. It's time to rest up. Let's stay at the ferry you mentioned for half a day. At least as long as we can reach the city before nightfall, it'll be fine."
Du Xiaochai responded, her voice somewhat desolate.
Everyone has one or several shackles in his heart, and it is useless for outsiders to persuade them.
Zhang Yu looked at the "box" placed in the carriage.
It is about five feet long, black in color, roughly made, and looks ordinary.
“It’s heavy enough!”
He tried to lift it with one hand, only moving the 'black box' slightly, but did not lift it up.
"It weighs at least four hundred pounds!"
Zhang Yu used the strength of both hands to lift the "box" to his feet and stood it up.
"boom!"
Fortunately, this rented carriage was sturdy and he was careful enough, so the carriage only shook slightly, which only caused the two horses outside to slip. If it weren't for Du Xiaochai's superb riding skills, they would have almost lost control.
"It is made entirely of black iron, and feels icy cold to the touch."
Zhang Yu held the object with both hands, which was almost as high as the canopy. There were chains at both ends, which were made of the same material as the 'box' and were extremely sturdy. He tried it with the Ziwei Sword, and even after using 70% of his strength, he could only make a half-inch sword mark.
This is what Miss Ren gave in Nanchang.
Originally, Zhang Yu didn't want to owe favors to anyone anymore, but this thing came from the same source as the book "Hidden Sword Technique". With it, he could truly unleash the power of the Hidden Sword Technique, which really made him excited.
"Oh!"
The carriage trembled again.
Zhang Yu turned the "black box" over and saw four words engraved in small seal script on the back.
"Xuanqi Sword Box!"
"Xu~"
The carriage stopped.
"Sir, we have arrived at West Wind Ferry."
Xifeng River is a tributary of the Xiangjiang River, and Chengyang County is on the other side of the river.
This ferry connects the city with several counties on the other side of the river. There are many pedestrians and merchants traveling back and forth. There are no other towns within dozens of miles around. Warehouses, docks, restaurants and inns were built around the ferry, and this small market gradually took shape. This is a relatively common situation in the southern country with its dense water network.
Du Xiaochai drove the carriage to the inn. Zhaoye Yushizi was very familiar with two of the mares and followed behind.
The mysterious sword box was too conspicuous, so it was completely wrapped in black cloth. Zhang Yu carried the sword box on his back, a heavy object of about 400 kilograms. Fortunately, after taking the Eight Flavors of Heavenly Red Pill, his injuries had healed, otherwise he really couldn't carry it.
“It’s so heavy!”
Even though he was a martial artist at the acquired realm, he had never practiced horizontal training kung fu specifically. Without using his internal energy, carrying a full body weight of three or four hundred kilograms was already his limit.
Moreover, there is not even a single sword in this sword box.
"Where's the sugar-coated glutinous rice cake..."
“Poached chicken…”
“Spicy fried snails…”
Xifengdu Street is about 300 steps long from north to south. There are only a few inns and restaurants, and the majority are open-air food stalls. Most of the guests are dock workers, peddlers, and people from the underworld. Walking on the street, the atmosphere of fireworks is very strong.
"Madame Liu's glutinous rice cake!"
The words on the signboard are a little blurred, which shows that it is quite old. There are eight tables and chairs placed under a large camphor tree, most of which are occupied by guests. About twenty steps away is the flowing Xifeng River. Sitting here, you can hear the sound of the rushing river.
Zhang Yu found a food stall with the best view and sat down.
"Give me some sugar-coated glutinous rice cake."
The woman was thin and had slightly graying hair, but her hands and feet were very nimble, with the skill of a Hunan woman. She quickly brought out a bowl of smooth, soft and glutinous glutinous rice cake, sprinkled with sesame seeds, which looked quite appetizing.
"Guests, please use it slowly!"
In the past few days, there have been many people with foreign accents in Hengyang, carrying swords and knives, saying that they are here to attend the retirement ceremony of Mr. Liu Sanye in Hengshan. Ma Liu, who sells glutinous rice cakes, has become accustomed to it.
She just didn't quite understand. It was just about washing hands, so why hold a big meeting?
How dirty must those hands be?
Sitting at the table behind Zhang Yu were four people, who were also gangsters who had come to Hengyang Prefecture in recent days. Judging from their accents, some of them sounded like people from Changsha Prefecture. It had been a long time since the underworld in central Hunan had seen such a grand event. Although they came here with their own intentions, they were also proud of it.
The thin man counted on his fingers: "Those who arrived in the past few days include the deputy leader of the Beggars' Sect, Zhang Jin'ao, the old boxer Xia from the Liuhe Sect in Zhengzhou, the leader of the Haisha Sect, Pan Hou, the second friend of Qujiang, the magic sword Bai Ke, and the magic brush Lucis..."
Someone asked, "Songshan Sect, Shaolin and Wudang have not arrived yet?"
"As a distinguished guest, you are naturally late."
"I'm afraid it's too late. There are no inns left in Hengshan City."
Hengshan is just a small county town, but thousands of people poured into it. The leaders of various sects saw this as an opportunity to take their disciples to travel and broaden their horizons. The number of people ranged from five or six to dozens. All the inns in the city were packed, and many people from the martial arts world could only stay in Hengyang City, dozens of miles away.
"No matter who has a mat shop, there will be no three families without it."
"That's true, but the other places in Hengshan City are very crowded. There is one place with plenty of bedding, but I'm afraid the Shaolin monks and Wudang Taoist priests can't go there."
"Where?"
The thin man laughed and said, "Hengshan Qunyuyuan, the rooms there are spacious, but if you don't have tens or hundreds of taels of wealth, don't even think about staying overnight, or you'll have to stand when you go in and be thrown out sideways."
The man opposite him sighed and said, "Alas, after coming to Hengyang, I would be disappointed if I didn't go to Qun Yu Yuan."
The thin man suddenly said mysteriously, "I heard that a few months ago, a girl came to the Qun Yu Courtyard. She was extremely beautiful and talented. A wealthy businessman spent a lot of money to meet her, but was turned away."
"What a great honor! Could she be a princess from some country?"
"I heard it was..."
The man was talking excitedly when he suddenly stopped.
Four sturdy men came up the street. They all had tattoos on their arms, but they were densely packed with black dots, like they had measles. No one knew what they meant. The scarred man in the lead walked sideways with a butcher knife on his waist.
"The Black Sand Gang is here..."
"The local gangs are not to be trifled with!"
The people in Changsha Prefecture shut up and lowered their heads to eat the glutinous rice cakes in their bowls.
A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. The Black Sand Gang has some power in Hengyang Prefecture, with hundreds of men. They have been entrenched in Xifengdu and bullying the market for five or six years, and are quite famous.
"You idiot, you just came to collect street cleaning fees last month, what are you doing now?"
When Madam Liu saw the four people, her face immediately became filled with worry and she cursed in a low voice.
(End of this chapter)