General Zhennan’s post token can indeed be used to travel the way, although the identities of Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu were strange and did not match the previous impression of officials, the tokens in their hands were real. These officials only did jobs that paid a few taels of silver, and their ultimate goal was to become the deputy director of a post station when they were old enough, which was the best they could do. Why not the supervisor? Because the supervisor also has a son. So for them, it doesn’t matter whether they can make achievements or not, the most important thing is not to make mistakes. Does it matter whether General Zhennan gave them the token or did not instruct them to use it? The token is real, that's all. As for other responsibilities, if they are really investigated, they will not fall on the heads of these officials. Therefore, Yin Xiu didn't even have to say anything. As soon as he took out the token, these people obediently changed horses for them, provided accommodation and food, and treated them as guests of honor. With such help, within a few days, Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu arrived at the town closest to Jiaozhi. This place is hundreds of miles away from the city where General Zhennan is located, and the environment is completely different. Before entering the town, they had already discovered that a large number of trees around them had died, the river had dried up, and the green grass had disappeared. Feeling the hot wind blowing on her face, Ma Xiaoyu covered her mouth and nose with a gauze scarf, which made her breathe a little easier.
Yin Xiu opened the water bag, took a sip and passed it to Ma Xiaoyu. "I'm afraid finding water source will become a difficult task next." Yin Xiu said worriedly. Ma Xiaoyu took a sip and wiped her mouth with her hand. "The further south you go in southern Xinjiang, the wetter and more humid it should be. Now it's like this, the weather has really changed." As she spoke, she glanced at the compass. The direction of the needle seemed a little slow, but it was still normal. "Do you think the source of the disaster is in Jiaozhi?" Ma Xiaoyu asked. "Don't you think so too?" Yin Xiu said firmly: "No matter what the reason is, we know that Ren Qi and Liu Banxian lost their tracks on the way to Jiaozhi. The only way to find out the answer is to get there first." "Then let's go into town." Ma Xiaoyu turned her head and saw Yin Xiu staring at her. "Any questions?" When she asked this, Yin Xiucai laughed and shook his head, saying, "I just feel that when you wear a veil, you seem to have a special layer of attraction." "What? Are you saying that I'm not that good-looking normally? So wearing a veil covers up my flaws?" Ma Xiaoyu asked seriously. Girls are most likely to be serious about this kind of thing. "You know that's not what I meant." Yoon-su explained, “I just said, it’s special.” "Hmph, you like to hold the lute and cover your face, don't you?" Ma Xiaoyu rolled his eyes at him and spurred his horse forward. When the two entered the town, their relaxed mood disappeared.
The town was in a semi-deserted state, with yellow sand all over the ground and straw, buckets and other debris scattered on the streets. Pedestrians walked hurriedly, burying their faces in their sleeves or headscarves to avoid the wind and sand, and walked through the streets with their heads lowered and their backs bent. Based on the previous clues, Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu rode to the restaurant mentioned in the letter. The name of this restaurant is Ding Tai Lou, and at this time even its signboard is tilted. The door of the restaurant was open as usual, but there was no waiter at the door to greet customers. Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu got off their horses, tied the horses to the door, and walked in together. It's desolate outside, but lively inside. More than a dozen tables in the store were filled with people, except for the corner by the window, which was empty, probably because of the strong wind and sand. As soon as he entered the door, Yin Xiu smelled a faint smell of sweat and other strange smells. The people sitting at these tables are probably the so-called heroes of the world, all of them with strong bodies and fierce eyes. When they entered the room, they glanced at Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu with malicious eyes. Although she was wearing a veil, Ma Xiaoyu's eyes still showed her beauty, and her figure was tall and graceful, so people couldn't help but look at her twice more, and also made people more curious about the identities of these two people. After Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu sat down at the table, the waiter came up lazily carrying the teapot. When he came up, he didn't pour the tea, but stretched out his hand first. Yin Xiu found it a little funny, "What?" “Give me money!” The waiter said seriously: "Tea money, a bowl of water also needs to be charged." “There was no such rule before.” "Now there is." The guy yawned, "It's a drought. Water is more valuable than gold." “How much can it cost?” Yin Xiu handed a silver dollar to the waiter and asked, "What dishes do you have?" "Only cooked beef." Ma Xiaoyu pointed to another table: "What are they eating?" "where?" The waiter glanced over there and said lazily, "If you want to eat dog meat, you can go to the street and catch one yourself." "No need for that, just cooked beef, what other side dishes would you like?" "Pickled cucumbers, pickled radishes, pickled cabbages, pickled steamed buns."
"Wait, steamed buns can also be pickled?" "Wrong, the buns are dry." Ma Xiaoyu glared at him and said, "Don't you know that eating so many pickled foods is bad for your health?" The guy didn't take it seriously, "Anyone who would be in poor health because of this would have already died of starvation and thirst." "Just cut four pounds of cooked beef and heat a pot of wine." Yin Xiu waved his hand and asked the waiter to prepare quickly. "You're not picky." Ma Xiaoyu pouted, obviously dissatisfied with the "low standard" of the meal. "Can't be picky." Yin Xiu smiled helplessly and said, "In my opinion, the water supply in this town will be cut off in about half a month. It's good enough to have something to eat." The two of them ate and drank, and whispered to each other from time to time, which naturally made other people quite dissatisfied. Because of the happiness of these two people, their depression became even more depressing. Under normal circumstances, no one would have the time to cause trouble for the couple. But now is a time of chaos, and people's already restless hearts have become even more unpredictable, restless, and barbaric. Therefore, someone quickly stood up and prepared to go to Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu. Although Yin Xiu had his back to him, he could hear everything that was happening behind him. He didn't take these people seriously, so he just drank his wine slowly. The man who wanted to take advantage of the alcohol to cause trouble had just walked halfway when two more people came in from the door. There were two women, both wearing silver ornaments on their heads and with exquisite scimitars hanging from their waists. One was wearing a long skirt and a headscarf, while the other was wearing a short skirt and straw sandals, revealing her strong, white legs. These two Miao people are part of the Southern Barbarians mentioned by General Lin Baoyi, the Southern Commander. They looked around, and although there was no murderous intent in their eyes, there was a kind of fierce aura emanating from them that made it impossible to look directly at them or make contact with them. So after being glared at by one of them, the drunk pretended nothing had happened and sat back down. "Her legs, are they pretty?" Yin Xiu nodded blankly, "Not as white as yours." "is it?" First he heard the chilling voice, then he felt a sharp pain in his waist, and Yin Xiu's eyes widened. "I wasn't looking at her legs," he explained quickly. "If you're not looking, how do you know what her legs look like?" Ma Xiaoyu increased her strength. "I mean, I mean..."
Yin Xiu grimaced in pain, "It seems like there is a magic weapon hanging around her waist." "Magical weapon?" Ma Xiaoyu let go of her hand and looked at the Miao girl in the short skirt. The girl was petite and delicate, probably about the same age as her, and exuded youth and vitality. She had bright eyes, a perfect nose that was neither too big nor too small, and thin lips that made her look younger. She also had a pair of earrings on her ears like Ma Xiaoyu, but these were bigger and more noticeable. As her eyes looked down, Ma Xiaoyu also saw what was hanging around the girl's waist. It was a gourd, a silver gourd that looked like it was used to hold wine or water. But there is a special Bagua pattern painted on it. The Eight Trigrams were not the common ones seen in the market to fool children or copied according to a model. Instead, they were a mixture of the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams, and arranged in a special way. It is neither Maoshan nor Laoshan, but the mark of Longhushan should come from a small Taoist lineage. But this girl doesn't look like a Taoist priest, so it could be a combination of Shamanism and Taoism or something else weird. Noticing Ma Xiaoyu looking at her, the girl turned around sharply but was not angry. She smiled and said, "Waiter, since there are no seats here, let's share a table with the handsome man and beautiful woman at that table." She speaks with a distinct southwestern accent, or rather, she speaks Southwestern Mandarin, and every word she speaks reveals obvious regional characteristics. Only after they sat down at the table did she ask, "Do you two mind if we sit down?" "Do you mind?" Yin Xiu looked at Ma Xiaoyu cautiously. Ma Xiaoyu smiled and winked at Yin Xiu: "Outside, aren't you the one who makes the decisions? I'll listen to you." "Then I understand." Yin Xiu looked at the Miao girl and was about to ask them to leave, but the waiter had already placed the tea on the table. Yin Xiu could only spread his hands to Ma Xiaoyu, indicating that he had tried his best. Ma Xiaoyu looked at him deeply and turned her head away. The Miao girl pretended not to see it and introduced herself with a smile. "My name is White Phoenix, and this is my sister White Peacock. Please give me your guidance." Yin Xiu knew it was a "stage name" as soon as he heard it, and did not expose it. He just smiled and clasped his fists and said, "My name is Ma Tianyou, and this beauty is Kuang Xiaoling." "Nice to meet you." "I have admired you for a long time." After the two sides greeted each other, Bai Fenghuang began to greet the waiter.
"Is there anything to eat?" "Only cooked beef." "Only cooked beef?" When Bai Fenghuang heard this, she couldn't help but laugh. Her laughter was cheerful and as loud as a silver bell. Suddenly, her face turned from sunny to cloudy and became gloomy. "I don't eat beef." There was murderous intent in her voice. Even though her expression was gloomy, Bai Fenghuang's face still looked beautiful and charming, just like the silver jewelry on her body, emitting a charming luster. "You don't want to eat? Then don't eat it." The guy put the rag over his shoulder and walked away. The expression of Bai Fenghuang froze on her face. She could never have imagined that the guy was not afraid of her. After a pause, she could only return to her original expression and smiled, "Hey, go ahead. If you don't want beef, eat something else. I'm not not paying you." Hearing her voice soften, the guy turned around with an expressionless face. "Pickled radish, pickled cucumber, pickled cabbage, pickled steamed buns, would you like some?" "Two pickled buns will do." Bai Fenghuang took out two copper coins from her pocket and placed them on the table. "Four." The guy said coldly. "Oh my god! So expensive?" Bai Fenghuang's face turned gloomy again. "Eat it or not." The guy turned around and left again. "Ouch! Sister is just joking with you, eat eat eat." Bai Fenghuang took out two more copper coins and gave them to him. "If you want to eat, just tell me earlier. You're wasting my time! Do you know that wasting other people's time is equivalent to stealing money and killing people? One customer is just a cup of tea. If there are more people like you, how can I work for a day?" The guy glared at the white peacock next to him, who had his hand on the knife, with a frown on his face, and was about to get angry. "Kill me." "Ah?" The white peacock was stunned. "I said kill me!" the guy repeated expressionlessly. Now the white peacock could only pull his hand back and put it on the table. The waiter rolled his eyes in anger again, "Kill me and see who will serve you the food. Damn it, you all think you are some kind of heroes? Carrying swords and guns, do you think you are so impressive? Still have to sit here and wait for me to serve you the food?"
He cursed as he turned and went to the kitchen. None of the murderous heroes along the way dared to refute him. "He can't be so angry, right?" Ma Xiaoyu was obviously also frightened. Yin Xiu shook his head. "If a person is not afraid of death and has no one at home, what can you do to him?" When the two were whispering, Bai Fenghuang and Bai Kongque were still feeling awkward. Through the detail that the two of them did not eat beef, Yin Xiu became more certain that they had learned Taoism. Although not all Taoists do not eat beef, for example Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu, their lineage does not mind eating raw or cold meat except dog meat. However, there are also many Taoist sects who do not eat beef, especially those in smaller sects where the Dharma lineage is passed down to only three or five people in a generation, which have more taboos and rituals. Bai Fenghuang coughed twice and tried to find a topic to ease the embarrassment. So she asked, "Where are you from? Are you traveling to southern Xinjiang? Have you ever bought jade or jewelry? I know there are a few stores here that sell nice jade bracelets." "You are a guide... No, you are a tour guide?" Yin Xiu asked. “Do I look like it?” Bai Fenghuang was particularly serious. She stood up and turned around. As her short skirt fluttered, the fragrance of wild flowers in the valley drifted into Yin Xiu's nose. "Do I? Do I look like a guide?" "Not like." Yin Xiu picked up the chopsticks and continued to pick up the meat. "Come, eat some vegetables, eat some vegetables." (End of this chapter)