Chapter 3

"Shopkeeper, give me two buns."

At the entrance of Erniang Bun Shop, a handcart stopped.

Feng Erniang looked up, teasingly said: "I thought you were like that brute in prison, someone who doesn't keep his word."

Lu Yi smiled and put five copper coins on the table.

"Four are enough. What does the extra one mean?"

Feng Erniang pushed one back.

Lu Yi ate the buns: "What I did was reasonable, but for you, it wasn't emotional. Since we became friends, consider it an apology."

Feng Erniang was stunned and took that copper coin.

"That guy, it was sooner or later. If not in Fen City, it would be in Lan City or Xi City. It has nothing to do with you."

Flower Butterfly was indeed in prison.

The county government came to Fen City to take him away yesterday. The judgment was made this morning. He had a criminal record and was punished for multiple crimes. It was a capital crime.

"Why don't we not open the shop today and I'll treat you to dinner later?" Lu Yi said.

"Why? Afraid I'm sad and want to take revenge on you?"

Feng Erniang blinked her eyes charmingly.

Lu Yi smiled: "Seems I was overthinking."

Just as he turned to leave, he was stopped by Feng Erniang.

"What time? Where? What to eat?"

"At 7 to 9 p.m., Downwind Inn. You can eat whatever you want."

...

After a busy day, Lu Yi came to Downwind Inn and asked for a table.

The shopkeeper, Pan Hongcai, looked curiously from the counter.

A few days ago, the woman nicknamed Feng Erniang came fiercely, almost having the intention to kill written on her face.

Today, the person she wanted to kill invited her to dinner...

Not long after, Feng Erniang entered the inn.

Her figure was graceful, swaying up and down as she walked, full of charm.

"Waiter, order dishes."

As soon as she sat down, Feng Erniang called the waiter loudly.

"Steamed minced meat and egg, ginseng and black-bone chicken soup, bird's nest and fried duck slices..."

Feng Erniang didn't even look at the menu and started shouting while crossing her legs.

The waiter was confused and the small pen in his hand didn't move.

"Why are you standing there? Write down the names of the dishes." Feng Erniang glared at the waiter.

"Sir, our shop is small. We can't make these..."

"Can't make them?" Feng Erniang raised her voice: "Then shark fin and bear paw or something. Hurry up. I'm hungry."

"These... We don't have these either." The waiter was in a dilemma.

"This can't be made and that's not available. What kind of shop is this? Just go back and farm." Feng Erniang was angry.

Lu Yi coughed and said: "Just bring a catty of sauced beef and fry a few home-cooked dishes."

"No!" Feng Erniang slapped the table.

Lu Yi thought to himself, Sister, did you come to eat or to cause trouble?

Just as he was wondering why this woman was acting crazy.

Feng Erniang changed her tone: "Bring two catties. One catty isn't enough for me to eat. Also, do you have Nu'er Hong wine?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The waiter nodded hurriedly.

"Well, bring two catties too."

Lu Yi reached out to stop: "Half a catty of wine is enough. I don't drink."

"I didn't say it was for you. Just two catties. I'll drink it myself!" Feng Erniang looked at Lu Yi with a half-smile.

After the waiter left, Lu Yi whispered: "Are you venting your anger or giving me a hard time?"

Feng Erniang exhaled: "Put on a show for that dead ghost. Otherwise, when he goes to hell, he will surely complain to King Yama and drag me down."

When the food and wine were served, Feng Erniang ate in small bites.

"Sister Feng, eat." Lu Yi reminded.

"No appetite. Can't eat." Feng Erniang replied.

"Feeling bad? Want to cry?"

"Not that much. Just a bit not used to it."

"Then drink. When you're drunk, you won't think about anything."

Feng Erniang really poured a full cup and drank it down without blinking.

"Scholar, can you guess why I let you go?" Feng Erniang suddenly asked.

"Fell for me?" Lu Yi ventured.

"Pfft, I could fall for a cripple like you..."

Feng Erniang didn't finish speaking. Paused for a moment and said sorry in a low voice.

Lu Yi waved his hand indifferently: "I'm a cripple anyway. What's there to avoid? I'm used to it."

After a moment of silence, Feng Erniang finally smiled: "Someone who can remember two buns for so long. In our world, this is called loyalty."

Lu Yi ate the beef without raising his head.

"You can be bad, cruel, and despicable. But you can't be disloyal. In this aspect, you did better than that dead ghost."

Feng Erniang drank the wine and fell into memories.

"That year, I was eighteen. I fell for his trick. He said that if I helped him keep watch and we completed this job, he would marry me when we went back.

After the job was done, I didn't get any benefits and was chased by the officers and soldiers for three days and three nights.

I was just a young girl. How could I endure such torture? I fell ill not long after.

After I fell ill, this brute called a woman to take care of me. When I asked, it turned out to be his wife.

The woman was an honest person. She was ill and wouldn't live long. After I recovered, the woman left.

When she left, she asked me to look at the fact that she had taken care of me for so long and not leave that brute.

I was soft-hearted and wasted ten years of my life in this brute's hands."

Speaking of this, Feng Erniang's voice choked. It was not clear whether she pitied that woman or herself.

"But I don't regret it. When you're in our world, you have to be loyal. The woman was good to me and I repaid her." Feng Erniang added.

"You thought I was like you, so you didn't do it?" Lu Yi filled a small cup for himself.

"Well, originally I wanted to dismember you, chop you into pieces, cook you, and feed you to the dogs." Feng Erniang looked serious.

The cup that Lu Yi extended out to clink was turned in mid-air and he drank it all in one gulp.

"Thank Miss Yang of the Yang family for saving my life."

Feng Erniang chuckled: "You're quite straightforward."

"Why think so much? Eat when it's time to eat and drink when it's time to drink. Land is not easy to buy, but there are plenty of oxen for plowing all over the street."

It took Feng Erniang a while to understand the hidden meaning in Lu Yi's words and gave him a glare.

"Hey, Scholar, can you take care of me when I'm drunk later?"

Lu Yi pointed to the second floor of the inn.

"Room Tianzi Yi. My money is enough to pay for half an hour. In half an hour, you should be sober."

"Not even a little longer?"

"Money is tight. I really can't afford it."

"Then I'll pay myself. How about you take care of me beside me?"

"No. My right leg is lame, but the other legs are fine. I'm afraid I can't control myself."

Somehow, Feng Erniang increasingly liked chatting with Lu Yi.

You say he's vulgar, but when writing letters for people, he is very serious and precise.

You say he's simple, but he knows a lot about the matters between men and women.

The words he says are clearly suggestive but not vulgar.

The more she looked at Lu Yi, the brighter the light in Feng Erniang's eyes became.

In the end, she couldn't resist the two catties of Nu'er Hong wine and was completely drunk.

Lu Yi only drank one cup and was very sober.

Feng Erniang had a slender waist like a young girl and maintained her figure well.

Carrying her on his back didn't feel heavy.

Perhaps because the squeezing hindered her breathing, the soundly asleep Feng Erniang kept moving.

Lu Yi coughed repeatedly and his face turned crimson.

"D*mn it. This meal cost half of my monthly income." Lu Yi muttered.

"Stingy." The originally asleep Feng Erniang suddenly spoke.

"Are you awake?"

"The wind is too cold. My legs can't take it. I was frozen awake."

"Get down and walk a few steps?"

"No. It's comfortable on your back."

Feng Erniang lazily adjusted her posture.

"Where are we going?"

"To the bun shop."

"Not to your house?"

The climate has turned cold, and the hot air exhaled by Lu Yi is visible to the naked eye.

"Rather than being laughed at, I'm more afraid of being pitied by others. Using a crutch means admitting that I'm a cripple myself. Having too much self-esteem is not good, but without it, one becomes a brute."

Feng Erniang tightened the hand that was around Lu Yi's neck.

"Perspicacious!"

After the Beginning of Winter, Shili Town officially enters winter.

At this time of every year, Lu Yi doesn't set up his stall in the morning.

His lung disease can't withstand the severe cold. Tightening his belt a little, he can manage to live by only being busy in the afternoon.

[Skill: Basic Qi Training Technique]

[Current level: First heaven]

[Current experience: 9900/10000]

[Cure degree of lung disease: 5%]

After operating the Qi training technique in his body for a full cycle, Lu Yi opened the panel.

Recently, another batch of strangers has flooded into the town.

Most of them are illiterate.

It's estimated that many of them are registered fugitives.

But it has nothing to do with Lu Yi. He only cares about writing a few more letters.

There are only one hundred points of experience left to reach the second heaven.

According to the current progress, upgrading before the New Year shouldn't be a problem.

At that time, the lung disease should be alleviated somewhat.

While taking a walk in the small courtyard to stretch his muscles and bones, a raven suddenly flew over the wall.

"Long time no see."

Lu Yi smiled at the bird.

The scene was a bit strange.

But something even stranger happened.

The raven seemed to understand human language and landed on Lu Yi's shoulder.

Lu Yi extended his finger to push aside the raven's wing.

The raven was carrying a small bamboo basket on its back.

It was empty and there was nothing inside.

"Did you just come to visit?"

After muttering a sentence, Lu Yi sat in front of his father's tombstone.

"Dad, the black raven has come to visit you."

The raven was really intelligent and jumped onto the tombstone and squatted motionless.

This raven, Lu Yi named it Black Raven. He knew it since he was born.

At that time, it was his father's friend, not his.

Every time the black raven flew over, his father would give him to Aunt Wang in the neighboring lane.

Then he would disappear for a period of time.

When he returned covered in dust, he would be carrying many things in large and small bags.

At that time, the Lu family was wealthy.

In the entire lane, only Lu Yi knew that his father was not a simple peasant.

When he fell into the river from the hillside at the age of five.

Not only did he break his leg, but he also contracted lung disease.

His father wasn't there at that time, and the doctor in the town was mediocre.

He took the silver his father left with Aunt Wang, but didn't do a good job.

Since then, Lu Yi has become a cripple with lung disease.

When his father returned, without saying a word, he went out for one night.

The next day, the mediocre doctor also became a cripple, with both legs lame.

Later, the mediocre doctor was gone and so was his father.

But the black raven often came.

Lu Yi still remembers the days after his father's death. When he caught the black raven for the first time.

He found a note in the small bamboo cage on its back.

There was only one word written on it: Run.

The person was dead. How could he run?

Lu Yi replied with three words: Who are you?

After a few days, the black raven returned.

There were four words on the note: Who are you again?

Lu Yi was so anxious that he almost directly said: I'm your father.

Of course, at the age of less than six, he didn't have the ability he has now and was also timid.

In the end, he wrote honestly: I'm his son.

This time, the black raven didn't return for a long time.

Lu Yi had already given up hope. But on the memorial day of his father the next year, the black raven appeared again.

The handwriting on the note in the bamboo basket changed.

From a man's to a child's.

Crooked and uneven, asking questions from all directions.

What's your name? How old are you? What do you look like? How's your health?

Lu Yi 'honestly' replied.

Lu Erbao, six years old, the most handsome lad in the neighboring villages, healthy and lively.

Most people who could remind his father to run wouldn't harm him.

But he was still very vigilant. Except for his age, he basically didn't reveal his true information.

Since then, the communication between the two sides has become more and more frequent.

Lu Yi also witnessed that the other party's handwriting changed from crooked and uneven to beautiful and elegant.

But his own writing was like scribbles and remained unchanged for more than ten years, not worthy of the title of Scholar.

Lu Yi knew that the other party was a girl, a girl younger than himself.

But he didn't ask too much because he tried several times and the other party wouldn't say.

The communication content basically revolved around daily necessities.

The other party asked and he replied.

He asked and the other party ignored.

This went on for more than two years.

One day, a man with two knives hanging on his waist rushed into the small courtyard.

Full of killing intent, like a fierce ghost.

He pointed his knife at Lu Yi: "Where's your father?"

Lu Tianming pointed to the tomb in the courtyard.

Seeing the name on the tombstone, the man fell silent.

The killing intent on him suddenly turned into dejection.

After a moment of silence, the man frantically pounded the tombstone.

"It's impossible. How could you die? How could the Gentleman Sword die?"

The man was drunk and spoke a bunch of words that Lu Yi didn't understand incoherently.

Later, when he was tired, he ate a bowl of porridge made by Lu Yi.

He scolded, "Worse than what dogs eat," and then left.

That year, the black raven disappeared for some time again.

This time it disappeared for a long time. It didn't return until Lu Yi was ten years old.

The girl's tone changed.

Graceful and composed. The words felt that her personality had become much more reserved.

Lu Yi asked her what happened.

She said her father died.

During that time, Lu Yi had already started to write letters for others in the town.

He heard many stories.

There was a protagonist in an old man's story. Lu Yi felt that it was very similar to the double-bladed swordsman that year.

It was said that there was a swordsman nicknamed the Double-Bladed Swordsman who went to Liangbei in the royal city.

With a pair of swords in hand, he charged into the prince's mansion.

He chopped off one hundred and eight heads and turned the prince's mansion into the Palace of Yama.

He even built a mound of skulls.

The story had no follow-up. Whether the prince died or the swordsman died, the old man didn't say.

Lu Yi asked the old man that since he clearly used knives, why was he called a swordsman.

The old man said that because that person used to use a sword.

But he had a sworn enemy whose swordsmanship was better than his. So he changed to using knives.

If one knife couldn't defeat him, he used two.

When his knife skills were mastered and he came back to seek revenge on his enemy, unexpectedly, his enemy died.

So, the Double-Bladed Swordsman went to the prince's mansion.

After the old man finished speaking, a gust of wind blew. In the blink of an eye, the person disappeared.

But Lu Yi knew that the story he told was most likely true.

Since then, the girl rarely wrote to Lu Tianming again.

In the past five years, the black raven often came.

Every time it came, no matter where Lu Yi was, it could find him.

Lu Yi guessed that this fellow found people by smell.

However, he never saw the girl's elegant handwriting again.

"Black Raven, hide. Someone is coming."

Lu Yi, who was lost in thought, suddenly stood up.

Dong dong dong —!

There was a knock on the door, very polite. It didn't seem like the soldiers from the Inspection Department.

The door opened.

There was a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes standing at the door.

The man had a tall and straight posture. There was an intimidating air in his eyebrows and eyes.

"Are you Lu Yi?"

The man smiled. The smile was stiff. It should be because he rarely smiled.

"Yes. May I ask who you are?"

"I am the Director of the Nanyang Division of Dingping Department of the Ministry of Carriages and Horses in Jiangzhou. Qi Baichun."

What a long title.

There are seven departments in Great Chu. One of them is the Ministry of Carriages and Horses.

When the previous emperor who passed away last year was on the throne, it was specially separated from the Ministry of War to manage transportation in various places.

There is a department of the Ministry of Carriages and Horses in Dingping County. The director is the chief official within the department. A high-ranking official of the sixth rank, one rank higher than the county magistrate.

He is responsible for managing the post stations in various towns of Dingping County. Fen City is one of the areas under his jurisdiction.

"Lord Qi, I wonder what you are looking for me for?"

Lu Yi stepped aside and moved a chair.

But Qi Baichun didn't sit.

"I came to you to have a chat."

"In the capacity of the director? Or?"

"As an ordinary citizen. No records will be made."

Qi Baichun didn't sit, but Lu Yi couldn't stand for long.

"Lord Qi, I have a hidden illness and can't stand for long. Please excuse me."

Saying that, Lu Yi coughed twice and sat down on his own.

Qi Baichun had a serious appearance but was very easy-going in his actions.

He forced the corners of his mouth to rise and waved his hand: "It's fine. I heard about you from Liu Dabao and know about your situation."

Hearing Liu Dabao's name, Lu Yi's hand that was making tea froze.

"How is Dabao recently?"

He hasn't seen Liu Dabao for many days.

Qi Baichun nodded: "He's fine. Just busy."

Lu Yi let out a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere fell silent.

When facing an official, Lu Yi has always been taciturn.

And Qi Baichun didn't seem like a person who was good at speaking either.

"I asked Liu Dabao to help me find something. After it's done, I'll transfer him to the Dingping Department as the deputy director, the ninth rank." Qi Baichun broke the silence.

Lu Yi glanced sideways at Qi Baichun and didn't speak.

"This time I came mainly to look for a thousand-li horse for His Majesty. I won't stay long." Qi Baichun continued.

Lu Yi understood.

For some matters, the higher the position, the more inconvenient to come forward.

Looking for a thousand-li horse was most likely an excuse.

"Is the thing not easy to find?" Lu Yi asked.

"Not easy." Qi Baichun shook his head.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Yes, but Liu Dabao is good at fighting."

Lu Yi sniffed. The wind in winter was really sharp.

After drinking a cup of tea, Qi Baichun turned to leave.

When he reached the door, he suddenly said: "The thing I'm looking for is an account book."

After saying that, Qi Baichun didn't stop and walked out of the lane.

Lu Yi sat in the small courtyard for a long time before getting up to close the door.

Qi Baichun walked alone to the entrance of the lane. There were already more than ten people waiting in the cold wind.

The leader was precisely the inspector of the Inspection Department, Zhou Shihao.

"Lord Qi, please wait." Zhou Shihao cupped his hands and said.

Qi Baichun stopped: "Lord Zhou, what's the matter?"

"I have arranged a table at the Downwind Inn to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."

"No need. The thousand-li horse hasn't been found yet. I dare not delay."

Looking at Qi Baichun's receding figure, Zhou Shihao gritted his teeth tightly.

"Sir, our Shili Town doesn't produce horses. Where can there be any thousand-li horses?" One of the patrolling soldiers came forward and whispered.

"Why ask so much? Hurry up and find that woman or the murderer. We can't delay anymore."

"Sir, is the thing on her so important?"

This question reminded Zhou Shihao of the memory of the night Zhang Ping died.

Remembering the Wind-Chasing Saber on that person in the county government office, Zhou Shihao couldn't help shivering.

"If we can't find it, the entire Inspection Department will be buried with it."