Chapter 68: Peach Grove

During the carriage journey, Li Si began chatting with He Zhong. After they had chatted for a while, the two became familiar with each other, and both relaxed considerably.

While chatting with him, Li Si discovered that this little old man was a very interesting person. From his mouth, Li Si learned that when he was young, he had been idle, thought highly of himself, and looked down on everyone. He had drifted around the county city, believing himself to be a wandering hero, and had gone around meddling in injustices. By the time he reached middle age, he had accomplished nothing and had not married a wife.

By the time he came to his senses, he was already over forty. At that age, having accomplished nothing, no woman looked upon him favourably anymore. He could only rely on his nag to make a living. This nag was something he had pooled money to buy when he had been preparing to travel.

“I do have some regrets!” When he spoke to this point, He Zhong sighed, then shook his head and smiled freely. “But it is nothing much. I have wandered for most of my life, and I do not want some wife managing me either. Being able to go wherever I like and have fun wherever I go is not bad either. Even if I die on the road, it does not matter.”

“Hyah!”

After He Zhong finished speaking, he laughed loudly and struck the horse’s rump with the whip. The carriage immediately sped up again.

Li Si pondered slightly. He was somewhat touched by He Zhong’s words, but did not know what to say.

At the same time, he also felt a little like laughing. In the future, he would probably have to deal with demon creatures and ghost creatures all the time. Marriage and children would only be an extravagant hope for him, harming others and himself. He feared he might end up with the same result as He Zhong.

Shaking his head slightly, Li Si pushed this thought aside. Drink today while there is wine today. As for the future, who could say clearly?

Only, while the two were chatting, neither of them noticed that a man dressed in a red fur coat was standing hunched over on top of the carriage compartment with a gloomy face. He carefully walked to the edge of the carriage compartment and slowly stretched out two deathly blue palms to cover He Zhong’s eyes.

“Ai... old fellow, you went the wrong way. This side.” On the way, He Zhong suddenly shouted and hurriedly pulled on the reins.

Neigh... The nag neighed and anxiously pawed in place with its four hooves.

Seeing this, He Zhong immediately got down from the carriage, walked to the nag’s side, and gently stroked the hair on its neck while humming an unknown tune.

What surprised Li Si was that the nag soon calmed down from its agitation. He understood somewhat in his heart. Perhaps this was a method of horse training.

“Scholar Li, I am sorry. This horse of mine has not come out for some time, so it is a little restless.” After soothing the nag, He Zhong looked at Li Si apologetically.

“It is nothing.” Li Si nodded slightly.

Afterward, He Zhong got back onto the carriage and continued driving the nag forward.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Si watched the scenery beside him continuously recede and also felt somewhat tired.

After all, he had not slept well last night. Once drowsiness came, he took a set of clothes from the book chest, padded it behind his head, and began sleeping soundly.

Immediately after, a young boy flew out from Li Si’s chest, and the air in the carriage compartment instantly grew a few degrees colder.

He Zhong shivered in front and looked back at Li Si. Seeing that he was sleeping soundly, he lightly struck the horse’s rump, and the carriage immediately slowed a little, becoming much steadier.

They were currently passing through a forest. In some places here, the temperature was high, while in others, it was low. Therefore, He Zhong did not take the sudden drop in temperature to heart.

The young boy in the carriage compartment looked at He Zhong curiously, then stared at his eyes for a while. After watching for a while, he lost interest.

After withdrawing his gaze from He Zhong, he sat beside Li Si and looked through the window at the scenery outside, his eyes revealing a joyful expression.

The carriage travelled all the way onward. Because the sun grew increasingly scorching, the sounds of cicadas and other unknown insects in the forest grew louder and louder.

After travelling for roughly two to four hours, it was already noon, and the carriage stopped at a place shaded by a large tree.

When the carriage stopped, Li Si’s body leaned forward from inertia, and he immediately woke.

“Scholar Li, let us rest first and eat something,” He Zhong said to Li Si from the front, turning his head.

Li Si responded, yawned, stretched, then took dry rations and a gourd from the book chest and got down from the carriage.

After He Zhong saw Li Si get down, he wiped a piece of bluestone with a sweat towel, then turned back and said to him, “Scholar Li, sit here.”

“Uncle He, you are too courteous.” Li Si smiled at He Zhong, then sat down on the bluestone.

After he sat down, He Zhong also sat down. While eating dry rations, he said to Li Si, “Further ahead is Jingning County. It will take about three days by carriage. Along this route, there are a few relay inns. During this period, we can stay near those relay inns every night.”

Li Si nodded slightly and asked He Zhong, “Then how far is the nearest relay inn from us?”

“We can reach it before the Xu hour today,” He Zhong said without thinking.

Hearing He Zhong say this, Li Si nodded, then continued eating his dry rations.

Rustle, rustle... Suddenly, a faint, fragmented sound came.

Li Si looked toward the sound and saw a dark brown snake moving through the grass behind him.

The moment he saw the snake, he was startled and immediately stood up.

At this moment, He Zhong also saw the snake. He immediately set down the dry rations in his hand, crossed the distance in several quick steps, caught up to the snake at once, and slapped his palm swiftly onto the snake’s head, pressing it against the ground.

After the snake’s head was pressed to the ground, the snake’s body began curling up.

After He Zhong held down the snake’s head, he slowly tightened his palm and pinched the snake’s neck. At the same time, his other hand grabbed the snake’s tail.

Li Si could not help looking at him a few more times. With such fast reactions, it was clear that when He Zhong had been acting as a wandering hero, he had indeed practised a few moves.

“Heh, not bad luck. This black snake weighs more than 0.5 kg (~1.1 lb). We can eat meat today.” After catching the snake, He Zhong chuckled, then walked to the back of the carriage, took out a small bamboo basket from among the miscellaneous items, and placed it inside.

After putting the snake into the bamboo basket, He Zhong covered it with the lid and smiled as he explained to Li Si, “Scholar Li, the relay inns ahead only have ordinary wild vegetables, with hardly any taste of meat.”

“But with this black snake, when we get to the relay inn later, we can have the cook braise it with green peppers. I will have them make more for you then.”

“No need. I do not like eating snake.” Li Si smiled apologetically and continued eating his dry rations. He truly had no particular interest in wild game.

He Zhong scratched his head awkwardly. Suddenly, as if seeing something, he pointed in one direction and shouted in surprise, “Scholar Li, look over there. What is that?”

Li Si found it somewhat strange, so he turned his head and carefully looked in the direction He Zhong was pointing. He saw that on the other side of the small roadside grove, there was actually a peach grove. There were many peach trees, and from here, the peaches on those trees could still be seen.

Because of the earlier rain, those peaches still had rainwater on them, making them look extremely tempting and delicious.

These peach trees had just been blocked by the roadside trees earlier. Otherwise, they would have discovered such a large peach grove long ago.

Li Si and He Zhong looked at the peaches, then looked at their dry rations, and immediately felt that the dry rations tasted like wax.

At the same time, Li Si also felt somewhat pleasantly surprised. This peach grove surely had peachwood. Perhaps the magical tools for driving away evil in the future now had a source.